After retiring from volleyball in 2010, Paula moved to Los Angeles, California, where she majored in architecture at UCLA and is now studying to get a master's degree in political science. Noted for her conservative views, she had a column in newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo and joined news station Jovem Pan.[2]
Paula has been married three times, first to basketballer Jeffty Connelly from 1994 to 1998, and then to volleyball coach Marcus Miranda, with whom she had a son. Since 2010, she has been married to attorney and retired beach volleyballer Carl Henkel.[3][4] She was considering a fifth Olympic appearance in 2012, but retired as she was developing panic disorder and started resenting being too absent for her son.[5]