She graduated in Electronic Engineering from The Technical University in Sofia in 1980 and worked as an electronic engineer for more than 10 years.

In 1993 Marlena Yurukova changed her profession after obtaining qualifications in English language teaching and she has been working as a teacher and translator of English, German and Russian ever since.

Besides practicing the above professions, she has always followed her passion for fine art and created hundreds of acrylic paintings, portraits, life drawings and water color  landscapes.

Marlena Yurukova was awarded twice for her fine art work by Artslant- the first contemporary network of fine art. Her awards can be viewed in her profile in Artslant.

Her recent work is presented also in Saatchi Art.

In 2010 Romfeia Gallery at Plovdiv organized a show of Marlena Yurukova's work.

Marlena Yurukova works also in the field of mural painting, having decorated two chapels with her sister Kristin Yurukova, writer and painter,: "St St Constantine And Helena" and "Archangel St Michael" in the village of Ravnogor and alone - the chapel "St Elijah" near Assenovgrad, Bulgaria.