She was born on September 19, 1979 in the city of Buzuluk, Orenburg Region.
In 2001 she graduated from Irkutsk State University with a degree in journalism. She worked as a news anchor and editor on Channel 21 in Irkutsk. After leaving television, she worked as a freelance journalist. Natalia Merkulova's materials were broadcast on REN TV, on ORT and RTR. From 2002 to March 2004, she worked in Irkutsk as the editor-in-chief of the NTS channel, the host of the Special Opinion program.
In 2010 she graduated from the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors in Moscow (workshop of Andrey Gerasimov and Andrey Dobrovolsky).
In 2022, Natalia Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov left Russia and went to Baku (Azerbaijan) where they plan to create a film school.