Her Story
About Alyssa
Alyssa Gaggino is a licensed Master Social Worker and certified sports social work professional based in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. She earned her MSW from Wayne State University, where she focused on community practice and social action, and later completed additional certification in career development facilitation through Oakland University. She has held a Michigan Licensed Master Social Worker credential since 2009, with a career spanning clinical, case management, and counseling roles across healthcare and community-based settings.
Her professional background includes extensive experience in medical social work, care coordination, and mental health counseling. She has worked with organizations such as McLaren Home Care Group and Senior Counseling Services, providing psychosocial assessments, crisis intervention, home-based therapy, and care planning for elderly, disabled, and medically complex populations. She also served in care coordination roles through Health Alliance Plan/Caresource, where she managed large client caseloads and supported individuals navigating medical, housing, substance use, and social service systems, working in coordination with multidisciplinary care teams and regulated under programs associated with the State of Michigan Medicaid and Medicare systems.
More recently, she transitioned into sports-focused practice and entrepreneurship, founding Empower Play Sports Consulting, where she provides life coaching and psychosocial support for athletes ranging from high school to professional levels, including retired and transitioning athletes. Her work emphasizes mental health, performance support, life skills development, and transition planning. She is an active member of the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports and is currently building her client base while expanding her practice in sports social work and athlete development.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alyssa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my education - I got a master's and I was the oldest person in my class. I met a lot of young people and we became friends and we're still friends. They're all kind of like me, like-minded, and they're tough, and they fight through things. We have a guy in our group too who's gay and he's just on top of the world doing great things, and we're so proud of him and he supports us. What do I attribute it to? Getting a good circle of people. That's huge, huge to have support and people that believe in you and help you. I include older men, younger men, all kinds of people, and women of all ages have been supportive of me. So I just think really good friends and a really good business circle as well.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My mom said to me when I was about 17, 'You get a job and you stay independent because you never know if you're gonna lose a husband, if he's gonna divorce you, you're gonna leave him, and you need to be independent on your own.' That really made a huge difference in the way I looked at my career. I've always worked except one year in grad school and done a million things, and at the same time I supported myself. Sometimes with the help of my parents, but for the most part I just want to be independent and not rely on men, and I know I can. That's kind of a nice thing to know.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I just say participate. Participate, you know, get out of what your little circle is of safety or of fun or whatever, and spread your wings, and stand up for your rights, and stay with other people that are doing the same thing. If they're older, so what? You're gonna be older one day too, and you want the world to be in good shape, and right now it's not. I fought against our company for pay equity because nurses were making a lot more money doing the same job as we were, and I got it done. We all got like 25% raises. I also got vacation days improved and a sign-on bonus for our social workers. I'm kind of a big mouth, and it makes it a little easier to do marketing because I'm not so afraid of men or other people. The sports field is mostly men and you really have to be a little bit aggressive and at the same time a cool person that's not gonna threaten them. I'm a feminist and I just believe women of all ages have fought for this for years, and it continues to be a fight to be equal in the business place, in the boardroom, or wherever. Your life isn't gonna change if you sit back. It's gonna change if you change it.
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