Influential Woman · Mental Health
Marisol Vazquez
Independent Life Coach for Neurological disorder clients, Daivergent
New York, FL 10004
Her Story
About Marisol
My career journey has been deeply rooted in helping others find their path. After graduating from the College of New Rochelle with a degree in psychology and social sciences, I spent 16 years in New York working with diverse populations in need. I started at community services in the Bronx with the STRIVE program through SOBRO, helping individuals coming out of prison get job training and placement with cable companies, tracking their 30, 60, and 180-day retention. I became known for my Excel database skills - I would pick up checks for $60,000 in retention funds while others kept everything in writing and lost money. At Eastside House, I worked my way up from program coordinator to administrative assistant in social services, supporting social workers and managing emergency funds through partnerships with Goodwill, FPWA, and Catholic Charities to help families with everything from furniture for bed bug situations to burial expenses. I also did a year in Connecticut at Bridgeport Hospital and DEMHS doing mental health case management, helping clients transition from the hospital system to employment, though I advocated strongly when someone's disability was too extreme for work placement. After moving to Florida and going through my own health journey with brain surgery for Chiari malformation, I found my true calling as a life coach working remotely with children and adolescents with autism and neurological disorders. I help them with reading comprehension, math, college admission test preparation, and life skills. I've worked with genius-level students who needed calculus help beyond my abilities, and with students who had never been properly taught in high school. This work feels like a mission from God - I get excited for every session because it's a learning experience for both of us. When you're patient, discerning, and open with these kids, they absorb everything you teach them, and you're renewing parts of your own knowledge while helping them discover theirs.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Marisol
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being there at the right time and knowing where the need was. I went for the calling - it was a mission that God had given me, and I heard the calling and I'm doing it. When you hear the calling, you just want to do it much more, and I'm so glad that I found myself in this particular field because it's a wonderful experience to teach. You think that you didn't know so much, but then when you realize you're your own teacher and you have your apprentice, they're learning from you. Every information you give them is in there - they get it. You just have to be patient with them.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to the woman to please don't work for money - work for worth. Work for the value of strength, honor, and determination. Once everything is in there - your motivation, all your yearning of helping somebody - the day goes so fast and much is accomplished. It's completion. You completed what you needed to do in life.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now there's a lot of adolescent children with autism, and there's such a need there, especially with higher rates of autistic adults. They fall through the cracks - once they hit 18, they're like, well, what am I gonna do next? They can't go to college because they can't even pass the admission test. So many services are coming together and noticing this, providing services like summer programs, adult programs during the day, and life coach in the evening. Life coaching is booming right now - it's becoming very ideal to be in that particular job, especially when you feel motivated to help them. You don't want them to fall in the cracks. You read it in all the articles - everybody is asking what we're gonna do with all these adults with autism when their parents die, who's going to take care of them. We need to make sure that there's enough programs for them, and life coaching is not just a work thing, it's a mission.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are the quality of what you bring to your clients. First of all, having patience - you have to be patient with your client. You also have to be discerning and open. Once you have those three, it gives them recognition that they are being heard. You feel good that they're being heard and they're learning something.
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