Her Story
About Nicole
I am a direct support team supervisor in behavioral health, where I've worked for about 10 years and have been in my current position for about 3 years. My key responsibilities include training and developing new direct support staff who work with the highest acuity kids in Arizona. Our program, Meet Me Where I Am, teaches skills that kids lack to help them learn how to regulate, how to interact with peers appropriately, and navigate the community. We serve kids all the way from just behavioral health diagnoses to DDD, foster care, DCS placement, all of the above. Throughout my career, I've worked with youth, SMI adults, and DDD adults and kids, and I would say my most notable achievement is giving back and helping every population I've worked with in any capacity I can. I'm also a single mom living this work every day, as my son was diagnosed with level 3 autism and ADHD, so not only do I work in behavioral health, but I live it. I'm currently working to open my own business and non-profit in the Arizona area, which will be an animal rescue that also services the community.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nicole
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the drive to give back. I've always said that I don't do it for the paycheck, I do it for the filling of the cup, and giving back, and just trying to help my community in any way I can. I think my hard work and determination and never giving up are key. Because I'm a mom too that lives this, I can see a lot more of a need in our community, and so I don't stop until the families feel that they've got it. Whether that's meeting with a parent and helping them advocate for their kid at an IEP meeting to sitting and just having coffee and letting them vent, I feel like it's just the drive to help.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's hard work, but it's the most satisfying you'll ever do. I think also understanding that there's a place for your dreams. I never thought I'd be able to work with the amazing kids and families that I have experienced, but now that I'm currently trying to open my own business and fill some of that hole that we have in our community, it's driving me more to just continue to do it, even if I fail.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges are some of the red tape. We have so many kids that need so many different things, and there's not always a thing for that, whether that's a service, or an agency. In this line of work, there's just so many holes. We have kids that need very minimal support, so it's easy to find something small, but we have kids that fall into this gray area of just needing more support than other kids, but not enough to be qualified for extensive long-term services, and so there's just this hole and gray area in the community and in behavioral health in general. Then we're confined by insurance and things like that that make it hard to be able to provide everything that these kiddos and families need.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Communication, honesty, and community are most important to me. I value a safe place for our kids to grow up. This world is scary enough, and so trying to build some of that sustainability for my community and really just making sure our kids have a spot and a voice in this world is critical. It's hard enough to be different, and I've learned that it's not the kids who are the problem, the kids have been phenomenal. It's the adults, and so making sure that our kids are advocated for and that they have a spot, true inclusion for everybody, making sure everybody feels they have a place.
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