Her Story
About Vanessa
Vanessa Johnson is a human services professional with 14 years of experience in peer support counseling, recovery-oriented assistance, and psychosocial rehabilitation. Throughout her career, she has supported individuals working toward recovery, greater independence, and improved daily functioning. In roles at Ozark Center, Lafayette House, and Accumen, she helped clients identify their strengths, establish achievable goals, develop coping and communication skills, build healthy routines, and practice self-advocacy.
Currently, Vanessa works as a Ride Specialist at Economic Security Corporation, where she coordinates transportation schedules, manages cancellations and service documentation, organizes financial requests, and helps clients resolve practical challenges. Her work reflects a patient, encouraging, and person-centered approach to client support. Alongside her professional responsibilities, she occasionally teaches at a local recovery program and continues to develop her knowledge and skills through her studies at Pittsburg State University, where she is pursuing a degree in Human Communications.
Vanessa is passionate about personal growth, authenticity, and helping people recognize their potential through life's changing circumstances. She plans to transition into life coaching and build a business focused on helping others pursue authenticity and meaningful personal development. She also enjoys creative activities such as singing, playing guitar and piano, pottery, poetry, and writing, and has recently published a shadow work workbook. Guided by resilience, intuition, passion, purpose, and optimism, Vanessa aims to encourage others to learn from difficult experiences and move forward with greater self-awareness.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Vanessa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my stubbornness, resilience, and the lessons I have learned from past trauma. Difficult experiences have taught me to keep going, learn from challenges, and use what I have been through as an opportunity for personal growth.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have received is to follow my passion. I believe it is important to pursue work that feels meaningful and aligns with who I am and what I want to contribute.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would encourage young women to remember that, no matter what phase of life they are experiencing, they are always whole. Like the moon, we go through different phases, and there may be times when we feel disconnected from ourselves or believe we have lost who we are. However, we have not lost ourselves; sometimes, parts of us are simply waiting to be rediscovered. I encourage women to give themselves grace, embrace change, and trust that they can reconnect with their strengths and identity as they continue to grow.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of my current challenges is that my role does not always provide the level of challenge and growth I am looking for. At the same time, I see an opportunity to continue developing myself through education and transition into life coaching. Pursuing my degree in Human Communications is an important step toward expanding my skills and preparing to help others with personal growth, self-awareness, and meaningful change.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are authenticity, growth, intuition, passion, purpose, and optimism. I believe authenticity means being able to show up as the same genuine person across different situations rather than presenting different versions of myself to fit different environments. For me, that level of authenticity comes from healing, self-awareness, and continued personal growth. I also value following my intuition, pursuing what gives my life purpose, and maintaining an optimistic outlook as I navigate challenges and new opportunities.
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