Vanesa Castillo: She led a global team without ever losing her heart. Then at 50, she walked away to start again.

Three years ago, Vanesa Castillo found herself standing at the edge of a life that no longer fit. Freshly divorced for the second time, she realized she had spent years being the strong one—the independent mom, the reliable employee, the one who held everything together. But somewhere along the way, she had become disconnected from her career, her relationship, and, most painfully, from herself.

Determined to rediscover who she truly was, Vanesa moved into a small townhouse and gave herself the space to pause. For an entire year, she focused on rebuilding her strength and her identity. She began asking herself the questions she had avoided for far too long: Who am I when I’m not performing for others? What do I really want from this next chapter?

After her daughter graduated from high school, Vanesa made another brave leap—she moved to Florida for a fresh start. She met a wonderful man, but even with a new love and a new life, something still felt incomplete. Her once-fulfilling job had begun to drain her. She turned to fitness and nutrition as a form of healing, and along the way, she reawakened a spark that had long been dimmed. She wanted to feel alive again.

When she was laid off in January, instead of feeling defeated, Vanesa saw it as an opportunity. She had another job offer waiting but turned it down in favor of following a long-ignored inner nudge. She enrolled in Jay Shetty’s Life Coach School and began a new path—one that finally felt aligned with her purpose.

Today, Vanesa is a life coach for women in their 40s and beyond who are navigating transition—empty nests, career pivots, and shifting identities. Her mission is to help women rediscover their confidence, reconnect with who they really are, and realize that it’s never too late to begin again. She speaks from experience, because she’s lived it.

Vanesa’s journey of reinvention began long before her coaching career. Originally from Argentina, she moved to the U.S. with no family nearby, married, had a child, and then went through a painful divorce when her daughter was just two. Raising a child in a new country without a support system taught her strength, adaptability, and the value of self-reliance. That experience shaped every reinvention that followed.

If she could speak to her younger self, Vanesa would tell her that it’s okay to be both strong and tender. Growing up as the eldest sister, she often felt like she had to be the emotional anchor for everyone else. She would remind her younger self that asking for help isn’t weakness—it’s wisdom. And that being vulnerable is not the opposite of strength, but its companion.

Vanesa is deeply proud of the leader she became during her corporate career. She was entrusted with leading an international data management team across the Americas, even without technical expertise in the field. Through her empowering leadership style, she built trust and morale, eventually earning a global role overseeing teams across Europe and Asia-Pacific. That chapter of her life reaffirmed her belief that great leadership is about elevating others.

Now, her dream is to build a thriving coaching business that supports and inspires women to live with passion, purpose, and confidence. She envisions helping women dust off the dreams they’ve deferred and pursue them with boldness.

Personally, Vanesa dreams of a balanced life—one where her work lights her up and still leaves room to enjoy life on the small farm she shares with her husband. Whether she’s planting vegetables or tending trees, she’s embracing joy in the everyday.

Vanesa Castillo is proof that it’s never too late to come home to yourself—and to start again with intention and heart.

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