We recently connected with Vanessa Liebl and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Most good stories start off with a rough beginning followed by a tumultuous struggle to thrive before success is obtained. Choice MD’s story is no different.
The concept of Choice MD came to me after living with a Multiple Sclerosis for about 10 years. Ultimately, it was necessary to struggle navigating the healthcare system to come up with a better solution. Only after facing the challenges head on was I able to come up with a better solution.
Initially after diagnosis, I felt I didn’t have anyone to talk to. At least not anyone who understood what I was going through or how I felt. Once I reached out to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, everything changed. I had stumbled upon an entire community of individuals who understood exactly what I was going through and they even helped me apply for financial assistance, find specialists in the area, connect with support groups, the list goes on. When I think back on that time, I remember that even when I did attend support groups, I was by far the youngest in the room and everyone took care of me as if I was their grandchild. It was a beautiful experience as they would always protect me and I would naively push their limits. We did everything from yoga to volunteering and charity events. After this experience, it became clear that what was missing was connecting individuals with organizations that could help them through the process. I made it my mission to formulate partnerships with any and every organization in the city that would help folks through health-related issues. Today I’m extremely proud to say that we have over 50 partnerships in the community. This is our unique approach to helping individuals navigate the healthcare system. Sure, the initial step is to find the right doctor and that’s an issue we are also making attempts at solving. For us, healthcare is personal and we understand it requires more steps than just finding the right physician. It’s also about connecting with communities that will help you thrive.

Vanessa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a first generation American with both my parents being from Bolivia. That in itself explains a lot about my personality. I grew up with the resolve to fight for women’s rights within my own home, as I have an older brother, Jorge. I wasn’t allowed to do as much for fear of getting hurt and because most of the stuff I enjoyed doing wasn’t lady like. You would find me on the roof of the house or in a tree on any given day. Coincidentally this was happening around the same time my love of musicals was developing so “Anything you can do, I can do better” became my mantra. This, along with my martial arts training of 16 years shaped who I am to the core. I suppose that’s why fighting for rights for those disabled comes as an intrinsic trait. I’m now a board member to The Advocacy Network on Disabilities as well as a member of the City of Coral Gables Advisory Board on Disability Affairs. One thing I am extremely proud of is my desire to level the playing fields for every individual. This certainly comes from my martial arts training as we were trained to always support the underdog.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think it’s fair to say that the pandemic tested the resilience of all of us. I was no different, panic set it for the first few weeks but then I realize my entire life has been plagued with trials, including being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 21. Mindset has everything to do with how you thrive and with as much as I had on the line, I knew I had to give it my all to ensure not only myself thrives, but my business and my daughter as well. I remember initially thinking back on the safety instructions when flying on a plane. Always position your oxygen mask before assisting others. That’s exactly how I felt, everything was out of control but I had to ensure that I could ground myself before I could do anything of substance for my business and my family. So, I called my doctor and asked for anti-anxiety medication. I knew that in order to provide peace to my daughter I had to also demonstrate it. Once the medication set in, I was able to think clearly and troubleshoot. I quickly adapted my schedule to be able to dedicate 100% of my time and energy into each. In the daytime, when my daughter was awake, I would focus only on Amelie in assisting her with school work and being her play mate. I knew, developmentally, how important those years were for her life so in the daytime I had fun playing like a kid. I would find moments to rest in between jobs and I almost always dedicated the hours from 3am-7am for just Choice MD. The house was silent and with only so many hours to complete my work I found I was able to focus and breeze through tasks quickly. I pushed harder than I ever did before in an effort to help both thrive. Today, I’m proud to say my daughter is an Honor Roll student and Choice MD has since won the George E. Merrick Innovator in the Making Award and the Diamond Award through the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, coincidentally the #1 Chamber in South Florida.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pandemic has given us all plenty of reasons to pivot, for Choice MD, I found myself reaching out to everyone in the community in an effort to ensure success. When I launched Choice MD in March of 2019, my thought process was to begin establishing roots through community nonprofits, from there I would expand to the medical community and lastly focus on bringing the community to the site. As things played out, I started with the nonprofits and then I remember reaching out to every city council official, and any prominent individual I could contact in Miami once the pandemic hit. I spent my days emailing and calling individuals to let them know of our remarkable community-based healthcare resource. We quickly added COVID testing centers to give individuals a full picture, in real-time, of the healthcare resources Miami has to offer. At one point, I found myself emailing Dave Lawrence, founder of the Children’s Trust and he quickly became a friend and somewhat I look up to. I relentlessly reached out to anyone I could think of and well, that’s how Choice MD became a well-known entity in the city.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.choicemd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/choicemd.miami/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChoiceMD
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/choicemd/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChoiceMD