HI, I´M MARIELLE, PARENTING COACH AND TEEN LIFE COACH
Since I discovered my love for working with teen girls over 20 years ago, I’ve dedicated my professional life to them.
I meet with teen girls and their parents every week in my private practice. I work with young women at the college I teach. I went back to university to study child and adolescent studies and learned about the predictable patterns in the development of girls and about the impact of their brain development on their behavior.
And I get to practice what I preach at home, because I am also a mother of a teen daughter.
Let me share the lessons I’ve learned with you.
I want to help build a bridge when the gap seems wide.
I want to heal hurt feelings, be your sounding board, take away feelings of guilt or inadequacy and if needed invite you to look in the mirror.
I want to show you how you and your daughter can improve your communication and feel more connected.
I’m not going to tell you how to raise your daughter. Every mother has her own parenting style, her own values and personality and there are many ways to get it right.
I want to show you what lies underneath her unpredictable or intense reactions. I want to help you understand your daughter, and the world she grows up in, better. I also want you to worry less so that you can focus on supporting her and connecting more.
Because no matter how hard she seems to push you away, she definitely still needs you to guide and support her.
a few more
FACTS ABOUT ME
RANDOM FACTS - PART 1
MY FAMILY..
Douglas and I have been together since 1997 and he still makes me laugh every day. Our oldest son Noah is a hustler, has big dreams and is very resourceful. Mauro, my second son, gets along with everybody, is into ICT and has a huge heart. Both boys live in the Netherlands and we miss their laughter daily. Kiki is our youngest. She’s creative, funny and quick-witted. She keeps me on my toes.
MY BIRTH FAMILY
I come from a family of educators. My dad is from Curaçao, my mum is from the Netherlands. They divorced when I was six and I have a good relationship with both. My brother Michael is my role-model because he always looks on the bright side on life
RANDOM FACTS - PART II
RANDOM FACTS - PART III
MY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I have a Masters in Latin American Studies and a Master in Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies. I have a teaching degree, am certified as a social worker and I’m a Certified Teen Life Coach.
my journey
YEAR BY YEAR
1996
NO CLUE BUT ONE THING IS SURE
When I finished high school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I spent a glorious year in Spain, learnt some valuable life lessons, but came back still not knowing. I went to Leiden University, to study Latin American Studies, which was interesting but didn’t really fulfill me. I did finish it, got my Masters but was still lost about my career goals.
There was one thing however, that I was certain of. I wanted to move to Curaçao, the island I was born.
So I did. I moved to my island in 1996 and it felt like coming home.
My work in public relations and communication paid the bills but didn’t light op my heart.
My personal life on the other hand absolutely did. I met a great man and fell head over heals. We enjoyed island life to the fullest, enjoyed many happy hours with our tight-knit group of friends and family. We got better at adulting too; we bought a little yellow house had our first two boys.
Life was good.
2001
THE FIRST INCLINATION OF MY PURPOSE
After the birth of my second son I took an intensive course to become a teacher, which was given by my dad. I thought it might come in handy at some point.
Little did I know what an impact this course would have. During the course I realised that I was jealous of the students who were already teaching. I was curious and what it was like to teach.
I quit my job and became a social studies teacher at an high school.
It was scary, it took me out of my comfort zone, but I loved it. I discovered how much I loved working with teens. I admire their passion, their creativity, their sense of humor and brutal honesty.
But I also sensed their inner struggles, the stress and anxiety and the pressures they felt. And I knew I wanted to do more. I needed to be more than a teacher.
2005
PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND GROWTH
In 2005 we left our beautiful island, with pain in our hearts, but knowing that in the Netherlands we had better professional opportunities.
I went back to Leiden University to study Clinical Child and Adolescent studies and experienced the joy of studying what I love.
I took a year off to have our third child and continued to earn my Masters.
While studying I worked as a caseworker for Child Protection Services. It was a challenging and often time heartbreaking job but it taught many valuable lessons.
It showed me the incredible resilience and resourcefulness of mothers from multi-problem families in caring for their children. And the ability of children to persevere and adapt despite extremely difficult situations and trauma.
I probably continued would have continued for CPS had it not been for a new door openening up for us.
2011
OPENING UP OUR WORLD
In 2011 my husband had the opportunity to work in Qater.
We spent five years in Qatar: an unforgettable, life-changing experience.
It was humbling and eye-opening to be an immigrant in a wealthy, Muslim country. And living among a multitude of nationalities and cultures from all around the world gave us more life lessons than any type of formal education could give us. It broadened our perspectives, taught us to celebrate differences rather than fear them, made us aware of our own biases and assumptions and we learned how to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds.
My work as a school counselor on an international school further enriched the experience.
With over 60 nationalities I learned that despite the different backgrounds, there are similarities in the issues teens struggle with. Like academic pressure, stress and anxiety and body image issues.
2016
BACK TO THE ROOTS
In 2016 we made the decision to move back to Curaçao. We wanted our kids to have a chance at growing some roots and we longed to be back home.
We built our dream house and and it felt good to be back home.
I seized the change of taking the time to evaluate what I wanted to do.
I knew I wanted to support teens.
I believed in the power of coaching as a tool in preventing and addressing the mental health crisis among teen girls. For this reason I became a certified life coach for teen girls.
Having my private coaching practice is incredibly rewarding. It’s fulfulling to see firsthand the growth that the girls make over time and each girl teach me alot about her way of thinking.
Before long, I realized that I wanted to extend my reach.
2018
RAISING TEEN DAUGHTERS
I truly believe that all my work and life experiences, all the people, mothers and teen I worked with, everything I have learned and all my dreams and aspirations have lead to my online business Raising Teen Daughters.
I love having my own business.
It’s the ultimate way to blend my creativity, knowledge, personality, and experience to create services and products for mothers and teens.
I want to use my little corner on the internet to bring moms with teen daughters together because I believe in women lifting each other up.
Every single day, connecting with amazing women and their kindhearted, spirited or sassy daughters fills me with positive energy and new ways to support them.
Stay tuned; there’s a lot more to come!
and the story continues