Describing Marycell Rodriguez-Mabry as a “people person” is like saying water is wet.

Knowing how to listen, and most importantly, care, defined her approach over three decades learning the transportation game from the ground up, establishing her own company, and securing major contracts.

Marycell’s hard work was recently validated when she was named Lake and Sumter Style’s 2025 Businesswoman of the Year, an honor that also recognizes the genuine person she is every day — even when no one is watching.

Marycell was chosen as the winner during a reverse drawing gala hosted by Akers Media that celebrated the magazine’s 12th annual Businesswomen of Style.

“I am very grateful. I see that God has placed me in positions where I can be an example and let it be known that your dreams can come true. You have to have faith and work ethic and know that He is able,” says Marycell.

From the ground up

Marycell was born in Harlem in 1970 to parents who originally immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba.

Faith in God was a strong foundation in their family. Raised in New York, she attended Annunciation Catholic School in Manhattan and graduated in 1988. Although her parents spoke Spanish at home, Marycell and her two siblings learned English in school. 

After her mother’s death in 1989, Marycell moved down to Orange County to be near her brother and his family.

Although her initial plan was to enroll in college and then pursue a career, Marycell says the death of her mother was disorienting. Instead of heading to college, she decided to go to work. The first job she took after moving to the Sunshine State was toll booth operator. Little did she know that such a low-level introduction to the transportation system would evolve into a successful career.

At the time, her brother was working for LYNX, which provides bus service throughout Central Florida. When the company had an opening for a reservationist, he encouraged his little sister to apply. Being bilingual definitely worked to her advantage and Marycell was hired for that position in 1995. 

She’s worked in the transportation industry ever since. From reservationist, she moved into dispatch, then worked her way up to dispatch supervisor, and eventually she was managing the call center.

Being a people person, Marycell had hopes of a business that would transport people in need. Her dream was to have her own transportation company, but she wasn’t sure how to make that happen. 

“I met a gentleman named Pedro Portuondo in 2016 who mentored me and showed me how to bring my vision to life,” Marycell says.

As a female Hispanic small business owner, she became certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), a Department of Transportation program.

Marycell launched Independent Mobility Transport (IMT) in 2018 to provide quality service for those who are disadvantaged in transportation.

Today, Pedro is CFO of her company.

Transportation options

Many citizens lacked viable options for public transportation before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. 

In Central Florida, LYNX not only provides “regular” bus service, but is also the coordinator and service provider for “transportation disadvantaged” individuals who can’t use regular bus route services due to their disabilities or other limitations. 

To serve them, LYNX subcontracted the paratransit portion of the service to various transportation companies. Marycell has worked with these subcontractors for 20 years.

Marycell’s 30 years of experience gave her the foundation needed to be successful in providing quality service. IMT’s first contract was providing non-emergency transportation in Lake County with a team of three drivers. “We began with 50 trips daily. We continue taking customers to these life-sustaining appointments,” she says.

In 2020, Marycell was awarded a contract in Coral Gables to provide paratransit service. She assisted local providers, helping them improve daily service operations. Her knowledge of dispatching and scheduling techniques made her an in-demand consultant. 

Her expertise has also been sought beyond the Sunshine State. Marycell has assisted with paratransit in Atlanta, Ohio, and California.

In 2023, IMT was awarded a contract in Orlando with Transdev, a LYNX subcontractor for paratransit services. 

That contract returned Marycell to the division where she worked for over 20 years, this time as the owner of IMT, providing the quality service she is known for as she continues to make a difference.

It wasn’t common to see women driving when Marycell started. While female drivers are more prevalent now, you won’t typically find Marycell behind the wheel transporting customers. These days, she stays busy managing her company and working on securing contracts to expand IMT, which currently has more than 100 drivers.

Step up

Marycell’s business accomplishments are impressive, but that’s not the most memorable thing about this hard-working mother of four grown children. Through the years, her faith expanded as she relied on God and trusted Him to mold her life so she could help others.

In 2021, she launched Step Up, a home that provides a vital option for women and their children fleeing abusive family lives.

“It’s something I do to pay back and to let women know they don’t have to stay in abusive relationships because of the financial burdens that being a single mom creates,” Marycell says. 

She explains that many women are afraid to leave bad situations because they’re afraid they can’t survive on their own and provide for their children.

“I’m grateful God has me in a position where I’m able to help women become self-sufficient and know that through Christ you can do anything,” says Marycell, who funds and manages the home she built but doesn’t live there herself. “I never imagined that God would bless me to the point that I’m able to fund a house for women who have been abused and pay for it until they’re able to transition out.”

In addition to helping women navigate through this challenging time, Step Up helps them develop the self-esteem they’ll need so they don’t fall back into abusive relationships. 

“It also shows their kids a different lifestyle, so they don’t repeat the cycle,” Marycell adds. 

“Women in abusive relationships are judged a lot. When they’re in an abusive relationship sometimes they feel captive because they can lose everything they have if they leave. As mothers, they can get caught up thinking, ‘Do I leave and start over or do I stay and take the abuse?’” 

Marycell is definitely making a difference. “Someone saying, ‘Girl, you don’t have to put up with that’ isn’t the same as someone offering them an option to help them get out. I wanted to be solution based. If someone wants to get out of an abusive relationship, I am one of the options.”

The Step Up home can house 20 women and children. Ten women have already “graduated” through the program and transitioned out into their own living places.

Step Up partners with Harbor House of Central Florida, an organization that actively works to help break the cycle of domestic abuse.

“Harbor House encouraged me to have a transitional home for women leaving them to have a safe place. They help by offering counseling, GED classes, helping the women find jobs and then getting their own place,” says Marycell, who donated to Harbor House for years before opening the Step Up home.

Women and their children stay at Step Up completely free of charge.

“Seeing these ladies and their children in a new place and being able to manage on their own is the reward for me. Some of them come back to visit and when I see them doing well, it’s worth more than anything they could have paid me,” Marycell says. 

Living Testimony

Marycell’s children Princess, Precious, Clete and Reggie range in age from 20 to 30. Thanks to them, she has four grandchildren who live near her, and she’s thrilled to be active in their lives.

After her first marriage ended, Marycell was happily married to George for 10 years before he passed away. 

Like many women, she’s experienced her fair share of heartache and challenges. But she doesn’t dwell on setbacks. Marycell is one of those people who always looks for a silver lining. When she finds it, she wants to share it with others.

“Experience is the best teacher. We all go through things – some because we’re hardheaded, some to be a testimony. I feel that the things I had to go through were so I could be a testimony for someone else,” she says. 

Her advice to other women is heartfelt and straightforward.

“Keep working hard and trust in God. It isn’t always easy, but you have to stay in the race. People used to laugh at me, but I found out that with faith, hard work and believing in myself, dreams can come true.” 

Photos: Nicole Hamel + Provided