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FILE - In this March 12, 2004 file photo, former New York Times reporter, Jayson Blair speaks to an audience in New York's Harlem neighborhood. After the plagiary scandal, Blair has been working as a life coach in northern Va. since 2007. The ex-New York Times reporter best known for fabricating and plagiarizing says his experience hitting the lows helps him relate to people, and the respected psychologist who hired him into his practice agrees: "Jayson is now using his talents for good." (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek, File) AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek

Jayson Blair knows his new profession - life coach - smacks some people in the face like a bad punchline.

"People say, 'Wait a minute. You're a life coach?' That makes no sense,"' says Blair, the ex-journalist best known for foisting plagiarism and fabrications into the pages of The New York Times. "Then they think about my life experiences and what I've been through and they say 'Wait a minute. It does make sense."'

Blair, 33, resigned from the Times in 2003, leaving a journalistic scandal in his wake. The resulting furor led the paper's top two newsroom executives to resign. Blair wrote a book, then mostly disappeared from view.

For the past two years, he has been quietly working as a certified life coach for one of the most respected mental health practices in northern Virginia.

"He can relate to patients just beautifully," said Michael Oberschneider, the psychologist who hired Blair and urged him to become ahttp://white-works.com