Episode 238: Passion, Purpose, and Pivoting with Kelly B. Wenger M.S, CCC-SLP, ATACP

Hi and welcome to episode 238 of the Untethered Podcast. Today we have Kelly Wenger joining us. Kelly lives in and is from Modesto, California. She obtained her Master's in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Louisiana, Monroe. She started her career in skilled nursing in the hospital setting and transitioned to the school setting where she spent the last 10 years of her career. During that time, her niche was working with kiddos with severely handicapping conditions at the high school and transitional levels. She also was the AAC coach and assessor for the district. She is now opening her own private practice, nurture well. Quick Disclaimer all information, content and material of this podcast are the opinions of the speakers and is for the informational purpose only and not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis and or medical treatment of a qualified healthcare provider. Welcome to the Untethered Podcast. I am your host, Hallie Balkan. I'm a certified myofunctional therapist, feeding specialist, podcaster, business owner and mentor. This podcast is all about getting your questions answered and collaborating with colleagues to bring you the most up to date information in the orofacial myofunctional therapy, airway, tethered oral tissue and pediatric feeding therapy space. If you're new here, I challenge you to keep an open mind and join my mission to spread this message far and wide. If you've been around since June 2019, thanks for being a loyal listener. As we jump into today's episode, remember to listen with correct oral rest posture, tongue up, lips closed, teeth apart, breathe through your nose. Let's get started.

Foreign.

Welcome to the podcast.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here today.

Well, I'm excited because I know we're going to talk about, you know, all things Pete feeding, but also, you know, your journey and so much more. But I would just, I would love you to start with that. Like when you actually realized that you even wanted to get into feeding and become a feeding therapist.

Absolutely. So the start of this story is going to go back to November of 2020 when I had my son. So I was a new mom and started with a breastfeeding journey. Right. And that in itself is a journey for those of you have been there. I was one of the lucky ones where my baby latched right away and it was a pretty easy process. I did work with some lactation consultants just to have the experience and in my mind, my mind was already starting to think like, wow, like this is amazing. Like this is a great profession. Like I've actually already gone to school for this a little bit. Like, how could I keep babies in my life forever? Easy, right? We can, we can. Because I've already partially gone to school for that. And so it was really in those first couple weeks of like being a new mom and working with lactation consultants and seeing that infant feeding up close and personal that it really just started to get my brain going and thinking of like, wow, like this, this is amazing. There's people who struggles and need support and I was really grateful to like, not be one of those, but I wanted to see that. So pretty much I did a couple follow ups with our lactation consultants that were like through our hospital setting. And to be honest, in my area, even lactation consultants are a little bit hard to come by. It's not a profession that's easily accessible here. So I already knew that going in to these follow up appointments. And then I did it partially for my own professional interest to be able to ask them firsthand. So who do you, like, who's your feeding slp? Like, who do you refer out to when you hit your line of what you can do as, you know, a lactation consultant? Like, who are you going to refer to? After that? It wasn't like a who got you question. It was literally just like, who's the person? Because I'd love to talk to that person to see what their career has been like. And both of lactations I talked to said, there isn't anyone, there's nobody. Like, there's no feeding SLP that we refer to. If we do, it's. So I'm in Modesto, California, which is like the pocket of the Central Valley. And they send people to Fresno, which is an hour and a half away, or they send people to Sacramento, which is an hour and a half north, or they refer out to San Francisco, which can be like up to a two hour drive from where I am. And so it was at that time that I felt like, okay, the Lord's laying this on my heart, like, and my husband and I started talking and we're like, how great would it be to fill that need in our community? So that was really that whole. That's kind of a long story. Loaded question, right? But that's really kind of the moment that I was like, one, I love babies. Like, I love this feeding process in the babies and how can I keep that going? Like, how do I stay in this little, like, area of what can be bliss, right? It was bliss for me. It's. It's not always for everyone. And I really learned that over the last years. Few few years is I've had a lot of conversations with friends, but I want it to be like, I want that for someone. Like, I don't want that process to be hard and I want the process to be blissful. And there's not someone doing it in my area. And to this day, there's still not someone doing it in my area. So I decided then that I would be working towards becoming a feeding therapist to help serve that need, like, in my community. And so, yeah, it was really my own son, the birth of my. My baby boy that brought me to where I am now. I love that.

And it's so. It's almost opposite of what a lot of our, you know, SLPs or even OTs share with us when they come on. A lot of them have had babies and they've struggled and they couldn't find somebody and it like threw them in. And so, you know, you have the opposite story where you actually were like, this is. I love this so much and I want others to love it too. And I. I love that because I think it's another perspective on the feeding that, wow, this was such a blissful experience, like you said. And I want it to be bliss for others. And there's such a need in my community. And so I think that, you know, it can be. It can feel like a heavy task to take on, if you will. It's much more than a task.

Right.

But to become that person. And you said there's. There's no one else really doing it in your area. So. So where are you now in that process?

Yeah, so I, like you said, it's not like an easy task for the weary. And so I have spent the last three years essentially working towards where I am now at now. So I've been continuing my education. I've been having networking conversations. Like, I have been trying to feel out, I guess you could say, for lack of a better word, other professionals, like, what are you doing? Who are you referring to? Like, what's your process? And so I feel much more confident in the continuing ed part. I feel more caught up and I'm, you know, taking your feeds, the Pete's course. And I. That's been my ultimate goal to like, be ready to fully launch myself into filling this hole. But really I'm. I'm at that point. So the original goal was to kind of open my doors January of 2024, and the need is catching me sooner. So as I've been networking with other professionals. I've been like, couple pediatric dentists, a couple other lactation consultants, a couple of pediatricians. And as I've had these conversations, they're like, we're ready for you, though. Like, we're ready for you to step in. Like, there's no better time than now. And honestly, that has been really encouraging. Right. It helps you take kind of that leap of faith. I'm. I'm leaving a career from this public school system that I know inside and out, and I am stepping out into a little bit of an unchartered territory for me. But the need is so great, and there's not someone there. And this whole process really made me rethink, like, why I went into speech pathology. I don't want to speak poorly about it, but the school Systems, I mean, 2020 was hard on everybody in that time, especially the public school system. And things are a little bit jittered. Things are different. It's forever impacted. And I lost. I felt like I was, like, losing my sense of why a little bit. Prestige therapy. And as I more focused on this feeding becoming the feeding slp, I'm like, okay, I'm refocused. I'm refining my purpose. I have, like, that excitement again, and just like, that passion that brought me to the field of speech pathology to begin with. And I feel like when you are leading with passion and just fulfill a purpose, like, that's purposeful, right? That is motivating. And so, yeah, I'm doing it. It's happening.

I love it. One of my colleagues, Margaret, who owns a private practice in Illinois, has this, like. I think her tagline is like, maybe like, people, passion, purpose or passion, people, purpose or something like that. And as you were saying, you know, you have this passion and you're filling a purpose, and it's like, all about the patients, the people. Right? I was just like, yes. I mean, that is really, truly what it all comes down to. And, you know, I started in the schools, and within very little time, I was very jaded. And that was way before the pandemic.

So I.

You know, my hat goes off to anybody who was working in a public school setting during that time, because that was. That was challenging. And even my private practice has been seeing kids who had, like, unused funds from services that were not fulfilled during that time, which we never would have taken funds from, like, D.C. public Schools or another. You know, like, that was never a thing before. And so it's. It's really. Things have changed. For sure.

Things have changed. People have changed, you know, and that's the beauty of our career is, like, we do have the flexibility. Right. And again, had he, like, obviously I had my son in 2020, that was amidst the pandemic. Things weren't even quite jaded yet, but it was still like the planting of that idea of, I'm going to make a pivot. And then as, you know, 2021 rolled into 2022, it continued to solidify. This is the right path. Like, I'm going to pivot from this path and, and start a new one. And I know. And it just, each passing year affirmed that I was making the right decision.

So when did you make the official jump out of the public schools?

Was it maternity leave?

Like, what?

Yeah, it's like, right now I am, like, right in the middle. Like I said, I've been working with some local colleagues and, you know, they're like, when can we, like, start referring. And I said, okay, October 1st. October 1st, we'll do it. So that's literally next week. Yeah, so I'm, I have a five month old at home. And so that's really, I guess what you could say prolonged this process for me. I knew that I, we, we were gonna have one more baby or, you know, Lord willing, and we did. And she's a beautiful, perfect baby girl. And I, again, very lucky that, like, feeding has been a great experience. And, you know, solids are coming up and I'm like, I have a great little model of, you know, to be using to be able to relate to parents as I start this journey of working for myself and being in private practice.

Yeah, well, and I mean, you've already networked as you shared, so that's, I think, for battle is just getting your name out there and letting people know, like, hey, I'm opening up shop, right? I'm. I'm available to help with these feeding needs. And, you know, so you've been networking. Have. How long have you been networking for? Like, when did that all start?

I feel like the answer to that would be when I started with my son. You know, when I started nursing my son, it was in that time that working with those lactation consultants and then opening my ears and really just trying to have my attention towards potential conversations. Right. And like, being in different social settings or professional settings and just making sure that I was aware of, like, who's around me, right. With that idea in mind of making those connections. Even now, even now, I have a couple of friends who are dental hygienists that want to pivot. Their career. Well, how could they pivot their career? They can go into myo. There's also no one doing MYO in my area, and that's what I have my eyes on next. But how great would it be to be able to help someone else pivot their career into something that they find more fulfillment in that they didn't even know they could do? Right. Like, and that's a possibility for them. So I would say, like, the networking conversation is constant when you can keep your, like, eyes and ears open for potential connections. That's really what I've been trying to do for three years.

Yeah, well, and I. And I asked that too, because. And I love that you kind of highlighted how long again that you've been, like, working on this, because I think a lot of people will be like, oh, hey, I want to open up a private practice. I want to see some private patients, even if it's part time, if, you know, it doesn't have to be full time. And then they kind of sit there like, oh, okay, well, who do I network with? And where do I find the patients?

And have.

And I get it, like, if you've never done this before and you don't really. You're not queued into even, like, where to start?

It's.

It can be challenging. And that's why sometimes I teach these things. Right. But I also love how you kind of have spoken to, like, how you can nurture those relationships. So even though these people were not necessarily necessarily referring to you, yet you were still very aware of, like, who you wanted to be around and maybe conversations that you wanted to have based on information that may have been shared or that may have come up in a conversation. So it's still like getting educated and being aware of how to even have that conversation with that person when the opportunity presents itself. So I think a lot of people said it's like they don't even realize the committee was sitting right in front of them.

And again, it's. I mean, it's a little bit of a leap of faith. Right? You kind of just have to step out and ask those questions. Ask questions. Right. I even going back to graduate school my teachers could always count on, I would be the person to ask the questions, because why not? You know? And I feel like sometimes we've gotten just in a place where people don't ask as many questions. We're given information, and we just take it. And we're not learning if we're not asking questions. And that transitions into any social setting. Right. So it's like, oh, you know, you're. You're a dentist or you're a pediatric dentist. What's that like for you? Like, what do you see in your clientele? Like, does speech therapy ever come up? You know, and just those few little questions can open a lot of doors. And I have found that they're always worth asking for.

Sure, for sure. I mean, it's. If you don't have those conversations, which I know not everybody is outgoing or feels comfortable even asking these questions or even putting themselves in the position of starting to network with people, you know, so it's definitely uncomfortable for a lot of people. And it's definitely, like you said, taking that leap of faith to even put yourself in the place to be able to ask the questions. And it's like, once you're there, okay, now I gotta ask them. Like, now I gotta listen actively to, like, be able to have the conversation. And I see. I see that hold a lot of people back. And, you know, I think that you're gonna run. I always tell people you're gonna run into providers who may be very set in their ways. Maybe they're not going to have the same beliefs or experiences as you do, especially in a small community or a community. Maybe it's not so small, but there is. There are no providers doing pediatric feeding or doing myo. Right. Or familiar with tethered tissues. Did you run into that? Like, did you find that that was an issue?

Yeah, we. I've seen trends, I think is the best way to put. So when I interact with providers that are newer into their careers, I feel like sometimes those conversations are a little bit easier than providers who are maybe looking at retirement in the next five to 10 years. They've been doing the same thing they've always done. And like you said, they, like, have a way of doing things. I feel like I ran into that a lot in education, with teachers and working in special education. And that has really prepared me to have those conversations of plants. It's kind of like a dance, right? You have to plant the seed and then you have to come back and check on it. And it's not really going to be a fast process with providers who have been doing what they. The only way they've known for a long time. Those conversations happen a little bit faster with providers that are newer into their careers, maybe more recently out of school. And again, you find a variety of people. So you are going to have people that have one way still. And this is the way that I know I'm Always on the lookout for a team player because it's a team approach, right? So to me, when I am talking to another provider that is like, well, I see that there's an oral tie, but I need you to probably have conversations with this person and this person before I feel comfortable addressing it. That is like, ding, ding, ding. Like, that is who we want to be working with. Like, let's get together. Let's have those conversations.

Yes. I love it. I love when. When people start to kind of realize, like, it's that whole team approach, right? And it's that each of us have our different areas of expertise, if you will, like, pieces to that puzzle that all need to come together in order to complete the puzzle. And, you know, I think that it's funny that. Not funny, but when you said, I worked in the schools, and that really prepared me. I'm sitting here going, yeah, you know, it's because you would see, like, teachers who are, like, newer to teaching who were, like, I don't want to say like, bouncing off the walls, but, like, their energy was just. They were. Their energy was so high and they wanted to try new things. They were constantly bringing in new activities and this, that and the other, versus, you know, some of those who have been there for 20, 30 years who are pulling out their old bins and reusing, which, look, there's nothing wrong with that. But also, I think just being open to new ideas and. And you would see that tension between, like, sometimes the older and the newer, and they'd be like, what is she doing? Why is she doing that? And we're like, nobody's questioning why you're.

Doing what you're doing.

What's the problem here? Right? And it's just. It's sort of like one of those things where you kind of go, like, okay, you know, it's very easy to get set in your ways and to do things the way you've always done them in medicine, in teaching and all the above. And that one of my things I always say to people, too, is, like, if you can find somebody who's at least interested, like, you piqued their interest when you bring this up. Like, you kind of just see their eyes go like, oh, talking about. That person is probably going to want to sit next to you in some CE courses and learn alongside you, even if they know nothing about it yet because they're interested. And that sometimes it takes time. But, like, can be one of the biggest, best, like, collaborative team type of relationships and referral sources.

And so that's why I say, like, you know, you grab on to those people, right? When. When you see other people asking the questions that are aligning with what you know to be true, you know, those are going to become your people. Hopefully. It doesn't mean we give up on our other people because they're still seeing tons of potential clients. Right. You know that you still. You want to keep those other conversations going, but you kind of run with the people that. That are looking, in my case, that are looking for me. So, again, I was just kind of curious of my daughter, of how much she was getting in a feeding. And so I decided to. Like I said, lactation consultants aren't super easy to come by in my community. And so I was able to find one. And so I visited with her, and she, you know, we obviously got to talking. I was like, hey, I'm going to be a little transparent. Like, I'm not here just to see you, but I'm also here to talk with you. And, you know, I'm a speech therapist. I'm looking to go into pediatric feeding and swallowing. Like, I would love to know, like, your referral process. Kind of the same thing that I did three years ago, just with someone new. And she, like, lit up. She's like, yes. Like, yes. She's like, I have a few other people that are probably very interested to talk with you. And lo and behold, in that session, she'd already been texting with a couple other people that, again, are newer in our community that are looking to build a team of people, so. So that we can treat together. Right? Which is, like, the ideal situation. So, again, it was. I've had. If I could go through all of them. I've had so many moments that have affirmed this process and this decision, and that was like, probably like, the final one. I'm like, okay, I can't.

This is happening.

It's here.

Well, I mean, and it's. You've also put yourself out there, right? And I, like, like I said before, I know that's easier for some people. People to do than others, but you put in the work. Like, you put in the time. You've, like, kind of known in the back of your mind, like, hey, this is something that I want to do. I know a pivot's coming. I'm not sure when you're like. Like you said, you started to plant the seeds, so that when the time came, it's like, all right. It's like kind of universe is kind of being like, okay, Kelly, like, we know you've been talking about this, like, now we're just gonna. You've opened the floodgates, so we're just gonna bring it all into you now because your baby's like, five months, you know, getting. Maybe getting closer to six.

Six months.

You said January 2024, but we're going to make sure it happens a little sooner. So. So here you go.

No, totally. And sometimes that encouragement is good, right? I can be very like most speech therapists. I can be very methodical and like to have ducks in a row and.

You will never have enough ducks in row.

Sometimes you just, like, gotta go. It's like, that's. And so I met with this dentist that's really the driving force behind putting this team together, and she's like, girl, like, you've just got to go, like, start. Start with one or two and then keep going. And I am. That's. I'm doing it.

So, you know, it's my. I don't know if I. How many times I've shared this or not, but I was working for a private practice and almost partnered with the owner. Actually ended up not partnering, but prior to that, I actually had, like, a parent in that practice who was like, halle, like, just like, you're basically. Are running everything. You're basically doing the admin stuff here. You're basically like. She was like, you go, why are you waiting till you have children to open a private practice? Do it now. And I was like, I sat on it, I talked to my, you know, then husband, and I was like, she's right. Like, I'm newly married. You know, I guess maybe at that point I wasn't, like, too far past getting married, but I ended up opening up. I decided I was going to do it. I even went and, like, bought my URL, had my website made, got headshots, done, done, like, all the things. So that when I went to, like, leave the other job, I wouldn't be like, oh, yeah, you know, I'll stay a little bit longer. I was like, no, no, I'm gonna, like, invest in this. So that when I basically give my, like, my notice, it's like, it's happening. And so June 1, 2014, I opened up my private practice. And then I got pregnant, like, later that year. And so, like, within, you know, within the first year, actually, it was like, the practice opened in June. She was born the following. So, like, August 21, 2018. So just over a year later, like, year and two months, and I just had to, like, laugh at myself because I'm like, here I was always telling myself, we're going to wait till we have. I'm going to wait till I have kids. I don't know why I made up the story. That was my plan. It's just a plan that came into my head and I, like, stuck with it because maybe it felt safe at the time. And then this mom was like, encouraging me and she's just like, you're already doing it. Like you're going to do it. Why wait? She's like, things are just going to get like, you know, they'll just get more complicated if you keep waiting. And I was like, okay. I don't know. But I thought about it. I was like, she's. She's right. In the sense that I'm already doing the things. I'm already putting in so much time and energy to somebody else's practice. And before that, in the schools, it was like, I'm putting in so much time and energy. And there were, there were a lot of restrictions when I worked in the schools. And an infant. I was an infant.

I loved the infant and toddler program.

Did not love working in the school. But aside from that. But anyways. But yeah, I was like, I'm glad I made the leap. And I always think back to that because like you said, it's like that external push. Even though I'm a very internally driven person, usually that external push just kind of validated I think, what I was wanting to do. And I was like, yeah, like, why am I waiting? All right, let's just do this. And I'm glad I did. It was nice to be able to, like, jump in and go. I'm like. And then, you know, everyone's like, well, what was your plan? I was like, I don't plan. Like, I don't. What do you mean, what was my plan? I mean, I used to plan before I had kids. And then I had kids and I realized, like, I can't be a type A SLP and be perfectionist who dots all my eyes and crosses all my T's and pleases everybody and run a thriving business. Like, there's just no way around that. Either I'm a stay at home mom and I can do all those things, or maybe I work for somebody else and I have, like, some, like, less responsibility. But no, like, I was like, I'm now a type B SLP because I've.

Just learned I can't.

I just can't do it.

All kids are humbling.

They are. Oh, they are.

Yeah. Well.

And that was you know, I was still like the bag lady who came in with all the materials. And I was like, you know, trying to. I think what I. What part of it was too, was like, I really wanted to deliver a different level of service than families were used to, because I had seen what was going on in other places, and I was like, that's. That's not us. Like, that's not what we're doing here. Like, we. This is private pay. We're going to deliver a certain level of service. I am basically taking the responsibility to. To help these kids progress. And I think that, you know, I'm not saying that, like, we have to graduate the next number of sessions. I'm just saying, like, from one week to the next, I want to be aware of what I would want as a parent. And yes, I know we don't make progress every session, but I want to have open lines of communication with the families. I want to send them a note after every session or, like I said, in the last five minutes of the session, you know, like, electronically. I'm like, I want to have a different level of service so that they realize that, like, I'm your partner in this and I. As you are. And that takes a lot of energy. It does.

Yeah. It's a high quality. It's a high quality service delivery.

Yeah, yeah. But I was like, but you know what? Technology also allows for us to do things like this and deliver a higher level of service and make it more efficient as a business owner. And so I really tried to set it up that way day one. So I'm like, when I'm super busy in a year, like, I feel like I can still operate very similarly to how I was operating on day one. And I'm not going, oh, I'll deal with that later. So, like, that was like, the one thing that I was like, this needs to be in place. I need, like, an electronic emr. It's got to be with me on the go. I need to be able to see what I did last session. I want to hit copy, copy note from last session, have it all appear on the screen. So I can just tweak what we worked on today and update the parents. And then I'm going to send them that note so that they have it. So if insurance asks for documentation, they can send them those notes. You know, like, we'll give them a Superville note and they can handle the rest. And then I will tell you that's worked really beautifully for the past. What, like, is it eight years, nine Years, I can't even count. Nine years.

Nine years. And there are so many great resources out there. Even just in my experience of getting started. You're like doing like, I had all these lists, right. Checklist. I have to have this, I have to have that. And then you kind of stumble on some of these platforms that, like, have that all done for you, and you're like, oh, yes, that is worth it. Like that. We need that. Check all those done. We're rocking and rolling. So there are some great professional resources now that private providers can be using and utilizing for all those reasons you just said.

Yeah, and that's, and that's exactly. I mean, nine years ago there was still enough for me to do what I wanted. And I, like you said, now I'm sure there are just like hundreds and thousands of different types of resources based on whatever your needs are. There's probably an app for it. Or like you said, there is a all in one platform that provides all these things. You need that. You know, I think when, if you're truly going to go into business and you're going to be a business owner, you have to invest in getting things off the ground. Otherwise you're never going to get started. And that's kind of been a true theme for all of my businesses. And because I have a couple online businesses. Right. And so even in the online business, I'm like, I invest, I hire what I need to hire to get started. Not what I think I need a year from now.

Right.

But like, I will hire whoever I need to help me kind of get things moving. Otherwise a year from now I'll be.

Like, oh, yeah, remember that thing we wanted to do? Yeah. That didn't happen. I know, yeah. Or like, oh, I should have done that a year ago because it would have been better to start a year ago. You know, like, there's, there's all these things and, and like you, I had a thought when you were talking about, you know, that sometimes people aren't as outgoing or having those conversations to get started can be more challenging. And I feel like in my experience, if there's like something moving in your gut that's like nudging you, you're never going to regret it, right? So, like, you're never going to regret, like, having that conversation, taking that step towards something new, opening those doors to your private practice, taking on that first client, what are you going to regret? Nothing. You know, like, so if it is nudging you and like, it is there, take a deep breath and go for It.

Yeah, and it's. It's, I think, trusting yourself enough to, like, follow your intuition. And, you know, that's where, like, I've worked with coaches, business coaches, and others in the past, and they were just like, Holly, like, you already know. They're like, you just have to trust. You've just trust yourself. And, like, just. They're like, you've already proven also that you can do these things by, like, your past businesses or your past actions. Like, why are you questioning this? And I'm like, all right, okay. Yeah, you're right. Like, you know, and it's like that little feeling, like you said, you get that feeling in your gut. You kind of just get this feeling where you're just like, yeah, I need to do this. I want to do this. And sometimes it feels big and heavy. And I always tell people, I'm like, you can sleep on it for a night, but don't sleep on it for a year.

You know, that's great advice. Absolutely. And, you know, I have to say, for my situation, too, is like, my husband's been my biggest cheerleader, and, like, I'm so blessed in that. And he. In my moment of doubt, because I'm sitting there, like, knee deep in checklists. Like, I don't. I'm. That type A is coming out in me. I am a type B mom. I have learned to accept. Accept that. But I'm still going to have tendencies to be a type A professional. And he has just been like, you have got this. Like, our community needs this. Like, people need you where there's a need that you are wanting to fill. Like, how can you go wrong?

Oh, having that support system is incredible because it. It's a journey. It's not easy. It is time consuming. Everyone kind of goes, oh, I want.

To work for myself so I can.

Create my own schedule and be my own boss. And, like, well, yeah, I mean, check those boxes if you get to do that, too. But also, nobody tells you that it's a massive time investment, it's a massive financial investment, and, like, you can get started for pretty low funds. You know, it's. I'm not saying you have to make a ton of money, but there is going to be some sort of an investment upfront. If you want to set things up efficiently, properly, you actually want to get going. And, you know, and that's where it's. Having that support is so incredible when.

You have that team member. Like, I would never. I feel super lucky that that's my situation. I would. If that's not someone else's situation. I would still say don't let that discourage you, you know, but it's, for me, like, it has helped in, like, those moments of questioning because like you said, like, it's a time investment, it's an energy investment, and it's a financial investment. And so having him be on the same page and if anything, like, pushing me even more each day, it's just. I feel very lucky.

Yeah. And I think there's also a time and a place for that type A personality to come out. Slp, you know, business owner, professional. Like, there are certain things that just have to get done, right? Like taxes have to be paid. Business things need to be filed. Like, there are certain things where you have to look at the checklists or figure out what system you're going to use for reminders and to, you know, and you're learning. And I think that when anything is new and you're learning something new and you're doing it for the first time, it's kind of like, okay, what do I not know that I don't know? It's like, I don't know what I don't know. So it's doing.

The reason you're gonna make mistakes.

Yes.

You know, you're gonna make a mistake. And.

Yeah. And I. And you know, I think it really comes down to the people who have the most success are the people who recognize this and they don't quit and they keep pushing forward. And, you know, even if it feels slow going in the beginning because you only have a handful of patients, like, okay, this is stressing me out. Like, are we going to be profitable soon? Like, what is this? You know, it's those who continue to network, who continue to trust the process, who continue to go out there and work even though you may not be treating, you know, 20 hours a week, whatever you desire, that I think that's where you start to see it build. And once you've got the groundwork and you start to build it, like, then you can start to scale it.

And.

And that was the other thing that happened in my business was people said, well, how did you know when you wanted to hire your first contractor or your first therapist? And I was like, well, I had no plans to until I was already full and I was not working after school hours. Like, I wanted to be home by three. And all of a sudden people wanted after school hours. And I also was like, I work with like, infants and toddlers and mostly toddlers, preschoolers at that time. But I was like, I don't want like preschool. I've never done school age language. Like I was doing like 5 and below. And so I was like, I need, I need somebody who maybe. And so I found somebody who worked in the schools who just wanted clients after school hours. I was like, perfect. And so she came on with caseload and. And then as I got closer to maternity leave, it started to build more and so I hired more people and then someone took over my maternity leave. And so, you know, it was nice because having your own business, right? It's like you can still make money if others are seeing patients and you're not treating directly. And so then that kind of gave me a taste of like, oh, maybe one day I'll step away from treating. But for now, I love, you know, I can treat between kids. And after having both girls and yeah, I mean, it's just, it's just kind of built itself based on need.

Yeah. And I know for me, when I, you know, am, I guess you could say, like promoting myself, right. I'm. I'm having those conversations of saying, hey, like I am opening this business because I want it to focus on pediatric being following like that break to 3 range. Like that is where I'm hoping this practice goes. However, I'm not, not seeing school age, you know. Yeah, you can't just like open a business. And I think going to that narrow link, it's probably going to be fine. I probably can, but I'm not going to. So I have some other areas that I still love that I served our public school system for. I have AAC knowledge that I would still love to provide to our community. And so there's still some niches that I want to see and treat. But I'm also very clear that the goal of this practice for me is to have pediatric pain swallowing to fill that need in this community. But not to say that I won't grow in those other areas by hopefully hiring other people who like to do those other things and want to, you know, take on clients in that way. But I do try and specifically speak to. This is a business that is part of, to fill the need, so.

Oh, yeah, well. And when you're like super clear on like who you serve, right. Like, you're gonna fill up fast, especially because nobody else is of doing it. And I think, you know, you'll get sometimes patients too who are like, oh, well, they need feeding, but they also, the same patient needs, you know, some pediatric speech or language, you know, assistance, maybe aac, whatever. And that also I've seen practices build nicely because of that, where it's like, maybe two different therapists work with the child, and one is really focused on one specialty and one's focused on another. You know, unless the treating therapist really has the skills in both, in which case the same therapist could be working with the child in both arenas, you know, and it's like, I love of that because, again, it's just been so nice to provide a whole gamut of specialties under one business in my own. So, like, we've become known, like, much more for treating lisps because of myo or, you know, sound errors or pediatric feeding, you know, birth to five. But we get calls for everything, and we always have. And so, you know, I can't always say that I have the specialist for certain things, but, like, we can take most patients who call it based on the size of the team and the areas that we cover because we travel to our patients. So, you know, that also kind of makes things trickier, too. When you're traveling, it's hard to get around everybody, no?

And, yeah, obviously we need to be in brick and mortar and have people come to you. You can see more patients, use your time more efficiently. But there's also a space for going at home and making that functional for that child, just depending on the circumstances. Yeah. So.

So tell us then, like, so tell us about your business. How are you setting it up? Like, what. What are your goals, aside from, you know, heat feeding? You know, have you put thought into all this?

I mean, it's already evolving, and it hasn't started. Started. So I, you know, I. I set out in one way. My initial idea was I'm going to start off going into homes, right? I. I'll take a couple of clients each day. I don't want to be, like, fully away from my children yet. And. And we'll go into the home. And then it evolved into that conversation with that dentist, and she's like, but I have space. Like, I want us all to be here, and you can just come here, like, and we'll just figure it out. And I was, like, having that conversation with my husband. Well, what if I had a space because. And use everyone's time a little more efficiently, especially mine. But again, like, a space, there's rent, it costs money. And so now there's kind. I. Like I said, I live in Modesto. I married a farmer, fourth generation. And so we live out in the country, and there's multiple ranch homes. And my husband's grandmother, who was 95 years old, lived alone up until the very end and just had a beautiful life and has now gone to be with the Lord. And so there is a home on a property that we are going to get to use to slowly make it into an office in a place that I will get to use as my business. And she happens to have a big, beautiful kitchen. And I couldn't think of a better place to be more functional for feeding therapy. Yeah. So like I said, and again, like, how could I deny that this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing, like, with all of those things kind of just falling into place. So I'm hopeful to create that area and create that space to be an office. We'll do some construction to kind of separate it out and again, hopefully hire someone else. One person, two people. You know, you said you didn't know you were gonna hire, and then it evolved, and it. And it does. It evolves. So, yeah, I've learned to not set out in one path and to just start and. And to follow. To follow where it evolves. Because it's gonna keep evolving. Yeah.

I mean, trust the process. Right. Like, it's basically kind of all falling into place as it needs to, and the timing, everything's kind of coming together. So I think that's cool, too, because if you have that property already, you're able to then change it in the ways that you need to accommodate a growing practice, too. Which is actually one of the biggest things that, like, I do coaching, too, mentoring for business owners. And sometimes, like, they'll come to me and they'll be like, hallie, like, I don't know if I need to rent a second office. I don't know if I should take it. Like, we have an office with X number of rooms, but maybe I should have somebody in the pediatric dentist's office, too, because we need more space, you know, and it's. There's all these different, like, scenarios that come out in conversations, like, what do I do? And is this cost effective? And, you know, and whatnot. And so I think this is, like, so beautiful. Like, this is just. It's aligned so beautifully for you. So I'm excited. I'm excited to, like, see where nurture. Well goes and.

Yeah.

You know, follow your journey. Yeah, I'm excited. Yeah.

And like I said, I'm. I'm a mom of two young children. And so that piece of property is. Right. Kind of. Next we're all on kind of these ranchettes. Right. And so that is a little ranchette just Right down the road, across the road. And it puts me way close to home, which is a beautiful place to be. And it gives me a great spot to invite clientele to kind of be out in the country, a little bit removed from being in town. And it's just a really neat little environment. And I'm very excited to see where Nurture well is going to take me, because I'm not taking it anywhere anymore. I've brought it and now it's taking me places. So, yeah.

Oh, amazing. I once had a mentor say, like, stop looking at, like, what you're doing for the business and look at, like, how the business is serving you and, like, what the business is doing for you. Because, you know, as I created my online business too, and I looked at my private practice, I was like, well, the private practice is not really my meat and potatoes anymore. And, like, I feel like I'm still putting a lot of time into it, so is it worth it? You know? And a big part of me was like, I don't want to get rid of it. I don't want to give it up. Like, I'm not saying that I never will sell it or anything down the road. I don't know what will happen. Right. I leave all options open. But for I was like, it still serves the need. And I'm able to employ individuals who are able to pay their bills because they work for me or they're able to go do fun things because this is their second job. And, like, they just want that extra income. And like, all while these patients are getting a very specialized service that they're seeking and not getting elsewhere. And so I'm like, it really is serving me because it's very fulfilling. It is very aligned with what I teach in my online business and my courses, right? And I'm like, so the fact that, like, I can teach this, but also my business can provide it too, is. I'm like, call it selfish, but I feel. It feels so rewarding, right? I'm like, it feels good, but I.

Mean, it's also like you're practicing what you preach too, right? Like, what you're out there teaching and coaching and doing, you've done and you're still doing. And like you said, those needs and speech therapy, feeding therapy, all of it is not, like, the need for it is not going away, right? I don't know if you. You saw Ash's recent leader talking about that they project from what, like 2023 to 2033 or something like that, that there's going to be 14,000 new jobs each year for speech therapy. You know, for SLPs, there's such an easy.

Well, and we know that the pandemic definitely did not help that for our little list of patients either. You know, our children, not all patients, but, you know, it's. It was tough. It was tough. So hopefully we can get a lot. Close those gaps and get a lot of them back on track. But, yeah, no, it's definitely just, you know, I think also with the aging population and just the wide gamut of populations and ages that, you know, we treat the lifespan as SLPs. And yeah, there's so much that we do both medically, educationally, you know, it's clinically. It's just.

Yeah, it's definitely in itself is growing, you know, that those areas of treatment. And like I said, my next pivot is to focus on educating myself more in myo and continuing that, you know, feeding and training. And I think, again, like I said, this whole journey for me has really made me look back on why I became an SLP to begin with. Right. Sometimes when you're searching, you start from the beginning. And I chose to go into the field of speech pathology so that I would never stop learning. Right. And that's like, the importance of our career is that we don't stop learning. That you can continue in your education and the importance of that in order to serve your community is huge. And that was one of my big whys of why I chose it. Because I don't want to stop learning. I always want to keep learning.

So that's a lifelong learner bug, which will serve you really well as a business owner and a therapist. Right. And your patients will be. They won't know how lucky they are to have someone who truly is like, I need more. I need more. I need more. Because I also think that that's where that. That mix between, like, art and science, like the creative brain and the scientific brain, in a sense, like, start to work together. And you talked about, like, the dance earlier, and I feel like there is that dance both in business and there's also the dance in therapy and kind of figuring out, like, how do we apply the science and make it functional and how do we. What does this person need from me today? And it's. It's. It's an art. It's a skill set. And I'm not even sure that it's one that you can easily teach, because sometimes people will be like, how do you do this and how do you do that? And I'm like, well, you got to look at the patient that day and see what they need. Like, they're going to tell you. And then you kind of reach into your toolbox and kind of figure out, like, what you're going to do. Right. It's definitely a skill.

When I'm talking to people who think that they want to go into speech therapy or continue their education in some sort of therapy aspect, or even when I get graduate students or CFYs, I. My piece of information, I tell them, I guess you could say, is graduate school makes you a really good problem solver. It gives you all the tools that you need, but you still probably have to go get some new ones. And it makes you look at each. It should make you look at each situation with its own set of lenses. And it makes you a good problem solver. And if you can approach each situation as, this isn't going to fit in my box. Box. But how do I use my box to help this child XYZ more efficiently or whatever that case may be, that's kind of how I try and approach graduate school. It's just. It teaches you to be a really good problem solver. Yeah.

No, I like that. I like that because I do. I remember graduating and being like, I don't think they ever taught me how to teach how to do articulation therapy. I was like, what do I do with this kid? I'm like, I have patience in grad school. Why am I leaving grad school feeling like I don't know what I'm doing? And then. And that was exactly it. I was like, okay. And also, as I was in a school where, like, there was a senior SLP in the school, but she wasn't my mentor or like my CF advisor, but she was very nice. She was like, you can come to me with questions, but, hi, I'm a new grad and I'm kind of like, drowning and I'm just trying to learn my job. Like, if you're trying to, like, learn, like, how to exist in a school system and how to. An IEP meeting and how to write goals and how to. For that school system, because that's not going to be like, the way grad school, you know, it's just like, all the things. Yeah. And I just remember thinking back and being like, I don't even. I don't even know how to work on the sound. Like, this kid needs to work on the sound. I don't know how to do that. Like.

Yeah, like, I mean, graduate school doesn't necessarily teach you how to sit in an IEP meeting, like if you're lucky. It taught you a little parent coaching. You know, it's such a short amount of time in your life and you work really, really hard in that short amount of time to just eat all of the textbook knowledge. But again, that's textbook knowledge. Like that is not real world and real world is very different. And so it gives you tools for your toolbox and you've still got to go out and put the work in to each individual client.

Yeah, well, and, and so, yeah, going back to what you were saying, it really just comes back to a lot of continuing ed after grad school and figuring out like, who do I want to be when I grow up? Like, do I want to be more of a generalist? Do I want to be, do I want to focus on speech sound disorders? Do I want to focus on pediatric feeding? Do I want to focus, you know what, even within PETE feeding, do I want to work with babies? Babies, babies, toddlers or you know, preschool school age adults? Like, I mean, what do we want to work on here? Is it feeding? Is it swallowing? Do I want to do both? Those are separate. Right? So it's just, it's this whole very interesting experience that you know, and that I had no idea I was getting into. And I'm like, here I am sure many years later that I'm like, that's been, it's been a journey and a ride for sure. But I'm very grateful for having the ability to take a lot of continuing ed courses and dive deep down in and even having the experiences I did. Because you know, I think one part was like, I know I knew I wanted to have an online business. I never knew like what course I wanted to teach necessarily when I started getting that thought of, hey, I'm going to do this. And I did try to like sell some courses to parents like way back before, like I actually created my current online business and I think I sold one. And I was like, okay, we're going to pip, you know, push pause on that. And I opened up a private practice instead. And anyways, long story short, I just saw the need and I was like, I want to create the things that I wish that I had when I graduated and the things that I feel like would have given me more of a good jump jumping off point to actually start patience, knowing full on that like I'm going to be a lifelong learner. But I wish I had X, Y and Z in grad school. Right? And so I had an Amazing counseling course. Like, an amazing advisor who led that course. Like, it was one of my most favorite courses because I felt like it did really help us dive into how to talk to patients. And I think that was a skill that really. Like the whole art and science piece. Right. It is. So when working with humans, you need to know how to talk to them. But anyways, so. So you're in Feed the beads. Right?

And loving it so much.

Obviously. How's it going? I know we're only, what, like, four module?

Four.

Yeah.

Yeah. Loving it. Eating every second of it. So, yeah, just trying to soak it all in and getting very ready to put it into practice myself.

Well, I'm excited for you and I know since you're in the course, we'll get to hear a little bit more about this journey too, but. Yeah. Is there. Is there anything that we didn't talk about that you want to share with with us or any last thoughts?

I had kind of one thought as we were wrapping up here that I just thought I'd share. I. You know, you can love something, right? I loved working in the schools for the time that I did, and I thought I was gonna work there the rest of my life or the rest of my working life. I was a co chair. So we have, like, 32 SLPs for our district, and I helped lead that for four years. I mean, I was really thought I was, like, in this. Committed, and even that changed. Right? Like, you can love something so much and it still can change Kids, change everything. Right? And so I never thought that I would pivot my career. And now I'm just kind of looking and, like, how can I do anything else? Like, I can't go to that school environment. I don't want to. I don't have to. You know, it's. I'm going to step out into a new area that I am passionate about and so excited to just fill in this community and things can change, and that's okay. Like, you can be on One Direction and think that that's happening for you, and I would just encourage anybody to, like, go with it. Like, if you have something pulling you in a different direction, seek it, find it.

I love it.

I love that.

So last. Last but not least, tell us where they can find you.

Yes. So again, I'm so new and just in that very infant stage, but I do have an Instagram handle that I think will be linked to this. And from there, you can go on to my website, my very basic website. But again, hopes and dreams. You. You evolve as your business evolves. Right. And so that'll slowly get more beautiful, you could say. But yeah. So right now I'm, I'm, I have my little Instagram handle online which will lead you in to where my website is. And again, I am trying to fill this need for the Central Valley, California. So I'm located in Modesto, but like I said, there's referrals out to Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco, and you can find me right in the middle of all of those places. Amazing.

Well, Kelly, thank you so much for joining me today and we will definitely link your Instagram handle below the episode so everybody can click click through and find you. But yeah, thank you. This was amazing.

Thank you so much for having me. It was so fun having this conversation. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for listening to this podcast. If you found value in this episode and want to hear more of these Myotots, Airway and Feeding related episodes, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode on your social media platforms. You can access free resources and all I offer@halliebalkin.com or pop over to Holly Balkan on Instagram to get all the latest updates.