private practice success stories from black Slps

The following podcast episodes of The Private Practice Success Stories podcast featured Black SLPs who shared the ups, downs and lessons learned in their journey to private practice. These episodes were recorded between June 2018 – Present.

​Please listen to the episodes and reach out to the guests to share what your biggest takeaways were!

RELATIONSHIPS TO REFERRALS WITH LAKEISHA FIELDS

Lakeisha Fields, SLP is a Dallas-area private practitioner who specializes in working with children and young adults with autism. She focuses on both direct and indirect services to provide extra support for families. Lakisha focuses on family education and support as a way to build relationships, which are turning into referrals.

MAKING MY VISION A REALITY WITH DR. TINITA KEARNEY CCC-SLP

Dr. Kearney discovered a passion for speech-language pathology as an undergraduate student. Dr. Kearney  continues to apply her incredible research skills to all areas of her life. In her private practice, she continues to establish both connections with colleagues and balance between family time and attention to clients.

MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME WITH AUTUMN BRYANT, CCC-SLP

Autumn Bryant, M.S., M.A., CCC-SLP/L of Griffin Speech Chartered, entered the working world as a school SLP. After 8 years in the schools, she transitioned to a pediatric outpatient clinic. Most recently, she decided to start pursuing private practice to assist clients typically in need of assistance to attain career advancement. Her specialties include accent modification, residual speech sound disorders, and voice therapy.

THE CONFIDENCE YOU NEED TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS WITH ADRIENNE FULLER, CCC-SLP

Adrienne Fuller, SLP envisioned herself as a private practitioner early on. In addition to skilled nursing facility work and public school contracting, she has extensive experience as a published author (“Putting Your Dreams to Work: Keys to Setting Up Your Therapy Practice.”) and a public speaker. Adrienne currently has an established practice working with two other speech-language pathologists.

“SERVING HER COMMUNITY” WITH BRIONNA PICKENS, SLP

Brionna Pickens, SLP was a dedicated public school SLP when she came to the sudden realization that she wanted to pursue a private practice. From that day forward, she has worked tirelessly to become connected in the community and reach families. Most recently, she has transformed her practice from exclusively home-based services to a brand new office space to serve her clients.

Episode 1: Growing Fast and Looking Forward to What’s Next with Ebony Green, SLP

Part 1: Ebony Green, SLP discovered speech-language pathology as a career path while she was employed as a Teach for America corps member. She became an SLP-A soon afterwards and achieved her master’s degree. Eventually, due to her high aspirations and the mentors who helped her along the way, she pursued private practice. Ebony is the owner of a primarily home-health based practice. She employs several therapists and has recently added occupational therapy services.

EPISODE 2: WHERE ARE THEY NOW: EBONY GREEN’S MASSIVE GROWTH IN ONLY 2 MONTHS

Part 2: Ebony made so much progress in TWO MONTHS before her first episode was even released that we recorded a Where Are They Now Episode to mark her quick and amazing progress.

Both episodes are available on:

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DOING IT ALL: CLINICAL CARE, COURSES & COMMUNITY SERVICE WITH DR. JAMIE FISHER, CCC-SLP

Dr. Jamie Fisher, SLP is an inspirational advocate for her clients and clinicians alike. Her practice has evolved to a multidisciplinary clinic providing therapy for children and adults as well as a continuing education center for other SLPs. Dr. Fisher continues to grow her impact on her local community as well as developing online courses to reach a nationwide audience.

“Opportunity is Everywhere” With Stephanie O’Silas, SLP

Stephanie O’Silas started her SLP journey at  the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. She seamlessly made the transition from graduate student to a skilled nursing facility and hospital in part due to her ability to build connections in her community. Her fortuitous move to Dallas led her to the start of her private practice. Currently she has a booming multidisciplinary clinic serving children and adults. Stephanie’s specialties include providing therapy to adults with dysphagia and neurogenic communication disorders and children with autism spectrum disorders.

HOW THIS MOMTREPRENEUR CREATES FLEXIBILITY FOR HER FAMILY… AND HER CLIENTS WITH ROSHONDA EPPS, CCC-SLP

Roshonda Epps, SLP is a self-described “Mompreneur” with a strong positive message and practical advice for all practitioners hoping to achieve a work-life balance. Her dream of working for herself became reality when she started seeing her first client through a contact at her son’s daycare. She is currently the sole SLP at Speech Therapy Zone, which is designed to provide services to children while also supporting their parents in a flexible manner.

yvette mccoy, ms ccc-slp, bcs-s

Yvette McCoy, MS CCC-SLP, BCS-S has been in private practice for 15+ years. She currently employs and collaborates with a variety of specialists, including ENTs and audiologists, in order to serve her clients from infancy to adulthood. Yvette has had an inspiring influence on her community and continues to grow with their needs in mind.

Building her Practice with Screenings with Ebone Williams, SLP

Ebone Williams, SLP has worked in several pediatric settings before deciding to start her own private practice. She has grown her private practice from ZERO to 24 clients – in just a few months – by doing free screenings at day cares. 
@Bearly_Articulating

Choosing her own adventure with Jeanette washington, M.Ed.

Jeanette Washington, M.Ed, SLP started as a school SLP before starting her private practice. Then, she took her knowledge and skills about treating people with dyslexia and wrote a  book called Technical Difficulties. She is also an internationally sought out speaker and all around amazing person!

FROM SCHOOLS TO SNFS TO HER OWN SCHOOL CONTRACTS: MEET TAMALA CLOSE, FOUNDER OF SLP PRIVATE PRACTICE IN COLOR

Tamala Close is a private practice owner and the founder of SLP Private Practice in Color. She got her start as a SLPA for a speech-language pathologist and decided to go back to school to pursue a path as a SLP.

We talk about how she decided to start her private practice and what ultimately led her to start her community, SLP Private Practice in Color to help fill the void for practitioners of color who want additional education and resources to starting their own private practice.
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BUILDING HIS EMPIRE: DAVID’S STORY

David Dean CCC-SLP is a private practitioner who has been building his practice with early intervention contracts through regional centers. He started his business after moving to California and is now working to build his empire. David explains what his work looks like on a day-to-day basis and how he’s structured his business for growth and flexibility. David and I are similar in that we both believe that there are enough clients to go around. I just love his abundance mindset and his attitude about getting started even when you might not feel 100% ready. 

@chatterbugsllc

Ditch perfection and start a private practice with Hillary frank, SLP Private Practice Beginners 

Hilary Frank is a private practitioner who started her business and has seen incredible successes over the past two years! In this episode, she gives her brilliant advice on ditching perfectionism while you grow your private practice. She chats about her journey from getting into this career path, her fellowship experience, why she got interested in private practice and how she made the decision to start her business, Chatterbugs. Hilary shares her biggest referral sources and how she stepped into the CEO role to make hiring decisions for her business. She also talks about her plans for expansion and creating more programs for her clients’ families. 
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@bilinguatherapy2020

Taking control of her life and circumstances with tia javier, SLP Private Practice Beginners 

Tia Javier is a private practitioner and one of only 91 Spanish speaking speech-language pathologists in the state of Virginia. She is actually someone who I first came across when she joined the Start Your Private Practice Program. Tia saw a huge need in the market for a bilingual private practice. In this episode, she shares how her student loans motivated her to make this decision, what a typical day in her practice looks like and her plans for the future. I really like Tia’s attitude and how she doesn’t look at obstacles as a set-back but instead figures out a way to overcome them. 
​​
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​Episodes sponsored by:

@smilesforspeech

HELPING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES LOCALLY AND ABROAD: SANDY’S STORY

Do you dream bigger for your SLP business? This episode is full of inspiration and motivation for you to follow the dreams you have for your business.

Today on the podcast, Sandy Dorsey is joining me to talk about her dream which is to serve underserved communities as an SLP, and how she is doing that.

Sandy Dorsey is a global speech-language pathologist, advocate for special needs and diversity champion. ​For over 25 years, she has provided diagnostic and therapeutic speech therapy services to wide-ranging populations in the underserved communities. Sandy works to equip the hardest-to-reach children through her practice,  All About Speech, located in New York City.
 
In July, 2017, Sandy’s commitment to supporting the most vulnerable children prompted her to start Smiles for Speech, a non-profit organization, offering sustainable access to speech and therapy resources to children around the world. Sandy also serves as an adjunct professor at an HBCU (historically black college/university) training marginalized, future generations of visionaries and leaders. 

Sandy’s vision is for children all over the world not to be bound by color, socioeconomic status or location and receive access to speech therapy resources in order to reach their full potential. 
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Host: Jena Castro-Casbon, MS CCC-SLP

Jena H. Castro-Casbon, MS, CCC-SLP, is a private-practice consultant who has helped thousands of speech-language pathologists start and grow their own private practices through her company, The Independent Clinician.  She has written articles for The ASHA Leader and Presented at ASHA Connect (2017).

You’ll find her online in the SLP Private Practice Beginners Facebook Group and in her premium programs, The Start Your Private Practice System and the Grow Your Private Practice Coaching Program.

Jena lives in Boston, MA and is a wife and mama to two young boys. 

@thespeechtoolbox

THE STORY OF ELAN HUTCHINSON’S PRIVATE PRACTICE DREAM

Do you wonder how to have a private practice that serves both you and your community? Have you ever wondered what that looks like as an immigrant? This episode is going to cover both of those things.

Today on the podcast, Elan Hutchinson is joining me to talk about having a successful private practice as an immigrant.
Elan Jolee Hutchinson was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. She had the opportunity to attend undergraduate at Elmira College and graduate school at Howard University, so she moved to the states for her education.
Elan started her private practice, The Speech Tool-Box, LLC in 2018 after spending time working in schools. She has enjoyed every minute of creating a practice that serves her community and her lifestyle. Even though she is in demand, she chooses to keep her practice small, so she is able to spend more time with her 13 month old son.
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Thinking bigger with Chrystal sanford, SLP 

What if you could create a private practice that served the population you’re passionate about and allowed you to serve as a consultant, author, speaker or parent education and empowerment coach?

It is possible to do more and think bigger – personally and professionally!

I am talking all about this today with my guest, Crystal Sanford, from Sanford Autism Consulting.

Crystal has been in the field of Speech Therapy for 20 years. Her areas of experience include social language disorders, language/articulation disorders as well as communication assessments and treatment for individuals with Autism. She also enjoys her leadership experiences in the field, such as mentoring Speech-Language Pathologists who are beginning their careers.

Crystal became acquainted with Autism in a new way when her daughter was diagnosed with  Autism. In 2016,  Crystal was inspired to open Sanford Autism Consulting, a place where other Autism and special needs moms could find clarity, support, and HOPE for their IEP journey.
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This episode was brought to you by my premium program The Start Your Private Practice System.

​If you’ve been thinking starting a private practice full-time or “on the side” I encourage you to sign up for my FREE TRAINING. I’ll make sure you know everything more in a free 60 minute presentation than you ever learned in grad school!

Visit startyourprivatepractice.com/webinar

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