S2E5: Building a Brick and Mortar Speech Practice with SLP Jacey Bullock

On this episode of the series "How I Built my Speech Path Business," we talk with SLP Jacey Bullock.  Jacey spent the beginning of her career as a speech therapist in the school setting, and once she became pregnant with her 3rd child, she knew she wanted to create an opportunity for herself that would allow more time with her children while still using her passion and knowledge as a therapist.  What started as testing out the waters seeing a couple of kids privately quickly turned into a full blown speech therapy clinic with several speech therapists working with and for her.  Jacey never could have imagined that starting a business just a few months shy of having her third baby would have successfully grown into what it is today. 

Jacey goes through her journey with us from marketing strategies, searching for office spaces, finding and hiring the right therapists, serving her patients and families and creating contracts for her employees. 

 One of Jacey's main goals in being a business owner is to create a flexible and empowering work environment that radiates positivity and attracts both clients and therapists alike.   She shares operational strategies that keep her team motivated and her clients returning. From the decision to operate on a private pay system to the freedom of scheduling that allows therapists to maintain work-life harmony, Jacey is proving that her foundational values are key to creating a successful business . She also shares about her sister's partnership in the business and the importance of trust and communication when making those decisions. 

Making sure families are matched with the right therapist is another important goal for Jacey as a business owner.  She knows that the right fit is important for both the therapist and the child, and although it takes time and energy making sure that happens, the effort has proven to keep inquiries coming in and therapist schedules full. 

Tune in to this encouraging and informative episode with Jacey Bullock as she shares the importance of combining work goals, community outreach and family values together to create KCL Pediatrics. 

Check out Jacey's website - www.klcpediatrictherapy.com and her IG Account!

Also, if you haven't done so already, follow our podcast!  You will be the first to know when new episodes release.  We would also love for you to leave a review and rate our show.  The Speech Source appreciates your feedback and support!  Follow here!

Follow Kim and Mary on IG here! - https://www.instagram.com/thespeechsource/
For more information on speech, language, feeding and play - visit The Speech Source Website - https://www.thespeechsource.com/

Also, if you haven't done so already, follow our podcast! You will be the first to know when new episodes release. We would also love for you to leave a review and rate our show. The Speech Source appreciates your feedback and support! Follow here!

Follow Kim and Mary on IG here! - https://www.instagram.com/thespeechsource/
For more information on speech, language, feeding and play - visit The Speech Source Website - https://www.thespeechsource.com/

Transcript

Mary: 0:00

That's such an incredible testament that everyone is wanting to help. Everyone wants to help each other and if you have a great idea, you don't have to have the deep pockets to throw thousands of dollars at an event. Sometimes you just have to look around and say, hey, your friends that are home builders would love to be part of that, but how in the world would they have even come up with that idea? I can do so much good together. It sounds like your collaborations or your connections have really taken you very far with your business as your friendships.

Jacey: 0:37

I would say 100%. I'm so thankful for my husband and my sister, but outside, just our community and our friends. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for them believing in me and our practice and what we want to do, and I think that that is just carrying over and just feel so very blessed to be a part of a wonderful community, several communities actually, that wouldn't be here without our community, for sure actually, but wouldn't be here, without our community for sure.

Mary: 1:09

Welcome to the Speech Source Podcast. My name is Mary Brzeek.

Kim: 1:19

And I'm Kim Dillon. We are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with a combined 25 years of experience.

Mary: 1:21

We are your source for speech, language feeding, play and much more in between. This season, on the Speech Source Podcast, we are going to be interviewing 12 incredible SLP entrepreneurs who have all built their own businesses. Some of these women are app designers, content and digital course creators, summer podcast hosts, speakers, coaches, business owners so much more. These women are going to give us all the inside scoop on how it's done, as a speech pathologist, going off and building your own business. So join us each week as we hear their journey and how they built their SLP business.

Kim: 2:07

On today's episode we have Jacey Bullock. She is a speech therapist here in Aledo, texas, and she has opened up her own practice and she actually has a brick and mortar practice, and more than one. So we're going to get to know all about Jacey, how she started her practice, and much more, I'm sure. So welcome, jacey, thank you. Thank you so much for having me, so if you just want to start by telling us a little bit about you, yeah, my husband and I are both from the Dallas area.

Jacey: 2:37

I went to the University of Oklahoma for undergrad and when I first started I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, and I was introduced by a friend into the field of speech pathology and I just fell in love. I'd always liked working with kiddos and that was just something that I continue to feel passionate about, and my undergrad was from the University of Oklahoma. And then, right after I graduated, my husband and I got married and we moved to Tulsa for his job, and so I went to the University of Tulsa for graduate school, loved the program. Right as I was about to graduate, my husband's job actually brought us back to Texas and in Fort Worth I immediately started looking for jobs and I thought I wanted to be in the schools. I knew I was wanting to have kids soon and like the school schedule, and I just thought that's where I would be. So I got a job in Aledo and that's what brought us to Aledo, and so we live here. We've lived here for almost six years.

Jacey: 3:32

I worked for Aledo ISD for five years. I loved it. I feel like never planned on leaving. It was just. I felt like in the school setting as good as I could have gotten A little bit about my family. I have three kiddos. I have a five-year-old son, I have a daughter she's almost four, she'll be four in March and then I have a son who's almost 19 months and my practice is KLC pediatric therapy and it's after Knox, laney and Cooper.

Mary: 3:58

When.

Jacey: 3:59

I opened my practice, I just wanted to do something with their name and that's where that kind of developed. But when I was pregnant with my third, I just I knew I wanted to do something different. I wanted to be home with my kids more, and that going part-time for the district just wasn't an option and I started to branch out and look and see like what else I could do and honestly, that was the hardest decision probably I've ever had to make Leaving a job that I thought I would probably have until I retired, leaving a school that's right outside my neighborhood and my kids will go to. But I just I felt like I needed something a little different and so I thought I'll just start seeing some kids on the side and, honestly, out of my dining room. That was my original plan, just so I could be home with my kids. And that's how KLC got started and quickly turned into a wonderful blessing.

Kim: 4:48

Did you finish out the spring at the school?

Jacey: 4:50

Yes

Kim: 4:51

did you start right that summer trying to build your caseload?

Jacey: 4:57

did, and I was meeting with a pediatrician and she gave me a hard time because I was like eight months pregnant and she was like starting a business and you're about to have a baby, and I really just had no intention of it turning into what it has. Yes, I finished off the school year and I actually did some contract work with a private practice supervising some SLPAs as I was transitioning. But really I started seeing kiddos the very end of May. I think my first call that I got was the week after summer started and I only saw him for a few weeks and then I had my son Cooper at the end of June.

Jacey: 5:34

So then I took a pause for a little bit and then, when I felt comfortable enough starting to see those kids again, I picked it back up and that was probably October of 22 that I really started seeing kids again. I would start seeing them at five o'clock and so my husband would help kind of transition, since we were single in the home and he would take my kids to the trampoline park or wherever, so I could get some things done here. And then the referrals just kept coming, and so January 1st of 2023 is when I got my first office, so that's when I transitioned out of our home. So it was really only about two, two and a half months that I was consistently seeing kids in our home before moving to a broken mortar.

Mary: 6:19

How did you get those first referrals? If you're coming from the school, how do you get the word out that, hey, I'm seeing patients in my home now?

Jacey: 6:29

A couple of them came from a therapist that works for the district that used to do some home health and she had some kiddos that weren't being seen but she had kept in contact with and so she sent them my information. One of them was just it was by chance, I think that they had reached out to a family member that had known me and I don't even know if they knew that I was starting to see kids on the side. He just told her to reach out to me, and those have been some of the families that have just been the biggest supporters and the biggest blessings. Our family, or my kiddo's pediatrician, has just been a wonderful support. So at that same time I'd gone in for a checkup and I mentioned to her that I was starting to see kiddos and her and her practice have been just big supporters. So that kind of all at the same time started trickling in, I think.

Kim: 7:18

Were there any specific marketing tools or things that you've done that you feel have really helped get the word out or get people in the door?

Jacey: 7:28

I started an Instagram, which I'm not very tech savvy and I don't really know that has done much. I think I've had some referrals from social media. I'm trying to. I don't know that there was anything specific. I think Facebook moms pages and when you have a community that believes in you and knows what you're doing, it really wasn't marketing. It was people that were asking for a speech path and I'd been in a community for a while and people started mentioning my name and that's where it came from. Then our current families will mention her name and that kind of thing.

Mary: 8:01

I love that. So then you start your brick and mortar. And how did you find office space? Slps, we are not taught about how to shop commercial real estate.

Jacey: 8:11

My husband has been huge in helping me with kind of the business side of things and thinking about things that I did not learn to think about. And we do have a shared office space that is just right outside our neighborhood. So I knew that was there and so I looked into that and they just happened to have one room to rent and so financially it made sense to take a leap. It wasn't something that we felt would be too dangerous, but at the same time it made sense. We had everything in order to take that leap. So that was our first office space and then we moved this October to another shared office spaces. I think there's just places all over that are more shared office spaces. So the place where I now we have two offices and we're probably going to get a couple more here in the next couple of months, but there's play, therapists and counselors and it's basically a big building where each room is rented out to different businesses. A lot of them in this place are different type of therapists.

Mary: 9:11

Which is so great that when you want a brick and mortar you don't also have to be a landlord.

Jacey: 9:16

Yeah, and so I think I would love one day and I think that's in our future having a bigger space that is just ours. But right now we're just taking it step by step.

Kim: 9:27

And that probably also helps you figure out, location-wise, what you're liking, what works for your families. Do you enjoy being in a space that has all these other disciplines to refer to? It's probably a great way to decide what's going to work best.

Jacey: 9:43

Yes, exactly, I would say. We'd even love to have other people, like maybe occupational therapists or physical therapists. We've had some people that have reached out about doing some things in our practice and we would love to have a space to be able to do that, and right now we're just running room by room for whatever financially makes sense.

Kim: 10:00

So you have offices that are 45-ish minutes away. What is your farthest location?

Jacey: 10:09

We have a location on the border of Sunnyvale and Mesquite and then here in Aledo as well. So I branched out of our home in January and then, even at that time, I didn't know what it was going to turn into, other than I wanted to see kids and provide great therapy. I didn't want to be in the clinic five days a week because I wanted to be home with my kiddos more. And so once I reached that limit, my sister, who is also a speech language pathologist she had actually come to me and said let's do an articulation bootcamp, let's do a bootcamp for kiddos who are in the schools and maybe they don't want to do private therapy all year long, but they want to do something in the summer that could help bridge the gap when they're not getting therapy. And so she lives in Dallas and she was like I'll come and we'll do like a six week program and she will do that. And so we did that last summer and it was a hit, it was wonderful. And at the same time my caseload was maxed out and I told her. I said all right, it's either I need to either hire somebody or turn people away, or would you like to join me on this and my sister is my best friend and she said let's do it. And so she actually joined me this summer and is co-owner and helps me run the business as well, and so we have shared an office. So she's in the clinic on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm in the clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Jacey: 11:25

So that's how we started initially, with that one office, and then, when she became full, then we felt like we needed more office spaces and brought on some more therapists. But we also grew up with a bunch of girls that also became speech language pathologists, that are all over the Dallas area and have all been interested in wanting to be a part of what we're doing. And back in August we started getting some inquiries in the area where we were from just that kind of East Dallas area and trying to refer those to people that I didn't really know. I didn't really know therapists in that area doing private therapy, and so at that time we decided to open a practice there and bring on a therapist.

Jacey: 12:08

So our first therapist that we brought on Jill, who we've both known her since we were little. She's incredible, she has a lot of experience and she lives in that community and so she was ready to jump on board with us and take a leap of faith to see what it would be like, and so she was our first therapist that we brought on there, and we're doing the same thing. We're renting an office space from a guy that owns a business. He's been incredible and basically wants to help businesses that are getting started, and my husband actually found him somehow, and so we're renting an office space there until we find more of a permanent space in that Sunnyvale area.

Mary: 12:44

And then, how many contractors do you have working for you now? How many speech pathologists?

Jacey: 12:50

So my sister and I, and then we have five outside of us.

Mary: 12:54

Wow, and all different areas, right. So then some of them are traveling to homes, is that correct?

Jacey: 13:00

Yeah, I think that's something that I have been very passionate about, that the therapists that we bring on one I do want high quality, the best of the best therapist, and so to me what that means is they have the freedom to make those decisions on what works for their schedule, what they specialize in the cases that they're comfortable seeing and want to pursue more continuing education over.

Jacey: 13:21

So, yeah, we do, we. We do in home and daycare, in private schools and then in clinic, and so every therapist kind of has basic knowledge in everything. But we have some therapists that are, like, very interested in apraxia, and so wanting to specialize in apraxia, or oral facial malfunctional disorders, is what I am starting to specialize in, and feeding in pragmatic language. And so just letting them say, hey, I really want to take this on and I really want to do this and I really want to that kind of thing, and so just letting them say, hey, I really want to take this on and I really want to do this and I really want to that kind of thing, and so it's a case by case basis. We don't have, oh, this radius, we will travel in home, no matter what. It's a if we're able to make it work with the schedule and that kind of thing.

Kim: 14:02

So you're really providing an opportunity, then, for these therapists to have that flexibility and grow in the areas that they're interested in and they're passionate about. They're learning how to structure theirvalued and underpaid, and that is something I wanted my therapist to feel valued and to feel loved and to feel like they love their job.

Jacey: 14:33

Because I feel like therapists that truly love their job and love what they do and love coming to work every single day. That therapy shows and the therapy pays off. And then we have clients that are extremely happy and love their therapist and feel like they're part of the community and I've always wanted the therapists to feel like they're part of the team, or all the team. We're all learning. There's never a time to stop learning and finding those therapists that want to continue to learn and really find man. I love this. I want to keep learning about this.

Mary: 15:01

So having autonomy over their own caseload is really important to them. How do you also offer your therapist autonomy over their schedule or their hours, or how many patients they see, or when their off times are?

Jacey: 15:17

that kind of thing we just when do you want to work? That's my first thing when I have my therapist answer different questions before I start an interview with them, and my first thing is okay, how many hours are you wanting to work? How many patients are you wanting to see? Are there specific populations that you were not comfortable in serving? Are you not comfortable in those continuing education courses? Are there areas that you would like to know more about, that you want to pursue? And then from there, I look at my office space and, okay, I have this available on these days. Is this when you want to work or you want to work more? It's now becoming less and less easy with just a large variety of therapists and just making sure that I give them exactly what they're looking for, and maybe I will have somebody answering the phones for me, but right now, my sister and I are taking all those calls just because I feel like it starts with just the relationship of answering and having that relationship with the families and knowing exactly what they need, to be able to schedule them with the right therapist.

Mary: 16:20

This is a really specific business question, but which EMR system do you use that's able to house that kind of scheduling with all different contractors and locations? Yeah, we use simple practice.

Jacey: 16:33

And is that what y'all?

Mary: 16:35

use.

Jacey: 16:35

Yeah, it's been good. I think there are some things. I'm a little I say OCD, like when I first started with my paperwork. I wanted it to look a certain way and there's not as much flexibility with that as far as that goes. But other than that it's been a pretty seamless system for all of our therapists to use.

Kim: 16:51

I was just going to ask if you're taking any insurances right now, or are you just private pay?

Jacey: 16:56

We are all private pay. I've looked into and I've talked with several different therapists that are in network with some different insurance companies, and I just decided to stay away at this time and right now that's what's working for us. I've wanted to just to be able to help more families, but at the same time, I do feel like there are certain things that dictate therapy as far as insurance goes, and then just the additional hassle with dealing with insurance.

Mary: 17:21

So you have a really beautiful website. The photography is beautiful. So, having gone through creating a website as well, there are so many things that you have to have in place to set up a website and to look as good as Jacey's does. One of your tabs says client portal. Can you tell me what you do with your client portal, how you set it up, and then I think that's a great way to serve patients.

Jacey: 17:52

So I'll be completely honest and I tell my sister this all the time. I would love to hire a designer. I actually did the website all by myself. I joke with her. She's like I think it looks great, but I've played on the website so many times trying to modify things, but I appreciate that it's been a labor of love for sure. So the client portal is actually tied to simple practice. If you go to simple practice and it's been a while, but there's an option to share the client portal link with your patients, and on my website I created a button that I just linked to that client portal website. So then I just have a title client portal and it goes to that client portal website. So then I just have a title client portal and it goes to the client portal website that my patients have access to. That they get access to when we're starting them up in a system, but this way, instead of searching through email, they have it on our website.

Mary: 18:43

And with being HIPAA compliant. That makes so much sense for them to be able to use that to communicate and to send and upload documents from For sure. I'm floored that you did that yourself. It looks really good. Thank you, I appreciate it.

Jacey: 18:58

I had a photographer for the pictures, but yeah, the website, many hours just playing around with it, for sure.

Mary: 19:03

Yeah, so tell me about the photography on your website. Setting up commercial shoots are a little bit different, because you do have to bring the toys and maybe bribe some of your friends to bring their kids to be your models. So how did you do your branding photography?

Jacey: 19:22

So mine was actually a very last minute shoot. I thought about branding photographs. Last minute to shoot, I thought about branding photographs, but I can't remember if it was Voyage or there was an article company that reached out wanting to do an article about entrepreneurs and me, but they needed branding photos and they wanted me to respond to the article with questions and with photos. I was so thankful and I thought it'd be wonderful to be a part of it. But I didn't have branding photos.

Jacey: 19:50

And I reached out to one of our neighbors, nikki Kavanis, and she is a photographer and I asked if she has ever done branding photos and she said yes and I said can we do it like in a couple of days? And my husband works and I work I'm sorry, I'm never this complicated, but is there any way? And then can I have it back super quickly? I just gathered toys that I had at the house and told my kids this is what we're going to wear, we're going to make it casual and I don't know that we've ever done professional photos without me going and buying clothes for the whole family to match and I was just like let's just grab what we have and let's do this. So I have some photos and they turned out wonderful.

Mary: 20:26

I want to ask about marketing a little bit and the different really creative things that KLC is doing. So one of the things that you guys did this past winter is you offered a sensory friendly Santa experience benefiting the Annie Louise Foundation, which is also a foundation really close to my heart, and I thought it was so cool that you did that. So tell us about how that came about, what the need was and how you made this happen.

Jacey: 20:59

Yeah, I was actually at a shower. My sister and one of her friends from college was there and we were talking and she was just talking about KLC and how excited she was for us and I didn't realize this. But her older sister owns a private practice in California and she said the favorite event. She said it's they've been doing it for several years and their families absolutely love it, and it was a sensory Santa and I just I was like that is the most amazing thing, I want to do this, I want to make this, I want to do it here. And my sister was like that is the most amazing thing. I want to do this, I want to make this, I want to do it here. And my sister was like absolutely, let's do it.

Jacey: 21:32

And so we just started brainstorming. I'd actually been to a Christmas party in our neighborhood. We'd actually gone several times and we've had the same Santa and him and his wife both come and they've been incredible. And so I reached out to him to see if they would be interested in participating and they were like absolutely. And so we gave them a rundown of what we were looking for and what the event would be, but they would have an individual slot to have their time with Santa, and so they have sensory needs, or they just struggle, or they have high sensory needs, or maybe they just need a little bit more time to get warmed up.

Jacey: 22:05

Whatever that may be, we wanted to be able to offer it to every family, and then our offices are small, and so we were trying to figure out what we're going to do, and we wanted to do it at both locations. A church, actually, that my husband and I grew up in in Sunnyvale offered graciously to host us. It's a beautiful church. It was decorated for Christmas and they were incredible, and let us do it there and then in here in Aledo a good friend of mine.

Jacey: 22:32

Her husband is one of the owners of Park Homes. He's a home builder. And I just reached out to her and I was like, would y'all have an open house or something y'all would be interested in hosting? And they both said absolutely We'd love to help any way we can and they graciously hosted us in this beautiful home. And then we also said absolutely We'd love to help any way we can and they graciously hosted us in this beautiful home.

Jacey: 22:51

And then we also said okay, what do we want to do? Do we just do it and have it for free for all of our families? Do we have more people pay? And then I said why don't we donate? Why don't we? Why don't we make everybody do some kind of donation? And then we said who do we donate to? What does that look like? And I've never done this before and my sister always tells me she said JC, you have a lot of ideas. Slow down, let's think of one idea at a time. But then the Annie Louise Foundation, I think, was new at the time and I just felt like it fit what we were doing and wanted to contribute to them. And that's how we did it.

Jacey: 23:24

It was a wonderful event. We had people sign up for individual slots so they got to have their own time, and everybody that came was very grateful and said wonderful things about how they can't wait to come back next year. So we're excited about that and have some big plans for it next year. Already Got to see some kiddos that even it maybe took a while for them to warm up, but they kept coming back. And then their son, who they didn't think they were going to get a picture with Santa. They ended up getting a smiling picture with Santa and it was fantastic.

Mary: 23:53

So that was my goal SLPs who are in a school or in a clinic. There's this saying don't be so quick to drop your nine to five for 24, seven that it is true that when you start a business you are putting a lot of time into something. That is perhaps more than if you were to clock in and clock out. Obviously, you get so much more enjoyment from your own project, but can you tell us a little bit about your work schedule and what kind of time commitment is realistically what it takes to run your business?

Jacey: 24:28

what kind of time commitment is realistically what it takes to run your business. Yes, so I did leave thinking, okay, maybe I could work two days a week. And if I could work two days a week, even if they're longer days, like I'll be home every other day and it'll be good. But now I do. I work 24 seven or I'm on 24 seven. I'm not in the clinic 24 seven. I am home with my kids three days a week, but sometimes we're running up to the clinic to drop something off or I'm answering a phone call and saying I apologize in advance. I am home with my kids today and so far it's gone good. But I'm in the clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays from nine to seven. Originally I was going to do nine to six, but right now we're nine to seven and so. But I'm trying to be a mom, obviously when I'm at home, which is my number one and top priority and then it's typically when I get them down for nap or after they go to bed, and then I'm staying up way later than I would have ever thought.

Jacey: 25:19

Just working, learning. Not only am I trying to do things for the business, I'm trying to learn myself and can do more. Continuing education in different areas. And then I think now too, that it's not just me and I have other therapists relying on me. There's time that goes into that as well. So it is a 24 seven thing, but I wouldn't change it for the world. It's been a challenge that I think I needed, that I didn't know I needed. I will continue to say it's been a blessing because I love it.

Kim: 25:48

That was going to be my question about the business. I feel like you left the schools thinking you were going to ease into maybe seeing some kids, and then all of a sudden you're running a full business with people underneath you and has there been anything that you've read or a course that you've taken or something that has really helped you? I know your husband, you said, has been a huge help in that area, but for anyone listening, has there been anything else that has been very specific that you can think of that's been a help? Or has it been talking to other people?

Jacey: 26:21

I would say, mainly talking to other people. I never in a million years, but I thought I would be running a private practice right now, but I do wish in graduate school that would be like one course that we were required to take just to learn the business side of things or what that could look like. I will say, finding someone that can mentor that you trust it's huge.

Jacey: 26:41

I have a, a friend, a family friend. I worked with her when I was in high school and her husband actually married my husband and I and she is a counselor and runs a very successful counseling practice Multiple she has I and she is a counselor and runs a very successful counseling practice. She has four locations and she has been kind of a mentor to me and just helped guide me with certain things and certain questions, even though we're different specialties or different backgrounds. She's helped me with the business side of things and so I read a lot and so I don't know if there's anything specific business related that I've read. I think it's been just a combination of mentorship and my husband and bouncing ideas off my sister and having the right people to talk to to help guide you through those things and being respectful for their time as well.

Mary: 27:27

And maybe if your practice was around when you had exited the schools and you wanted to be really truly two days a week, then contracting with you would have been a really good route, because you do take so much of that burden off of your therapist and I think that's something that I definitely appreciate so much more now, being on the other side of things, is how much time those people are giving to you for the cut of what they take off the top.

Jacey: 28:02

For sure, yeah, for sure. Finding the right therapist too, and I think in our field this style of private practice isn't very common. I wouldn't say, or at least I didn't think it was. Coming out of graduate school I would have thought hospital settings, school nursing facility, school setting or just like a typical big box private practice that was really all I knew, or the majority of the jobs. And bringing in a therapist at the right time they can't leave the school but wanting to build their caseload and having them feel confident, but also giving them the flexibility A lot of therapists are like what does that mean?

Jacey: 28:37

What do you mean? I get to pick and choose what I do and specialize in what I want to do. Just facilitating. That has been a learning challenge and curve, just one finding the right therapist that I want to bring on our team. But then it also has to be the right time and I have to be able to say okay, I think we'll have enough to fill you up If you want to work two days a week, you want to work part-time two days a week, you want to work five days a week. What does that look like? Finding those right therapists that want to be contract and are willing to do what we need them to do.

Kim: 29:04

Was that a learning curve for you, having to learn what that looks like to hire somebody else and to make sure? Okay, maybe you've had several calls come in and you can't take them, but figuring out that balance of okay, I feel confident the calls are going to keep coming. What can I promise this person, and even just the logistics of hiring someone else, was that something that your husband helped with or the mentor that was, that's the counselor helped with?

Jacey: 29:34

Both, yeah, both and I think just learning some very specific things about contract workers or contract therapists and so making sure that you're doing that the right way, and so that was something, just learning the ins and outs of that as well, yeah, and figuring out a contract and what that looked like and what we wanted to present, and that was something that's definitely my husband helped with. And then the mentor guided me on some different things to ask and to be prepared for bringing on different therapists. I think as we started with my sister it was more of she was the first one I brought on and I was like they're going to keep coming. She was going to get paid, I think, from the district through September, so this was going to be June, july. She was ready to give it a shot.

Jacey: 30:17

But as we brought on really everybody else, our inquiries have just have been very consistent One we're not promising. We can't promise this is going to happen this time, or we can fill you up immediately or what that's going to look like, but we can't promise we'll do everything we can to make you we want you to be happy and that's the feedback so far that we've gotten is one therapist has said, this has just been the most amazing thing. It's been blissful and she's loved just getting to provide one-on-one private therapy and getting to own what she's doing as well, not being micromanaged by somebody else or dictated by what you're supposed to do. They are highly trained, skilled therapists and they can make their own decisions in therapy, but they also have us as a team to reach out and be like hey, what about this? Or what are your thoughts on this? And definitely want a team feel as well.

Mary: 31:07

One of the things that I noticed on your website is that you have holiday hours, and so you actually take a week off at Christmas and between Christmas and New Year's and you take a long, extended Thanksgiving break and major holidays. I think not everyone realizes that these big companies don't have days off in hospitals. You're working that day before Thanksgiving when everyone else is cooking, and the day before and after Christmas you're supposed to be working or that's going to be your PTO, and so I think that's amazing that you've recognized families want that time off too.

Mary: 31:48

And it goes a long way towards the happiness of the people who work, for you to recognize that that's actually a universal holiday time. How do you manage therapists really good people that you want to hire if they don't want to see kids after school and they want to be able to drop off and pick their kids up from preschool, or they don't want to work a lot of the summer? How does that look with your practice?

Jacey: 32:17

And I'll go back to the holiday thing too. I think when I added that that was just that was when I was working by myself. I probably need to update that. And what I've let every therapist know is they get to choose when they want to work and so, as long as they've communicated that well in advance with the families, if they're going to take off a week at Christmas, then that's what they're going to do. I have some therapists that I do just because my kids are home and I want that was something I made sure of, that I wanted. I'm going to spend that time with my family.

Jacey: 32:44

And some therapists are taking a full week and some will coordinate and they say the office is open at this day. Would you like to? Instead of missing all week? Do you want to move your Tuesday to a Monday or not? It's the beauty of them getting to dictate what they do.

Jacey: 32:59

And as far as therapists that don't want to work after school, typically when we bring somebody on, I have an idea of one do we have office space available? What times are available that somebody could see kiddos? And if you don't want to work past five, you don't want to work past five, and then we'll see if there's anybody else that would want to see kiddos later in the day. And that's how we've done it. And as we brought on some therapists that's actually in Sunnyvale I have one therapist that she initially was. She didn't want to work past five, and so that's what we did. And so then we brought another therapist in and it wants to work after her. And so that was just when we initially bring them in.

Jacey: 33:38

I say how do you want to work and what is that going to look like? And same thing here in Aledo. Before I even interview them, I have a form that they fill out and I have an idea of what they are looking for. And so am I looking for somebody that can just see afterschool kids? Are they good with that or are they not? And right now our therapists are primarily a full day therapist, but actually another therapist I just therapist I just brought on here in Aledo. She sees more daytime kiddos, because the need is more for our daytime right now and we are after school we have more therapists that are here all day long. So just asking what they want to do and do we have the space for them to do it and if we can make it work. Let's make it work.

Kim: 34:18

That's probably more work for you up front coordinating that, but I would think that you're going to get those therapists that are invested and want to be with you more long-term when you're working with them and helping figure out what's going to keep them around.

Jacey: 34:35

Sure, and that's something I've let them know there are things that will happen, that therapists won't be with one company forever, but our goal is that the therapist we bring on will be part of our team. If it's a little bit more work for me, but I have happier therapists in the long run, that's what I'm looking to do.

Mary: 34:49

I have a question about co-ownership. So Kim and I are business partners and we love it and we talk all the time about how we're so grateful for each other and we jive really well. But it is different than if you are a sole business owner. So what would you say about your co-ownership with your sister, cause that's another dynamic with a family member? About your co-ownership with your sister, cause that's another dynamic with a family member? And then what kind of advice would you have to people who might be looking to maybe offset some of that time or liability with a?

Jacey: 35:23

partner. I think one is finding the right person. We've been best friends, we work together really well, we listen to each other really well, and so I think when I brought her in, I trusted that it would go well, and she knew what I had built and what I had started, and we talk on a daily basis. I'll text her hey, can you call this person back, or can you respond to this for me, or she'll text me, can you do this? Or we just figure it out. I was doing it for almost a year by myself, so learning what I needed to start asking, hey, I'm going to, I'm going to do this, or I'm going to buy this, or oh, now I've got to make sure we're all good with that. But outside of that, I think communication is key and finding the person that, like you said, you jive with, because that's extremely important, I think you have complimentary personalities, would you say, or are they pretty similar?

Jacey: 36:12

I would say, pretty similar. I'm more outgoing, she's a little more shy, but other than that I think we're very similar. The first person that I brought on, I knew I could trust that she would carry the name the way I needed it to be carried. That was something, actually, when I first started. This is my name. How will I trust that if I hire somebody else, that it will be the same? That's what I want, and never in a million years did I think my sister would be driving from Dallas to Aledo to providing therapy. But I can trust her and so I knew she'd be incredible and it has paid off, because the families love her just as much.

Kim: 36:45

I think you have some really great information, so we appreciate you sharing it with everyone when you're not in the business mindset and speech mindset. What is one of your first things to go to for self-care?

Jacey: 36:58

I love getting my nails done. That's always manicure pedicure, probably will always be. That's my regular go-to, for sure.

Kim: 37:06

What about dinner? Mary and I talk about this. It's always hard, your meal planning and all that. Do you have your favorite go-to quick dinner for your family when you need it?

Jacey: 37:16

Yeah, so this will probably be my husband's favorite and honestly, it's something easy because my kids will always eat it as well. But making breakfast for dinner, it's pretty quick. My husband loves breakfast sandwiches, so like toast, some eggs, bacon, but I do like I'll do avocado or we buy pimento cheese from H-E-B. My husband likes to have it like all on the sandwich and my kids will eat bacon and eggs and toast. So breakfast for dinner is probably one of my go-to quicks. We always have eggs and usually have some sort of bacon or turkey sausage or something in the fridge and then I also was curious about if you were not a speech therapist, what would your dream job be?

Jacey: 37:54

So this is funny that you asked that, because my husband and I will joke. And then when we see the lotto go, wow, it's up to 600 million. What would we do if we won the lottery? And something that I've always thought about, and how incredible this would be if we had the finances to do it. But I'm not sure if y'all are familiar with the little lighthouse in Tulsa. Have y'all ever heard of the little lighthouse? No, so I got to observe there when I was in school and it's the most incredible facility. It's a massive, beautiful facility that provides therapy to children with disabilities and they have speech paths, they have PTs, they have OTs and maybe even more. But they have classrooms and everybody there is getting therapy of some kind and the therapists collaborate on a weekly basis on each individual case and where they're going with it, and it's free for all of the families, and so it's funded on donations and I just think it's incredible. I would love to be able to provide something like that.

Mary: 38:55

Okay, I have one last fun question, since you enjoy getting your nails done. What is your go-to for your polish, or what kind of nails you like to have?

Jacey: 39:05

So I typically I go back and forth between dip and gel and I am a like light pink and gel and I am a light pink, bubblegum pink. I probably have this on until winter again. I've just gone back from pink. I'm pretty simple. I keep it the same. I have a couple of colors I like and I rotate through those.

Kim: 39:23

We appreciate your time. Thank you for talking with us. You have so much great information and I'm so excited for what you're doing for us personally in our community because we're so close to you, but just for what you're doing for us personally in our community because we're so close to you, but just for what you're doing for your families and also the other therapists that are working for you, I think you're providing such an incredible place of work for them. So thanks, thank you I appreciate it.

Jacey: 39:45

I appreciate y'all having me and I feel very blessed to get to do this and work with some incredible therapists and amazing families.

Kim: 39:53

Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast and check out our website thespeechsourcecom.

Mary: 40:00

Also check us out on Instagram for more ideas on speech, language, feeding and play.