The Speech Source
Mary Brezik and Kim Dillon are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with over 25 years of combined experience. As speech therapists, we are often the first professionals to assess young children once they are referred by their pediatrician. Either they are not talking well or they are not eating well. We get to know our patients, their families, and how they are developing. We have a front row seat during the first critical and formative years of development for those who receive our services. Because of this, we have developed relationships with other professionals, observed what parent questions and concerns often arise, and see a need to share the resources and information we have compiled over the years. Join us as we dig into topics that show all of the overlapping aspects of child development and intervention. We invite you to be a part of our collaborative platform as we discuss, learn and grow for the betterment of our kids!
The Speech Source
S2E11: Transforming Ideas into a Sustainable Business with SLP Lindsey Hockel
Kim and Mary get to sit down for a second time for insight, ideas, tips and laughs with the incredible Lindsey Hockel, SLP and founder of Speechy Things. We've had her on previously to talk about all things "R," but this time she talks us through how she went from her clinical fellowship to digital resource and course creator and niching down in the field of speech pathology.
The Path to Speechy Things: Lindsey’s journey began almost by chance. Initially a clinical fellow at a clinic, the idea for "Speechy Things" popped into her mind one night, leading to the creation of a blog and later, a TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers) store. Lindsey shares the evolution of her blog into a thriving business platform, emphasizing how accidental beginnings can lead to purposeful futures.
Turning Passion into Profit: As Lindsey’s engagement with her TPT store deepened, her entrepreneurial spirit took flight. She discusses the shift from treating it as a side hustle to recognizing it as a full-fledged business. Her focus narrowed down to specializing in the 'R' sound, a niche that drastically boosted her business's profile and effectiveness.
Building a Business While Balancing Life: Lindsey speaks candidly about the challenges of managing a growing business, being a mother, and maintaining personal well-being. She highlights the importance of setting boundaries to prevent work from consuming her life, especially after the birth of her daughter.
Marketing Insights: Despite the competitive landscape, Lindsey focuses heavily on Instagram for outreach, advocating for a platform-focused approach to marketing. She believes in the power of persistence and staying true to one's unique offerings rather than getting lost in comparison.
Networking and Collaboration: Lindsey credits much of her growth to networking with other SLPs and engaging in collaborations, which have expanded her reach and brought diversity to her business activities.
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs: Highlighting the importance of continuous learning and adapting, Lindsey recommends resources like Amy Porterfield’s podcasts and courses to help new entrepreneurs navigate the business landscape effectively.
Tools of the Trade: Lindsey utilizes tools like Asana for project management and Calendly for scheduling to streamline operations and keep her business organized.
Lindsey's story is a testament to the potential within the SLP community for entrepreneurial growth. Her blend o
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I also believe that the biggest difference between someone who becomes successful with it and someone who doesn't is that they don't quit and they keep going and they keep learning and growing and improving and taking constructive criticism and pivoting, and I feel like the best thing you can do for yourself is put your blinders on and focus on what you're doing.
Mary :Welcome to the Speech Source Podcast. My name is Mary Brzeek and I'm Kim Dillon.
Kim :We are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with a combined 25 years of experience.
Mary :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. Some are 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. Today's guest is another repeat, because we love her so much Lindsay Hochul, and she is the owner of Speechy Things and founder, and she is not only an incredible entrepreneur but also a mother of a sweet little girl, and we're so excited to learn about your entrepreneurial journey and hear about what's going on with you now.
Lindsey :Lindsay, thanks for having me. Mary and Kim, I'm happy to be back. I just love you guys and this is a fun topic. I love talking about this stuff.
Lindsey :Yeah, I'll start from the beginning, because I feel like it's so funny how it happened. Everything was an accident. I got my CF working at a clinic, which is where I met you two lovely ladies, and about one year in, I think I might have even still been a clinical fellow when I technically started Speechy Things. But I remember I was laying in bed and literally I don't know what I was thinking about, but the words Speechy Things that name popped in my head. So I went on social media and it wasn't taken. So I went and took it.
Lindsey :I had no idea what I was going to do with that, but it started as a blog and my intention was to write blog posts about what I was learning as a new therapist. That's how it started. So I got my Instagram handle and I started my own little website, just like for free, and I guess I just noticed, oh, people are selling things on TPT. Like I hadn't really used TPT that much before and I was like I guess it makes sense to make money with it. It's funny because I started Speechy Things in either 2016 or 2017. That's when I got the Instagram handle right and then started selling products pretty quickly after that. But I feel like new people quote unquote starting today come out the gate so much more professional than what us old ladies were doing back in the day. It's just funny, like you were learning as you were doing it.
Lindsey :Oh for sure. Yeah, I was not trying to be an entrepreneur, I was not trying to be a business owner, I was just messing around. But I just really loved it and I worked full-time at the clinic and then I would come home and just sit on my couch and make products, while my boyfriend and I now husband we're watching TV or doing whatever.
Kim :It's interesting because I feel like the business mindset has this piece that I don't think we think of a lot, but it's that creative mindset too. You're wanting to create something and you say you were just playing around, but that turned into this amazing business. Oh, and it's funny because I'll have people.
Lindsey :Hey, I make all this stuff for my own therapy. Maybe I'll just sell it and I'm like it's not like that. Though, if you want to do it legally for one and if you want to do it profitably to actually make money, then there's this huge learning curve. Specifically just talking about TPT right now, but I feel like that goes for everything in business, because we don't have backgrounds in this stuff. I'm self-taught with marketing. I'm self-taught with product creation, with copywriting. I can't even think of all the hats that I wear and that's what's cool.
Lindsey :And I'm about to skip over years and years of work and growth, but I now have four or five people working for me part-time. I'm talking like between one and four hours a week. These people work for me because they all have. I do not want anyone relying on me to pay their electricity bill. You know what I mean. If you want money for Starbucks, yes, I'm your girl. I would love to hire you. But it's just funny Whenever I sit down and think how long I resisted outsourcing and hiring and whenever I really sit and think about as one person, I'm trying to be my own marketing department, my own graphic design department, my own everything. I'm doing everything by myself, and if I really want to grow more, then I'm going to have to hire people. So that way I can be the big picture lady and I can be the visionary, the driver, creating things that are actually going to bring in money, rather than spending all my time in the weeds.
Mary :Lindsay, the people that you're talking about, that you are hiring, they are helping with your business. They're not therapists who are doing direct patient care for you or anything.
Lindsey :Correct. Okay, yeah, I have my private practice. I'm doing therapy as Lindsay Hochul. I don't have a PLLC or anything.
Mary :Yes.
Lindsey :And I don't have anyone working for me. I think like maybe in the future that'd be cool, but I just have a small caseload of our students just to keep me fresh and because I enjoy it. But if I'm going to try to be the art expert, I can't do that if I'm not doing art therapy coming to you.
Lindsey :Yeah, no, still virtual. I'm mostly set up where people could come to my house, but I don't want to travel because I don't like driving and there's too much I want to do with my business so I don't have the time and I want to be able to pick up my daughter from daycare. So just having a couple afterschool kids, teletherapy, is a really good balance for me.
Mary :So what are your working hours? What are the boundaries that you've put in place as an entrepreneur? The to-do list, especially if you're a creative, is never-ending. You could always be working on something else. You're in the shower you're driving somewhere and an idea and you just want to execute or do something. But what boundaries do you put in place to make sure that you're not working 24-7?
Lindsey :That is such a good question and I feel like it's ever-changing, so let's go back to my timeline. How about that? I feel like that's the best way to answer what you just asked me. So I was working full-time, doing speechy things at night, right?
Mary :And it kept growing and growing to where by it you mean your TPT page TPT.
Lindsey :Yes, and I still wasn't an LLC. I had my TPT page and that was pretty much any kind of money I was making was through TPT. So that was several years. And whenever I got pregnant in 2020 and there's a pandemic and my anxiety was like sky high, working face-to-face with these kids it just made me so nervous.
Lindsey :And with the holidays coming up and everything, at that point I was profitable enough with TPT and I knew I wanted an extended maternity leave. I didn't know what that would look like really, but I decided, ok, I'm going to leave before Thanksgiving and so I parted ways with the clinic super amicably. I was really grateful for the support I felt with that. And then I just decided, okay, between November and February because that's when I gave birth I just was all in trying to set myself up. I think I redid my website and was really trying to set things up that I could chill out on maternity leave a little bit.
Lindsey :But when I gave birth to my daughter, I was like, okay, I need to be smart about the way I move forward in my business and I enjoyed the R, but my R products are what we're selling best in my TPT store, in my TPT store. So when I became a mother, I realized it would be such a smart decision for my family, for my business, to niche down. So I finally stopped fighting it and I was like, okay, I'm the R lady now, and now that's all I do. And I'm so glad I did that because it allowed me to pour everything I have into becoming the most knowledgeable that I can possibly become on one super specific topic.
Lindsey :The con of that would be most SLPs are not that specialized, right? I can no longer relate to the struggle of being in the weeds and in the ditch at school SLPs, clinic SLPs back to back. You have a huge variety of patients. I can't relate to that stuff anymore because I feel like it's so long ago that I've done that. But my goal is to be like the person whenever there's an R question in a Facebook group that five people who I don't know I've never met them are like oh, go check out Speechy Things. Oh, here's this from Speechy Things, right? That's the whole plan.
Mary :That's wonderful, because when you are seeing patients back to back, you don't have time to go home and research or make some kind of material. You need to be able to go to TPT, pay a few bucks and then you're using that all day long and it's such a gift to them and then their knowledge is a gift to you in the sense of okay, what do you guys need? What's going?
Lindsey :on. Yeah, yeah, that's such a good point. Yes, and I try to communicate that with my audience on social media. Anything that I know about the R, I've done that on purpose. I've worked really hard to try to get really good at this so that whatever materials I put out or whatever continuing ed I put out or whatever I'm doing, can be high quality and you can trust it. But me back in the day, when I was working full-time in the clinic, hey, no way I could have done all that. Uh-uh. No, that's like my job now is to just focus only on the R.
Kim :Which is a huge resource to so many other therapists out there. And do you feel like when you niche down because that was one of my questions for you is like when you made that decision? But it sounds like you've said that decision was made for you In a way, yeah, strategy that you were looking at Okay, what is selling, what are people wanting and then you focused on that and do you feel like your business just took off even more once you honed in on that?
Lindsey :Yes and no, because it's funny, my business tripled in 2020. For the first few years, I was probably not even that profitable. Maybe we're talking like. I think my first year on TPT, I made like $300. And I don't know. I couldn't even tell you how much I spent on clip art or whatever else, but it kept growing steadily. And then in 2020, it tripled.
Lindsey :But a lot of people did right, like with the pandemic. People were looking for resources they had never needed. It just grew in a tremendous amount. But that's also the first year that I feel like I really started thinking of it as my business instead of, oh, just my side hustle, oh, yeah, I do this thing, no, okay, this is my business. And then I got my LLC. So that's when I feel like things really grew. So I don't know how much of that is because I was taking it more seriously and how much of that was the state of the world. I haven't grown a ton since then. In terms of what I bring in, I've grown, but not like what I want to see, you know.
Lindsey :But I'm also making moves that I'm trusting are going to pay off. So a lot of things I'm doing are collaborations with other people. Working with Bjorum Speech Publications. Now I've only got one deck published that I get royalties from now, but I have three other decks that are under contract. So it's just a matter of time before that money is coming in. And I've got another collaboration that I feel like I could probably go ahead and say because it's going to launch soon, but I'm working with Speech Tree Co that I feel like I could probably go ahead and say because it's going to launch soon, but I'm working with Speech Tree Co to create some R minis that I think will come out in March. I'm working on some courses and so the projects I'm doing now are big projects so they're not bringing in money in the moment but when they launch, hopefully it'll make up for this past year when I haven't really put much out.
Mary :But that makes sense. So then you see your patients privately, which does bring in some income that directs patient care, and then your TPT, which at this point is a passive income stream the things that you've already made and then you're building for the future. So you really are thinking, not just in the moment. What am I doing in this therapy session?
Kim :Yeah, I know for sure, Mary and I have talked about this. Overwhelmed is like my mind staying in one track when it needs to, instead of just saying now I'm thinking here and now I'm thinking here and now I'm thinking here. That's probably my biggest struggle. I can't just zone in on one thing. I'm constantly bouncing.
Lindsey :I used to struggle more with that, but I've worked hard over the past year or two to really get myself organized and I actually just started using Asana. Have you heard of that? It's like a project management. Okay, so it. It's what Amy Porterfield uses and there's a bunch of different options for like project management software. Right. There's like Asana, mondaycom, I think, like Trello, like there's all kinds of options right. It allows me people working for me, we can all communicate and see the same things and I can assign tasks and I have different project folders and it has helped me so much with keeping my brain from exploding, so I have a section for okay, here's TPT products. I started Rock the R University, which is like my continuing education video courses, and then I've got collaborations with other people. So that's where I have the Bjarne and the Speech Tree Code minis. But it just helps me visually so much, so that way I can just assign due dates to tasks and I could see everything I need to do. But it's still separated.
Kim :Do you then upload that content into those folders? Do you access it through that platform, or is it more just?
Lindsey :like this. There might be ways to do that. I don't know. I just started using it maybe a month ago, maybe two tops, so I've already got a lot of systems Right. So I don't know if I would use it differently had I started with it earlier on. I use Dropbox, which I really love. I use Airtable. Airtable is more like spreadsheets, at least the way I use it, so that's where I keep links and things like that. Does that answer your question?
Kim :Yeah, I think that's really good because I feel like, for someone starting out, being able to start with some sort of organizational platform would be really helpful. What's overwhelming sometimes is all these systems that will help you, but then it's really hard to keep track of all the different things that you're wanting to use to grow your business. So being able to see them and take action like that is helpful.
Lindsey :I feel like, as simple as you can make it, maybe someday I'll phase out Airtable, because I love Asana that much. It doesn't do what Dropbox does. Dropbox is more like Google Drive.
Mary :Lindsay, at one point you had told me that you were trying out a new software where people could go to your schedule and then plug themselves in where you make availability. Are you still using that system, calendly?
Lindsey :Yes, do you like that? Still, I do. I use it for consultations. I like it because it's so automated. It's set it and forget it. They pay right there in Calendly to reserve their time. I can set my availability to whatever I want and then Calendly creates the email with the Zoom link. I don't have to touch anything, I just have to show up when the time comes, and it even adds it to your Google Calendar. I use Simple Practice as my EMR. Calendly is like just the scheduling software and I use it for consultations, so it would be good for mostly consultations I'm doing with other speech therapists. Every once in a while a family will want a consultation, so if a family in New York, I'm not licensed in New York so I can't provide therapy services, but I can hop on one 30-minute call and give them some thoughts, so that's what I'm coaching.
Mary :I see I see. You've mentioned so many things that you have figured out along the way. Slps, if you look at all the courses that we had to take in college and grad school, there is not a single accounting finance business Absolutely not. We did not take any of those things. So what have you done to set yourself up in a business sense? Are there books or courses or something that you have done for your business and yourself?
Lindsey :Besides, just like birth by fire, because you just got to do it. It's not going to come out great necessarily, or maybe it will, who knows. But I feel like there's nothing I could have done where a year or two down the road I wouldn't look back and go, oh my gosh, that's terrible, but that's because I'm growing that whole time right. So hopefully I don't look back and think, wow, good job girl. But the way I'm working on growing besides just doing it and not being afraid to fail I feel like I've been really lucky to have other SLPs doing similar things who are very friendly and supportive, and I've got people I can ask questions to and I trust and we've learned together.
Lindsey :I've listened to a ton of Amy Porterfield podcasts. I've taken her just recently Digital Course Academy. I've tried to listen to other marketing podcasts and read some books and just learn as much as I can about business, which is so fun to learn about and it's interesting. I realize now I might identify as an entrepreneur even before I identify as an SLP now, because I still love providing therapy services and I love treating my kids, but most of my time and energy is put into my business. So it's just funny to recognize that shift in myself. But it's a really cool new skillset that I've developed just by seeking out the information. It's one of those things like find somebody you enjoy learning from For me, I really like Amy Porterfield and then.
Lindsey :But like they collaborate with other people, they're going to mention things that they've done.
Lindsey :So I feel like if you just start somewhere, you're going to hear about 15 other books that you could go read, or they're going to collaborate with somebody else who has their own podcast and you can fall down that rabbit hole. There's just so much information out there and it can be so overwhelming and there's a ton of it available for free. But there's also something to be said for investing in your business and just putting down some money and paying for the course and paying for the book and paying for whatever you need if it's going to mean leveling up, because if you aren't taking your business seriously, then you can't expect it to grow. And there's no pressure. Because if you're just enjoying it and it really is just your side hustle, it's your hobby, then that's fine. But if you want it to be profitable, then you got to treat it like a business and that's whenever things really shifted for me is whenever I started treating it like a business for me is whenever I started treating it like a business.
Kim :When you started doing speechy things and you were doing Instagram and TPT and you said you were just doing it. I feel like you were one of the original creators and you were starting and learning along the way. Now someone can start something after they've taken a course from someone to tell you how to do it. So when you were talking earlier about people coming in and it looks like it's all polished and new, it's because you can learn now, ahead of time, from people like you who learned how to do it, and you can teach it to other people, and I think that is what's so great about it now is there is so much information and you can get a step-by-step guide on how to do something, but it's finding out what is going to work for you as far as a course or how to walk through something. Yeah.
Lindsey :And that's so funny to hear you say you think of me as one of the originals, because I absolutely don't. I've been doing it for a long time but I definitely wasn't among the first or anything. But it's certainly become super saturated and there's so many people and I know that can be really intimidating because you have a lot of competition. But I also believe that the biggest difference between someone who becomes successful with it and someone who doesn't is that they don't quit and they keep going and they keep learning and growing and improving and taking constructive criticism and pivoting. And I feel like the best thing you can do for yourself is put your blinders on and focus on what you're doing, because, especially people who also do R, I actively try to not pay attention to what they're doing, because I don't want to be influenced.
Lindsey :Because I don't want to be influenced, I don't want to see something and then months later I have this genius idea, right, but then I'm like what if it's something that I saw from them? I don't want that to happen. I want my stuff to be original and creative and copying is not flattering, it is plagiarism, it's illegal. I really don't want any of that. But I also don't want to get in my head and I don't want to be like, oh my gosh, but they just put out this and this and like, how do I compete with that? It doesn't serve me. So I really try to just have my binders on, stay in my lane and focus on what I'm trying to do.
Mary :What keeps you going in your business is really thinking about what you have, what your skills are to put out into the world. Yeah, absolutely. One of the business questions I have for you, Lindsay, is we've talked a little bit about how saturated the market is right now.
Lindsey :Feels like it yeah.
Mary :Yeah, there's just a lot of people creating things, which is wonderful, but, on the other hand, it's confusing if you're someone who's entering the space to say, okay, I do have a limited amount of time and there are a million different platforms now, so you've got Instagram, pinterest, youtube, TikTok, email lists, that's another one and then you have a limited amount of time. Where do you feel like you put your efforts? What do you think has been your top places to put content out and where you've seen, maybe it's just not on your list right now.
Lindsey :So this is something that Amy Porterfield talks about. Actually, the best strategy, I think or at least I'm telling myself that because that's what I'm doing is to pick one and focus on it. For me it's Instagram. I'm most comfortable on Instagram. That's where I spend most of my time anyway, so it just makes sense because it comes so much more naturally for me to post there than to try to force myself to become a TikToker or to get on Twitter or whatever else. So I feel like it's not necessarily super strategic my answer, but I think just pick one and go for it, because this is something as a creative person I've finally realized if I'm trying to force myself into something, it takes a hundred times longer, doesn't come out as good and I want to avoid it in the future because I'm not enjoying it. I am much better off going with my own flow, whatever that is.
Mary :I totally agree. I think one of the difficulties as a creative, though, is that you create a product that you think is great or that people need out there, but the question is always but how do people find out about it? So, in terms of marketing strategies and funnels, have you found that Instagram is your best funnel to your business?
Lindsey :Yeah, but it's the only platform that I feel like, one that I'm at least more consistent on, Two that people have gotten to know me on, because they are invested in me as a person and they know they can trust me or, if they like me, then they're more likely to feel comfortable purchasing from me. But I think this brings up maybe one of the best pieces of advice I could give anyone looking to market a good or service is to remember you cannot talk about it too many times. Saying it once is not enough. People are going to forget. I think it's so easy because we're putting so much of ourselves into whatever we're creating. It's so easy for us to remember it and to think it's super important.
Lindsey :There's an influencer I like and I'll keep up with her for a while, and then I get busy. I'm living my life and I remember coming back one day and she had given birth and I'm like what I missed the whole pregnancy, and so you just need to remember. People are not that in tune with what you're doing. So I know it can feel obnoxious and repetitive saying something again and again, but I need you to talk about it every day in your stories. Mention it in every email you send out. Mention it in every post. You are still going to miss people.
Lindsey :And I'll even have consultations with SLPs, which is funny. They've gotten to the point they know me well enough that they trust me to actually pay money for me to help them on their case. And I'll mention something that I feel like I have talked about a million times on Instagram. They're like oh, I've never heard of that. What it just reminds me every time. Not everyone is going to have heard it, so don't launch. Talk about it one day and then be done. Keep going to have heard it, so don't launch. Talk about it one day and then be done.
Kim :Keep marketing it again and again. That's really good advice, and I have a question. When you talked about you can't send so many emails, do you have any thoughts on what you feel like was a great strategy in growing your email list?
Lindsey :The best ways that I have grown my email list and that, by the way, at least Amy Porterfield will say, in terms of the big picture funnel. So by a funnel we just mean the process of creating a customer right? So you capture them on social media, you lead them to your email list and that should lead them to being a customer. That's like an oversimplified way of explaining what we mean by funnel for anyone listening. Amy Porterfield will tell you the email list is like the most important. So whether you're doing YouTube or TikTok or whatever, the goal should be to get them to your email list.
Kim :How did you say okay, look, I have all these followers on my Instagram. I want to get them onto an email list.
Lindsey :So to get people on my email list. I have the form front and center on my website, or at least it was. Now it's still pretty prominent on my website. I have it as a pop-up on my website. I try to mention it in every blog post. I have several different freebies, so the fancy term for that would be lead magnet. I have sign up for my email list and I'll send you this freebie. Or I have a freebie library on my website. That gets a lot of subscribers too. So I've gotten a lot just from my website and doing that kind of thing and I'll try to mention on Instagram. I should do it way more. It's in my link in bio, but whenever I go back and look at my subscribers, huge chunks of it have come from collaborations with other therapists. Like doing a big 10 of us get together and we do a mega freebie, or like we do like a little educational event, like one email a day of a helpful topical email, and that way we're like sharing subscribers and sharing audiences and that kind of thing. Slp Summit I got a big chunk from doing that.
Lindsey :Free CEU, because whenever you see people speaking for free in some kind of conference or something like that A lot of times it's because that's free marketing for them, right? So, whether or not they're talking about their goods and service, and now you know about what they sell, a lot of times they'll also collect your email address from that. Now you can unsubscribe anytime, but that's what makes it worth the time. So there's been a lot of ways, but whenever you do collaborations like that, whenever you offer something free, you never know the quality of the audience you're building. Actually, there was a question that y'all sent me. I don't know if we've even gotten to it, but if you were to do something differently, what would you do differently? That might be it. I feel like focusing on quality over quantity of my audience. I think that I would have done differently.
Mary :In what way do you mean that?
Lindsey :Doing the giveaways, doing the collaborations Not that those aren't fun to do sometimes, but how many people follow me on Instagram right now or are on my email list that they have no idea how they even got there? They don't know who I am. I never pop up on their feed. They've never engaged with anything. They're certainly not going to buy from me. They're like, who is this girl? And they don't remember. It's because two years ago I did a giveaway with someone they actually care about.
Lindsey :I have never and will never purchase followers. I think that's terrible and gross and I don't want bots right, but getting so many of them through collaborations I don't know that helped my business at all. So even if you have 2000 followers on social media or 2000 email lists, if every single one of those 2000 people are such good customers that they're going to buy every single thing you do, then you're probably going to make more money than a lot of people who have way more subscribers or followers or whatever, because a good conversion rate, like a good open rate, is, I think, like 30% for emails, and then a decent click rate would be like three to 5%. I think Google that don't rely on me too much, but you do the math. So if you have a super engaged following, then that could be worth more than a low open rate, click rate, engagement rate from somebody with a much bigger following.
Mary :Which is so crazy that these are the things that we're now talking about.
Mary :I know and thinking of because I don't even know what the letters SEO stood for when I started all this, and it turns out. Seo is very important when you're creating a website and you would like people to find you, and that's what it's all about is that it's not just a game to make more money, but it's that, when this is your passion project and you feel like you have something that could really help the world you want people to be able to get it.
Kim :Yeah, but I'm glad you shared about that because, talking about someone coming in, I want to do this one thing. I have this passion to start this on my own, but then you hop into a space that looks really saturated and overwhelming and, oh my gosh, she has 10,000 followers or 20,000 followers, and it can be very overwhelming. But to stay in that mindset of quality, focused on what you're wanting to do and reach the people who you really want to help, because it is that saying it has to be a win for everybody, right, what I'm offering you has to be a win for you also. So you buy it. That's a win for me, that was a win for you, and it has to be needed on both ends. So I think that was really great for you to share, just for someone who might get really overwhelmed entering into this whole space of all the things that you can do as an entrepreneur.
Lindsey :Oh yeah, and that's something that's so cool about it is there are no limits. There are no limits to the directions you can take your business. There are no limits to the income you can have. There are no limits to the amount of people you can help. It's just doing it.
Mary :And that's so hard when the limit does not exist.
Kim :Mean girls reference.
Mary :So, when that is true, how do you measure your success when you're saying it's not the numbers of followers you have? In fact, a lot of people have paid bots to get hundreds of thousands of followers, and however many. So, lindsay, how do you keep yourself motivated and have that entrepreneurial, creative mindset when you have so many goals and maybe you haven't executed all the things that you want or accomplish everything?
Lindsey :Oh yeah. So I like setting goals for every big launch I do. I'll set a launch goal for either how many I want to sell or like how much money I want to make for that launch, and I'll have specific goals like that. Or I want to grow my email list by this number. I like quantitative goals. I'm very motivated by that. But I also think about whenever I get in my head and I feel imposter syndrome, because I absolutely have that all the time, especially the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know Right.
Mary :I feel like Especially as an entrepreneur.
Lindsey :Yes, and as a therapist, as an entrepreneur, as all the things Right. But I just try to remember that I get messages from people who say I used to hate treating the R sound and now I actually like it, thanks to you. There are SLPs out there who I am helping. So I just can't worry about the people who I'm not helping, whether it's because they think I'm an idiot and they don't want to give any of their money to me because nothing I say is valuable to them, which I can't control, that I'm just doing my best. But there are SLPs who need what I'm doing, so that, even though that's not measurable but as long as I keep getting messages like that, by the way, I save them. When I get them, I have a little folder called nice emails that I keep in my inbox. I don't really have a good qualitative goal Like I don't set a goal for that but it's absolutely something that keeps me motivated, you feel like you are purposefully giving back and using your gifts to be able to help others.
Kim :Absolutely. It's funny because as we go through these conversations, we're hearing a lot of the same ideas. As far as shifting our mindset from the hustle and rush and win and numbers to your passion boundaries quality, which I think is so positive. I hope that people really can shift that mindset into going back to why you started this in the first place.
Lindsey :And I feel like that is something first, whenever I was first starting and they talk about like, when you have a business, it's like having a child or something right, it's so much work. But there's that joke yeah, I left my nine to five to work 24, seven, right To become an entrepreneur. I work for myself and I feel like in the beginning, whenever I was just starting, absolutely that was happening, because, yeah, I don't know, it's really hard not to do that when you're so passionate and you're trying to grow and you feel you're playing catch up and you're comparing yourself to everybody else. So I don't know if I could have gotten where I am now if I had started with good boundaries. I just don't know, because that's not what I did. But absolutely now I have working hours and then I'm off work. I had no idea I wanted to be my own boss. I was never on my radar. But now that I am, this is the best. I love working for myself. It's so fantastic, the kind of freedom that affords me.
Kim :Find questions at the end.
Lindsey :Okay, something that you outsource, or anything that has made your life easier by outsourcing it. We have cleaners now that come every other week and that has been maybe one of the aside from therapy and getting on meds, that's the best thing I've done for my mental health, yeah.
Kim :What would your dream job be if you were not a speech therapist? I would be a talk show host.
Mary :Ooh a type of talk show.
Lindsey :I envision probably daytime. I'd do a nice little daytime talk show host and we'd have fun segments somewhere between Oprah and Ellen maybe.
Kim :That would be fun. I could completely see you doing that.
Lindsey :But I also love the idea of business coaching women. I think that would be so fun too, and that that one's a little bit more attainable.
Kim :Maybe I'll do that someday, but yeah you're doing that in a sense already just your collaboration, your communication with other people. And last one, what do you do for self-care?
Lindsey :Aside from having people clean my house, because truly, I can't even tell you how incredibly worth it it is to me and I'm so thankful that we can do that. I get massages, I invest in massages and I love it.
Kim :Yeah, I love hearing everybody's what kind of gives them that self-care. It's always so interesting to me because everybody's so different. Yeah, this was fun. Appreciate all of the knowledge that you've shared. I know this can be so overwhelming for anybody that's stepping into this and you're a great person to talk with because you've done so many different pieces of starting businesses. So we just appreciate everything that you've shared with us today.
Lindsey :Anytime. Thanks for having me back. Yes, I think it's so cool that you're doing this series. I love this. I can't wait to listen to the other episodes too.
Kim :Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast and check out our website thespeechsourcecom.
Mary :Also check us out on Instagram for more ideas on speech, language, feeding and play.
