The Speech Source

S2E13: A Specialized Speech Practice with SLP Sydney Bassard

• Mary and Kim

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In this podcast episode, hosts Kim and Mary talk with Sydney Bassard, known as The Listening SLP, who shares her intriguing journey from a public health undergraduate to a successful speech therapist and entrepreneur. Sydney discusses her initial career aspiration in pharmacy, which shifted after a impactful summer at a literacy center. This experience, combined with her brother's ADHD and dyslexia diagnosis, steered her towards speech-language pathology.  Sydney's professional path was notably marked by her significant involvement in research and a key role on a cochlear implant team at a children's hospital, before she returned to her hometown, Charlotte, North Carolina, to embrace entrepreneurship.

Sydney’s venture, The Listening SLP, was born out of a desire to make health information accessible online, empowering individuals to make informed health decisions. This stemmed from experience and understanding of public health prior to going into the field of speech pathology.  She elaborates on the challenges of practicing in multiple states, the differences in licensing requirements, and the potential benefits of an interstate compact. Sydney emphasizes a holistic understanding of language and literacy over strict adherence to specific programs, advocating for adaptable approaches tailored to individual needs.

Throughout the episode, Sydney also discusses her engagement with the public through platforms like Instagram and her blog, where she combines professional insights with personal engagement. She reveals her ongoing projects, including a children's book inspired by her own childhood, "A Day With Mom," and stresses the importance of self-love and resilience in professional life. Sydney's focused experience with literacy as an SLP, working closely with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population, her background in speaking and engaging audiences and her desire to share her resources and services in as many areas as possible has made her a force in our field!  This episode is not just a narrative of professional achievement but also of personal growth and innovative engagement in speech-language pathology.

For more information about Sydney and her services, check out her website, The Listening SLP, here.









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Sydney :

A lot of times the information people really need to make informed health decisions are gate kept by providers. Some of that is the way the system is designed. Some of that is due to the biases that we have as providers, to where people are not able to, without talking to you, look at information, find information and then figure out what decision they want to make. And I was seeing a lot of that where I worked in the hospital, where people just didn't know you, look at information, find information and then figure out what decision they want to make. And I was seeing a lot of that where I worked in the hospital where people just didn't know or they weren't informed of all options all the time. Prior to even meeting me, it was all brand new. So I was like, if we can just have general information on the internet that is easily understood by anybody, it's not giving medical advice, it's just here are the facts for you to be knowledgeable yourself. So that's where we started.

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.

Kim:

Today we have with us Sydney Bessard, and she is the Listening SLP. That's her Instagram name and that's where you will find her website also. So we are just excited for Sydney to share with us her journey being a speech therapist and also becoming an entrepreneur. So welcome Sydney, thank you for being here with us.

Sydney :

Yeah, thanks Kim, thanks Mary. I'm excited to be here with you guys.

Kim:

So if you'll just start off telling us how you got into the field of speech therapy and just how you got to where you are now, yeah, Unlike most people that get a bachelor's in communication sciences and disorders, my bachelor's is in public health.

Sydney :

So I started my college career thinking I wanted to be a pharmacist. I got knee deep three years in and then realized that was not the life for me. I did not like organic chemistry and it didn't like me either. So I needed to figure out what I was going to shift and do differently. And my brother had gotten diagnosed I want to say my sophomore year with ADHD and dyslexia.

Sydney :

So I ended up working at a literacy center over the summer and fell in love, but I knew that I didn't want to stay there. I was like that's just not me. I need a little bit more autonomy so that I'm not having to stay in one company. And that's where I found speech language pathology. So I got my bachelor's in public health. I went straight into my master's for speech and the rest has just gone pretty smoothly since then. I was involved with research heavily. When I was in grad school I had a really good mentor that taught me all the ropes of research, from conceptualization all the way through dissemination at conferences and through posters and presentations. And then I ended up working at a children's hospital for my CF. So I stayed there two years, was on a cochlear implant team and then moved back home to Charlotte, North Carolina, which is where I grew up and decided let's full-fledged jump into the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Mary:

Wow, that is incredible. And so now let's see. You started off with the cochlear implant team and I understand that now you are an auditory verbal therapist. Is that correct?

Sydney :

Yeah, so I don't have the LISLS, which is listening and spoken language certification, but I am doing a lot of listening and spoken language therapy, or more auditory verbal type therapy. So where I went to grad school was pretty cool. We had an ABT track where we got to learn from two fully certified ABTs. So I was on that track. I took coursework in cochlear implants and in the listening and spoken language approach. So it was a natural fit when I worked for the cochlear implant team to use that knowledge and then now in my private practice that's primarily what we do.

Mary:

Now working with that community is such a specialty in our field. What really drew you to that population Now it didn't sound like your brother had that specifically going on for him, but what really drew you to that little niche within our field?

Sydney :

Yeah. So the researcher that I worked with. That was their specialty area. They looked at language and literacy outcomes for children who are deaf and hard of hearing, and the more that I was around her, the more research that we got to do together, the more I was like, wow, this is a really cool area of our field. I think it's also to a little like more medical in addition to the speech side, especially if you're dealing with people that are using some type of amplification whether it's a cochlear implant, a hearing aid, a bone anchored hearing aid, some type of device. So you get to know about all of the language perception sides of things, but you also get to know about the auditory nerve and skills and technology. So I think it fed multiple parts of my brain.

Mary:

Now, as we're having this conversation together about this population, can you share what is the term that is most correct or what is the term that is the most appropriate to use when talking about this population?

Sydney :

That is a wonderful question. I would say that it really depends on the person. So there's not one term that we should say like blanketly. This is how you refer to people I tend to use deaf and hard of hearing. I know some people that will say individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. I have heard some people refer to themselves as hearing impaired. The biggest thing is, if you're talking about the community, you especially individuals. You have to ask them like how do you prefer to be referred to? But I tend to lean a little bit more with the identity first versus person first, which is what most people were taught in grad school.

Kim:

And you're working with children and adults. Is that correct?

Sydney :

Yeah, so it's really cool we get to see some adults in our practice as well that have had cochlear implants or some type of like auditory or listening issue.

Kim:

And are these adults that are getting cochlear implants later in life? They've made that decision or you're just getting to finally see them? Who are you exactly seeing as an adult?

Sydney :

It just depends. Sometimes it can be a little bit of both. So, like some people will, as we get older, unfortunately, our hearing does diminish, so some people choose to get them because of that reason. And then occasionally we'll have somebody who, like they, have had hearing loss since birth or shortly after. They've been maintaining with a hearing aid up to a certain point in life, but then their hearing aid is just not giving them enough power like it used to, so they made a decision to get a cochlear implant so we might see them as well.

Kim:

We noticed that you were able to provide therapy in multiple states. I think is it North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia Is that right. And my question about that was you're very specialized in the therapy that you're giving. Is that kind of what drove you to make sure that you can do therapy in those states as people needing you as a speech therapist for what their needs were?

Sydney :

Yeah, so that was definitely part of our line of thinking.

Sydney :

So my original job was in Virginia, so that's where I had my first license at.

Sydney :

And then where I lived in, virginia was actually really close to the North Carolina border, like the upper part of the state, so I had a North Carolina license long before I ever moved back to Charlotte.

Sydney :

For that exact reason, when I was in the hospital I did have some kids who like coming up here, coming to where I was on a consistent basis, was just too difficult, or people were sick. We were still in the time of COVID and so that's when teletherapy was really prevalent, but I needed a license in order to do that. So that's just how that started. And then I added on South Carolina once I was back in Charlotte, because where I, where Charlotte is located, is right by the border of South Carolina, so I have the two bordering states for where I live. It makes my life easier, it makes families' lives easier if they decide to travel, but then it makes us more accessible to people who otherwise may not be able to physically get to a provider that knows or is able to guide them as to what they should do for their family member.

Mary:

So what does that process look like getting licensed in different states? Is it mostly a paperwork situation, or are there actually different requirements in terms of boards and testing your knowledge in different states?

Sydney :

So different states have different requirements for what it looks like. Obviously, originally getting licensed in Virginia was the easiest for me. I had my like provisional license and then, once I was awarded my C's through ASHA, I submitted for my full license. Getting my license in North Carolina was also pretty easy. I think they just made me prove that I had my C's a license in another state and I had to submit my transcripts.

Sydney :

South Carolina was a little bit different. I had to have a passport photo. A little bit different I had to have a passport photo, I had to get something notarized and they go through like a whole different licensing agency that's not just related to speech, language and audiology. Theirs covers all types of different licenses that you may need throughout the entire state. So it looks a little bit different based on where you are. I haven't in my experience had to take another exam or do anything like that. It just may involve more or less paperwork, just depending. So this is where I know ASHA has been talking about their interstate compact. Don't know fully what that's going to look like logistically, but that would be nice to allow people to practice seamlessly within all the states within it without having to get an individual license in each one of those areas.

Mary:

Now this is really interesting, how you have started your own practice. Being so specialized, I'm sure people seek you out and you really have made a huge name for yourself in this specific area. Can you tell us a little bit about how you started your business and started private practice? And I know you've contracted with other people around the US too on different projects. How did that kind of entrepreneurial transition happen for you?

Sydney :

I started listening to SLP right when I finished grad school, november of 2019. I was at ASHA in Orlando and I had seen other people on social media and I knew how to use Canva. So I said, oh, I can make some graphics and hop on the internet. Please don't ever go scroll back through my Instagram page to look at those original graphics that we had. Now I look at them and I was mortified.

Sydney :

But that's how it started, was I just wanted to make information accessible. So that's where my public health degree comes in really nicely, with understanding health literacy and health information. And a lot of times, the information people really need to make informed health decisions are gate kept by providers. Some of that is the way the system is designed. Some of that is due to the biases that we have as providers to where people are not able to, without talking to you, look at information, find information and then figure out what decision they want to make. And I was seeing a lot of that where I worked in a hospital where people just didn't know or they weren't informed of all options all the time. Prior to even meeting me. It was all brand new. So I was like, if we can just have general information on the internet that is easily understood by anybody. It's not giving medical advice, it's just here are the facts for you to be knowledgeable yourself.

Sydney :

So that's where we started and as I posted more things on social media, I was getting invited to do more presentations, which, prior to even being on SLP Instagram, like I had presented at ASHA, I had given guest lectures. I presented at more local things, so it was a natural transition into doing more of those kind of paid engagement type work. And then it's just blossomed from there. In 2022, I decided to full-fledged go into working that and doing my private practice, so I did that. I was a letters national facilitator for Lexia, so I was training teachers all around the country in professional development for early childhood emergent literacy skills, and I still am involved in research. So owning my own business opened up the flexibility for me to feed and use my brain in so many different ways.

Kim:

I know. I'm just so impressed at how you had the confidence to do that so early on, right out of grad school. Do you feel like having the mentor that you had during grad school and those early years really pushed that or have you always been comfortable with public speaking and interacting with people in that way?

Sydney :

I think it's twofold. So, fun fact, I did theater a lot growing up. I used to do theater camps, probably until like middle school, so every summer throughout elementary. So I think that fueled a lot of it. My mentor, I think, definitely fueled that relationship.

Sydney :

She was very much and still is to this day somebody that will push you outside of your comfort zone. When I first started with her she was like you're going to write a research paper? I said I don't know what you're talking about. And now look at, here we are today, like we have two publications together. We've continued to have a good working relationship, so that pushed it. And then I'll also say, like my upbringing, growing up, like in the religion that I am, in, part of what we do is people practice giving presentations and public speaking and engaging with people, and so that has been really helpful too, because you learn about how you engage an audience and how you ask questions and how you are talking to people so that it feels conversational while you're delivering information, and so all of that I think has wrapped into kind of making me who I am today.

Mary:

You also have written a children's book with your mom, and it is on its way to me from. I have a seven-year-old daughter myself, and so I thought that would be a great gift for her, but I want to hear a little bit about that what prompted you to write that book and what it was like to share such a creative project with your mom?

Sydney :

My mom and I had talked about writing a book together back in 2018, 2019. And there just wasn't time as we all say, right Like there's just not enough hours in the day. So once I full fledged started working for myself, I said we can find the time to do this. It's been more of like a passion project, but it's been something really cool to do with my mom.

Sydney :

So the title of our book is A Day With Mom, and the reason that we titled it that is because everything in the book is based off of things that I did with my mom growing up as a kid, and what we were talking about and seeing is that a lot of times, especially nowadays, everything is centered around a good experience.

Sydney :

Especially nowadays, everything is centered around a good experience, but good experiences are being equated to high dollar spending versus. You can have memorable experiences with your families and you really don't have to spend any money, or you can use things that are already in your house, and so we pick things that we did together that were either free or low cost. So we talked about how my mom would make waffles, how we would go to book fairs growing up. We might go shopping for new clothes we would sing and hang out in the car. All of those things have been things that I'm almost 30 years old but vividly can see myself and remember doing them with my mom. So it was like special for us to bring back some of those memories and we had the best time once the illustrations start rolling through, because they were capturing all of the facial expressions and ways that we would interact with each other very vividly.

Mary:

It sounds like you have a wonderful relationship with your mom too and have such fond memories in childhood. Is she who sparked your first kind of love of literacy and books early on?

Sydney :

I would say so the audience wouldn't be able to see the video, but if they could, they'd see all of these books that are sitting behind my head. And when I first started working as an SLP I was like I need books. I was able to go in my childhood bedroom and pull so many children's books off of the shelf because my mom made sure that was really important and it wasn't just like the typical ones that you think of for kids. She made sure that I had literature, even as a child in the early 2000s, that were diverse and they had children that reflected me in my books or reflected what our family looked like, so that to me that will probably always be special to know. Even then. My mom is a real smart woman, but she really made sure that was something that was instilled in her children.

Mary:

One of the things that you wrote in one of your blogs was that you said self-love is the best thing you can do for your career, and you talk about falling in love with yourself. Again is, I think, the exact term you use. What did that entail for you and how do you feel like that fuels you as an entrepreneur?

Sydney :

I have had a couple of and I think most SLPs can relate to this right when you've had some traumatic work experiences jobs, bosses, situations that have just not been ideal, or what you thought of when you were first joining this field and profession and it can really wear on your mental. You start to reflect is it something about you? What have you done? What didn't you do right? How could you have done all of these things different? And it really can really bring you down and make you feel like you're not good enough or that you don't need to be in this. Feel like you're not good enough or that you don't need to be in this field or you are not appropriately serving the clients. That the way that you should be, versus when you flip it and start thinking about how can you love yourself. Even in these moments of difficulty.

Sydney :

One of my biggest things is like I take a step back and it's not a step back from my work, but it's taking a step outside of that work and saying, okay, let me look at the big picture here. What are the things that are going in my favor? What are the things that I should be thankful for? What are the benefits that I have gained from being in this career and then re-shifting my energy into something that's positive. It's really easy when you are in a negative situation to keep yourself there, but when you also think about all of those things you're thankful for, what's going well, that helps you to shift your mind and focus onto.

Sydney :

Where should I be pouring my energy? Do I need to pour it into the negative or can I pour it into the things that are going to keep helping me and propelling me forward? And in the event that you are not perfect like me no, I'm just kidding In the event that, like, we all make a mistake, maybe it was something that you did. Maybe you did lead to some of your own problems or negative situations. That's okay, that happens in life. I think that's where you dust yourself off, say this is the mistake I've made, learn your lesson from it and then channel that into helping you to become the best speech therapist that you can be, knowing always that that's not the mistake that you want to make again.

Kim:

That's great advice. Thank you for sharing that I wanted to talk a little bit more about. Did you say that with the literacy you were working with some dyslexia teachers? Yeah, outside of just using books and speech therapy, sometimes I feel like speech therapists don't always feel confident in that connection with language and literacy, and so I wanted for you to talk a little bit about how you got involved with working with dyslexia specifically.

Sydney :

So I started working at that literacy center while I was still an undergrad, so that kind of fueled it and I learned about a really specific program and approach there Once I got into grad school. My grad school had a heavy literacy focus. So I always like to tell people this is the caveat right People get my school didn't teach this and my school didn't teach that. But based on the faculty and things, what their interests are, that's going to shift and lean what you may get more of in grad school. That doesn't make one better than the other, it's just there's a difference.

Sydney :

My school had a lot more people that were focused on language and literacy, so I had a lot more coursework on that and there was a law that got put in place to where, in order to have the degree, you had to have a certain number of graduate credit hours in language and literacy. So that's how we ended up there with that and since then, like I've gone on to do additional trainings and really have fueled my brain with what do people need to know in order to be effective with literacy intervention? I think SLPs get intimidated a lot. Also, depending on your setting, you may be told you're not allowed to touch this, but to me, learning foundational skills is far more important than learning a program. Programs only get you, but so far, because then you're stuck within that constraint, whereas if you focus more, so on how do I understand the principles and foundational skills of how language and literacy are intertwined? That can take you so much further, because then you're able to figure out how you can make modifications, adaptations for the kids that are in front of you.

Kim:

Which makes sense when you're going in and teaching that for dyslexia teachers who may be specifically using certain approaches and techniques.

Sydney :

For them to have that foundation, yeah, and these are most of the people that are in it, so if people aren't familiar with letters, it's language. Essentials for teachers are reading and spelling, but most of the people that are in it aren't even like dyslexia teachers, their general classroom or their preschool teachers. I always enjoy doing those trainings because I get to bring a different perspective to some of the things that we're discussing that a general classroom teacher may not think about. But then I find the experience so rich because they share so much with me that really informs my therapeutic practice. To make sure that what I'm doing is applicable in academic situations. And how do I naturally incorporate what kids need to know for school into therapy? To make it all like a seamless transition from one to the other.

Mary:

One of the programs that you have been involved with is Linda Mubell, and I think that was a course that I took gosh, maybe close to eight years ago or something at this point. I took gosh maybe close to eight years ago or something at this point, but I took Seeing Stars and then also Visualizing and Verbalizing and that program really changed the way I thought about reading, comprehension and Seeing Stars, about decoding, and it totally changed the way I thought about literacy, more so than using a program because, to be honest with you, I didn't ever really use the program kind of to the T, but it really did change the way that I thought about reading and literacy. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you've done with Linda Mubell and how that shaped your thoughts about literacy and dyslexia?

Sydney :

So that was the company that I worked for before becoming an SLP and it was a really good experience. I have no complaints about my work experience there. I learned so, so much information that really drove me into everything that I would say I know about language and literacy to this day. I think that you brought up really great points about how it shifts your mind in how you think about literacy. I think their Seeing Stars program is really helpful for kids that are a little bit more visual or able to hold on to that information. But the visualizing and verbalizing I think for me had always been, as an SLP, my bread and butter. It can be a lot of work when you're dealing with some of these kids that do have some of those language difficulties. But figuring out how you can help kids to almost mental map what they're supposed to be understanding helps us to be better at our job, because then you can see a little bit more clearly those expressive language breakdowns which I have always found to be helpful.

Mary:

As you started your own private practice, would you say your specialty is more literacy, more deaf and hard of hearing, or is it a combination of both? What are you really seeing in your private practice?

Sydney :

Oh, I would probably say that it's more of that combination of both. So when we think about working with like the DHH population, research has shown that most of the kids unfortunately they do struggle with reading and literacy skills, and so being able to have a good grasp on that is really important, because then you're able to serve the needs of the whole child and not just work on one piece over the other. I think I get inquiries pretty much for both pretty evenly, which is nice. I don't really necessarily see one happen a lot more than the other, and I'm just always thankful that families trust me and they're able to either listen to podcasts that I've been on or they check out my website and they see the benefit in the service that I provide and we're able to have those honest conversations, which I think is always nice.

Mary:

And are you primarily virtual for therapy or do you have a brick and mortar? How are you seeing patients?

Sydney :

I have really good community partners here in Charlotte. We see some people virtually, but we also do have a partnership with an audiologist locally who she allows me to rent out a room, and so I'm able to see clients there when I need to.

Mary:

That's a great combination and it's a win for her too. I'm sure to have that person that she can immediately connect her patients to to get the transition once they've gotten their devices or whatever they need to be helped.

Kim:

We have had the question about how you balance everything that you are doing right now and we've decided that's a tricky concept for everybody. Balance is just different for everybody's life. But with so much going on with you, you have your speaking engagements, your direct therapy, your book writing. I don't know if you plan to do any more of that. But then also, you're researching a lot. How do you schedule your weeks? Do you try to allot certain days for certain projects? Does that change week to week? I'm just curious how you schedule everything.

Sydney :

Yeah, so that's a great question. I do exactly that. I try to be really intentional about what I'm doing when, making sure that I am also to carving out time to dedicate still to my family and other areas of my life. So right now I try to keep my Mondays and Fridays free from seeing any clients or any like big obligations, and then Tuesday, wednesday, thursday are when I see patients primarily. I try to schedule meetings around those times.

Sydney :

But yeah, I think that I just have really found that the three-day work week of like physically seeing people for me has been far more helpful than trying to fit people in five days a week and also for my mental allows me to really focus on what I'm doing in the moment. I was finding that when I was trying to see people then I would do like a meeting about something else. Then I would go back to seeing another person. Mentally I was shifting my brain from like clinician to business owner, to research partner, and it just was too much versus now, since I try to keep everything on the same day, I don't really have to worry about that. It really is more of okay, I'm in business owner mode today and we're sticking with that, or I in business owner mode today, and we're sticking with that. Or I'm in clinician mode today, and we're sticking with that.

Mary:

One of the things that you have been doing a lot lately and you have several scheduled is paid presentations and where you are giving talks on a variety of topics. I know you said that happened organically and more locally and then it just expanded. That is an area that a lot of speech pathologists are interested in getting into is when you're passionate, like we all are, about our field, and especially when you are more in a specialty area, you have so much to offer and want to share with our community. How are you searching for those opportunities or do they really just find you? And then also, how did you transition from being invited to speak to being paid to speak?

Sydney :

To answer the first part of your question, most of those at this point, most of those things have come to me. But this is where the power of networking comes in, and I don't think people realize how powerful networking can be. You don't have to necessarily make connections with people, nor should you for what they can do for you. But I will say, by making connections with people that are in the same space or similar space that I have been in and being the type of person I believe that I am, which is I will speak somebody's name even when they're not present, that has come back to me tenfold where people have spoken my name in rooms and spaces that I could never even have imagined, and it has always come out in my benefit. So, as SLPs are looking to get into that space. One, you have to be in the space with people that are doing those things and you learn a lot from them. But then, two, sometimes you have to like just put yourself out there. I mean, there have been times where I reached out or I pitched to different organizations about hey, I'd like to come talk to you. But the more that I've been on social media and the more that I've grown my brand as like an authority to speak on certain topics, the more that people have just invited me to speak.

Sydney :

The difference between invited and paid depends on the organization. A lot of times, like they will invite people to be and like that means there's compensation involved. But that's to where your flexibility then, as a business owner or as a presenter not every time am I able to get my target goal for payment and compensation and not every time am I able to be paid. It just doesn't always happen that way. But you have to see, does that organization align with your views? How do you feel about them?

Sydney :

All of these kinds of things that all kind of drives what you choose to do. So I think people have to think about it that way for themselves what is going to fill your cup? What is going to get you where you want? Sometimes, to get what you want, you have to do things that are a little bit for free. You don't always get to be like I want to be paid for that. If that were reality, we'd all be, I'll be sitting pretty, but sometimes it doesn't happen. So, learning how to be flexible and say what you want, I think at one point on social media I was very vocal about I want money for my engagements and people heard that and people started to help make sure that I got that heard that and people started to help make sure that I got that.

Mary:

Things that you spoke out about recently was about staying in a job for three months and leaving after that, and you wrote a pretty kind of raw blog post about it. That was really real and really resonated with people. Can you tell us about what impact that had or what compelled you to share something so personal?

Sydney :

Yeah, so that happened to me back in 2022. I decided to leave a job after only being there for three months and then I went full time into owning my own business and it was rough. I spent a lot of time crying, physically, I like had physical signs of anxiety with, like, gut issues and all kinds of things, and I just said you know what, if I am going through this, I'm sure that I'm not the only person, and it would have been helpful for me to have been able to know that this I wasn't alone when I was experiencing. So I wrote the blog post and, to my surprise, it resonated with a lot more people than I was expecting it to, if I'm being 100% honest, but I think, too, for myself, it was like the cathartic release that I needed.

Sydney :

I needed to release this experience that I felt, and being able to write it all down and explain what happened was freeing. It also freed me from the shame that I was feeling, because so often as SLPs, we are told you owe it to your clients, or what about the kids? Or how dare you not care about the people you're working with? Right, and that's really hard. That is really hard to hear that because it never has to do with the kids. If we're being honest, right, it has nothing to do with the kids. It has nothing to do with the really. It has nothing to do with the really even sometimes, the people you're working with. A lot of it has to do with the stress that you're under and how it is impacting your life. Being able to tell my own story with that was really the help that I needed.

Mary:

Oh, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing.

Kim:

No, your writing is beautiful, so you have your blog. You're speaking. There's social media. Is there a platform that you feel most comfortable with? Is there one that you're drawn to writing or speaking, or do you love social media? I?

Sydney :

think I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I like Instagram. I like my graphics and being able to relay information that way. Most people might be shocked by this. I actually started on social media on Twitter. People might be shocked by this. I actually started on social media on Twitter not on Instagram Back when Twitter was Twitter and before it went through all of the changes that it's undergone. So sometimes that still feels like a nice safe space to me because it's just free writing and thoughts and you don't have to have a graphic and it doesn't need to be pretty.

Sydney :

What else do I like social media? I do writing my blog posts and I love hosting my free downloads on my website. To me that's like the bread and butter of what I do, because it's all those kind of cute Instagram graphics that people like, but it's in a PDF. It makes it easy to share and they're free. Like they're not. They're not even behind the wall of give me your email and then you can get it. It's just nope here. It is Use it however you want to. So that kind of stuff always makes me happy and I think where I feel like most comfortable on the internet.

Kim:

That was one of our questions for you, because, as entrepreneurs really and not just speech therapy, but any kind of business growing your email list is a very big topic that people talk about, and so that was one of the things that we noticed right away with your instant downloads. And you've almost answered both of those questions just in conversation with you, because you talked about your background in public health and wanting to give information to people and make it easy and accessible, and so I think that just having conversation with you answered maybe why you've posted it that way, but also we were really impressed with just the specific topics that you are sharing on there. And again, what you saw in healthcare, I think, is what led you to put some of those. But those were questions that we had for you that I feel like we've already gotten the answer to. I guess my question would be what advice do you have, then, when people are being pushed to grow their email list, because you probably knew you could get a ton of emails that way.

Sydney :

So my email list grew. Now this is something people can do. Sometimes when you present or if you exhibit at particular conferences, they may give you the emails of attendees. So that's one way that my email list has grown. But I think the biggest thing is when you add value, so when you show people a sneak peek about what they're going to get on being on your email list or why they're subscribing.

Sydney :

I try to use my email list only to share things that I think will be relevant to the masses or when it's going to be information they really want. So if there's a free of it. But I've also built my platform on that. So, like, my platform has been heavily built on free or low cost resources and materials.

Sydney :

If you have a platform or brand that is a little bit more like buy this Teachers, pay Teachers product or buy my digital downloads or resources, then being a little bit more salesy isn't necessarily a bad thing, because your audience knows that's what they're getting into. So just always being mindful of that and then figuring out what is your secret formula that makes you special, what about you draws people to you versus somebody else, and then showing up authentically as yourself, if you like to use a lot of exclamation points, go for it. If you are an emoji queen, have at it. If you are very straightforward and everything ends with a period, that is also fabulous, because that's you and that's what's going to make people, one, really like you and respect you. But two, that's what gets them to stick around, because you're showing up as yourself.

Mary:

That is really good advice. Really good advice Because I think so much of being an entrepreneur, as an SLP can get a little bit cringey as you're asking for someone to buy something from you or that salesman-ic feeling. But when you have something that you're passionate about and you feel is adding value, that's where it is in terms of connecting with an audience and feeling like you understand the person behind that email blast that you just got. Kim, do you want to do the wrap up question?

Kim:

We just had a couple of fun questions we've been asking all of our guests, and one of them is self-care. Is there something that you go to for self-care in any of your downtime? That kind of helps, just like you said earlier, fill your cup or get you ready for the next week or your next day?

Sydney :

Yeah, I'm a reality TV junkie bringing on the trash so I binge watch. I watch when episodes drop, but I do like to binge the reality junk. So I have been loving Love is Blind. This current season was filmed in Charlotte so it's been fun to watch places around where I live. Love all the housewives down the traders which is on Peacock has been great. So anything, reality TV, pop culture, I am right there for.

Kim:

I love that. That's so funny because I don't think I would have ever guessed that, and that's why I love just hearing all these little fun facts about people.

Mary:

So which one is your favorite housewives series?

Sydney :

Oh, okay, the series, or the people, or the wife, yeah.

Mary:

Which city is your favorite as a whole? Beverly Hills or New Jersey? Miami? Which one as a whole? Beverly?

Sydney :

Hills or New Jersey, miami, which one? This is tough. Now that's a hard question. You know what? They're the new girls on the block, but Salt Lake City, they are very entertaining to watch. I like Salt Lake City a lot. I just sit there every season. They have stuff. That's just what is this?

Kim:

Next level drama. That's so fun. What about? I don't know if you like to cook, but do you have an easy go-to favorite dinner that you might do on busy nights?

Sydney :

Yeah, you know what People will be shocked. But cooking spaghetti noodles and all in the Instapot, ready noodles and all in the Instapot Easiest thing ever. You fix whatever your sauce you want it to be. You layer the noodles over top of that, cover those with sauce too, put the top on, put it on there for 12 minutes. Your noodles are cooked, your sauce is done and you are ready to eat it. All. And it is. It gets the job done.

Kim:

Wow, I don't think I ever would have thought about that in the Instapot. And then, if you were not a speech therapist, is there a job or a dream job that you would choose?

Sydney :

Oh man. So I used to say epidemiologist, like I was low key, living my dream during COVID with disease tracking and seeing the spread of things was actually really cool and fascinating. I really that kind of stuff. If I weren't at SLP I'd probably go on to be an epidemiologist and work with the CDC is getting a bad rep right now. But work in an agency that is like that that is responsible with disease control, prevention and tracking for people.

Kim:

That's very interesting. We have not had that answer. Do you love looking at the analytics of all of your stuff? Do you love just seeing those numbers and all of that?

Sydney :

Oh, yeah, yeah. Like I love looking at the analytics and insights and seeing what worked, what didn't work, what adjustments can be made and being strategic about how to make things work in the future.

Mary:

Oh, ok, so that's going to be my last question? Oh, no, ok, I have two last questions. My first question related to that is now we've been able to run the same kind of analytics on all of our things. What is the most surprising location that's popped up as someone who has purchased one of your products or messaged you, like, where they are in the country of the world.

Sydney :

Oh, wow, okay, that's a good one. I would probably say you know what? Turkey? So I got a DM last fall from a group that said that they were a Turkish organization for speech language therapists that's what they're called over there and I got freaked out. I was like this is weird, I'm not like, I don't think that this is real. So I looked at their page and I sent Nina Reeves, who she does stuttering. I sent her a message, I sent Dr Scott Yarris a message and Lynn Williams is the other one. It wasn't Nina, it was Lynn and it was Scott. And I sent them both a message and said this group reached out to me. They say they're from Turkey, is this legitimate? And they were like oh yeah, this is great, you're going to have so much fun, we're so happy for you. And sure enough, I was able to do six hours of presenting for speech language therapists in Turkey last December, so it was legitimate and that was probably the best experience I've had.

Mary:

That's so neat. Wow, that's amazing, yeah, okay. And then, because you're into literacy, we can't let you go without knowing your favorite childhood book.

Sydney :

Easy one If you give a mouse a cookie. And that is because my mom took me to a book fair when I was a kid, so I have a signed copy by Laura Numeroff.

Kim:

That's cool. Oh, love that one. That's a classic for sure. Love that. Thank you so much for spending your time with us. We have really enjoyed talking with you. You're a wealth of information and we're excited to share with all of our listeners.

Sydney :

Thank you both so much. I really appreciate it.

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Mary Brezik and Kim Dillon

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