Rachel Evans – CEO, Old Town ABA, LLC

What does great care actually look like in behavioral health today?

In this episode of Tim Talks: Behavioral Health, Timothy Zercher sits down with Rachel Evans, CEO of Old Town ABA, to break down what it really takes to build a high-quality, sustainable organization in the ABA space.

Rachel shares how her personal connection to autism shaped her path into the field - and how that perspective influences the way she leads, hires, and delivers care today.

They dive into:

•  What separates good care from great care in modern ABA organizations 
•  Why hiring and developing the right people is the foundation of everything 
•  The real challenges of scaling while keeping clients, clinicians, and teams aligned 
•  Why organic, relationship-driven marketing is still winning in a world of automation 

Rachel’s approach is simple but powerful: prioritize people, lead by example, and build real relationships at every level of the business.

If you're building, leading, or scaling a behavioral health organization, this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

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Timothy Zercher 0:00

Thank you so much for joining us, Rachel. We really appreciate you taking time this morning.

Rachel Evans 0:04

Yeah, of course.

Timothy Zercher 0:05

So let's dive right into our first question. I always like to ask our guests, how did you get into behavioral health? What was your story?

Rachel Evans 0:11

I have always been an advocate in this space. I have a brother with autism. So I have been an advocate since I was very young. So I really understand what autism looks like across the lifetime and what someone needs at each age and have a very personal connection to it. But I entered the field with drive, compassion, and a pure heart to help this population. And I enjoy the psychology of the relationships that I'm building. So I'm like a relationship first person. I just enjoy talking to people.

Timothy Zercher 0:48

So that makes complete sense. And I think most people have some kind of a personal tie to the space, right? That's how the people that make big impact get into the field is because they have a big reason. So you built Old Town ABA with a strong focus on kind of quality and collaboration. What does great care actually look like today in your practice?

Rachel Evans 1:09

Yeah, it's very multidimensional. So great care looks like having exceptional people on your team, and exceptional people have great soft skills, customer service skills, and then the academic and clinical skills to match. So our operations are efficient because we have the right team members, and that's what brings quality to our clients. So we have a behavior consulting model, and this takes a lot of chops to work with many different kinds of people. And so having a very collaborative, supportive team on the back end makes front-end services much better.

Timothy Zercher 1:53

It also makes it easier to manage that quality and make sure it happens, right? If you have good talent, you're not having to go back and double check work and all that stuff, near as much at least.

Rachel Evans 2:02

Yeah, definitely.

Timothy Zercher 2:03

Yeah. So you've worked across clinical roles and leadership roles. What's one lesson kind of from the field that shapes how you run your company today in the leadership side?

Rachel Evans 2:15

I think to be a great leader, you have to exemplify what you want to see in other people. It's kind of always staying at that top-notch level. You're always being looked up to. So I really try hard to be a great role model for one. Over my clinical experience, I've always just shown up as that clinical opinion and that go-to person. So I just try really hard to be that go-to. And people have always trusted me as being honest, reliable, and kind. And so I feel like starting with that builds a good relationship as being someone, being a boss, right? Because we're not all used to being a boss. That takes time to kind of build up those skills too. So practicing being a boss is a behavior in itself.

Timothy Zercher 3:04

Very true. Well, and I find that leadership is often tied directly back to psychology and understanding motivations and understanding people's behavior, right? And how those two tie together, which I think BCBAs tend to be better positioned to find their way into leadership than most people because of that, because of those factors. So what have you found is the hardest part of growing your organization so far?

Rachel Evans 3:26

I think every season of the business is different. I've had moments of extreme growth with clients. I've had moments of trying to figure out operations to support that. So there's tidbits of difficulty and wonderful moments in every step. But I think at the end of the day, it's keeping everybody happy because there's a large amount of people you have to serve clients, your consultants, your operations team. But although that's been a difficult part, I know that as long as I'm confident in my vision and my team that everyone's aligning with the higher purpose and the direction that we're headed in. So even though there's difficult moments, I persevere. I always try to look at the positive.

Timothy Zercher 4:12

Absolutely. So last couple of questions. We are a marketing agency that specializes in this space. So we always have to ask some marketing type questions outside of word of mouth, because that should always be the biggest. What works best for you right now in terms of client acquisition? How do you grow your practice?

Rachel Evans 4:27

I think a large marketing focus for me has been pushing out into the public eye for BCBAs. So first exemplifying that this is an excellent role and opportunity for them. And so it kind of brings in great talent. And like you said, the word of mouth piece for clients is always existing, but it's the excellent, efficient operations team and clinical services that sustain word of mouth. And so I really focus on the talent of BCBAs first because the rest kind of falls into place.

Timothy Zercher 5:08

Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Well, and in so many communities, I think yours is one of them. The need is so is so extreme that the clients will come, that is less of a problem, and it's more on the talent side. In ABA, it's only ever one of the two, right? There's only ever not enough talent or not enough clients. There's no such thing as a nice balance.

Rachel Evans 5:25

I really prioritize pushing into marketing heavily, and I'm very grassroots of a person. So I mean, cold calls, emailing, everything on social media. I kind of don't have shame about marketing because I want to serve more people. And I want our team, who's so excellent, to provide services. So I very heavily market and I always have my finger on the pulse because I think a lot of companies and agencies lose touch sometimes.

Timothy Zercher 5:58

I completely agree. I completely agree. And once you've lost it, it's a lot harder to regain access to referral sources, access to good partnerships once they've been lost. So that makes complete sense. And what is one marketing tactic either that you're watching really closely in the marketplace right now or that you and your team is considering?

Rachel Evans 6:17

I really strongly am looking at talented BCBAs and BCABAs to provide this service. So finding them organically on LinkedIn or Facebook, I'm beginning my marketing process by really organic relationships where I actually want to talk to you and get to know you. I don't want to lean on Indeed or in personal messages. Like I really want to have a personal conversation. So a marketing tactic is being more organic in a world of AI and a lot of blah blah blah in your messages on LinkedIn and such. So that also translates to client relationships, is I want to have real relationships with the clients. And I'm kind of a boss that's always available because I don't want to ever lose that part of services where I really know who I'm helping.

Timothy Zercher 7:14

So I think that's a good, that's a good strategy. If you stay closely connected to the people you're trying to reach, you you will engage better with them naturally. Well, thank you so much, Rachel. I appreciate you joining us. We appreciate the work you're doing for your team. I know you're building a great group. So thank you for joining us.

Rachel Evans 7:29

Yeah, of course. Thank you so much.