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
S2E14: Sustaining a Business in All Seasons of Life with SLP Rachael Baethge
In this episode, Kim and Mary talk with Rachael Baethge as she shares how she created a flexible and sustainable business model that accommodates her roles as a mom and a speech therapist. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing personal and professional limits to avoid burnout, ensuring she remains effective in all her roles—business owner, mom, and speech therapist. Rachael highlights the value of sustainable growth over rapid expansion, accepting that not all goals need to be achieved immediately.
Transitioning from contracting in schools to starting her own business (Texas Speech Mom) and later a private practice gave Rachael more control over her schedule and activities. She leverages platforms like Instagram and Pinterest effectively to market her products, maintaining engagement through authenticity rather than chasing trends. Rachael discusses adapting her product offerings in response to changes in market demands and consumer behavior, ensuring her products remain relevant and in demand. Despite changes in social media algorithms, she focuses on cultivating relationships with her audience to keep her business relevant.
Rachael's business activities are closely integrated with her personal life, allowing her to manage her roles as a single mom and entrepreneur effectively. She underscores the value of having a supportive community of fellow entrepreneurs and how this network has helped her navigate personal and professional challenges. She shares her approach to creating engaging, useful products for speech therapists, focusing on quality and practicality to ensure long-term usability. Rachael reflects on the journey of balancing entrepreneurship with personal life, emphasizing the importance of taking things slow to build a lasting and fulfilling business. She advocates for knowing one's limits and working within them to maintain health and happiness across all aspects of life.
Rachael's story is a great and encouraging example of how understanding one's limits and focusing on sustainable growth can lead to a successful business that complements personal life's demands. We really enjoyed getting to know Rachael and are so excited to share her knowledge and resources!
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For more information on speech, language, feeding and play - visit The Speech Source Website - https://www.thespeechsource.com/
I know my limitation right now and I think that's taken many years for me to get to the point where there's no point pushing myself to burnout, because then I can't run a business, then I can't be a mom, then I can't be a speech therapist, I can't do anything well. So I just need to know what my limit is and just be okay with that, because right now everybody's doing wonderful things online and it's hard to not get caught up, especially a workaholic and a perfectionist that I've always been. But I think my greatest accomplishment is also knowing you cannot do that right now. You need to slow and steady. This is a marathon, it's not a sprint, and I think that I've finally gotten into accepting that, having my goals but knowing I don't need to get to them within a month, that maybe next year it'll happen, it's not going to go away. I don't feel like this is slipping away by any means.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Speech Source Podcast. My name is Mary Brzeeke.
Speaker 3:And I'm Kim Dillon. We are two pediatric speech-language pathologists with a combined 25 years of experience.
Speaker 2: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.
Speaker 3:Today we are getting to interview Texas speech mom, rachel Bakey, and we are really excited to have her on. I know she is involved in lots of content creation on her Teachers Pay Teachers store that we're going to get to ask some questions about, and she also runs her own private practice. So welcome, rachel. Thank you for being here with us. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 3:So if you just want to tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into the field of speech therapy and we can start there, yeah, so 15 years ago or 16 years ago, I graduated and I went straight to the hospitals.
Speaker 1:I thought that was going to be my path and I did it for several years and then decided that the schedule just wasn't really for me.
Speaker 1:I wanted to go, have more flexibility. So I started doing contracting with schools, did that for many years still, through the school districts, through the contracting companies, but I would travel from school to school and then eventually I had my daughter and took about a year and a half off and went back part-time to see kids. And I still just wanted to do something, get that creative outlet. And I'd been on the sidelines watching all of the speech community grow, especially with the blogging community and all of that, and I just decided, now or never, just jump in. So I started Texas Speech Mom which is crazy when I think about it, because I had a toddler who only went to preschool barely two days a week. But it was such a fun outlet for me and I just ran with that, eventually, did that for several years, ran with that, eventually, did that for several years, and then just last year I decided to go on my own and I left contracting and I opened up my own private practice. So that's where I'm at now.
Speaker 2:Wow. Okay, so you are still currently doing your Texas Speech, mom, all of your products and your business, and then you also see patients. What does your caseload look like? How many hours or what kind of kiddos are you seeing?
Speaker 1:The original goal was to stick to just the preschool population. That is what I enjoy the most, that is what is just something that kind of gets me going. And right off the beginning I was very lucky that the preschool that my daughter went to they immediately started advertising that I was taking on clients and it filled up quickly. I'm trying to just say, okay, I'm only going to see two to five-year-olds, but again, some of the kids have stayed on my caseload and now they're six and now they're getting older, but again, just primarily preschool students. I still wanted to keep it part-time. The goal was never to, as of right now, never to have this massive private practice. I just wanted to be able to work for myself and essentially do what I was doing before but have more control over what I'm doing. And so I see kids generally Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and I reserve Monday and Fridays for trying to do Texas speech mom.
Speaker 3:Do you see kids both in the preschool and do you see some at your home also?
Speaker 1:I see them in the preschools, the daycares or in their houses, so I don't have anyone come to my house. But eventually I would probably love to be able to do that. I just I like being able to drive from client to client and I also really going into their homes. That's, for me, ideal because I get to talk to the parents, I get to coach the parents, I get to see the toys that they have and what they're using, whereas when you go to the preschools or the daycares it is trickier pulling them out and trying to carry it over and then try to communicate with the parents what happened.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I see on your Instagram is you are so well organized. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:Everything is beautiful, yes.
Speaker 2:All of your bins. It's all clearly labeled. We get our picture of that, of what that looks like on your Instagram. Can you tell us a little bit about your organization on the road? How are you staying organized when you're going into people's homes and you might see kids back to back and it's a boy who's a wheel lover and then you've got another kid who's an animal lover and how are you keeping things organized in your car?
Speaker 1:It's funny you said that because I just did an Insta story this morning of my car is completely out of control right now. I've done the whole systems where I have the bins in the trunk and the trying to keep an organized system and it just doesn't work, especially because I need my trunk for my life. That's not speech therapy, and every time I needed to throw my daughter's bike in the back I would have to take out all the big bins and boxes and it was just too much. So I try to clear it out on Fridays, repackage Sunday night and then just go with it. I usually have two bags One is more for the speech kids and then the other bag is mainly like the toys, because the toys are what is the most difficult to carry around and to keep organized, because they're just big, so bulky and just really there's not a great way to organize them. I've tried.
Speaker 3:But I feel like within your office it looks like you have stuff bagged in really great ways and labeled, and it appears that it would be very easy to find what you needed and then pack that into your car for the day.
Speaker 1:People. Always they'll comment that and, to be perfectly honest, I'm like everybody else. My bag is still full of random pieces of paper and it's just chaotic and you're throwing it in. Nobody can be perfectly organized and that the organized way of the products. That's part of the business, that's part of what I'm selling, is that here's your product. If you prep it right away, then you have it for years and years to come, and so I try to show that prepping something right when you get it and using this, you can use the same materials for years and years and you won't get tired of it if they're good quality materials. But I promise it's not as organized as it might be. But again, part of it is all part of the branding, I guess you could say, and part of what I'm selling I can see in the camera right here. I have it all organized in the boxes. I'm also looking at the front door where all my bags are placed.
Speaker 3:That's a great marketing strategy with the way that you have packaged and organized everything, because people are drawn to that visually and they know that's going to be helpful in running a therapy session.
Speaker 1:So that was very smart and I think the thing is that, with all the products that I sell right now, I feel like it's getting a lot on social media of everybody becoming a specialist and everyone's specializing in certain things. But I feel for the speech therapists that are working in the schools. Where you can't really specialize, you have to work with a whole caseload, and that's where I want people to look at my business and my brand and even come to my Instagram and see that what I have might make your life easier.
Speaker 2:I love that because then your buyer, whenever you buy something from Texas Beach Mom, you feel like I'm buying something that is going to make me more organized.
Speaker 1:I somehow have a piece of that, a piece of that kind of feeling, and if it, makes your session go easier, because I am showing you that it's making my sessions go easier, because everything that I sell I use, and so I try to really make that clear that I'm just like everybody else, a speech therapist. I just want to be able to help make the sessions easier Once you decided to leave the schools.
Speaker 2:it seems like you're at a crossroads in the sense that you could have decided you know what Texas Beach Bomb is gonna be my full-time. I'm going to make that now my business, my full-time gig. Why did you decide to go back to patient care? Or did you feel like patient care also helps Texas Beach Mom and they complement each other?
Speaker 1:So there's been a couple of times where you know cause I've always been a contractor. Even when I was in the schools, I've always contracted. But after I had my daughter, when I went back part-time, I went to the private practice. But I was able to have control of if I wanted to take more clients or not. And there were many times where, if my caseload would get lower and lower, I didn't want to take anyone else because I wanted to grow Texas Speech Mom. And I've done that several times.
Speaker 1:But I've started to realize it's very difficult, at least for me. It was difficult for me to run Texas Speech Mom without seeing clients. I felt like it was hard to get ideas, it was hard to feel like I was relatable. It just keeps the wheels spinning. And that's why I've done it many times where I'm like I'm just going to do Texas Speech Mom because that is my main income, but seeing the kids and getting out there because it doesn't matter how many years you do this there's still scenarios where you're like what is going on? Why are they doing that? And you have to try to reinvent the wheel. And that's what I like to be able to do. And then I can think of oh, I can make a product for this. And it goes from there.
Speaker 3:So, going back to when you first started creating products, because we have the platform, you have Teachers, pay Teachers. I've also seen that you have a lot of Pinterest followers, and so people can find you through Pinterest and also blogging. What did you start with first when you started Texas Speech, mom? Did you start creating product first? Were you blogging some and tying that together? How was that process in the beginning for you?
Speaker 1:Definitely started with just creating products. I try to just do it all at once. When I started, I went full force and it was a very fast moving train. I also felt like I spent a long time making sure that I had all my ducks in a row before I got out there and I did a couple blog. Blogging wasn't a huge thing, mainly because it just wasn't super interesting to me.
Speaker 1:Everything that I've done has always been something that has been of interest. I know there are very clear cut things of what you should do to grow a business, but if it's something that's taking me away from my personal I'm raising my daughter it just didn't excite me anymore. So I always put all my energy into what did excite me, and that was creating products. Of course, now I know you need to have systems to keep it running, but at the beginning I just went into creating products. That's all I wanted to do. Instagram was a great way to get the word out there and I was able to create something, show it on Instagram and then it would sell, and that's still the most exciting part to me.
Speaker 3:And so that's your main marketing platform is Instagram, once you have products created.
Speaker 1:As of right now. Yes, I would say Instagram, but I would really say all of the customers hands down. That is what I've been so fortunate because of word of mouth. I feel like that is where it's helped me so much. I have really depended on that, and that's just by creating products that were needed and also in demand, and then they share pictures of it. And that's just by creating products that were needed and also in demand and then they share pictures of it, and then that's free marketing and that's the most authentic marketing as far as I feel.
Speaker 2:No, definitely I think, when most of your customers are seeing a release of your product on Instagram, how have you been affected by all of the changes of Instagram and stories and who sees what, and algorithms how do you stay on top of that?
Speaker 1:So there's no way to stay on top of the algorithm and Instagram is. It's wonderful, it's definitely a huge part of what kept my business running. But it can also be detrimental to your business when things get very loud on social media and to try to navigate what to do and then to realize this is my main way to advertise my business, or to know that it can just disappear way to advertise my business or to know that it can just disappear.
Speaker 2:What do you find that you're having to do? Maybe?
Speaker 1:differently in your presence on Instagram to be noticed. I think, instead of trying to fight the algorithm and trying to keep up with the latest trend, is to really focus on keeping up the relationships that you made on Instagram. Everybody's busy and I'm very busy and I know that I could spend an hour trying to come up with something trendy and funny and hilarious on reels, or I could spend that time replying to the messages and creating that sort of community, because, even if the algorithm that day might not be incredible, that person hopefully will still come back to your account and I think that's what has helped the account still grow and still run is by building the community and the relationships instead of trying to keep up with whatever the trend is or whatever the algorithm is looking for.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's such a good answer. That's so true. I wish everybody felt like that. You're just pouring your people, your customers.
Speaker 1:And they've been so loyal. It's just been a wild ride, this past couple of years especially, and I am so taken aback by just how loyal everybody is. And even when I first started I was knocking out products every month and life has gotten a little busier and I haven't been able to do it. But when I do, everybody still shows up and the numbers of how many products I would sell within the first 24 hours it hasn't really changed because the people that are interested in your stuff, they're still going to be repeat buyers, hopefully, if you've done good quality work and if you're listening to what they say and if you just are relatable. I don't want to be just doing whatever is trendy so I can trick the system. I just want to be relatable.
Speaker 3:How long do you feel like it took for you to get traction in selling your products once you started putting products up on TPT?
Speaker 2:I was very fortunate.
Speaker 1:I do think that I had a couple products that got quick traction. When I first started, a big thing that I started doing was creating companions for target dollar spot items and that was a huge thing that those would sell like crazy. It was just like this big thing that would happen. And then the dollar spot got. It's not very good anymore, I feel like it's not the same, but that was probably the first thing that started getting people. But again, it just really takes a couple products to really do well and then I feel like the buyer will keep coming back. I have some of my best-selling products are still ones that are from my early days that still sell every single day. But I put a lot of work into them, a lot of research. I worked really hard and I still do. I'm trying to make sure that my stuff is original looking and it's backed by research and that it offers something different, which is getting harder and harder, but that's just how I guess industries get when they get a little oversaturated a little oversaturated, very true, yeah.
Speaker 2:When you're on PPT, what stands out to you? When you see the sea of saturation in the kind of the speech path world, what kind of things are standing out? Or what would you recommend to someone who's wanting to get into the space but not just be another person doing products, but doing it really well?
Speaker 1:I think the thing that's tricky is that six years ago, when I started, there definitely wasn't as many as are now. I think during COVID, everybody had the time at home and they start looking into it. There's also a lot of courses out there that are teaching people how to, which is great. There's room for everybody.
Speaker 1:It's always disheartening when you see stuff get uploaded on the website and you can't tell who is selling it. Everything's starting to look very similar, and that is something that I will be like okay, I'm going to pivot this way, I'm going to pivot that way. I'm going to try to make mine a little bit different, but it is tricky. It's definitely tricky, and sometimes you just have to stay in your own lane and just keep looking forward, because you can make yourself go crazy comparing and there's just no point in it. If you're proud of what you're doing and if you feel that your time, that you're pouring into it, is worth it, then go for it, because the buyers are the ones that are going to decide anyways, and they'll be able to know when that stuff happens.
Speaker 3:I wanted to ask a little bit about your creation process. Do you try to carve out time to sit down and think about products that you want to create, or do they come to you and ideas and you're like, okay, I have to make something for that? Both.
Speaker 1:Definitely both. I have a running list of products, especially when it's a product line that it's always oh man, I need to get the next one out because it's a seasonal thing. Or the different book companions. I have all these different book companions that I start that end up just sitting on my desktop, because I don't think anyone can ever truly predict, even myself included, of how many hours go into creating these things. Sometimes I'll just be driving in between clients and I'm thinking about something and I'll start to realize I need a product for that. Or you'll see on my data sheets and on the side I'm like sketching out a template or something that I would want to do for another product, and there's just no method to the madness. Well, it works.
Speaker 1:Right and that's what excites me. To me, I get bored easily, so that's what's hard is that when I know that I need to be finishing up a bundle of all the different products that are supposed to be in a bundle, but my brain has already moved on to getting something different out there.
Speaker 3:Just looking at products like your book companions, you can use that for so many sessions. I can tell you put so much time into that because there's so many different little products and different ways that you can stretch those sessions out and probably use with kids just across ages and in all different types of settings.
Speaker 1:So I can imagine that those are so time consuming when you're creating that and that's something where I hope that my products feel relatable to people, because I don't want to print and laminate and cut something that I can only use in a session one time, like the holiday's done or something, and then we're done with it. That is a huge thing to me because I don't have time for that and I feel like nobody else has time for that either. So I've always made sure that my products if you prep them, I promise you'll be able to get a lot of use out of it and then you can use it from year to year or you can use it for your entire caseload. I'm doing the same thing that everyone else is doing I want to prep them and be able to have it forever and use it for a long time, instead of just one and done type thing.
Speaker 2:I want to zoom out for a second and look big picture. What do you feel like are the role of visuals and therapy, and how does that really enhance your therapy session and your progress?
Speaker 1:For me.
Speaker 1:I feel that I'm very realistic about what, especially with the preschool population, of what this preschooler is going to act like in your session.
Speaker 1:I know that they're not going to sit still, and so I create products and I hope I make my products to where it involves movement and letting them get up and down. Your whole session doesn't crumble if they're not sitting at their table. I want other therapists to know that with my products, even if their behavior is all over the place or if they need to be working on their fine motor skills or their gross motor skills, all of those are usually involved in my products and I also show it a lot extensively on Instagram, which has helped me be able to keep all those highlights up so that they can see the walkthrough of how to use it, of how to use it. And also I have a lot of people tell me that they use their session like for co-treating with OT, which is the dream to be able to co-treat with OT. But if you don't, you can try to at least incorporate everything that you can, because these kids have a lot of needs.
Speaker 3:I think those Instagram stories are probably really helpful for someone to walk through and see how, because you have an idea in your head when you're creating a product, but then to be able to show that to someone else. They're like oh okay, that's how you would use it.
Speaker 2:One question just out of curiosity. Okay, If you're looking at your TPT store on the backend, what percentage do you feel is it your new product is getting lots of purchases? And then what are you seeing of your inventory on page one or page two or page three? Are you seeing that it's kind of customers coming back and then once they make a purchase they're going into different pages? Or do you feel like the first page that's visible is the one that's getting the most buys, or what does that look like from your view?
Speaker 1:I think that it still blows me away. Every day. The main amount of sales that I have are for my core products, which is still great for me because that means they are first-time buyers. I always want to make sure I'm still having first-time buyers and then once I go back and look and see they buy one and then I can try to keep track of oh okay, they've come back again. Then I have some that have pretty much bought my entire store, so it's just a kind of a mixture. As long as you're still getting new customers, then that means you're still doing something right, especially if you can't. Right now, with the season of life that I'm in, I'm not able to produce as many products as I used to be able to, and that's okay. I'm still showing my old products in my sessions and they're still selling. That's also where Instagram helps, because I can show a product and I can link it and then there'll be sales for it. It just helps keeping it all relevant, because I still love all my old stuff too.
Speaker 2:I love that, because that would be really disheartening to feel like what's selling is always the newest thing that you somehow had to keep on top of always being fresh. But you feel like when you really spend a long time and research your core products, that's what people really want.
Speaker 1:And I've been able to, from going to Tisha and having a booth and being able to actually talk to people face-to-face, and then hearing their feedback and hearing the way that this product really helped them and or they use this every single day. That's the real reason to do all of this, so that's what keeps it motivating. Sometimes, when you create something brand new and then you're still selling all your old stuff and it's you want to push the new stuff out there too. So it's just a constant back and forth just to be proud of everything that you put out there.
Speaker 3:Really, I wanted to get your thoughts and opinions on subscriptions or memberships, cause it does seem like you have. You have your book companions and then you have your seasonal stuff. But then I can also tell that you're very aware and accepting of your season of life. Right now is busy. Is that what keeps you from doing any sort of subscription or membership? Just not wanting that deadline every month.
Speaker 1:Yes. So when I first started Texas Beach Mom, I poured my heart and soul into it. I did not sleep much. Every free second that I had I was working. Anytime I was watching even a movie, I still had my laptop on my lap that type of like hustle cultures has slowed down, and I don't regret that season because I was able to create something that is essentially running on its own for this time where now I'm a single mom. Now my days when I come home from work are much different and much busier, and I am proud that I created something that's still running.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I know my limitation right now and I think that's taken many years for me to get to the point where there's no point pushing myself to burnout, because then I can't run a business, then I can't be a mom, then I can't be a speech therapist, I can't do anything well. So I just need to know what my limit is and just be okay with that, because right now everybody's doing wonderful things online and it's hard to not get caught up, especially a workaholic and a perfectionist that I've always been. But I think my greatest accomplishment is also knowing you cannot do that right now. You need to slow and steady. This is a marathon. Do that right now. You need to slow and steady. This is a marathon, it's not a sprint and I think that I've finally gotten into accepting that, having my goals but knowing I don't need to get to them within a month, that maybe next year it'll happen, it's not going to go away. I don't feel like this is slipping away by any means.
Speaker 3:That's encouraging to hear, because I think everybody does do it differently but to hear that you're taking the time that you need to create something, but then, as soon as you do, all your people are right there ready to buy it. So you've created a process that works really well for your business.
Speaker 1:And I think that's where the relationships come back into it, because I know that I could have perfect branding and I can have a perfect website and I can have a perfect emails going out and subscriptions and memberships and courses and everything, but if I'm burnt out then I can't actually deliver once everything's been set up. And that's where I've really realized that I need to make sure that whatever I'm putting out there, I need to also be present and being able to deliver to the customers and also to my own personal life of being a mom and running the crazy world of a second grader.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know that you have such a great customer support, but since we had the pleasure of meeting you in person at a happy hour for some entrepreneurs and speech pathologists, I also know that you have a really wonderful community of women that are online who clearly you are very close with. Can you tell us a little more about those friendships and how that all got started?
Speaker 1:Yes, that is. What is wild is that when you're an entrepreneur, unless you hire people, you don't have coworkers anymore and the online community of the sellers become very close. It can go both ways. Everybody can get very competitive. But I feel like that culture has disappeared. I don't notice it as much anymore. I feel like everyone's doing something that's very specific in their lane, that now we can all support each other. We're not just on the only TPT rat race that it used to be, but I have developed great friendships with a lot of the sellers and they were also the ones that, when I needed to step back during difficult times in personal life, they kept me going and they would still include me in the giveaways or the collaborations and that sort of what has really helped, because nobody really truly gets it unless you're in it, and so I feel like we can all lift each other up if we see one of us needing help with something. That's what makes it even more fun going to the conferences and everything is actually getting to see everybody in person.
Speaker 3:I want to know about some of your platforms that you use for creation, because I know we have Canva and there's PowerPoint. What is your go-to for creation?
Speaker 1:I'm old school, I still use PowerPoint. I didn't even realize that people were using other people until like maybe a year ago. Yeah, I use PowerPoint. It's what is easiest for me. There's so many different things out there of what you can be doing and then I'll realize I just wasted like all this time trying to learn something new, whereas I could have really just been sticking with what I can do and be more efficient. In that time there's always something, a new program, a new thing.
Speaker 1:I used to have my sister. My sister used to work for me, which was wonderful. That was when everything was moving very fast and very quickly and it was great. But I was like I want to pay you and I want you to work with me and help me with all this, and so she took on all the Pinterest and she helped me with a lot of the things.
Speaker 1:But then she had a baby and then it's been a little bit harder to get her, which has probably been why it's hard for me to hire. It just feels so not natural, because this has been my little baby that I've nurtured, and it's a hurdle that I'm going to have to get over very soon because I need to delegate because things are moving so fast and I need a tech person to get in there so that I can get back to doing what I love doing. That's just creating products, creating the relationships with the community and then doing speech therapy, and then, at the end of the day, I want to go back to being a mom and I want to go back to being Rachel instead of just text a speech from all day long type thing.
Speaker 2:That sounds really hard. To hire someone that's this part-time and then you give them full access to your entire creative process. That sounds like a lot to just really intimate, to give.
Speaker 1:And no one's going to work as hard as you are for your own business, which has been something that when my sister of course I hired her and fired her a hundred times because it's my sister, we would fire her and then she'd come back the next day. But yeah, it is a tricky thing, but again, just realizing okay, if I let go of some of the control, then I can put my attention elsewhere, Because if I want it to keep growing, I have to keep up with the Joneses of what everyone's doing online.
Speaker 3:So what areas specifically would you feel like you needed to outsource for someone to help up with? Jones's of what everyone's doing online? So what areas specifically would you feel like you needed to outsource for someone to help you with?
Speaker 1:Currently website. That is something because I'm trying with the practice and then also Texas Speech Mom trying to figure out how I can get this all merged together to where I can have clients going through my website to contact me that way and then also eventually probably get my products on my website and then also get back into blogging, because I do think that there is something worth doing. There Just was super high on the priority list.
Speaker 2:Okay, we haven't really spoken with anybody yet who has talked about Pinterest, so can you tell us a little bit about what made you get onto Pinterest and what that kind of does for your business? I?
Speaker 1:won't have a good answer. That was what my sister did. She knew the importance of it. To me it wasn't very important but I was like do what you got to do and it is something that traffic is still coming because you can see, even on TPT where some of the traffic is coming, is something that traffic is still coming because you can see, even on TPT where some of the traffic is coming from.
Speaker 3:Yeah, on your Pinterest you can see it's like over 2000 monthly views that you have just on your Pinterest. It's just like a search engine. Yeah, obviously she's pulling in your products to that platform, but does she also have an understanding of SEO and how to write things?
Speaker 1:Yes, and there's courses for everything now, and I remember setting her up like paying for a course and being like can you take this course and then run with that? So that was a outsourcing job for sure.
Speaker 2:So when you're an entrepreneur, you have to wear a million hats. What is your favorite one?
Speaker 1:wear a million hats. What is your favorite one Creating? Definitely. I just love the feeling of right when I just start blank and I'm trying to just figure out the template of how I'm going to keep it going. I love that and I love even just down to what it looks like and the clip art and the fonts and the colors. I know they always say for your product cover pages to look like your brand, like very similar and everything, but even that takes it away from me. I love creating a new cover. I want it to be unique to the product and I just love the creating, the creative outlet that you can get, especially when I'm in a session and I'll look at something and be like I can't believe I created that, I can't believe that's mine. That's that's wild how it can start from just nothing and then you just have this product.
Speaker 3:That's just out there forever when seeing kids respond to it not just with you, but all these people that keep coming back for your materials. That is why you created it. For the kid to see that's actually working has to be so rewarding.
Speaker 1:And it's wild to me to see where everything's being purchased, and it's all over the world. That's just a crazy feeling. To know that there is another therapist that has thought I'm going to use this product and that the child is enjoying it in a different country or in a different state it's just a really crazy and fulfilling feeling. That's why I feel like you can never really get burnt out or not want to do it anymore, because who would ever get tired of that feeling?
Speaker 3:Do you have a process when you sit down to create something as far as like a certain room, or coffee, or caffeine, or do you have anything that just makes you feel, okay, I'm geared up, I'm ready, let's do this.
Speaker 1:There's a Rachel that would love that. I want something that's like aesthetically beautiful and I want to. But no, it's usually half of it's scribbled on a piece of paper. And then I've sat down and a lot of the times I create something just quickly for my caseload and then I'll use it and I love it, but I haven't had a chance to go back and now make it for everybody. I have a lot of products like that. I think, if you feel the creative vibe to just run with it.
Speaker 2:I feel like you must have all these ideas in your head at all times, and probably the challenge is just finding the slice of time to actually execute it.
Speaker 1:Also running two businesses.
Speaker 1:That has been a tricky part, because I'm trying to maintain one business and then also start up another one with the practice, and that fills a lot of my brain space because there's so many things that I want to do for the practice. I'm always thinking about oh, I need to get more flyers out there, I need to send it to this school, or even just down to what we do as speech therapists. I also, at the end of the day, I still have a caseload of real families with real kids, and that also consumes a lot of my thought process, and so that is why I love having the TPT and also just affiliates and commission links and stuff like that, because that's just your passive income, so that I don't have to be putting in actual time for the Texas speech mom in order to be making an income that's running on its own and then I can try to focus my attention elsewhere. But it's a lot. It's a lot of juggling back and forth, especially with having two businesses in such different stages of where they're at.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about your income for just a little bit with Texas speech mom, because I think this is really fascinating with Texas Speech Mom, because I think this is really fascinating and it's one of those huge question marks that speech pathologists have is just thinking, okay, I'm so used to. I see someone for direct patient care and then they give me a check for that 30 minutes and then it's just this give and take. But you mentioned that really that's your primary income. Is Texas Speech Mom? Yes, how did you get there, to where your products were able to do that? And then also, are your products still a large percentage of that? Or, like you said, the affiliates are those? Is that an equal kind of share?
Speaker 1:Something that I love is that I don't ever want to be completely dependent on one source of income. I think that's just the entrepreneur bug that you get. I like the different streams. I'm an accounting nightmare during taxes because I have all these 1099s and everything else, but it makes me feel not as stressed because it can't be running perfectly all the time. So if something dips a little bit, you can rev it up in other areas.
Speaker 1:Because of the season, of the time of the year too, tpt is not booming in June or July because a lot of speech therapists aren't working. Then August through October are great, and then, of course, november, december it dips a bit because of the holidays. So you have to factor that in. But as long as you've gotten to the point where you know that it's still your main income, it's also one of those things of the harder you work, the more that you're able to bring in. So if I know that I need to kick it up a notch, I start getting back and making more products.
Speaker 1:I like having that control, whereas when we're seeing kids it's pretty set, unless you have absences, then it goes down, but otherwise you can't really get more because that's how many kids, you're seeing, unless you bring on more kids. And then, as far as the affiliates Amazon and to know it that is set up and it's helpful and it's great and you just get the income from it. People go into those storefronts and purchase through that too, without you having to push it. So that's always the goal is. You don't want to be pushing your sales all the time.
Speaker 2:You want people to want to buy something. That's a really nice setup for you, though, because then you can work seasonally and then you can also take off as well, to have that part of yourself to have time for your daughter during the summer and holiday season.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and that was my goal. That's always been. The goal for me is that I never wanted to just do the in one place, back to back to back sessions, and that's it. I did that before. It just wasn't for me.
Speaker 1:I love the flexibility. I always want to be a speech therapist. I want to do it for as long as I can, but I also want to be a room mom and I also want to go on the field trips and I also want to be able to pick up my daughter from school if she's sick and all of those things. So I just knew I want a flexible job. But if I do a flexible part-time, just speech therapy, then I won't be able to make enough income. That's why I can have something else that's going on the side.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, I just am very fortunate and I think that's why I feel like I'm always in debt and just appreciate and love all of the customers and the supporters. Because it was very clear when I needed to step back a couple of years ago, when I was becoming a single mom, and I think that the fact that was still running and I didn't have to worry about going into work, I could deal with what I was needing to deal with and have that was still running and I didn't have to worry about going into work. I could deal with what I was needing to deal with, and have that business still run is something that is so amazing. It was worth all those really late nights.
Speaker 3:I do think that's the dream for so many therapists to have something like that on the side. What advice would you give someone who is just now having the thought okay, I love creation, I have ideas for products, but just starting a store, what is advice that you would give someone?
Speaker 1:Don't get distracted by the shiny objects. To make sure what you're putting out there, that is what represents you the most. It's not how great the website looks or how great the advertising is. At the end of the day, when somebody says, oh, have you seen her store? And then they go to look and there's only a couple of things or there's not that high of quality, because for all those first-time buyers you have one shot to be able to show this represents my entire business, this one product.
Speaker 1:I would put as much energy and focus into that because there's so much noise right now for people starting businesses of you. Do this five things and you're going to have a best business and take this course to get your business soaring and all of these things that must be so distracting. That wasn't like that when I started. It was very much about what you are creating and just work on creating a community being relatable. Nobody wants to watch an Insta story or purchase something that's just not relatable. I don't want to give off this impression that I'm this perfect business owner, but I want to give off the impression that I'm a relatable person. I'm still a mom, I'm still a speech therapist and I just happen to also be running a business.
Speaker 3:So you seem very natural when you're talking behind the camera on your stories. So I think that makes it easy for people to relate to you, because it doesn't seem forced or awkward, you just seem very natural.
Speaker 1:You're easy to watch when you're doing your stories for sure, Thank you. I very much base my business on being able to show up in Insta stories and stuff and it's tricky because sometimes you just you just can't.
Speaker 3:Would you suggest someone have a certain amount of products in their TPT store before they share about it?
Speaker 1:One thing that I remember when I first was starting and I remember somebody saying this about Instagram that if somebody goes to your profile, it's basically the first six squares, because your profile part is at the top and all they first see is like maybe the first six squares. So those first six squares, you have 30 seconds to catch their attention or not, and then they've scrolled on to somebody else and I think that probably applies to a TPT store right At the very first, if there's something that would catch their attention. So maybe having a variety or maybe something that's different, that doesn't look like everybody else's. But again, yeah, I would work on having a couple products before you actually get out there, because let's say, you've launched a great product and then you start getting attention for it, but then what? You need something else.
Speaker 3:So that's good advice. We did have some fun questions that we've been doing with all of our guests, but what is something you like to do, just if you have some extra time for yourself?
Speaker 1:It's important for me to try to get outside. I think that's a big thing that I've highly realized because it also benefits me in a lot of ways. But yeah, if I have any extra time between working and picking up my daughter, then I'm really trying to make an effort of getting outside and at least going for a quick walk or something, because I can't do that all the time, especially now being the only parent at home. I can't just go at night for a quick walk, so trying to schedule that into my days has helped.
Speaker 3:What about dinner? I know it's crazy trying to do the things during the day and then get a meal on the table at night. Do you have any easy go-to dinners that you fall back on?
Speaker 1:I have a second grader, so every day is. I'm not really into that anymore. And on I have a second grader, so every day is. I'm not really into that anymore and I wish I could have a great answer of some creative thing. A big thing that we do is that if I don't feel like doing this huge meal and I can tell that she's in picky mood that day is that we'll do like a charcuterie board type thing, where I'm just like good fruits, vegetables, meat and put it on a plate and we'll make it like a picnic together.
Speaker 3:But at least I know that she's eating enough food.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we called those snack plates growing up.
Speaker 3:We're having a snack plate night.
Speaker 1:I'm like we can eat outside Anything different?
Speaker 3:I know that you love being a speech therapist, but if you had a different career, is there anything else you would choose?
Speaker 1:I would love to be an OT. I think that I especially since I started incorporating so much fine motor and gross motor all of that is so interesting. I think kids need it. So many kids need it. I'd love to be an OT. I 'd also really like to be a PE coach. I always see them at schools and I'm like that looks like the best job.
Speaker 3:I think a lot of teachers agree with that too. I think as soon as the PE coach is retiring, it's 10 teachers are up for that job. I know it looks like such a good job.
Speaker 2:I always like to end with a random question, but one. The question that I had for you is I know that you have all of these really great products for books and for the preschool age, and I'm just curious now that your daughter is in second grade, that's a different kind of book that you're reading with her now, so what kind of things are you guys reading together?
Speaker 1:now. So what kind of things are you guys reading together? We are reading Babysitter Club. We've just gotten into that. I loved it and I've been trying to get her to do like the old Babysitter Club. But the new series are like the little sisters of them, I don't know, but she does like that and she's interested in that. We used to do the Judy Blume.
Speaker 1:The other day I was thinking about do you remember Nancy Drew books? Yeah, oh yeah. And the Hardy Boys oh, yeah, yeah. And so in the Boxcar Kids she did read that with my mom and she really liked that. But I was thinking, I was wondering if she was old enough for Nancy Drew. I'm not sure, but yeah, we're reading those. When she was a toddler it was easy and it was more aligned with what I was working with and what I was doing. And then she was getting a little bit older and I was still able to use her for my products and get ideas for her and the stuff that I was buying she was also playing with. But now I'm like you're too old now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she can't product test for you. No, not at all anymore.
Speaker 1:I'm down here reading uh, there was an old lady and then I'm going upstairs and having to read like the babysitter's club.
Speaker 2:I just think you're so inspiring. I know you've mentioned you were going through a really hard time in your life and I just really admire the way that you have stood up for yourself and your business and all the things that you're doing for your daughter. I just think you're a really admirable person.
Speaker 1:That means a lot when I was in the thick of everything and I was hiding because everything that I had presented online all of a sudden wasn't the life that I was living behind the screen. But I think the more and more that I open up and share, this is actually what my life is. Now I've hopefully become more relatable, because everybody is going through something. I don't want to portray myself that I'm this perfect business owner, because life is messy and everybody has stuff going on behind the scenes and whether you're just a really exhausted mom or someone going through infertility or someone going through anything, I just think that it's all relatable and that's the image that I want to always try to portray is that it's not a perfect Instagram scene at all times, but we're all just doing the same thing for the same goal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much, rachel. We appreciate it. This is fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is great. I hope we get to find another time to get together and, I know, do a happy hour. That was fun, so have a good rest of your day. All right, thanks, girls, bye. Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast and check out our website, the speech sourcecom.
Speaker 2:Also check us out on Instagram for more ideas on speech, language, feeding and play.
