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
S2E16: Networking and Partnerships in Private Practice with SLP Kim Dillon
This has been such a fun season of The Speech Source Podcast! As we wrap up our season of How I Made My Speech Path Business, Kim and Mary each take a turn in the interviewee seat and talk about how they themselves have built their own private practices.
First up was Kim Dillon talking about her private speech practice. Kim shares about the beginnings of her career, which started from what she thought was a babysitting job but led her to the field of speech pathology. Over the years, she transitioned from traditional employment to establish a flexible and successful private practice that aligns with her role as a mother of four and an active community member. Throughout the episode, Kim emphasizes the strategic use of preschool screenings to build her client base and the importance of cultivating strong, respectful relationships with preschool directors and teachers. This approach not only solidified her business in the community but also minimized travel time and maximized efficiency. Kim also highlights the flexibility of the SLP field, which has allowed her to adapt her career to her family’s evolving needs. The episode wraps up with Kim reflecting on the need for a balance between her desire to serve and adopting a more structured business mindset. This episode not only sheds light on the professional paths available within speech pathology but also serves as an example for integrating personal passions with professional aspirations.
Click here for more info about resources both Kim and Mary use in the their private practices.
If you're interested in signing up for The Speech Source Newsletter, click here. We will be sending future resources specific to what we have created for each of our practices (speech and language screenings, resources for parents and teachers, feeding, swallowing and OMT resources and much more!).
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For more information on speech, language, feeding and play - visit The Speech Source Website - https://www.thespeechsource.com/
The teachers are with them regardless, and they are with them two, sometimes three, sometimes four days a week. So being able to give them tools and strategies to use with not just one or two kids but all of the kids in their classroom really helps with just that early intervention in general in those early years. And that's why I really like it early intervention in general in those early years and that's why I really like it. I've just been blown away at the commitment that these teachers have. I've loved working with them. It was not something that I set out to do, that was not. My intention is to get into the preschools, but I've really enjoyed how it's worked out.
Mary :Welcome to the Speech Source Podcast. My name is Mary Brzeek.
Kim :And I'm Kim Dillon. 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 Speed Source Podcast, we are going to be interviewing 12 incredible SLP entrepreneurs who have all built their own businesses. Some of these women are app designers, content and digital course creators. Some are podcast hosts, speakers, coaches, business owners so much more. These women are going to give us all the inside scoop on how it's done, as a speech pathologist, going off and building your own business. So join us each week as we hear their journey and how they built their SLP business. Today is an extra special episode because I have the honor and privilege of interviewing my co-host, co-owner, co-founder of the Speech Source, kim Dillon. So, kim, welcome to the Speech Source podcast. This one is all about you.
Kim :Oh, so fun. I feel like it's so much easier being the interviewer.
Mary :Oh, this is going to be so neat because you and I interview a lot of people, but I don't think that many people know everything that we're doing and specifically all the things that you are doing in the speech source. You have your own private practice. You are a mom of four kids. You are very involved in their school, in the community, you serve on the board at Presbyterian Night Shelter. You are everywhere and you do so many things. You've been an incredible mentor to me and such an inspiration, so I'm really excited to get to interview you today and then share all the cool things that you've been doing on your entrepreneurial journey.
Kim :Those are all very sweet, kind words. Thank you, I appreciate that.
Mary :Let's start off like we do everyone else, and that is how did you get into the world of speech pathology?
Kim :Okay. So I went to A&M Texas A&M for college and I did not know what I was going to study my sophomore year there. I went on a call I think I answered an ad for what I thought was a babysitting job and it was actually a mom and she had two boys, two autistic boys, and she had them in ABA programs and so I was basically helping facilitate some of these programs brand new world for me. But she just kept encouraging me along the way. She was like do you know what speech therapy is? It would be really great for you to check out that field and understand how to work with this population as a speech therapist. So she really encouraged me and this was a family I worked with all throughout college and I got very close with and her son is 22 years old now and they have always been encouraging to me all along the way.
Kim :So I checked out that field. I was very interested and they did not have that major at A&M. So I ended up majoring in speech communications with a minor in psychology and then I went on to get my master's at North Texas for speech pathology and I started off in the schools. I worked in the schools for nine years and that was a mix of full-time and part-time as I was having babies. And then, when we moved to Fort Worth, I started at a private practice and I was there for about eight years and again it was a mix of one day and then two days, sometimes three, back to two. I love this field because it is so flexible. It's been great. As we've grown, our families and our life seasons have changed. My job has been able to change along with us, and that is one of the best things I like about this field.
Mary :You could not have planned out the roadmap of exactly what setting you would be in back when you were getting in the field.
Kim :No, not at all. I wouldn't have been able to plan what we were going to need to do throughout the different stages of our lives, and it's just been really great to say, okay, I need to add an extra day right now, or things are really busy, I need to take away a day, and I've just been really grateful to be able to do that.
Mary :Wow. So you've had flexibility in a school setting and you've had that flexibility in a private practice. And then tell us a little bit now about that transition of private practice into starting your own practice and what made you make another change.
Kim :So I probably didn't realize I had the entrepreneurial bug until after I started and I realized how much I liked it. I started out of necessity and when my kids were all at three different schools and we were going to have three different drop-off times, three different pickup times, it was too much. Even with carpools and figuring out babysitters, it was really overwhelming. That was when I really knew I needed to try to create something that fit my schedule. I knew I could work from nine At first it was nine to two because we still had a preschooler, but now it's nine to three and I could fully work during those hours. But I needed to have that morning time and that pickup time. That was really important for me. I just made that change. I started in our neighborhood and we have a little neighborhood announcement newsletter that goes out, so I put an ad in there and, just word of mouth, I was able to pick up quite a few kids pretty quickly, very close to me, and so I would go to their homes and see them for speech therapy.
Mary :So then you went to everybody else's homes. Did they ever come to yours?
Kim :So, yes, that was actually part of my plan. I have a little downstairs area that we created as an office area place where I could see kids, so I did that for a little bit and I just quickly realized that wasn't my preference with seeing kids. I really would prefer to go see them in their home environment or even their preschool, which is something that I've really tried to target during this transition into doing my own business. Yes, okay, so that's something that I've really tried to target during this transition into doing my own business.
Mary :Yes, okay, so that's something that you have done is that you started off, like you said, in your neighborhood and then in your home, and then one of the things that I've just been really impressed with is how you have built and maintained relationships with preschools in our city. So can you talk a little bit about how that first started? How did you get in the door of preschools? Because we're going to talk about this in a little bit, but that's what you do mainly now. So how did it all start?
Kim :Sure. So my daughter was at a preschool and I knew the director through that and so I asked her one time just in conversation would you be open to having me do preschool screenings? I knew there was not another speech therapist at that school no-transcript. I just think that's really important to be respectful of other professionals that are maybe already in a space. So no other speech therapists were going in at that time or offering screenings. And sometimes there might be speech therapists at a preschool but they're just not offering something you can offer and I think that's fine Just asking those questions.
Kim :Because the preschool was at a church, I had to do their background screening, which I was completely fine doing, and I think there are a few things sometimes that might take your time and you're not going to get paid for doing, but I still think it's worth it for the long game. So there were some things that had to happen for me to be able to go in there just to do screenings. She also had to present me in front of their church board to make sure that was okay, which is great. They're protecting the kids there. So I did all of those things without payment, just because I really wanted to get my foot in the door there. And so I did the screenings and I had quite a few come back and we can talk later about my screening process, but that's how I got started there.
Kim :And then at another little preschool I was seeing a girl in her home and then the mom wanted me to see her at the preschool. So again, I just directly went to the director because I wanted to build a relationship with her first and was going into the preschool just to see her a few times. And then I just went back to the director and asked what else they might need at the preschool. Were they interested in screening? Did they have this going on yet? And she said no. So that was my second preschool that I offered screenings at and was able to get some students from there, and I really liked that setup because I can now go to one of those preschools and set my kids up back to back and I don't lose that travel time.
Kim :I can see several kids that you know, not at the same time but within the same chunk, or half day or full day, and so then, just in talking with the preschool directors, I've really enjoyed being in that school setting in that early intervention age range, seeing what the teachers are, seeing what the teachers are needing, getting to know the teachers and have conversations with them.
Kim :It's really helped me and you in conversation figure out what we can help create or provide for them, which kind of led to the director asking us to do some preschool in-services, which you and I had never thought of before. This was just something that they asked us to do, and so we sat down and created things and it was received really well. We did some of these things last year that have grown this year, so we were able to see the fruits of our efforts from last year putting ourselves out there doing some things for free, and then we got hired for over double that for this year, and so I think that's just comes from communication and relationships and being willing to listen to what they need from us.
Mary :So what I'm really impressed with? That you have really prioritized the long game and prioritize building relationships. You're really interested in building something that's sustainable and that ends up being a great setup for you in the long term being in the schools where you can hear, okay, what do you need, and let me provide that, instead of coming in and saying I can do ABCD, what do you want. You were first there and said, okay, what can I create for you, what do you need? How do you feel like that's been received with the teachers and the preschools?
Kim :I think it's been received really well and, just to back up a little bit, I do think that I am still learning and growing as far as creating boundaries for myself. I think the long game is important, but I don't have that business mindset that I think a lot of business owners have. As far as this is my time, I'm doing this, I need payment and I think I probably need a little bit more of that. My my husband tells me that all the time is you talk to someone, bill him. He has like a very big billing mindset with his work. I think there's definitely a balance to that. I want them to trust me and know me and also know that my end goal is to help the child and, yeah, I do want to get paid and I think we'll get there.
Kim :Sometimes I just feel like you have to show yourself a little bit before someone's going to trust you Because, again, there are a lot of speech therapists in our community and we have to figure out how to set ourselves apart.
Kim :I feel like, with the teachers, just being able to have conversations with them, they know that I am wanting to help make their job easier and I think that they appreciate that, and so even when you and I were creating things for the end services, our mindset was not putting something else on their plate to do, because teachers have so much to do, so much to follow, so many things to check off and be monitoring all year long, and so our mindset was try to figure out how to make it easier for them, and I do think that they appreciate that. And again, I have consents. I think this is important to talk about too, that when a family agrees for me to even do the screening, at the same time that they sign the screening form, I have them sign a consent form for me to have conversations with both director and the teacher, because they're always going to ask me how to go or how did they do, and I want to know that I am able to talk with them.
Mary :What goals do you have to? Maybe shift a little bit more into that business or profit mindset, or just being paid for the time you're giving in, because the number of hours to create anything just stacks up in tens 10 hours here, 10 hours there. It is so great to create something like an in-service. How do you see that might pay off financially in the future?
Kim :I think we saw that even from last year, what we created and what we provided was received really well. And then we were asked by those exact same schools again this year for new topics plus new schools. We set our prices at what we thought they should be, based on our time, maybe the time that we had put in last year and I felt like we put them at a pretty decent rate and nobody batted an eye at that. And I think that goes back to we established ourselves and we were able to show that we have some really quality information that was going to be helpful to them, have some really quality information that was going to be helpful to them. So I think just in that process yes, that was like a full year before we could see if it was even going to become anything and it did, and that took time. But I think now we're not going to do those in-services anymore without getting paid and everybody was fine with that.
Mary :Okay, so one of the other things that you mentioned. I wanted to go back to your screeners, because a lot of people offer screeners and if you're listening and you're not a speech pathologist, a screener is basically a little snapshot. It's just a snapshot to see, hey, do we think this kid might benefit from the full speech evaluation or not? And it's usually a much smaller amount that you pay the speech pathologist, but it's also a way more narrow view. It's just a very let me just listen to your kid, let me see how it's going. But you really built your private practice around the patients that came out of those screeners. So can you tell us a little bit about how you created that and what's included in your screener?
Kim :Yes. So I definitely offered the screeners at a very low price, and I have to give credit to the directors. Also, this goes back with establishing really great relationships with them. They push those for us. They would send out their weekly email to their school, to the parents, and say, hey, we have this incredible opportunity for a speech screening at this cost. This is great. They even said this is great If you know the cost of a speech and language evaluation, and that was not something I prompted them to do. I just felt like they were on my team and they wanted this too. They knew this was going to help them because they were going to have support with some kids that needed support.
Kim :I knew I needed to make it really efficient for my time when I went in.
Kim :So I have just established everything as far as forms.
Kim :I have everything ready with me when I go, and so, basically, if the family wants the screening, they will send back the signed consent plus the consent for me to have conversations with the teachers and the director, and then I usually give two days that I'm going to come in and give screenings and I just do them back to back with whichever forms have been sent in.
Kim :What's been different in the preschools, I think, is it's not just speech sounds. We have a lot of language, a lot of late talkers, and so you and I created some resources all around that that I have used so much more than my speech sounds. I've used our first words, late talkers resources because I can send it home regardless of if they're going to qualify or not. It has so much great information for parents to do at home. So when parents sign up for a screener, they're not just getting the screening, they're going to get resources home to work on whatever concern they had, and so I always have all of our resources with us when I do the screenings and then I will send home anything that family might benefit from.
Mary :I want to zoom out for just a second just to remind our listeners, because I know that you and I are ping-ponging from SpeechSource and your private practice. So just to re-establish, I think about the SpeechSource as the umbrella. And so Kim and I co-own and co-founded the speech source, our LLC, which is our podcast. If we create resources, anything that we do together, our trainings or preschool things, all of that is in that LLC umbrella because it's a business. And then what we're also discussing is Kim's private practice, where Kim Dillon speech therapy her PLLC is. That any kind of direct patient care is in her PLLC and me as well. So we each have individual PLLCs which are patient care only, each have individual PLCs which are patient care only. And then we have that umbrella of the LLC.
Mary :What happened was you got into the preschools, you were seeing kids one-on-one and then you saw, hold on, I don't have all the resources. I need to do my job. I want to be able to give parents more. I want to be able to have more efficient systems and efficient things to give preschools. So then we developed our LLC to create those things. But can you talk about the importance of having the materials that you've created and, like you just said, our late talkers, resources, your screeners that you created on your own. What has been the importance of taking that first year to create those things?
Kim :We can just use it over and over again and it makes things much more efficient.
Kim :What I've really learned about being in the preschools is there's a lot of kids that need early intervention, and it may not even be speech therapy as far as direct speech therapy or any other therapy but they need a little bit of intervention, and so that's where I think some of those resources have been so helpful to send home or to give to the teachers. Some of those resources have been so helpful to send home or to give to the teachers. And I would say, out of 20 screenings, just as an example, 20 screenings I might see half of those and then I might send resources home to the other half and those have been received really well. Also, because it just gives families something to do at home and I'm still there if they need to reach back out or in three months they haven't seen any progress. I'm still a touch point for them to come back and say, okay, no, I think we do want to start services, or this was great, what's the next step? And I have it there because you and I have created all of this stuff.
Mary :It sounds like those visuals has really seemed to increase your visibility at the preschool, instead of being one person who comes in and out and sees kids. Every single teacher, because of your screening, has your materials. Every single parent that you've had a screening with didn't just get a bill, they got a material, and so that's that reflection of who you are, the services that you're providing and then setting you up for. Like you said, reach back out if you have problems later, because we all know that if you got a screener, it's very possible that maybe you don't need it now, but you might end up needing that intervention later on. And then they had this great experience with you and think oh, I know, she's got her stuff together, she's the one she can do this.
Kim :And parents talk. So maybe someone wasn't quite ready to say yes to that screener yet, but three months later their friend's daughter has been getting speech and she's made a lot of progress. And then they reach out that way, and so that has happened quite a bit too. It just takes parents a little bit of time, and I think that's another reason I really like being in the preschools is, as you and I have experienced, parents are really busy and it's also sometimes hard to see that your child might need extra services or be ready to acknowledge that.
Kim :Yet In the schools the teachers are with them regardless, and they are with them two, sometimes three, sometimes four days a week. So being able to give them tools and strategies to use with not just one or two kids but all of the kids in their classroom really helps with just that early intervention in general in those early years, and that's why I really like it. I've just been blown away at the commitment that these teachers have. I've loved working with them. It was not something that I set out to do, that was not. My intention is to get into the preschools, but I've really enjoyed how it's worked out the preschools, but I've really enjoyed how it's worked out.
Mary :I want to ask one last question about your experience in the preschools, and that is you talked a lot about how you first got in the door with these preschools, how you establish your relationships, how do you maintain them over time? In addition to just now that you're offering more options that are fee for service, how do you pour into the relationships that you've made with these teachers and these directors and these parents in a way that still is giving I think, continuing to check in and just having those conversations and asking what you need and I did have teachers tell me within the last couple of months like what they were needing, what they were specifically needing.
Kim :They were needing someone to come in and help them just with some sensory and regulation within their classroom strategies they could use for all of their students.
Kim :And so I was able to reach out to an occupational therapist and she came in and I walked her through how I do my screening process and it was really cool on my end to see her implement the exact same thing I did as an OT and how it has worked out for her.
Kim :I've been really excited for her because, again, that was a win for that occupational therapist, that was a win for the teachers, that was a win for any of the students or families in that school that were needing some support in the area of OT or maybe they just didn't know, but then they had an opportunity to do a screening at a really great rate and have a conversation with an occupational therapist. So it's just been really neat over the last couple of months to see that happen. But that came about because I was in a classroom and I just asked a question and then I had that same concern from another teacher, so I knew that it was something that they were needing. Just having those conversations and, even though you're doing your job, and you're in there working and you're seeing kids and you're getting paid, letting them know that I am still here as a resource for you.
Mary :I want to ask a two-part question because I'm really interested in this answer and I know you and I talk all the time about all the things business, but what was an unexpected challenge that you faced with your own private practice getting all of that started? And then the other part of that was what was something that maybe you were nervous about when you thought about starting your own practice. That hasn't actually been a big deal.
Kim :So the biggest challenge for me and I have gotten much better about this is setting boundaries to what works for my schedule. So I was so eager to build my caseload and I was flexible at the beginning. But parents want certain things, they want certain times, they want certain days and at certain times they want certain days, and at that time I was only working two days a week, so a challenge for me was staying no, these are my hours, nine to three. This is when I'm seeing kids and this is what I have open, because, like you and I have talked about, it's not great all the time to have these big chunks in between, especially when you're not getting paid, the time to have these big chunks in between, especially when you're not getting paid. And so just creating boundaries about what I can offer for the family because I do want to make it work and I do want to make it happen, staying consistent and creating those boundaries that has definitely been my biggest challenge.
Mary :And then, what is something that you were maybe nervous about when you thought about starting your own private practice? That just hasn't ended up being a problem.
Kim :Keeping business. I think that I was thinking that it might be hard to keep the numbers that I needed to keep. And then the idea of, okay, when I'm done seeing them for speech, where are the next kids going to come from? And they just keep coming. That's been interesting to see. It's obviously a comfort. I added a third day because the preschool it was really successful, that I was able to get a lot of clients in those settings, and so I added an extra day to be able to fit them in. And I realized quickly what my limit was, because we talked earlier about being involved in my kids' schools and with some organizations in the community. Those are still big priorities for me and I don't want to lose those. I don't want to take away from that. And so I figured out pretty quickly that adding space and increasing my caseload was too much, and so I'm going to work on getting that back down to two days. But I've been surprised just how those intakes keep coming.
Mary :One of the things that people do not realize about you is how involved you are with your community. Let's talk a little bit about that. So you were PTA president of your children's school. You are still extremely involved in all of their schools, all of their lives. You have an elementary, middle and high schooler. You are on the board at Presbyterian Night Shelter, so you have so many activities of your family. You also have all this philanthropy that you feel really passionate about giving back. And then you also have the speech source which you and I are creating on the times that you're not seeing patients. So how are you managing your time?
Kim :I'm going to get one of those skylight calendars. I love a calendar. Everything has to be written out for me and that is really the only way that we function. Every single day, multiple times a day, I'm looking over our calendar and we're just very scheduled and I feel like we go in semesters like spring, summer, fall, and that's how I've chunked and organized, how we do everything, and I've just really tried to create spaces for all of those.
Kim :And again, I know it doesn't seem like working three days is a lot, but for everything else that we have going on, it was just too much because it took away from some of those other things and you and I doing the speech source.
Kim :We're really trying to figure out a time where we can get together and work on that, because, at the end of the day, a lot of the times, that's the thing that goes when you and I are both running our individual businesses, because that's where we're making money and so we won't focus on the other, and so I think both of us are trying to find times to focus on that and it's all about scheduling and making sure you schedule time for it.
Kim :It's also rewarding because I do want to be involved in the community and, at the same time, I feel like that's how I've gotten a lot of my business, because the people that I interact with at the schools my kids' schools, or even the people that I interact with out in the community and on boards, know that I'm a speech therapist, and so when they hear that somebody needs a speech therapist, they'll recommend me, and that's just another way that I've grown my business. As you could say, it's networking in a way, but it's also because my kids go to school. I want to be involved in my kids' schools and just in the community.
Mary :It's been really rewarding. We're going to go into our wrap-up questions, which Kim created, and so now you get to answer your own questions at the end. But that first question that we always ask people is self-care. That is a huge part of being an entrepreneur and any person, but after listening to you talk about all the different aspects that you have going on in your life, has that been a form of self-care for you to be able to have reserved pockets for everything that you want to do in your life instead of work just being all consuming as this massive chunk?
Kim :Definitely, because I feel like when I can have everything organized in a way that this is when I am working, this is when I'm going to a meeting, it allows me to know when I am gonna have that downtime, and I will say, the more that I've added to my plate, that gets harder to manage and you have to be able to be flexible and move and change. Kids get sick, things get rescheduled that's happening all the time and you have to be okay and allow for that, which I've had to learn and grow in that area, because I like control. It's like something that I'm working on. Also, just be open to something new and fun and say yes to something that wasn't scheduled or on my calendar is something that I want to be better at, because I know that is also when great memories are created or fun is had, and so I want to be open to that. But I think in general, knowing that this is when things are going to get done and how things are going to get done, let me feel more at peace about finding when I'm going to have that fun downtime, because the weekends we try to do a lot of stuff as a family on the weekends. All my kids are super involved in sports and just being able to go out to dinner and spend time with friends All that's really important to us, and so I feel like I have to make sure I manage all of the other stuff. I manage all of the other stuff. That makes sense.
Kim :Self-care for me, though. Like I I have. I take a bath at night. My husband and my kids know I'm going to take a bath and I'm going to relax. Even if it's 20 minutes, it is just my end of day routine that really helps me just relax and reset and wind down, I guess, for the night. So I love that. And then I also do yoga. I do hot yoga and a little sculpt class, and that's something great for me, because it's an hour long and you're really not supposed to have, like your phone or anything. You're supposed to completely disconnect, which is hard for me, but it is so good for me to do. I have to go to a studio because if I'm working out at home, it's 10 minutes in and I'm like looking at something that needs to be cleaned or an email that needs to be sent, and if I know that I can do that, I'll completely get distracted. So I have to be away and doing those things.
Mary :Oh, those are great. I know you're so good about scheduling those classes. Okay, this is not a question that we can totally dive into this episode, but we will in a future episode, Because a little known fact about Kim is that she is killing it with the meal plan game for her family. She has a lot of boys and they eat a lot and for all these sports that they're doing. But you have everything really scheduled so that it doesn't take up extra mental capacity for all the things that you're doing. So we'll do that in a separate episode because I think it's fascinating and really helpful. But for the purpose of this interview, I'm just going to ask you the same question which is what is your family's favorite quick meal.
Kim :So our favorite quick meal is probably tacos, because I would say most everybody likes it. And yeah, just our meals are very similar every day throughout the week. We have a very similar menu and so our kids know what to expect and it keeps grocery shopping and my life planning really easy, especially on the weeks I can't think about it, and if there's times to try new things and recipes, we do, but other than that we usually have a very scheduled. People are probably going to think I'm the most boring and scheduled person, but no, it's genius because who wants to spend time doing that?
Kim :My kids also really like spaghetti or pasta, meatballs we do a lot of as the boys are getting older a lot of chicken and rice and black beans. And that's been really interesting to me too, because, as far as nutrition goes, we have all these things that we've tried to implement for our kids and our reasoning, and then they go in here, these coaches say the exact same thing, and they come home and we should eat this and this, and I was like we've been telling you that forever. But I guess it means more when a teacher or coach is saying it, which is great. So we're getting to that age where they're wanting to have a little bit more of an opinion about what they want to eat and the diets that they're creating for the activities that they're doing. So that's been fun and interesting to guide them.
Mary :Okay, so, other than being an SLP or entrepreneur, what would your dream profession be?
Kim :I think it would be really interesting to be a journalist If I didn't have kids or a family. It would be really great to be like a traveling journalist or something, but I enjoy looking at something and sharing about it. I don't besides our blog and podcast notes. I don't journal personally or anything like that, but I just wish that I had taken more classes and learned more about that whole area.
Mary :So this is going to be my very last question, and that is we talked a lot about maintaining relationships with the people in your life with the preschool, the networking connections that you've made. Do you have a favorite go to gift, because I know that you're so good at bringing little things to people. What are the little things that you give when you're doing a little thank you or a marketing thing?
Kim :My sister does embroidery so anytime I can do like a personalized anything, I love being able to do that. But I know something I was going to do for the teachers just at the end of the year is bringing Tiff's treats or crumble cookies just in the middle of their day for them to come grab whenever they can. But if it's just one person, I really like to try to do just a personalized thank you notes or teachers having to write thank you notes all the time, but something personalized thank you notes, a notepad with their name on it, or even a little shirt or a hat. I just think those are really meaningful gifts. But as a whole, food I think is always a really great thing to be able to bring in, just a fun treat.
Mary :Thank you so much, kim, for sharing all the things that you are doing in your private practice. You've been a huge inspiration to me and really led the way for how to start your own practice, how to do it well, and you're really exactly the person that everybody needs in your community. So thank you so much for giving back to all of us.
Kim :Thank you, mary, this was a lot of fun.
Kim :Thanks for listening. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast and check out our website, thespeechsourcecom.
Mary :Also check us out on Instagram for more ideas on speech, language, feeding and play.
