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
S3E1: Changing The Game Season Intro with Kim and Mary
What happens when you blend creativity with entrepreneurship in a thriving community? This season on the Speech Source Podcast, we uncover the untold stories of some of Fort Worth's innovative and creative small business owners.
We’re excited to introduce you to a lineup of entrepreneurs who are redefining what it means to run a community-focused small business. From startups to well-established enterprises, these individuals face challenges and celebrate triumphs that resonate with anyone who's ever pursued a passion. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a dreamer, or simply someone who loves inspiring stories, this episode sets the stage for a season full of insights and inspiration. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share how these powerful stories impact you!
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For more information on speech, language, feeding and play - visit The Speech Source Website - https://www.thespeechsource.com/
Welcome to Season 3 of the Speech Source Podcast with your hosts Kim and Mary. This season, our title is Changing the Game.
Speaker 2:We are highlighting small business owners and entrepreneurs who have unwritten all the rules to starting a business and use their talents and their creativity to be able to build a business. That is a lifestyle designed just for them and is making incredible impact in our community of Fort Worth, Texas.
Speaker 1:So don't forget to subscribe to this season so you don't miss an episode.
Speaker 2:This is life. It's wild, it's crazy. Everybody has their own talents and they're trying to make a living and have this wonderful experience with their families. And how does that all come together? This season is all about hearing from different women and men who have used their passion and their talents and been able to give back to their community and create the kind of life that they always wanted for themselves.
Speaker 1:Welcome to episode one of our third season of the Speech Force Podcast. We are so excited to kick off this season and introduce the amazing guests that we have coming up, but first we just wanted to talk about why we decided to do this season and how it organically turned into what we're doing. It's fun and it's different and it's outside of the whole realm of speech therapy, which I think has been really fun for us to just do something a little bit different. Mary, do you want to just kind of talk about how we got here?
Speaker 2:Sure, every time we do a season, every time we record, I'm so excited. We just absolutely love what we've been able to do on the podcast. This season has been such an organic result of what we've been doing so far. Like you said, kim, it's such a natural way that this season has come about. So Kim and I, in season one, started by talking about the topics that we know about and using it as a resource for our families, but in that time we also felt like our patients and our families were the biggest resource that we have, not our knowledge. But we started asking families to come on and share about what it was like a day in the life, and then we had a shift.
Speaker 1:Right when people were telling their stories that really connected to a lot of our listeners. We fell in love with this idea of storytelling.
Speaker 2:That's really, when you and I came alive too in our podcasts and interviewing, and then, as Kim and I are both seeing patients in our own individual businesses, we got really interested in the business side of things non-patient care. So then here comes season two.
Speaker 1:We had started our own individual businesses.
Speaker 1:We were doing stuff with the speech source, so we were constantly seeking information ourselves about how to do certain things and had started to grow this network where we were meeting other business owners and speech therapists and we just thought it would be fun to interview them.
Speaker 1:I think we maybe even thought we would just do one or two, but this list kept growing so we created a whole season of it and I think that was so much fun because all of these guests are speech therapists and not one single guest has the same story of what they did or how they did it and it was just so fascinating to see that and listen to it and in that process, again, people really enjoyed the storytelling part of it. But we had so many listeners that were not even speech therapists that reached out to us and said they took a lot away from that season and it got them excited, even if it wasn't to start a business, but just excited to hear what their passions were and to think about what they could do with what they love, and we realized, oh, maybe it would be fun to do something better than speech therapist Exactly.
Speaker 2:And we figured out that what we loved so much about season two really had nothing to do with speech therapy at all. And even one of our guests pointed that out and she said let me ask you something Do you identify, first, as a speech pathologist, what you're doing right now? And Kim and I looked at each other and we're like, no, that's a part of who we are, but there's so much more that we're doing with this. Kim and I both are wanting to do something different. We were wanting to create a different kind of experience for our patients. We wanted to create a different kind of business that was equal parts patient care, but also education and also giving back to the community and doing it in a way that we didn't necessarily have any kind of model that we're thinking about and definitely not someone that we're copying. So we got really interested and obsessed with the idea of you have created something different and it's in a different field. How did you do it and how can we learn from that? How can we hear your story and apply those kind of principles to what we're trying to do to inspire each other?
Speaker 2:And it really starts snowballing as we kept meeting more small business owners who had made these wildly different businesses, all in their own ways. They took their own passions and talents and were able to bring their history and their experiences and create a business out of it, and that was fascinating. The title of season three is Changing the Game, and Kim came up with this title. I think it is fantastic because that is what this season is all about. How did these people in our community think differently? How did they approach what they were doing differently? How did they totally forget the rules and create something in their personal life, in their business, something that worked really well for them and was so well-suited to them?
Speaker 1:As we've gone along with these interviews, we saw the creative piece that was so prevalent in all these people that were starting these businesses and they were creating things, and what a big piece that is for these people who are making the decision to do what their passion is and what their work is a little bit differently and creating something that's different and unique to them.
Speaker 2:In order to be able to announce the season well, kim and I have titled this season Changing the Game, and then it also is accompanied by some new cover art.
Speaker 2:Kim and I are just so unbelievably humbled by the talents that we do not have, but we really wanted to take the concept of what we were thinking of and create it ourselves, because that's who we have on this season is so many creators.
Speaker 2:If you take a look at our image for season three, you see the foundation is going to be the skyline of Fort Worth and on top of that you have this kind of briefcase, birkenbag type look, and inside that bag are all the hats that we feel like we're wearing all the time and talent. So we put some things like a clipboard and a sticky note and we put some watercolors and a fabric swatches, a tennis racket and we put house keys in the bag to just signify our life, to signify the whole idea of this is life. It's wild, it's crazy. Everybody has their own talents and they're trying to make a living and have this wonderful experience with their families. And how does that all come together? This season is all about hearing from different women and men who have used their passion and their talents and been able to give back to their community and create the kind of life that they always wanted for themselves.
Speaker 1:And Mary, you did create that cover art and I think I sent you ideas. You were like you have a lot of faith in me, kim. I was like Mary, create something like this. And you put something together better than I could have even imagined. You did a really good job.
Speaker 2:When I think about the people that we are having on this season, Kim, oh my gosh. So right now, as we're recording this first episode for all of you, we are also in the editing process ourselves on the back ends, are going through and editing. It is such a joy to listen back and hear what everyone is saying all the advice this season. Let's talk a little bit about the themes that came out of this season. One theme was definitely relationships how the connections or mentors in their life really had a big impact. And then also there were several people that talked about specific people that just made a door open for them.
Speaker 1:And I would say that the majority of the people that we interviewed didn't go to business school to start a business.
Speaker 1:The majority of the people we interviewed had a specific niche that they were interested in whether it was art or photography or a nursing degree and they had these experiences or they had these people in their lives that kind of led them into creating something that was their own, and so I think that is really neat to hear from, because I will say, throughout this whole season, what I've thought is that these people could have made these impacts, whether they opened up their own businesses or not.
Speaker 1:In a way, these people have just done things differently. I also think a lot of the people that we talked to there's maybe been a business plan in place or an idea in place, but they really took what you said about those connections that they were making and seeing what was coming their way, and then they went for it, or they just took this risk and saw how things were going to work and have made decisions based on that going forward. But I can't think of anyone we've talked to this stepped into this with this. I see myself here in five or 10 years self here in five or 10 years.
Speaker 2:I think that was something as a very type A planner myself. That is something I've really had to learn is all the people that we talked to had an incredible amount of faith in themselves and confidence and they had an incredible skill set. So it wasn't so much. Oh, of course, these people have the connections like maybe they have the funding somehow or they have some kind of in that someone else doesn't have. No, that is not these people's story. The story is they were incredibly talented, incredibly motivated and they were able to think okay, how can I use what I want to do and what I like doing and let me just take the first step and then let's see where that one goes? And let's see where that one goes. And they didn't just plan their lives out, like you said, kim, of okay, what's my five-year plan, of exactly what's going to happen. But they really allowed the community and allowed their own talents to be able to be the momentum behind them, to really push them in their careers and in their businesses.
Speaker 1:And I would definitely say everybody does talk about goals and the importance of goal setting and short-term and long-term and having a business plan that you always do look back on to know what is your vision, what is your focus.
Speaker 1:But they really have been open to things that are coming their way. We were talking about Fort Worth, specific with this season, but really diving into the community and letting that kind of shape where their business is going with the people and the city and everything around them. But one thing we talked about is their legacy and the idea of what they're wanting to leave behind with creating their business. So maybe not necessarily numbers or something that can be written out, but just overall idea for each one of them. What is their legacy, what is their why in what they're doing and what they're creating? We get to talk about that with the guests and I thought that was really neat to hear everybody's perspective on why they're taking this much time and energy and focus and risk and, like you said, having to have faith. What is their why? And it was really great to hear some of those answers.
Speaker 2:A lot of these people, too, came out of some kind of corporate job or situation where they were an employee and whether it was the number of kids or a life event that didn't work for them anymore, and it was out of this need of okay.
Speaker 2:My business has to be a part of my lifestyle. It cannot be separated anymore, and so what we also learned is so much really actionable advice from people on how they were able to manage their business but then also feel like they were on top of more things in their life that they wanted to prioritize. How are they able to get to their daughter's volleyball games and make sure that they are going to be working out a certain amount of times a week? I remember one of our guests saying instead of building a business for someone else, they were able to now start building a business for themselves. That would then turn life. That's so much more fulfilling, but also something that they could pass on to their children. If not the business itself, then more so the whole lifestyle and the example of how to live.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just really excited. One is just entertaining. I think these stories are really great to listen to, whether you're wanting to start a business, whether you're wanting to do something just in your community, whether you're wanting to do something in your family, whether you're wanting to just create. It's just very inspirational and these guests are very enthusiastic and I think people will really enjoy listening.
Speaker 2:One thought that I had as we were creating the idea for season three is I love podcasts that are about people's stories, that are about how a business idea starts and then how it grows and how it becomes a household name.
Speaker 2:Stories about how Costco was formed or something just crazy, just a very a name that we all recognize, and there are huge podcasts that are incredible to listen to how people built those businesses.
Speaker 2:But Kim and I wanted to take that concept and apply it to our own city, because there are so many people on a smaller scale here in Fort Worth that are not only building small businesses that give back and really impact the community of Fort Worth, but they are able to live the life that we all are aspiring to live, that life where we can have a family and we can be mom, but then we can also get our briefcase and we are headed to work and we are making money for our family and we have time for ourselves and our marriage or our relationships. And so we were really enamored by this whole idea that we need to be hearing and supporting all the people in our community, and we want to hear all about those stories and give them a platform and a voice to be able to share the ordinary life that is not so ordinary at all. That leaves an amazing legacy for Fort Worth and our entire community and their families.
Speaker 1:And I also love that you use the word ordinary, because with everyone we talk to, they're at different stages of creating their business. Some are at the very beginning of getting this going, some are in the middle, some have had more experience, some are in the process of seeing their business change and they're not quite sure the direction that it's going in. So I think it highlights all the different stages that a small business does go through, and so to be able to hear people at different stages I thought was really great.
Speaker 2:We are so excited to be able to finally launch season three of the Space Swords podcast, changing the Game. We hope that you enjoy this season. Please leave us a review. That means so much to us for you to give our podcast five stars. Send us a message and tell us what kind of impact this is making for you and what you're getting out of it. We absolutely love to hear from you and we are so excited to finally launch this season.
