Are you ready to finally have more time for your family and for yourself? 

In this episode of Private Practice Success Stories, I sat down with Samantha Taylor to talk about how she started her private practice as a way to get more balance in her life to have more time to focus on her son and create advocacy for other children like him. 

Samantha is the owner of Olive Speech Therapy located in Rochester, New York. She, along with her husband, have two incredible, creative, and fun-loving boys. Back in 2009, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with the dream of becoming a journalist. During that time, she welcomed her first son and his bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. Needless to say, she had to quickly re-evaluate what she actually wanted to do with her life as both a mother of a Deaf child and as a professional.

It was through her son and his early journey that she learned about the amazing world of speech pathology and how remarkable it could be not only for the child but the family, as well. She wanted to offer that knowledge and guidance, as well as be a shoulder to cry on and be a person to celebrate the milestones and progress with. When her son was a year and a half old, she took what felt like a leap of faith, and applied for Ithaca College’s Speech-Language Pathology Master’s Program and was accepted. She has worked as a pediatric SLP in a variety of settings since May 2013. In 2021, she took a (second) leap of faith and stepped into what was once just a far-off dream by opening up her own private practice.

Through her experiences as not only a mother of a child who receives related services but also as a related service provider, she has learned so much about what it means to advocate for her own child and the children of others. She has learned the value of providing a safe space for people to express their fears, hopes, and dreams for their children without judgment. She has learned the importance of connecting with people not only as a professional but as a human being. 

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• How Samantha got started with her private practice
• How she built her first website
• Why Samantha focuses on advocacy
• A typical day as a private practitioner 
• The importance of being able to slow down
• Why private practice can help prevent burnout
• What’s next for Samantha’s private practice
• When it’s time to make your first hire

I hope you loved this conversation with Samantha. I love how she created her private practice with balance in mind so that she has enough time for her family and herself too. SLPs and OTs are so giving. But when you give everything you have to others all the time, you burn out. Starting a private practice makes it easy for you add in time for the self-care that you need.

If you want to learn more from Samantha, make sure to visit her website and follow her on Instagram. 

Do you want help to start a private practice so that you have more balance and time for family and self-care? We would love to help you - just like we helped Samantha.

To learn more, please visit: www.IndependentClinician.com

Resources Mentioned: 

Check out Samantha’s website: https://www.olivespeechtherapy.org/

Follow Olive Speech Therapy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olivespeechtherapy

Follow Olive Speech Therapy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olive_speech_therapy/

Where We Can Connect: 

Follow the Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-practice-success-stories/id1374716199

Follow Me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/independentclinician/

Follow Me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jena.castrocasbon/