Private Practice Success Stories

What if you had a chance to be your own boss without quitting your job? That’s exactly what today’s guest, Dani Newcombe is here to talk about.

When you work for someone else, they dictate your hours, your caseload, which clients you see, and your pay. I used to think of private practice as a type of work setting, but now I see that it is a vehicle that can get you the freedom and pay you deserve.

Think of it as a “choose your own adventure” opportunity! It can greatly increase both your income and impact if you want it to. Dani and I are discussing this and more specifically, how and why she works in both the school setting and private practice.

Dani Newcombe is a school and private practice SLP in Indiana. She graduated from Loma Linda University in 2018. She is currently in year 4 as an SLP. She owns her own practice, The Messy SLP, LLC and you can find her posting videos for comedic relief on Instagram @themessyslp

She is currently working on her clinical doctorate with an estimated graduation date of August 2022. Outside of being an SLP, Dani is planning a wedding for April 2022, enjoys being active, and loves playing with her pup.

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• The freedom that a private practice brings you
• Why it’s easier to start than you think
• Dani’s advice for anyone considering starting a private practice
• Why it can help defeat burnout
• How to price your services in your private practice

I hope this episode gave you the inspiration you need to take the leap and finally start the private practice you’ve been dreaming of.

If you are ready to start your journey, I have you covered! Join our Free Private Practice Bootcamp that starts on January 17th! In 3 days, I will help you plan a private practice that's perfect for you! You can join here: Plan Your Private Practice Free Bootcamp!

Whether you want to start a private practice or grow your existing private practice, I can help you get the freedom, flexibility, fulfillment, and financial abundance that you deserve. Visit my website www.independentclinician.com to learn more.

Resources Mentioned:

Plan Your Private Practice Free Bootcamp

Follow Dani on Instagram

Where We Can Connect:

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I always love to start the new year off with some predictions for private practice, so in this episode, I am sharing what I'm predicting, how you can be at the forefront of all of this knowledge, and how to adjust accordingly.

I do an episode like this at the beginning of every new year for a couple of reasons. First, I love watching trends happen and predicting things. Second, I want the Independent Clinician audience (that’s you!) to have a heads up so that you know where to place your energy.

I am not always right, but I have been doing this long enough to be able to make some pretty good predictions over the years!

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• Why I think more SLPs will start private practices on the side
• The most popular reasons why SLPs will start private practices
• The pattern I am seeing when it comes to the growth of private practices
• If I think that student loan debt will be canceled in 2022
• What I think will happen with telepractice in the future
• Why you need to advocate for coverage in 2022
• My tips for hiring in 2022

What do you think of these predictions? I want to hear! I love to chat with other private practitioners in my audience, so no matter what your private practice goals are in 2022, send me a DM over on Instagram!

If you're interested in getting help to start your own private practice in 2022 and you want to shortcut the process and not waste any more time, money, or energy figuring it out your own, the Start Your Private Practice program is perfect for you! I invite you to sign up for the waitlist at www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist.

If you want to learn more about how we help private practitioners level up their practices and their lives, visit www.growyourprivatepractice.com and submit an application!

If you need help starting, growing or scaling your private practice in 2022, you can also visit www.IndependentClinician.com to learn how we can support you as well as explore the resources I have available!

Here’s to your success in 2022! Cheers!

Resources Mentioned:

www.IndependentClinician.com

www.growyourprivatepractice.com

www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist

Where We Can Connect:

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A part-time private practice is a great option for anyone that is interested in starting a private practice but that isn’t sure if they want to take the leap into it full time.

To be honest, I didn't even know that part-time private practice was an option when I first started my private practice, but now it is how I teach the students in the Start Your Private Practice program to get started.

In this episode, I am talking about how to start working with private clients part-time or on the side of your job, so you can see how it can work before you do any leaping or jumping into private practice.

This is the easiest way that you can start a private practice, and it is how I started mine. I am sharing how I got started, what I learned along the way, and how you can do it too!

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• How I got started in private practice part-time
• What I charged when I started
• How many clients I was seeing each week on the side of my job
• How part-time private practice changed my confidence and finances
• The many different ways you can make private practice yours

I hope this episode gives you some things to think about - just like it gave my friends some things to think about, many of which ended up joining me in private practice.

I really encourage you to play with the numbers and learn how much can you earn in private practice. Use the Private Practice Salary Calculator to:

1.) Play with the Numbers and See What's Possible Through Private Practice

2.) See Your Weekly, Monthly, and Annual Estimated Income

3.) Estimate What It Would Take to Reach Your Financial Goals (Part-Time or Full-Time)

Whether you want to start a private practice or grow your existing private practice, I can help you get the freedom, flexibility, fulfillment, and financial abundance that you deserve. Visit my website www.independentclinician.com to learn more.

Resources Mentioned:

www.PrivatePracticeSalaryCalculator.com

Where We Can Connect:

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Danni Augustine is a speech-language pathologist and alum of the Start Your Private Practice program who was able to pay off $52,000 worth of debt and double her school SLP salary through her private practice.

Isn’t that impressive?! She is very much into finances, so she educates other SLPs on how to get ahead financially.

This episode features an Instagram Live that Danni and I did where we discuss several ways that SLPs can get ahead financially without fear.

Throughout the episode, we talk about so many things, but we focus on the importance of investing in yourself so you can improve your finances as an SLP. Whether you already have a private practice or you are interested in starting one, these tips all about finances will help you prepare for a better financial future.

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• The rate of inflation and how that relates to our salaries
• Starting a private practice as a way to create other streams of income
• Investing in yourself as a way to make more money
• Investment mindset versus transaction mindset
• Why SLPs should be earning more
• Whether or not you should wait to start your private practice until you pay off your debt
• Examples of smart ways to invest your money as an SLP

Danni is an action taker, and that is clear in this episode. If you're an SLP who is stressed out about finances and wants to get out of debt, I hope this episode with Danni is super helpful to you.

To learn more about Danni's Augustine's Budget without Burden, click here: http://www.thespeechgoods.com/a/oafmx. You can message her with any questions you have about it too over on Instagram.

You can also send me a DM with the word “calculator” and I will send you a resource that will help you figure out your finances and understand how to make your private practice happen.

Whether you want to start a private practice or grow your existing private practice, I can help you get the freedom, flexibility, fulfillment, and financial abundance that you deserve. Send me a DM with the word “start” or “grow” - whichever one you need help with! We will figure out if I can help you, and if I can, I will guide you to the right resources and/or program.

Resources Mentioned:

http://www.thespeechgoods.com/a/oafmx

https://www.instagram.com/speechgoods/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/slp.private.practice.beginners

Where We Can Connect:

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Only a handful of speech-language pathologists were offering telepractice before the pandemic, but our entire profession switched to telepractice overnight once it started!

Some speech-language pathologists absolutely love it and some prefer in-person. Those who love telepractice are trying to find ways to continue to do it because they love the flexibility it offers. I always tell those clinicians to start their own private practice and offer teletherapy!

Starting a private practice that offers teletherapy is a lot easier and cheaper than you’d think, so in this episode, I am breaking down how you could do it and telling you about some clinicians that have implemented teletherapy into their private practices!

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• Why you should consider cutting out the middleman
• How business licensing differs for telepractice
• Whether or not you should take insurance
• Examples of how clinicians offer private practice differently
• The benefit of convenience to both clinicians and clients

If you are ready to use your clinical skills to earn what you're worth and have the flexibility that you crave, private practice is the number one way to accomplish this.

It's completely up to you as the business owner to decide if you want to offer telepractice, in-person services, or a mix of both. Decide what's right for you and what's right for your clients!

Learn how to start a private practice that offers teletherapy in the Start Your Private Practice Program. Visit www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist to sign up!

Also, if you have SLP friends who are burned out and seeking other job opportunities, send them over to my website www.independentclinician.com to learn more about how to work for themselves!

Resources Mentioned:

www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist

https://www.instagram.com/independentclinician

Emily McCullough’s Episode: https://independentclinician.com/building-a-private-practice-and-safe-space-for-lgbtq-clients-and-families-emilys-story/

Martha Horrocks’s Episode: https://independentclinician.com/balancing-her-life-private-practice-and-tpt-business-with-martha-horrocks/

Katie Brown’s Episode: https://independentclinician.com/adult-focused-private-practice-success-with-katie-brown/

Gloria Miller’s Episode: https://independentclinician.com/building-a-private-practice-and-safe-space-for-lgbtq-clients-and-families-emilys-story/

Where We Can Connect:

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Are you a Type A or Type B SLP?

There is a belief that speech-language pathologists who identify as Type A SLPs are more suited for private practice, and before I started my Private Practice, I thought the same thing!

As a Type B SLP myself, the thought of this made me very nervous because I was worried that I wouldn’t be successful.

In this episode, I am sharing my thoughts and feelings on this idea now as well as some data that I think you will find very interesting!

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• What I feared before I started my private practice
• The things I did to stay organized and on top of deadlines
• Why I started my education company
• How to leverage your unique strengths
• The strengths of Type A SLPs versus Type B SLPs

I was shocked in the best way when I realized that a lot of SLPs are Type B! I love it when false beliefs, assumptions, and stereotypes are challenged, including my own.

Private practice isn't for any one type of person. It's for anyone who has the drive and the inclination to help people!

Instead of trying to be someone else or wishing you were more Type A or Type B, why don't you let all of that go and lean into your strengths? Especially in Private Practice, you can focus on the things that you are good at, and you can rely on your team to do the things that you aren’t so good at.

Whether you're Type A, Type B, or somewhere in between, and you're interested in starting your own private practice, make sure that you hop on the waitlist for the Start Your private Practice Program over at https://www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist!

Resources Mentioned:

https://www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist

Where We Can Connect:

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If you're an SLP who is stressed out right now and working in a school, a hospital, early intervention, a university clinic, or someone else's private practice, this is a must-listen episode.

It features a conversation that I had with Lauren Hermann that originally aired on Instagram Live. We discussed common stressors that SLPs are facing right now and how they can advocate for themselves.

Lauren is a speech-language pathologist, author of the book titled But My Speech Is Fine, and copywriter for various SLP and healthcare businesses. She's passionate about advocating for the SLP profession and improving interprofessional practice.

Lauren and I both believe that if you're stressed out by how things are going at work, you have to do something about it. This conversation will give you the tips and confidence to do exactly that.

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• The benefits of starting your own private practice
• What you need to get started in private practice
• Self-limiting beliefs that many SLPs have
• Defining which underserved community you could serve
• How easy it can be to start a private practice with the right guidance
• How stress affects our ability to help others

Sometimes life has various twists and turns and initial plans end up changing. Those changes can be scary to navigate, but they often leave you in a much better place. Lauren is a great example of someone who has taken control of the twists and turns in her career and has come out on top. She is so much better for them and so is her career!

Remember, if you want things to get better, you have to make them better! Don't wait for opportunities. Create them.

SLPs are creating new lives for themselves every day through my program the Start Your Private Practice program. If you're curious if it's right for you, head over to www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist to sign up for the waitlist and get notified as soon as we re-open the Start Your Private Practice Program!

If you just want to talk about the program and whether it's right for you, send me a DM with the word “start” on Instagram. My handle is @independentclinician.

Resources Mentioned:

www.startyourprivatepractice.com/waitlist

https://www.instagram.com/independentclinician/

www.instagram.com/slp.advocate

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-hermann-25412349

Link to Lauren’s book: https://rb.gy/vksnsz

Where We Can Connect:

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Everything is figureoutable.

Do you believe that? I do!

My guest, Dr. Dawn Moore, does too, so she is joining me to share her private practice success story. We talk about how she got started, how she grew, and the challenges that she has faced along the way.

Dr. Dawn Moore ClinScD., CCC-SLP, COM® is the founder of Expressions Speech, Language, & Myofunctional Center in Burlington, North Carolina. She is a certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist holding the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Additionally, she is a Certified Orofacial Myologist® through the International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM). Dr. Moore has over 23 years of experience in Speech-Language Pathology, earning her clinical doctorate in 2018.

For 15 years, she practiced in the schools of North Carolina as both a clinician and Lead SLP with recognition as a Teacher of Excellence and expanded into pediatric private practice in 2010, serving children of all ages. Her main interests include orofacial myology and speech sound disorders (articulation, phonological delay, and apraxia). She uses her own program, Let’s Hear It For /R/! which was the subject of her doctoral capstone, to correct the difficult /r/ sound. For phonology, she uses and teaches others how to use Barbara Hodson’s Cycles for Phonology due to the success she continues to have with the program.

Dr. Moore became a Certified Orofacial Myologist (COM®) after struggling to find help for her own daughter with a severe tongue thrust. Through this training and practice, she is presenting across the country educating SLPs, orthodontists, ENTs, and dentists about the impact myofunctional disorders have on speech, feeding, chewing, breathing, and dentition.

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• Transitioning from the schools into private practice
• The learning curve that comes with billing
• Finding the right people and the right clients for your private practice
• How to get your name out there and get referrals
• Making your private practice work with the help of SLPAs
• Learning from others and applying those lessons to your own practice

There are times when Dawn mentions challenges associated with private practice throughout this episode, but keep in mind that everything is figureoutable. When you hit a roadblock (which you will) it's worth trying to figure out a way around it.

If it was easy all the time, everyone would do it! What separates those who are successful from those who are not is persisting versus giving up when things get difficult.

One of the best ways to be successful in private practice is to make sure that you have a network of people who can support you. My programs offer a community of like-minded private practitioners who help you navigate the bumps and celebrate the wins.

To learn more about how I support private practitioners at all levels of private practice, visit www.independentclinician.com to see how I can support you too!

Resources Mentioned:

www.expressionsspeech.ciom

https://www.facebook.com/expressionsspeech

https://www.facebook.com/expressionsseminars

www.expressionsseminars.com

www.whereisyourtongueresting.com

independentclinician.com/building-a-practice-with-slpas-jessicas-story

Where We Can Connect:

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Should you take private pay or insurance for your private practice? There are pros and cons to each of these options!

In this episode of the Private Practice Success Stories podcast, I'm discussing the options and helping you decide which route to go.

I want you to know that there is no one way to do it, and you get to choose which one feels best for you and for your community. You can always start with private pay and then branch out into becoming an insurance provider later if you need to increase your volume of clients!

I've helped over 10,000 SLPs start, grow, and scale successful private practices using both private pay and insurance, so I am answering your questions about billing, how to decide which payer sources to accept, and more.

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• What I recommend to most SLPs
• Deciding what your rate is with private pay
• Which option allows you to start your private practice quicker
• The pros and cons of payer sources
• What a superbill is and how it works for practitioners and families

Getting paid in private practice is really important because the business needs money to support it, but remember, you get to decide which sources you accept and you can always change your mind later!

In the Start Your Private Practice Program, we teach SLPs how to bill for private pay insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and how to give superbills, so whichever route you choose, you will know exactly how to do it.

If you want more information on how to start a private practice step by step, head over to www.independentclinician.com to sign up for one of my free trainings or one of my paid implementation programs!

Whether you want to start a private practice or grow your existing private practice, I can help you get the freedom, flexibility, fulfillment, and financial abundance that you deserve. Visit my website www.independentclinician.com to learn more.

Resources Mentioned:

www.independentclinician.com

Where We Can Connect:

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Do you want to create a business or businesses that help pay the bills, but also make sure that you have a work-life balance?

You’re going to love this episode with my guest, Martha Horrocks, because she is doing exactly that!

Martha has a private practice, a TpT business, AND a Boom Learning business, but she intentionally keeps her businesses smaller and more manageable to make sure that she's maintaining a work-life balance.

Martha is the owner and speech-language pathologist at Martha Speech, LLC - a pediatric private practice that serves children across Maine via teletherapy. Martha will be celebrating the one-year anniversary of her practice in November! She also shares resources and ideas related to her passion (fluency disorders) on her professional Instagram, Martha Speech, and creates materials for SLPs on Teachers Pay Teachers and Boom Learning.

In Today's Episode, We Discuss:

• Choosing your own adventure as a private practitioner
• Learning where you are most effective as a clinician
• Creating the business that serves you and your community
• Why success doesn’t always mean having a huge private practice
• Word of mouth, SEO, and more marketing strategies
• Why it’s okay to start small with private practice

I love that Martha is not only passionate about both of her businesses, but they pay the bills and allow her to have the balance that was missing when she worked in the schools.

Private practice isn't just a work setting, it's a vehicle to help you get what you want and also help the people around you get what they need.

If you've been thinking about private practice for a while and you are inspired when you finish listening to this episode to learn more about it, make sure that you visit www.independentclinician.com to get more information about The Start Your Private Practice Program (the same program Martha went through!)

Resources Mentioned:

www.marthaspeech.com

www.instagram.com/martha_speech

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Martha-Speech

wow.boomlearning.com/author/marthaspeech

Where We Can Connect:

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