Category: Podcast

6/17/2019

Mindset Monday: What Should You Focus on as You Build Your Private Practice?

I want to talk to you today about something that I've been seeing a lot over the years, and for some reason it really seems to be picking up speed.

So, I know that SLPs tend to be planners and want to get all their ducks in a row and have everything perfect before taking action. I am a little bit that way too, so I completely understand.
But what often happens is is that people who get all lost in the details of something tend not to actually take action.

Just in the last 24 hours I got two messages. One was on Instagram. (If you're on Instagram, send me a DM. I'd love to chat with you.)

The messages were from two people who were either just in their infancy of private practice or just contemplating the idea. They both said something to the effect of, "I'm really worried about how to hire employees," or, "Where am I going to find people to staff my private practice?"

So, I asked both of them, "Well, where are you in your private practice journey?"

Both of them said that they were at the very beginning. So, I asked, "Do you have any clients yet?" One person said no, and the other person said that they had one. I asked her for some more details about her favorite patient population. She told me and I said, "You know, I think you're really putting the cart before the horse." She wrote back and asked, "What do you think I'm doing backwards?"

So, I didn't know if she was offended by what I said or what, but I said, "It's not that you're doing it backwards, but you're getting lost in details of something that you don't have to worry about for a while. If you just only have one client so far, worrying about all of those things that come way later is what's keeping you stuck."

She wrote back immediately and said, "Oh my God. You're so right."

So, I think that sometimes we have to reevaluate, even just take out a piece of paper and write all of the things that we're thinking about, or worrying about, or wondering about, and think, "Are these things that we should be worried about now, or are these things that it's serving no purpose to be worried about now?" And wait until you do need to worry about things.

This is a great way to check things off your to-do list is to determine what do you actually not need to do right now.

What is taking up space in your brain and in your busy life that you really just don't have a place for yet?

You can keep it on the back burner. You can be aware that it's something that you are going to have to address, but in the meantime don't. Concentrate on things you can do.

When people join my Start Your Private Practice Program, one of the things that people go nuts for is this checklist that I have. It's like an eight page checklist of all the steps that you need to complete to get your private practice fully up and running.

I think one of the reasons why I created the checklist was because I wanted people to see the steps in order, not only in which that they should actually complete the tasks, but almost more so the order in which you should worry about the tasks.

Starting a private practice does have a lot of steps, and there are steps that you need to complete in a certain order. But I want to try to help you avoid is getting bogged down by all of the steps that come much later and concentrate on the steps that you really do need to be figuring out now.

For example, if you only have one client, well, your next step is to get a second client.

If you have two clients, your next step is to get third client. Right? Not to be worrying about hiring people down the road or renting office space. You know? Depending on what area of the country you live in ... Some areas office space is much cheaper to get, so people end up getting it earlier in their private practice journeys, but there's no reason to get clinic space. You can absolutely start by seeing clients in their own homes, which saves you a ton of money on overhead, until you have the money to support that. So, that's another thing. Don't be looking online or whatever for listings for clinic space until you have the clients to support that. Right?

Your message today is all about really prioritizing your time, and your tasks, and also your worry. Okay?

I hope this message was helpful. I hope this was something that you needed to hear. As always, I'm hanging out in the SLP Private Practice Beginners Facebook group. If you haven't joined, you absolutely should.

If you are a beginning level private practitioner, you're in the curious stage, or in what I call the dreamer stage, or a beginning, and you haven't checked out my free webinar called How to Start a Private Practice Full time or on the Side, Even if You Don't Know How. You can sign up for that. There's flexible times to sign up. You can pick a time that works for you. I would love to see you on there. People have said that it's really helpful, that they didn't learn anything about private practice in grad school, or they're having a hard time piecing together the information. So, it's a 60 minute presentation, and it really helps put a lot of the pieces together. Yeah. So, I would love to see you on there.

Thank you for listening today. I'll see you next week for another Mindset Monday Edition of the podcast. Have a good week.

Host: Jena Castro-Casbon, MS CCC-SLP
Jena H. Castro-Casbon, MS, CCC-SLP, is a private-practice consultant who has helped thousands of speech-language pathologists start and grow their own private practices through her company, The Independent Clinician. She has written articles for The ASHA Leader and Presented at ASHA Connect (2017).

You'll find her online in the SLP Private Practice Beginners Facebook Group and in her premium programs, The Start Your Private Practice System and the Grow Your Private Practice Coaching Program.

Jena lives in Boston, MA and is a wife and mama to two young boys.

"Relationships to Referrals" With Jena Castro-Casbon, MS CCC-SLP

On this Mindset Monday episode Jena discusses how to develop and cultivate relationships with people who can send you referrals. Whether your practice is just starting out, or it is well established, there is always room to grow in gaining referrals. At the end of this episode, Jena gives an accountability challenge and chance to try her Grow Your Private Program for a discounted price upon completing the challenge.

Here's What Jena Covers:

Encouragement to be patient in the process, developing relationships to generate referrals takes time.
Ideas on people to reach out to and relationships worth investing in.
A challenge to make a list of people to begin to develop and cultivate relationships with.

The Episode is Sponsored By:

This episode was brought to you by The Grow Your Private Practice Coaching Program.

If you’re a private practitioner who is ready to GROW your private practice, I am offering a free training my 3-part framework to grow your private practice. It's only 14 minutes because private practitioners are BUSY!

Visit www.growyourprivatepractice.com/training

5/27/2019

"The 3-Part Private Practice Growth Plan" With Jena Castro-Casbon, MS CCC-SLP

On this Mindset Monday episode Jena discusses a 3-step process to systematically grow your practice. Establishing a growth mindset helps prioritize and organize the needs of your practice. Jena shares her framework that is built on income, systems, and teams, and how this can be applied to your practice to bring growth and balance.

Here's What I discuss:

The need for an intentional growth plan for your practice.
A practical framework to establish for growth in your practice.
Encouragement and insight in building a great support team.

This Episode is Sponsored By:

5/3/2019

"Using Your Practice to Break Down Barriers" with Kevin Dorman, SLP

Kevin Dorman, SLP has always had a passion for voice. Through their own journey and experience they became passionate about the field of Transgender Vocal Training. Being transgender themselves, Kevin is able to identify and relate to their clients, offering encouragement and support to each individual. Many of Kevin's clients are seen through telepractice. Kevin’s energy and passion for helping others has been the driving force behind their success.

Here's What We Cover:

Kevin’s journey to discovering his passion for Transgender Vocal Training
How they have established their area of expertise
Tips for having a successful Telepractice
The importance of marketing and building relationships within your community
How they use all of their resources to maximize the growth of their practice

Guest: Kevin Dorman, MS CCC-SLP
Kevin Dorman, MS, CCC-SLP, is the owner and sole practitioner of speech-language pathology at Prismatic Speech Services. They created Prismatic Speech Services to provide speech, language, and voice intervention for those who are not treated with the respect every human being deserves. They serve transgender clients and clients with voice disorders of all ages both in-person and via telepractice. As they have advanced through their career, they've faced their share of discrimination due to their gender identity and sexuality. Rather than letting these roadblocks deter them from pursuing their passion, they have turned this negativity into motivation to make an impact in their community. They have opened the doors of Prismatic Speech Services to work with clients of all backgrounds to receive culturally competent care, with a specialization in transgender vocal training.

SPONSORED BY:

5/3/2019

"Owner, Author, Mom" with Fara Augustover, SLP

Fara Augustover is a speech-language pathologist, owner of Island Wide Speech on Long Island, NY and author of the children’s book, Harmony Hears a Hoot.

Five years ago, Fara worked at a nonprofit clinic in NYC, transitioned to school based while seeing clients part time privately. As her caseload grew and the commute to Manhattan became tiresome, she decided to repurpose space in her home and create an in-house clinic complete with a separate entrance, bathroom, and waiting room.

Here's What We Discuss:

Where Fara's desire to work independently stemmed from
How she transitioned from part-time to full-time private practice
How she decided whether to do private pay vs. insurance, what her schedule should be, whether to stick with her primary specialty (aural rehab) or branch out, and more.
How a former professor from SUNY Buffalo taught her an important lesson that has guided decisions in her practice
Fara's easy to follow social media strategy
Jena’s "aha moment" about private practice business plans
How she became a children’s book author with a successful Kickstarter campaign

Guest: Fara Augustover, MS CCC-SLP
Fara Augustover, MS, CCC-SLP, received her Bachelors degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences and Masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology from SUNY at Buffalo. She founded Island Wide Speech in 2013, after several years of working in the clinical field. Fara's clientele ranges in age focusing on auditory, speech and language therapy in individual and group sessions. She has a specialty in auditory oral therapy for individuals with hearing loss, auditory processing disorder, and other listening challenges.