We were lucky to catch up with Diana Vilchez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Diana , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

I started my career working in various hospital settings. During the early days of my career I often thought that one day I could open my own private practice. The thought faded as the years went by and I had found a place I really enjoyed. I ended up working in a rehabilitation hospital for over a decade.

During the pandemic, the isolation caused many children to have very little interactions with the outside world. The idea of language stimulation classes provided in small groups to parents and toddlers was born under the name of Speech with a Twist.

We identified many children with language developmental delays. We would refer to nearby clinics. After two years of successfully providing these classes at local parks, we decided to extend our services to evaluations and treatment for speech and language early intervention in our own clinic! This meant I had to resign from my position and dedicate my full attention to opening a private practice.

My priority was to create a working environment that I enjoyed thoroughly. This meant that we had to be very selective in the way in which we provide our services. Having my own practice gives me the flexibility to have time to plan for my sessions, research and communicate with the parents of the children I see. This is very important to me and as a mom I understand and empathize with parents who are helping their children. We provide a very personable experience, compassionate care. Our approach to early intervention is child-led, family-centered and research-based.

Diana , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Diana Vilchez. I am one of 2 owners and co-founders of Speech With A Twist. I am a Speech Language Pathologist with over 15 years of clinical experience. I am licensed by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and by the state of Florida. I graduated with a Master’s of Science Degree in Speech and Language Pathology in 2009 from Florida International University.

At Speech With A Twist, we are proud to provide truly personalized services as the primary treating and evaluating clinicians in addition to our roles as owners. Our private practive is a boutique style model in the sense that we are accessible to the parents of the children we serve. We communicate our findings, review progress and demonstrate strategies we utilize in the therapy sessions for the parents to successfully carry over at home. We are passionate about early intervention and currently our caseload is comprised of children up to age 5. We evaluate speech and language, provide treatment, parent coaching and continue to provide mommy and me classes for language stimulation.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I am a firm believer that anything you do, if you do it well, you can be successful. Success is measured in different ways. For me, success in my career means I enjoy what I am doing and I am contributing to making a positive change in someone’s communication. I have been very fortunate to have been able to do this since early on my career.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We worked on Speech with a Twist during late nights, Saturdays and Sundays for 2 years straight while holding a full time position at a hospital setting. Resigning from a steady income was a decision that I did not take lightly. I had established myself and my skills in the hospital rehabilitation setting and it had become a comfort zone.
Opening a private practice with a different population would not be an easy process. Some of the challenges I considered were reduced income for some time, financial investment, refreshing of skills and taking refresher courses. Other challenges were learning new sets of skills; for example, how to design a website, marketing, learning more details about billing and coding. In the end, I am glad I took the risk and I would do it again.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.speechwithatwist.com
• Instagram: @speechwithatwist
• Facebook: Speech with a Twist
• Linkedin: Diana Vilchez

Image Credits
not applicable