We recently connected with Carolina Alay and have shared our conversation below.

Carolina , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I think defining moments are usually presented as obstacles. In my case, that moment presented it self in 2019. At that time I was pregnant with my youngest, I had recently lost my grandfather and my business was going through a lot of changes, both structural and financial and felt stocked. I remember feeling like I had reached a point where there was nothing else at the other side and that made go into a state of depression and despair.

My pregnancy was high risk and that put extra pressure on me. My doctor suggested me to start meditating and I decided to join a meditation and Reiki group. After that, my whole life took a turn of 180° and I started paying attention to my own well-being. I realized that I had a purpose. It was more than showing to work and liking my job, it was viewing my career and my whole life from a different perspective.

I started researching on things that could link ABA and wellness and that’s when I found Action and Commitment Therapy, and that changed the game.

Carolina , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m originally from Medellin Colombia, and came to the US with my mom and my younger brother in 2001, as many, trying to get away from the violence in my country and looking for new opportunities. I was 18 at that time and about to finish my bachelors in Psychology when we moved.

The transition was specially challenging for me because I came from having a completely independent life style, and I had to adapt to a new environment where everyone would leave to go to work or school and I had to stay home alone for hours. So I decided to continue my learning process and started looking into free online classes and programs. 2 years passed until I was able to finally enrolled in the undergraduate Psychology program at FIU and another 2 until I graduated with my bachelors degree.

Once I started attending school again it was like seeing the light at the other side of a tunnel, I got my motivation back and after many jobs in retail I found a job as a behavior therapist for children with Autism.

This was the piece that made the biggest shift in my path and the beginning of a career in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism advocacy.

ABA was attractive for me because I could track and witness the progress of each of my clients in short periods of time. I realized this technology based in scientific principles, positively impacted the life of children and their families and gave them and opportunity to be successful and independent. Helping others and seeing results that were observable, measurable and sustainable was highly reinforcing to me.

Years have passed since this all started and I continued seeing the amazing results of this practice. But now, with the experience and the inner awareness process, I want to make my contribution to the field to be compassionate work.

We, as ABA professionals need to continue the path of learning and transformation into a more holistic approach where we see the clients as a whole and not only work with what we can see through our eyes but also include, recognize and respect the client internal processes and experiences.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think compassion is a key component. Connecting with the people, holding space for our clients and caregivers, listening to their needs and their culture background, being respectful of our individual differences.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

How we treat our families. The culture of the company is to make sure our clients feel that we care for their needs, that we listen and that we act to help them become as successful and independent as possible. My goal is for our clients to be so well, that they don’t need us anymore.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bluemindsllc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluemindsllc/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/bluemindsautism/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-alay-bcaba-ab368435
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCz0H-HnvMvOmuoF2WKxkHKg

Image Credits
Sonju photography (with child) Epic shotz photography (computer)