We recently connected with Alexi Christensen & Marlee Olson and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Alexi Christensen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?
Throughout our experiences in a variety of settings including outpatient clinics, hosptials, long term care facilities, and schools we have always found the opportunity to assess what is going well and what could be improved within the environment to help kids succeed. Our foundational takeaway from our previous positions was how to apply an OT lens to the environment and to take a holistic and individualistic approach with all clients.
Alexi Christensen, 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?
SENSE-ational Spaces was co-founded by two licensed and registered pediatric occupational therapists with a passion for family-centered care, regular modulation breaks, developing routines and environments that set us up for success, and engaging children in foundational activities through play! Using their occupational therapy lens, they support parents in the fostering of their child’s development through education and the creation of sensory-friendly spaces. Alexi and Marlee are continuously striving to expand their education and hone their skills in order to ensure that each client is provided with unique and custom-tailored recommendations which are supported by clinical reasoning, research, and years of expertise.
After years of training and education Alexi and Marlee both have experiences that transcend ages and environments including schools, mental health facilities, autism clinics, outpatient services, inpatient hospitals, and acute care settings. Both professionally and personally, they have always come together as a team to uplift one another in a way that makes them a great team. Their passion for creating sensory-friendly spaces was brought to light in 2020 when they began seeing a trend of families seeking support in the home environment with academic participation, family routines, activity engagement, social interaction, and physical exercise during the rise of teletherapy services. Together, Alexi and Marlee are highly motivated, creative, and strong proponents of individualized care and this shines through in every space they design and transform!
Beyond space transformations, SENSE-ational Spaces strives to educate future generations of occupational therapists by having occupational therapy fieldwork students consistently in addition to conducting continuing education opportunities for practicing clinicians and families. They offer a variety of professional development courses, lunch and learn in-services, and vendor booth opportunities. Some of their previous course titles include The Importance of Environment and Movement in Everyday Functioning, Sensory Processing and Environmental Modification, The Impact of the Environment on Academic Success, The Interconnected Nature of Trauma and Sensory Processing, What is Occupational Therapy?, Home environmental Modifications for Pediatrics, and Sensory Processing Impacts for those with Selective Mutism.
How’d you meet your business partner?
The duo met in graduate school at St. Catherine University in Minnesota while pursuing their Masters in Occupational Therapy. From the beginning, it was evident that Alexi and Marlee saw things in a similar light and displayed a similar passion for working not only with children but from a family-centered approach. Throughout graduate schooling and into their professional careers, Alexi and Marlee have supported each other on numerous projects such as home modification proposals, educational flyers, community relations and marketing projects, and the creation of sensory spaces within a variety of settings both indoor and out.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Every entrepreneur needs to learn how to develop their resilience. Creating and implementing a company in the midst of a global pandemic is one of their stories of resilience as the window of success at that time was so narrow. Alexi’s and Marlee’s passion for creating sensory-friendly spaces was brought to light during the Minnesota stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which they saw greatly impacting academic participation, family routines, activity participation, social interaction, peer play, and physical exercise in addition to contributing to the rise of teletherapy services provided. As small businesses across the country were shutting down, SENSE-ational Spaces was about to open up. They found a niche and despite the uncertain times in our economy and the health of our country pursued finding ways to continue to benefit families and communities in need of sensory friendly spaces for ALL to enjoy!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.senseationalspaces.com/
- Instagram: @senseational_spaces
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SENSEationalSpaces
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sense-ational-spaces-llc