Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Frances Fishman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Frances Fishman and I was divinely guided to my career as I believe that everything happens on divine time. I hoped to be a child psychologist, much like the one who trained me in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) when I first graduated with my B.Ed in Psychology with high hopes and big dreams. I was trained in a play-based, child-led and adult-guided approach to ABA and found a deep passion for working with children with behavioral, developmental and neurodiverse needs as well as working with educational settings and families. Once I became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) myself, I realized the rest of the world did ABA a different way and decided to learn the Discrete Trial Training (DTT) method. After a year, I decided this was not aligned with me, as it did not feel good in my mind and body to conduct therapy this way. I started The Play Base in order to offer an approach to ABA that honored the incredible children I was blessed to work with and the talented and gifted therapists who work with their full hearts and the intention to create positive change for children of the world.
The Play Base was born to fill a gap in the system- to provide an empathetic, mindful, scientific and approach to support children, families, teachers, schools and people to ultimately meet their highest potential while honoring them, their voice, their spirit and helping them feel seen, heard, loved and respected in the process.
Lucky me, I got married to the love of my life around the same time that I started this business, which I could only do with his guidance and support and shortly there after had 3 children in 3 years. We started The Play Base in Toronto and expanded it in 2022 to South Florida. Immigrating with 3 young children and our dog has been an adventure, growth journey and part of the path that I am so thankful for. Having overcome many obstacles on my path, and I know more to come, I see each challenge as an opportunity to grow and learn. I am deeply grateful for this walk we call life and every single soul that has come through The Play Base and all those headed our way. We are here to make a massive positive impact and I am so honored to be the leader of this incredible organization, wife to my husband, mother to my children, daughter to my parents, sister, cousin, friend, human and soul on this planet.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Running a business, much like parenting, has you look at yourself deeply. It is an incredibly opportunity to learn and grow, especially if you are willing to dig deep. A part of this journey led me to really analyze my attachment style and how this impacted the relationships I was making within my business- that included personal relationships AND relationships with money. Being a people pleaser and an empath led to a wonderful combination for others, and less-so for myself. A big thing I had to unlearn was the ways that I interacted with people and the way I interacted with money.
I spent years in my business worrying more about everyone who worked within my organization and who received services than I did to look internally at myself or my family. Taking resources from my family (finances, my time and energy) and giving it for free to those who would not pay their bills. Equally, attaching myself to people who I say as more skilled, talented, or stronger than I am and giving them my power. I learned that money is energy and it is an exchange and that I, my organization and my family are worthy of abundance and the fair trade for our energy, time and expertise for financial compensation. I equally learned that I find talented, brilliant and gifted people who are a part of The Play Base and who make the organization great but that I need to be the leader and not relinquish my power for this old story of unworthiness.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My business took two major dips- 1) Covid and 2) Immigration.
1) Like so many other business owners, I watched my business go from thriving and booming to 0 overnight when the world shut down when Covid hit. I had amazing team members who, like me, wanted to support our community and the community at large even though the world was in a terrified state. We started a social media page to connect with people and share resources, we started “The Play Kit” and sold kits to families to provide developmentally appropriate activities for children to do while parents were home with their kids all day everyday and also started Micro Schools- offering education in peoples homes in small pods with certified teachers. Once we could, we started offering therapeutic services in homes and schools again, supporting our clients and families as well as offering virtual services for children or families we felt would benefit from these services. It was this time that awoke the virtual consultation that we started offering and still do today. My team really came together and found partners in the community to support children and familes alike at a very uncertain time in all of our lives.
2) Immigration- my move from Toronto to South Florida to expand The Play Base was something that impacted not just my family and friends, but my business. Many people felt uncomfortable with my physical departure and how that would impact the business. As a leader, I lead with my heart and thus developed strong relationships with my senior team and my absence made them feel unstable. In the process of my immigration, the entire staff was restructured. Truthfully, I felt like my business was falling apart and I was terrified. People were leaving, I had to let people go and it took a huge toll on me emotionally. What kept my going, as it does today, is my faith. I am deeply rooted in my faith. As I “fell into” this field, I know I am also on a journey and being guided so long as I listen to my intuition and follow the information that is provided to me. A big thing I teach my therapists is to be mindful and listen to their intuition- and thus, I also need to practice what I preach as hard as it might be. Every challenge is an opportunity. The journey of immigration requires resilience and a big lesson I am learning and that I feel we are all learning is that we will forever make mistakes and be learning- it is about how we handle the challenges, how we face them and learn from them that is important. It is ok to get down, to have your moment, to cry to fall apart… we are all human. But you need your tools and your community to pick yourself back up and keep going. Fall back into your faith, into your breath and remember- you already have everything you need within you… and if you somehow don’t have it or don’t know, you can find a way- you always have, you always will.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theplaybase.com OR www.us.theplaybase.com
- Instagram: theplaybase AND the.knowledge.base
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplaybase
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesfishman/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theplaybase