We recently connected with Jenelle Smith and have shared our conversation below.
Jenelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
My first job in ABA was after graduating from undergrad. I had majored in human development and had no idea what I was going to do with that. I had also worked with kids my entire life so I was looking for something different, but after months of job interviews and taking random jobs at a candy shop and a gym, an acquaintance of mine persuaded me to give ABA a try. I decided to go for it because I had limited experience with the special needs population and thought this would be a good opportunity to expand my knowledge.
I ended up loving ABA! I enjoyed working one on one with a child instead of in the classroom setting, and taking data on the skills we were teaching allowed me to really see how much the children were learning. These are some of the main reasons I still love my job today. Being able to create and implement programs, and support parents in ways that truly impacts these children’s lives.
That’s awesome! So what inspired you to start your own business?
I am just starting my business and am starting with my first private client in August 2023. I have dreamed about doing something a little different than what the typical ABA companies provide. I have always seen this gap in services where families are waiting for a diagnosis or to be placed with a provider. There are times that children are placed on waitlists for months before they can actually start treatment, and when they start treatment most companies are understaffed, have high turnover, and the direct staff implementing treatment have minimal training (are supervised by a BCBA). Parent involvement is also a key component of treatment that is often lacking due to staff being overworked.
So at Lead the Way ABA, LLC I offer a service to try to fill in this gap and provide exceptional services to my clients. My ideal client is a child that is waiting for a diagnosis or waitlisted for services, and wants to jump start their program with a BCBA implementing the direct services and/or with parent coaching.
Looking back now, I realize no one was holding me back except for myself when it came to starting the business. I was intimidated by the legal and money side of setting it up, and the fear of all the unknown. I have found that it is much more rewarding to take the risks and just go for it. I have learned so much already and I am sure I have much more to learn, and this is just making me stronger and more empowered to take on the next challenge.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hi! I am Jenelle Smith. I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and owner of Lead the Way ABA, LLC. It might sound like I can just watch you and know how your brain works, but that’s not exactly what I do. I work with children on the Autism Spectrum, providing applied behavior analysis therapy (ABA). ABA is an evidence based treatment focused on modifying the environment in order to teach socially significant skills such as communication, social skills and self care skills, as well as reducing problem behaviors such as aggressions and self injurious behavior.
At Lead the Way ABA, LLC I primarily provide one on one services to children between the ages of 2 and 6. I also provide parent coaching to the parents in order to give them the strategies to teach new skills and manage problem behaviors in their day to day interactions.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
There is a lot of burnout in my field, so the number one thing is to make sure you take care of yourself. The healthier and happier you are the better the services are that you will provide. It took me years to find strategies to leave work at work, and to give myself grace. I still find myself getting sucked in when cases are challenging, trying to make sure that I have done absolutely everything I could do to help, but there is strength in seeking help. And fortunately being in the service field lends to having very supportive colleagues who are equally passionate about helping out clients and their families, so over the years I have built a network of support.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Looking back it seems silly, but at the moment it felt like a big risk. I worked at an ABA company for about 7 years. They had supported me in getting my Masters, becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and overall becoming an expert in the field. I had worked my way up from entry level, to supervisor to manager and I really felt a responsibility to stay. At the same time I was very unhappy there. I kept giving them another chance to make things better, and that just made me stay there probably 3 years too long.
In Fall of 2019 I finally got the courage to start looking for other jobs, and by March 2020 I had two part time jobs lined up (both in ABA but different types of experiences) so I gave a month’s notice. This just happened to be a week before the stay at home order took place in CA! Well I still left the job and had started 2 new ones by April 2020. Although it felt insane, it was exactly what I needed. I needed a fresh start and to explore what other opportunities were out there. I learned a lot from all of these jobs and ultimately that risk I took in 2020 has gotten me to where I am today, taking an even bigger risk with launching my own private practice!
Contact Info:
- Website: leadthewayaba.com
- Instagram: leadthewayaba
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadthewayaba
Image Credits
headshot: Cory Bardwell https://www.linkedin.com/in/corybardwell/