We were lucky to catch up with Katherine & Katherine Widdicombe & Manrique recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katherine & Katherine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

We both met just before we started graduate school at the University of South Florida-Tampa. We had run a few student-led organizations on campus and realized we had the same vision and passions, the rest is history! Growing a business is never without its challenges, especially during a pandemic. There will always be unexpected changes, challenges and obstacles. The families, children and professional we work with make every step feel like a success. We both have very supportive families and parents who have successfully built businesses from the ground up on their own. They have been a huge source of inspiration for us. If you are considering starting your own practice just remember, if it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you, nothing comes easy. All the hard work is worth it.

Katherine & Katherine, 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?

Therapies Plus provides pediatric speech-language therapy specializing in family-centered and child-led intervention utilizing culturally responsive practices. In addition, we are committed to developing educational programs and activities that target multilingual literacy. We offer literacy workshops for parents and educational professionals. In addition, we provide student and family advocacy services. Our vision for the future of Therapies Plus is to be a one-stop-shop for meeting the educational an developmental needs for local families, whatever their needs may be. We currently offer the following services bilingually : Articulation therapy
Language therapy
Orofacial myofunctional therapy
Early Intervention
IEP review and consulation
Student/family advocacy
Workshops for parent and education professionals
Reading/writing and literacy programs & tutoring

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

If we could go back we would both choose the same profession and speciality. We both agree that if we could go back we just wish we would have met sooner!

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

To be a successful provider you need to put the patient and family’s needs first and then combine your professional recommendations/suggestions within reason. Using a true team and collaborative approach will always yield the best outcome in our opinion. In regards to running a private practice and hiring employees or contractors we would give the same advice! We treat our team like family. We have an open door policy and welcome feedback and collaboration.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TPlusllc.com
• Instagram: @therapiesplus

Image Credits
Denyse Sierra Photos