We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Hastings. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Lauren , appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Lauren Hastings, a private practice owner, has always been a helper. She loves to help others rather its personally or professionally. After starting her practice, she began helping friends and colleagues learn and understand the process of becoming an insurance provider as well as understanding billing. Her friends began to tell her, you should start charging people for what you are doing. Lauren ignored the idea because she knew of other people who had coaching businesses in this same area. Lauren continued to build her practice. After years of trial and error, Lauren mastered the art of insurance billing. She saw her practice thrive, and her stress levels plummeted. But more importantly, she realized she could help others avoid the struggles she had faced, which she did for free.

One day, Lauren was chatting with someone on Facebook via personal messages about insurance credentialing. She learned that this woman paid a company $2,500 to credential her for five insurances. Lauren was shocked that companies are charging people so much money for such a small job. She thought to herself, “I wouldn’t charge that much to credential people”. And so, Hear to Speak Academy was born. The mission was clear: to empower speech-language pathologists in private practice by simplifying the insurance billing process. Lauren wanted to ensure that her fellow SLPs could focus on what they do best—helping their clients—without the constant worry of insurance denials or missed payments.

Through personalized coaching, comprehensive resources through self-paced pre-recorded courses, and hands-on support, Hear to Speak Academy aims to remove the barriers that prevented private practice owners from reaching their full potential. By demystifying the insurance process, Lauren’s business helped practitioners gain confidence, increase their revenue, and ultimately, provide better care to their clients.

For Lauren, this wasn’t just a business—it was a mission to transform the way SLPs run their practices, allowing them to thrive in a challenging healthcare landscape.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist and insurance coach. I fell into business coaching when I started Hear to Speak Academy in 2021. I have a personal mission to empower speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists to increase their confidence of accepting insurance in their private practice. Currently, I have 10 courses, 3 coaching packages, and 4 digital downloads ranging from how to become an insurance provider to understanding billing and coding. Recently, I added insurance billing services at a competitive rates to give private practitioners another billing company option.

My business solves the problem of complex and overwhelming insurance billing processes for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in private practice. Many SLPs struggle with understanding the intricacies of insurance billing, leading to lost revenue, increased stress, and less time to focus on client care. By offering expert coaching, resources, and support, the business helps practitioners navigate the insurance landscape with confidence, ensuring they get paid accurately and efficiently for their services. This allows SLPs to focus on their core work of helping clients, rather than being bogged down by administrative burdens. Since I am a practicing SLP, I fully understand each claim and how to run a private practice so my coaching comes from firsthand experience.

What makes me proud to own Hear to Speak Academy is the countless messages from clients who tell me that they were approved as an insurance provider after they have credentialed themselves or they submitted a claim and got paid. Those messages continue to validate my presence in the insurance billing industry. I am continually committed to help private practitioners navigate the complexities of insurance with confidence. By removing the barriers to financial success, we enable SLPs to focus on delivering exceptional care to their clients and thriving in their practice.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Since I started Hear to Speak Academy during the pandemic, I didn’t need too much capitial to start. I utilized my personal funds to file my LLC and purchase a zoom account. However, I needed a platform to house my coaching and course recordings so I signed up for a Teachable account. After my first initial sales, I paid for zoom and Teachable with my revenue.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I maintain an email list through Convertkit. This platform intergrates with Teachable so when someone purchases a course or coaching call they are automatically placed on my email list. I have created sequence emails and check-in emails to keep engagement high and the awareness of my products and services.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heartospeakacademy.com
• Instagram: sassySLP
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartospeakacademy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-hastings-m-s-ccc-slp-96942b36/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartospeakacademy