We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsey Nelson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I originally decided to start my own practice when my husband and I decided to move back home to Montana to be closer to family as we were starting to grow our family. It can be a very overwhelming t0-do list when starting your own business. For months, I had to remind myself it was a successful day if I could just mark one item completed on the list every day. The hardest part is finding ways to differentiate ourselves in the online world. Learning search engine optimization so we pop-up first when people in our area are searching for speech therapy was challenging.

We eventually would love to have a physical business location however, juggling being a new mom and a speech therapist doesn’t make it feasible at the moment to rent a commercial space. Not having that initial face-to-face interaction with clients means we heavily rely on our website to make that initial first impression that we are a trustworthy business.

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

I attended Montana State University where I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. I then spent the following year working in Bozeman Public Schools as a teacher. While completing additional pre-requisite classes for graduate school, I worked as a speech-language pathologist-assistant in Helena Public Schools. These experiences solidified my choice to pursue a career in pediatrics. During graduate school at University of Oregon, where I completed my Master of Science in Communication Disorders and Sciences, I completed my graduate research paper on telepractice (aka telehealth or teletherapy). At the time (pre-COVID) telepractice was rarely utilized for speech therapy, so I researched its feasibility, effectiveness, and implementation and found positive outcomes for it’s use when treating children and adults with various diagnoses. Upon graduation, I accepted a position as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) where I was able to work both in person at an out-patient clinic as well as with online school students through telepractice. My background and research facilitated my success in utilizing telepractice during the early stages of COVID-19.

Gateway Pediatric Therapy builds upon this knowledge and background by offering secure teletherapy sessions. As someone who was raised in rural Montana, I am acutely aware of the barriers to access to intervention services in rural areas. Telepractice is a strong tool that eliminates this barrier and has the ability to provide access of services to all children in need.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I began my professional career as a Kindergarten teacher soon after completing my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. After years of working with children as a nanny and tutor, I was thrilled to be entering the classroom. As a teacher, I became acutely aware of how prevalent speech and language disorders are in young children. In my classroom, six of the twenty-one students received speech therapy services in the school. A wealth of these students’ frustrations and behavioral challenges stemmed from the inability to effectively communicate their wants, needs, and ideas with teachers and peers. This experience initiated my return to graduate school where I studied to become a speech-language pathologist.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Speech-language pathology is a “helping” field and, in my experience, a vast majority of SLPs possess a few key attributes: compassion, patience, and flexibility. When working with the pediatric population, you encounter children with a variety of abilities and disorders. As a clinician, you are continuously changing your approach throughout the intervention process to meet the client’s specific needs at that time as each client has unique strengths and areas of growth to consider when creating and modifying their treatment plan. I believe in order to be successful in any field, you need to be able to find fulfillment in what you do and being a part of positive change and growth in my clients’ lives continues to fuel my passion for this field.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gatewaypedstherapy.com/
• Instagram: @gatewaypedstherapy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083168560412
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gateway-pediatric-therapy-speech-therapy/
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits
wedding photo: Nicole Wild Imagery