We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Santiago recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In 2019, I left the Spanish classroom for my husband’s homeland of Puerto Rico. We sold many of our belongings and packed the rest. We took our dog and three young children on an adventure that should’ve ended up in the Caribbean. During the summer of 2019, Puerto Rico’s governor was overthrown, so we changed course. Surprisingly, we settled in San Antonio, TX. We spent my “starting a business” fund on a home downpayment, and I schooled three children (2 with learning disabilities) while building my business through 2020. I was a tutor, then an ADHD coach, then a parent coach. Now, I’m a full-blown educational therapist and advocate for kiddos with IEPs. I never saw myself building my own educational therapy practice. However, I’m extremely focused on creating a sustainable practice and not taking any client who comes my way. Recently, I have been held out as an expert in the field to provide court testimony for school consultation. I couldn’t have imagined that in my Spanish classroom years. I refused to give up on this dream and my husband has been a champion, as well, committed to seeing it through.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Supportive Educational Therapy’s (SET Therapy) mission is to provide students with individualized executive function and academic support so they can be confident, purposeful, connected, and productive. After 12 years in the classroom, it’s been such a gift to work with students 1:1. One client in particular now truly enjoys school! His parents cannot believe it. But, this practice is growing because ed therapy works! Services begin with an assessment and we build specific goals for each client to strengthen motivation, organization, writing, reading, and study habits. We specialize in clients with ADHD and “out-of-the-box” thinkers who don’t or can’t approach learning in a traditional way. We work with adults, too! SET Therapy also provides IEP coaching for families of students receiving special education services. Personally, I love sitting across the table from other educators and making decisions in the best interest of a family (the student and parent). I’ve sat in meetings where there were 13 other professionals with just a parent and me. And we got everything the child needed! As a former educator myself, I know the jargon, procedures, and what schools can provide to students. I’m a super creative person and I pride myself on finding unorthodox ways to prove a child requires a certain accommodation based on a diagnosis, evaluation, or other data point. Whether supporting families, or working one on one with a client, I love what I do.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

If you asked me this question five years ago, I would say no. Five years ago, with 3 young kiddos and a pile of grading every night, I would not choose to be an educator. But, now, as the owner of an educational therapy practice, my answer is yes. I absolutely LOVE learning how different brains work. I geek out on neuroscience and the learning process, in general. As a neurodivergent person (ADHD), my self-regulation (calming) strategy is reading everything from neuropsychology to education law. I can apply what I learn immediately to my practice and that’s what makes it fun and engaging to do this work. There is so much more to education than being in a classroom setting. I think many current educators feel stuck, but you don’t have to be. As a person and a business owner, I have evolved. But education is still my jam!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I built my reputation by aligning myself with the right organizations, following through, and providing results. Joining a professional organization with a service directory was a huge step for me. And it was the clients I served there who spread awareness of Supportive Educational Therapy to other potential clients, as well as organizations who could use my services. Showing up for a couple of school districts and providing value at meetings for families and schools really helped me build momentum. Follow-up is important too. I still check in on past clients. How are students doing? Remind your clients that you’re still around and that you care. Then, when they have a friend or colleague with a similar problem to what you solve, you’ll be at the top of their mind.

Contact Info:

• Website: familyaddventures.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/familyaddventures/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/familyADDventures/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-santiago-m-ed-55005b15/

Image Credits
Image of me in tall grass: Claudia Varga @capturedbyclauds All other images are my own