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

Phil, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

My heart gets filled nearly every day I’m in our clinic. We work with a number of kids who may be non-verbal or face other developmental challenges. The love that each child shows you when you give them your full presence is what makes all of our efforts worth it. There is this one six-year old boy who doesn’t speak and has a number of handicaps, walking with braces, etc. Every time I am in the same room with him he’ll virtually run over to me to hold my hand and walk laps around our clinic. No matter what kind of day I’m having up to that point I feel energized and refreshed, and remember why we do what we do. It helps me remember that there are an infinite number of ways to serve and make an impact in the world.

Phil, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, I’m Phil, and seven years ago I co-founded Hope Comprehensive Center for Development. We are a pediatric therapy company that provides Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Speech, and Occupational therapy services as well as testing and evaluation services for developmental delays. My first introduction to the industry was when I partnered with my sister, a speech pathologist by training, to provide a venue for special needs families to gain access to services and resources they could benefit from as well as create community for our clients. I’m most proud of how our team has channeled their passion for service in creatively steering our company through the pandemic. Our approach is to treat each child as unique regardless of their individual diagnosis; which means highly tailored treatment programs. We’ve experienced both the excitement and challenges of growing rapidly and have used our learning opportunities as fuel to improve how we deliver services and how we can best support our team personally and professionally. Looking forward, we are excited about increased collaboration across the various disciplines we offer; more group social skills and parent training opportunities, parents night out events, and expanding the number of physical locations where we can offer services.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think the life of an entrepreneur is made of connecting events and experiences in order to create value for the world. My first true test of resilience came in my first year at the US Coast Guard Academy when I was diagnosed with cancer. Keeping up with studies and military obligations while undergoing radiation gave me a sense of confidence that no obstacle was too large to overcome. Serving 5 years as a Coast Guard officer provided a foundation of working with people of many different ages and backgrounds. That experience proved useful when I co-founded a solar light/energy efficient cookstove company that we headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. Building a business there provided no shortage of challenges, whether it would be navigating safety concerns, integrating different work cultures, late paying customers, relying too much on one single customer, or an uncertain legal environment. That ultimately helped prepare me further for the challenges of navigating Hope Comprehensive Center for Development through the pandemic. When the pandemic started we were a team of 21 employees and 80 percent of our clients wanted to put services on hold. We had no idea how the situation would unfold, but it became clear that we had to dedicate ourselves to growing our way out of the financial situation that the severe drop in revenue presented. We hustled to find clients and adapt to teletherapy and having both clients and staff feel comfortable. We continue to do our best to steer through the pandemic and today we’re an 80 person company across three regions in southern California.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

I’ve made it a habit to bootstrap the two companies I’ve co-founded- the first one (EcoZoom, the cookstove company) through savings from my previous jobs and with Hope through income generated through EcoZoom. I’ve also been fortunate to start both companies at a time when my wife had steady income through her job which allowed us to take on a bit more risk. I see the beginning part of starting a company as buying as much time as possible to allow you to really dial in your revenue model. I’ve grown accustomed to going several years without a steady paycheck in order to build something of value. Along the way I’ve also tried to generate passive income streams by reinvesting proceeds earned in a rental property or other investment. The reality is I’ve also used credit cards to help float the companies when necessary. There have been times when we had to use our creativity to pay a bill or make payroll through short term loans, but at this point we haven’t taken on any outside investors.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hopeccd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopeccd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopespeechtherapy