I had never been to a job interview where the first question was, “What questions do you have?” It threw me off. It was the first interview I’d had in a decade. At the time, I was happily working at a nonprofit clinic while also occasionally teaching a graduate level class. I had thought that was my life-long job path. I loved that job. I led the preschool language group I once dreamed about in grad school. I designed a speech group, trained parents, and mentored students every semester. It checked every box. But slowly, I began to feel like I’d grown as much as I could there. As much as I loved the work, something inside me was nudging for a new challenge.
That’s when a good friend mentioned a contract opportunity at a local public preschool. Out of curiosity more than anything, I went to the interview. When they offered me the job just hours later, I accepted. I remember getting into the car as we were leaving for vacation and telling my husband, “I think I just took a job.” I was slightly in shock.
The principal said I’d need to create an LLC and have a contract approved by the school board. I had no idea what I was doing. I’d thought about starting a private practice before, but the idea of managing everything—contracts, LLCs, taxes, billing—felt overwhelming. But something about this leap felt right. Terrifying, but right.
Over the next two years, I contracted at that preschool. The team welcomed me, and I poured myself into the work—minus the bus duty, committee meetings and unrelated to speech therapy trainings, of course. Perks of being an independent contractor instead of an employee. I was challenged in all the best ways and grew tremendously as a clinician thanks to extremely skilled therapists and teachers who accepted me as part of their team.
When my contract was up for renewal, I was surprised to be offered a full-time position instead. I had a big decision to make: stay in the security of a full-time school role with more responsibilities and a lower hourly rate, or leap fully into private practice. I chose the leap.
I missed one-on-one sessions, collaborating with parents, and the flexibility that came with running my own schedule. I also told myself, “I still want to work part-time.” (Spoiler alert: any business owner knows that's laughable in the beginning.) The reality of building something from scratch is that it takes long hours, energy, and constant problem-solving. It’s equal parts thrilling and exhausting.
As an extrovert, one of my biggest concerns was loneliness. I thrive on collaboration, connection, and community—none of which I wanted to lose by going solo. So instead of isolating myself, I decided to build a village.
That’s how the St. Charles Private Practice Network was born. It started as casual happy hours with other local private practice owners—SLPs, OTs, reading specialists, BCBAs. We shared our challenges and wins, swapped ideas, and supported each other. Over time, it evolved into something more intentional: professional headshots, business planning meetups, a retreat day, and a community of clinicians who genuinely cheer each other on. It’s become one of the greatest sources of support in my journey—and a huge part of what keeps me going.
Within six months of launching my private caseload, I was full. I’d built relationships with daycares and schools and started saying yes to my new ideas and partnerships like creating rentable speech & language kits with Swap the Playroom and offering a parent-child therapy groups at Enchanted Playroom. I created parent trainings on toddler and preschooler communication strategies, become a DESE-approved instructor, been a podcast guest, and jumped headfirst into the world of social media (still learning!). A year into seeing private clients, I hired my first contractor, a previous graduate student of mine and this July I'm partnering with Early Essentials OT to offer our first speech, language and motor camps. I am so lucky to feel energized every day to grow as a business owner and SLP.
Private practice gave me back the spark I didn’t even realize I was missing. More than that, it gave me the opportunity to help others build theirs, too.
This is just the beginning—and I can’t wait to see what’s next.