When I first started working in the schools in the early 2000s, there was a push for integrating technology into classrooms and therapy sessions It was even a box that got checked on my employee evaluation. Now there’s a defined space referred to as “EdTech”. It took me a while to realize that this was…
Category: Entrepreneurship
EP 231: Finding a Place for AI in Therapy and Product Development (with Natalie Yona)
In this episode of De Facto Leaders, I’m joined by speech-language therapist Natalie Yona from Cognishine to explore one of the most nuanced conversations happening in today: Where does AI actually belong in therapy? Cognishine is a multilingual, multidisciplinary digital intervention platform designed for therapists, educators, and care professionals—offering a rich library of evidence-based, culturally…
EP 216: The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support
In this episode, I’m excited to announce the release of my new compression course, “The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support.” You can learn more about the course here. In this session, I’ll be sharing why I created this program, what parents and professionals have shared with me when I talk about executive functioning,…
EP 126: Behind the scenes of a K-12 staffing company (with Ryan Cleaveland)
Many clinicians start their careers feeling unprepared to navigate the job market. In a lot of professional groups, I’ve noticed a skepticism towards contract companies, recruiters, and staffing agencies simply because many people working in school settings don’t know who they can trust. If you’ve ever had a recruiter awkwardly slide into your DMs or…
EP 98: How to become a children’s book author (with Valerie Doherty)
On episode 98 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast, I had the opportunity to interview children’s book author and veteran SLP, Valerie Doherty. Valerie has over 30 years of experience as an SLP, and in 2011 her passion for language and literacy inspired her to start writing children’s books. Readers need physical books they can…
EP 95: Creating therapy materials to serve your caseload and build a business (with Hallie Sherman)
In episode 95 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast I sat down with Hallie Sherman, a school speech-language pathologist, blogger, and business owner from SpeechTimeFun. When Hallie started working as a school SLP, she had a difficult time finding materials for middle school and high school students. After a lot of trial and error, she…
EP 94: Using YouTube to support clients and foster innovation (with Clay Hadden)
In episode 94 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast I sat down with Clay Hadden (a.k.a. Mister Clay), a private practice SLP and YouTuber from South Carolina. We had a fantastic conversation about how to come up with creative ways to serve your caseload and play a part in advocacy issues relating to health care…