0:00 Welcome to Hyasmus and Friends, stories behind the science, hosted by Hyasmus, 0:06 the leading clinical platform for ABA therapy. Each episode highlights 0:11 inspiring stories from experts and individuals with unique perspectives. Join us as we explore valuable insights 0:18 and foster empowerment within the autism community. Welcome back to Hyasmus and 0:24 Friends, stories behind the science. I'm your host Amy and I'm excited to bring you today's conversation. This episode 0:31 is extra special because it's the first episode of a brand new miniseries focused on different paths for BCBAS. In 0:38 this series, we're spotlighting clinicians who have taken unique routes in their careers, whether starting a 0:43 private practice, scaling a business, or reimagining leadership in the impact in our field. Today, we're kicking things 0:49 off with an incredible panel of BCBAS who are using Head Start Health as part of their startup journey. We'll talk 0:56 candidly about entrepreneurship, early challenges, confidence building, and what it really looks like to grow a 1:02 business while staying grounded in clinical values. Let's dive in. So, 1:07 hello. Thank you all so much for being here today. We'll go ahead and start with introductions, but I want to go 1:13 ahead and start with Dr. Feldman first, so she can tell us a little bit about herself and Head Start um health, and 1:21 then we'll go ahead and introduce our other panelist. So, I'll give it to you, Dr. Feldman. 1:27 Awesome. Thanks, Amy. So, I'm Dr. Sarah Feldman. Call me Sarah. Um, I'm a board certified behavior analyst and I started 1:34 my own ABA company over 10 years ago in the North Texas area. We started with 1:39 $300 in home only and really scaled to a multi-sight location with over a hundred 1:46 employees. At the very end, I scaled it and exited. And now really reflecting 1:51 back on kind of what's the next journey for myself as a BCBA and as someone who 1:57 really loved the oper entrepreneurship journey is how do we make it easier to 2:02 have clinician-owned clinician-led companies and really remove a lot of 2:07 those barriers that I personally experienced at the very beginning. Um, and so that's where I landed is at 2:13 Headstart Health where we work with this amazing team of BCBAs and leaders who 2:19 are super aligned on clinician-led, clinicianowned ABA companies. And so we 2:24 help with the startup part of it. We help with kind of the training pieces of it. We do the traditional kind of you'll 2:31 have access to your software, which Hyasmus is a pivotal piece of that. Um, 2:37 and then we do billing and support and mentorship. um client acquisition and 2:42 RBT recruitment, kind of everything in between that really gets a lot of BCBAS stuck in the back office and doing 2:49 things that they wish they didn't have to do in order to go do more of the things that they wish they could do, 2:55 which is really affecting change and providing high quality care for the kids that we all know and love. So, that's 3:02 me. Um, excited to be here and I really appreciate the opportunity to chat. Amy, 3:07 yes. Well, I love that you're you have your background and your experience. It's almost like a full circle moment 3:15 where you've been in these shoes and now you get to help others, you know, with their startups but with some additional 3:21 support. So, we'd love to learn more about Head Start Health and our panelist. So, we're going to start with 3:27 Chanel. I'm gonna have each of you just share your full name, um where you're located, your organization name, and 3:32 then if you want to share kind of how and why you decided to use um Head Start Health. So, I'll hand it over to you, 3:39 Chanel. Yeah, thank you, Amy. And my name is Chanel Donado Rogers. I am here in 3:44 Georgia and my company is Endless Horizons. And really, um, it's just 3:51 always been a goal for me to start a practice of my own, but of course, I wanted to make sure I had that strong 3:57 admin backing, so with authorization team, billing team, and things like that. So that pretty much helped me make 4:05 my decision with having that support from Head Start. Awesome. Thank you, Chanel. And Tracy, 4:11 if you want to share. Yes, thank you. Um, my name is Tracy Taylor and I'm in Fagetville, North 4:19 Carolina, and I opened up Ascent ABA Therapy. Um, the main reason why I went 4:26 with Head Start is because as much as I've always wanted to have my own 4:31 business, I had no idea how to go about doing it, what kind of resources I would need or anything like that. And Head 4:39 Start just it fell on me through a Google search, honestly. So they they've 4:44 been more than helpful in helping to collaborate and to provide all the 4:50 resources that I need to make sure that my business can be a success. 4:56 Awesome. Thank you, Tracy. And last but not least, Savannah. Hi. Uh thanks. Uh I'm Savannah Smith. 5:04 I'm up in Northern Indiana. Um and I own Brick Road Therapies. Um, I chose to go 5:11 to Head Start like it was I I was in a similar position as Tracy where it just kind of like fell in my lap. Um, I had 5:18 already started the process of trying to launch my own practice, but it was a lot of I don't know what to do. Um, and so 5:25 it was a lot of just like figuring everything out. Um, and then had Head 5:30 Start reach out to me through LinkedIn and I was like, well, this is pretty helpful. And so I figured why not use, 5:38 you know, Head Start as a a launchpad and and, you know, use all of their uh collective experiences to help guide 5:45 starting my practice. Um, I opted to to do my own practice because I, you know, 5:52 I have a lot of things that I I feel very strongly about within the field and 5:57 um, you know, my my values as a clinician that I didn't feel like I had 6:02 the freedom to really follow in some of the the bigger box companies in the 6:07 area. Um, and so it really allowed me to uh drive the business through the lens 6:14 of joy and um, ascent-based therapy and a lot of the things that I'm really really passionate about. So, 6:20 I love that. So, now I want to shift into like the business side of the journey. So, starting or growing an AVA 6:27 business can be exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. So, I appreciate your guys's willingness to 6:33 share openly. Um, so I'm gonna have several different questions and I'll just kind of um let you uh we'll have 6:39 different panelists answer some of those questions that speak to them. So, um, we'll we'll start with and some of you 6:46 kind of answered this in your introduction, but if there's any more you want to elaborate on or something different, um, what made you decide to 6:53 start to grow your own AVA business? And, uh, like, you know, when did that when did that start? 7:01 I think for me, I was tired of how the prior companies I 7:07 had worked for care more about their income and their bottom line than they 7:13 do about the indiv individualization of treatment for each kid. And that that 7:19 was what mainly made me want to start something of my own so everywhere 7:26 every child could be focused on individually and get just the right treatment that they need for as long as 7:31 they need because our ultimate goal is to not be needed. Absolutely. And it sounds like Savannah, 7:38 you know, shared early on that she was looking for that flexibility and to, you know, focus on her values as well. And 7:44 Chanel, it sounds like you've always wanted to start a business. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And also too to piggyback off of 7:52 Tracy, um I definitely agree with with what she was saying as well. And for me, I just felt like it was just time at the 7:59 point I was in in my career, especially cuz I started this summer and the success that I am having, I'm like 8:07 kicking myself as to why didn't I do this sooner? So, um, it's definitely been a great 8:14 journey and it was just time for me to go ahead and grow and take that next step instead of it being a dream, just 8:20 now making it a reality, which has been awesome thanks to Head Start. So, awesome. 8:26 The autonomy that we have to like actually, like I said, live the values and and treat within the values and 8:33 things that are meaningful to us, I think is really really cool. Um, I feel like I had something else. It's 8:39 gone. I'm so sorry. No, sorry if I interrupted you. Yeah, I think values is just like the 8:45 huge part for me is like I had when I created um my company, it was before big 8:51 box kind of existed. So, some of these same kind of like um things were not it 8:57 wasn't the Bill or Parish type um environment yet, but it was very cookie 9:03 cutter. And I had a really hard time with um talking to parents in lots of 9:09 different settings and saying, you know, your kid is making this amazing progress and it's in center and they don't have 9:16 any connection to that actual like reality of what I'm seeing there because it's just not generalizing. Um, and it 9:23 also is not aligned with their particular family values of what is it that like long-term is important to 9:29 them. It was very clinicianled of like this is how we we treat and this is what 9:35 we do and we check boxes. Back then it was on the ables and you know and we go 9:40 one box at a time and that's what we do. And so I think those conversations and 9:46 having it over and over and over again of like that's really great and you say all these positive things but I'm 9:51 struggling at home um was a huge impetus for me. And then also having just high 9:58 quality of like company culture and I wanted I I didn't I dreaded going to 10:04 some of the like centers that I worked in because it just didn't feel good and I was like this cannot be how 10:10 interacting with adults is. There has to be a better way. Um and so I wanted to 10:16 create a place where parents felt empowered and clinicians felt empowered and everyone could collaborate in a way 10:22 that felt right. And so that was really the reason why I I went independent. 10:28 I love that. So it sounds like some of you all started your or attempted or 10:33 started your uh businesses prior to Head Start Health and then possibly some just 10:39 started with Head Start Health. So either way, if you can look back at that beginning of when you were first 10:46 starting your business, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced early on? Um and then you can kind of 10:53 share, you know, if that was before Head Start Health or even with Head Start Health because um the reality of 10:59 starting a business, it's not going to be easy. You know, there's there's going to be some hard work up front. So, anyone want to share some of those 11:05 challenges? I think for me, like I already said a little bit that when I first decided 11:13 that this was what I wanted to do, um I had no idea where to start. I didn't 11:18 know what I and I I still feel like even today a year and a half into, you know, 11:24 having a business that I'm still constantly fig like, "What do you mean I had to do that? I had no idea." Um, and 11:30 so, so there's a lot of like the the the the community I feel like is not really 11:36 set up for us to do that independently. Um, like a lot of that knowledge is gatekept. And so 11:44 I I had I had no idea what I even needed to do to start an LLC. Like that was a 11:50 lot of big scary terrifying steps that like if I screw this up, you know, is it 11:55 going to screw everything up? Um and so I like that I think is the that was the 12:00 biggest challenge for me was just like figuring out what to do, but then also trusting that like I wasn't going to 12:06 break everything, right? that there is a learning curve with starting a business, especially with developing like policies 12:12 and procedures and things like that. Um, so just just trusting and and not, 12:18 you know, wanting to throw up every single time something bad happens. Yeah. Yeah. 12:23 Absolutely. That's so true. And I do I do want to kind of this is a 12:29 little off topic, but I think it's important since you mentioned it, Savannah. Um, and it might might seem 12:34 like common sense, you know, to some of you, but I didn't realize initially with Head Start Health that you all did, you 12:41 do have your, you know, independent LLC. You know, there are some other I've seen platforms in other fields like 12:48 counseling especially, it seems to be quite popular. Um, I won't say any names on there, but there's some platforms 12:54 where you can it appears that you have your private practice, but it's really more of a franchise, you know, it's 13:00 really more under that company. So, I do think it's it's really cool that Head Start um helps you, you know, start your 13:07 own business that way. So, awesome. Well, thanks for sharing that. Does anyone else want to share how Headstart 13:14 Health um could support you during that uh startup and scaling process? 13:22 early on. I think a lot of the support comes from the fact that they've been there, 13:27 they've done it, they know what we what we don't know about the whole process, so it's not as scary as it would be on 13:34 our own. Excellent. Okay. Yeah. Like when I tried to go 13:40 independent on my own at the at the very beginning, obviously I didn't have Head Start Health, but I was so scared that I 13:47 was doing something wrong. Like I would wake up and just know that this is the 13:53 day that insurance was going to write me a letter and tell me I had been doing everything wrong and like surprise we've 14:01 caught you. You you're making it up as we as you go along. You're not one of us. And like I think it's so gay cap 14:09 gatekept of all of the information that exists out there of like anonymous mode on Facebook group because we're afraid 14:16 to be wrong and to hear that we're doing it wrong or we might get berated for, 14:21 you know, not knowing something. You just don't know what you don't know. And 14:26 that's a really vulnerable place for BCBAS who are fixers. and we we 14:32 typically can kind of like put the pieces together and go like, "Okay, this seems like the correct path forward, but 14:39 we're not trained to be entrepreneurs." And so I just remember having and sorry 14:46 Savannah, it doesn't go away. Um, but like even years in, I would just be 14:51 like, "Somebody's going to find out I'm making it up. Like I don't know what I'm doing." You know, I I still have that 14:57 about like my PhD. I still think like somebody's going to be like surprise like just kidding. So, you know, I I I 15:05 think that that really resonates with me too, Savannah. Yeah, the imposttor syndrome is real. 15:11 Hardcore hardcore. And I think it's because you care. Like I think that's the main thing is 15:16 like we care about doing it right. And that's what I see with clinicianled organizations who are just it's we care 15:24 about the people. We we want to do something different. We want to improve the field. We want to support and if 15:30 we're doing it wrong, we want to know because we want to do it right. And so, 15:36 yeah, I I think it comes from a deep sense of like I care about the outcomes 15:41 of what my um company provides. Absolutely. Well, let's talk about 15:46 structure for a moment. What systems or workflows did you put in place first and 15:52 why? or maybe you didn't put them in first, but you would recommend others going back that they do first. So, any 15:58 systems or workflows that have helped you out? You know, for me personally, definitely 16:05 focusing on like scheduling and documentation and making sure I have um 16:10 my supervision system set up so that this way my staff are supported, my parents feel supported, all my families 16:17 because you don't want to grow too quick and then everything very quickly turns into a mess and you're then you're 16:23 trying to figure out how can I clean this up. So just keeping everything together um in terms of supervision, 16:31 scheduling, communication with your families and things like that. And then of course too with your Head Start team 16:36 and keeping them involved every step of the way. There's that's a lot. 16:42 Yeah, that's a lot. Okay. Well, I I definitely like I think it's super 16:49 important to have your like your mission and your values steady, right? like knowing because like 16:57 that's the foundation of your business, right? Everything that you do within your business even as far as scheduling, 17:03 right? Is that in line with your company's values? Um, and so like having 17:08 that like the business plan and kind of knowing what are your goal, right? We're behavior analysts. We should have smart 17:14 goals for our businesses. Um, so like having an idea of like what what are your long-term goals? Where where do you 17:21 where are you now? What's your foundation? What are your mission and values? and the things that are going to drive everything you do. But then what's 17:27 the end goal, right? Like self-fulfilling prophecy yourself into having that dream business, right? 17:34 Because when we know what the end goal is, we can identify those individual steps and and create those contingencies 17:39 to allow ourselves to get to that end goal. So like I think it's like don't just go into it being I'm going to own 17:46 my own business. It's it's what do you want to do with that? What is your end goal with having your own business? Why 17:52 are you doing it? Like for me it's a lot of wanting to do things differently, 17:58 right? Like I don't like the cookie cutter thing. I believe that, you know, kids should be having fun, right? 18:04 Therapy should be playtime. It should be enjoyable. Um I like to present therapy differently. And so that to me is super 18:11 important. And so that's those are some of the things that are driving and my goals and and things of that nature. 18:17 I think those micro steps that you just said, Savannah, are like um 18:22 so important to experiencing joy, which is important for your company. But one 18:28 of the big mistakes I I made is like I as an entrepreneur, as an ADHD person, 18:35 and then also as a person who is just kind of a perfectionist, I never stopped 18:41 to enjoy like the successes and the micro steps of like my successive 18:47 approximations towards what is it that I'm trying to achieve. It was just go go 18:52 go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go which creates burnout and it's really hard to like stop and pause and just 18:58 realize like oh my gosh like this is happening no one I didn't have to tell 19:03 anybody that I was going to a doctor's appointment you know I I didn't have to like ask for lunch or do whatever like 19:11 I'm working on my couch and like nobody's catching me like that's awesome 19:16 um and so like those things should be celebrated but I certainly did not have 19:21 the hindsight to set those and like have a moment to pause. It was just jump on 19:27 the treadmill and start building. So, I think that's that's amazing. I hope you actually do take the time to experience 19:33 the joy. Sometimes we're good at saying it and yeah, saying it, but you know, we 19:38 pay attention to the hard parts and we forget that, you know, there are some really cool things that are happening in our businesses. For sure. I was just 19:46 going to say, Savannah, I I just loved what you said and not only is it a great starting point and that foundation, it's 19:53 something to continually circle back to. Often think about um we need to remind ourselves of the why in order to get to 19:59 the how. So, anytime we're kind of problem solving and things are going to come up as your business is growing, 20:04 coming back to that mission and values um before we strategize, you know, how to how to fix the problem. So, um, very, 20:12 very wise for you to be figuring that out so early on. So, awesome. Well, I 20:17 love this next question because I think confidence is something many BCBA struggle with when stepping into 20:23 ownership and really in general, we talked um, a little bit about imposttor syndrome. So, how do you guys think 20:29 using Head Start help impacted your confidence as a business owner? 20:35 I think they helped me the most because I didn't have to have all the answers. Um, one of my biggest fears is not 20:42 knowing what to do. I I don't like to be too much of a control freak, but I need to know what's going on. And if I didn't 20:49 know something, they were right there to help me with the answer. And I didn't feel 20:54 as insignificant as I would have on my own, 21:00 not having any idea what the processes were going to be. and what experiences I was going to encounter as I get started. 21:09 Awesome. Anyone else want to add to that? I think I think for me too, Head Start, 21:16 I I hate to use the word crutch, but that's kind of what it feels like. It's it's something to fall back on. So, it's 21:22 like what Tracy said, you know, I I don't like not knowing how to handle something. And I'm also the kind of 21:28 person like we need reinforcement, too. And when you know when you're dealing with you know delays with insurance and 21:35 and you know challenging staff, challenging parents, things like that, it's really hard to contact that 21:41 reinforcement. And so for me, like being able to go to Head Start and say, "Okay, this is my game plan. Am I crazy?" Um to 21:48 kind of just get that that validation and support of like you are doing what you're So it it's it's like that 21:55 supplemental reinforcement, right? that that because we're not getting it as as readily when you're starting up a 22:01 business. I mean like the the the uh 22:07 what's the word? Um like the the the I'm drawing a complete 22:14 No, like the stability, right? Like the the longevity, the ability for a business to sustainability. 22:20 Yeah. Is it's you know, it's it's a higher likelihood that you if you're going to not do great, it's going to 22:25 happen pretty early on. And so having those people to to back you up and and help fill in 22:31 some of those knowledge gaps is huge to to reduce the likelihood of failure 22:37 or even feeling like you're going to fail. Cuz I know for me it was definitely the 22:42 validation that okay I and giving it extra confidence that I do know what I'm 22:47 doing and then if I do have those questions I have someone be like hey like I this is my thought process. Am I 22:53 on the right track? and it's like, yeah, that's you're you got it. So, for me, it was definitely that extra reassurance, 23:00 which is why I look forward to my CSM meeting every week. 23:06 Um, and just getting that from the team. So, so Chanel, tell us a little bit more about that meeting, what what it stands 23:13 for and what it's about. For me, it's honestly I wake up, I have 23:18 mine every Monday, so I am so excited to have it. we I know exactly where my 23:24 authorizations are going, how it's going with my RBT team. If I have any questions that maybe a family is asking 23:29 me about insurance that I'm not exactly sure. So, I just like that I can any 23:35 question that I have, I can get an answer. Like, I have been very fortunate that I haven't had I've never not gotten 23:42 a question answered. So, that is something that I love. And this just the continuous support um like kind of like 23:50 what Savannah said in a way a crutch but not in a negative way for me. I find it just helpful because I'm not 23:57 overwhelmed. I'm not feeling alone. So it's just a real true team effort while 24:03 still having that full autonomy over my company. So that started as like they're like pool floaties. 24:09 Yeah. Pool floaties. I can swim. I just would prefer to float 24:14 and Yeah. Right. Yeah. So, to answer your question, Amy, though, CSM stands for customer success 24:21 manager. Um, and it's part of our mentorship program that we have at Head 24:26 Start Health. Kind of looks in three different tiers. First is really, um, our ABA business boot camp, which, you 24:33 know, um, we've definitely changed and moved and and and evolved. you know, Savannah is one of our OG um providers 24:41 here and so I she didn't have the same experience as all of it, but we started 24:47 with the ABA business boot camp where we really teach you and try to give you some of the ground level knowledge that 24:53 we want you to know to how to run your company. And then from there, you go to your launch manager who was used to kind 24:59 of the answering all the firsts of how do you how do I run payroll? How do I do this? How do I talk to a a parent about 25:07 the parent handbook and enforce my policies? I've only enforced other people's policies. How do I do it for 25:12 myself? And then after that, we move to the client success manager, which is kind of your person in perpetuity. Um 25:19 either your person or the team um who's there to kind of answer any questions 25:24 you have, but also make sure that we're on the right track for what support looks like for you. because it looks 25:31 different at all different stages. We have three companies here who are all in really different stages and it's a cool 25:37 thing to kind of know that that team can morph and change to providing support as 25:42 as they evolve. That's awesome. Such a wonderful resource to have that mentorship and and 25:48 all that support. So, I'm sure there are some BCBAs listening that might be thinking, is it time to jump? You know, 25:54 they might be interested in starting their own business. So, what do you wish that you had known? um before you took 26:00 that big step. Is there anything you you would like to warn others or that you wish you knew? 26:05 Smiling. All of it. Like hindsight, right? I there's a lot 26:11 of stuff that I wish I understood. Um I wish you know that I understood more about like just owning a business and 26:18 entrepreneurship and and even like being a woman in entrepreneurship does look very different than being a man. Um and 26:24 so like there's there's a lot there's a lot that I wish that I knew. I will say one of the things that I'm glad that I 26:30 did that I would encourage other like people to do is in those early steps 26:36 like Head Start is incredible for what they do but also like reaching out to other um people to get mentorship. So 26:43 like in the state of Indiana we have the Indiana Small Business Development Center that provides free mentorship for 26:49 startup companies. And so like I worked with them to figure out some of the other things that at the time like uh 26:55 Sarah said I was one of the original providers so I didn't get that boot camp and so they were able to help me kind of 27:01 fill in some of those gaps that that Head Start was not able to provide to me at that time. I love that. 27:09 Anyone else have anything else you you wish you knew? 27:14 Go ahead. No. Okay. Sorry. I was just gonna say I I know I said it earlier. I definitely 27:20 wish I would have found Head Start earlier. Um, for sure. And then also to 27:25 just for people if they're branching out on their own or not using a support 27:30 team, just of course making sure that you have a strong admin team because 27:36 that can definitely make or break um you know your development and your sustainability which is what we kind of 27:43 mentioned earlier from all the inner works of what it takes to make sure that things run smoothly within a company. So 27:50 yeah. Awesome. Well, I think for me, sorry to interrupt Amy. I think for me like the 27:56 the main thing that I I see with all providers that I talk to and that I really resonate with myself is 28:03 it doesn't ever feel you don't ever feel ready. It always feels scary. um and 28:10 we're pretty responsible group of individuals in the field and so leaving 28:18 a job that pays your bills and does these things and it's like a very repeatable like I understand if I attend 28:25 work I will get a paycheck I will be able to you know do this and that it feels very orderly um and 28:32 entrepreneurship is just not orderly um it you will never know enough you will 28:38 never feel ready. It will never feel super easy at the very beginning, you know, but I think it's like that little 28:45 feeling in your stomach of butterflies of like we call it nurse sighted in our family, but like you're nervous, you're 28:52 excited. That's kind of the energy you need in order to be successful as an 28:59 entrepreneur just full out. You have to have this level of like I'm I am going 29:06 to have to make this work because I have to make it work. Either because I'm now 29:11 like unemployable because I don't want to be employed by somebody else because I've been spoiled working for myself or 29:18 it's because I have to pay the bills and like I'm all in because I have to do it. But it just never feels easy. But that 29:25 kind of fear of not making it easy is is also um I think what fuels some of the most 29:32 successful entrepreneurs that I know. Absolutely. I'm I'm laughing a little bit in my head because it sounds a lot 29:38 like parenting to me. Well, yeah. Yeah. You you never know if you're ready. You'll never be ready. 29:45 Yeah. No, I mean I it is kind of um you know, so I I totally feel that. 29:52 Okay. Well, it was mentioned a little bit earlier that um that you all use Harasmus for your clinical platform. So, 29:59 we I'd love to talk about um one feature or aspect of the platform that's meaningful for your day-to-day work and 30:06 helps you stay focused on your clients. Hopefully, saves you some time. 30:12 I love the assessment and reassessment process. They I I'm I'm familiar with 30:20 how I've done it in the previous companies that I worked for where you've got to download a graph and you got to 30:26 look this up and look that up and go back and re view all your information 30:31 from before. But with the Hyasmus app, everything's all there and they make it 30:37 so user friendly for anybody and it's just it takes a huge weight off of your 30:43 mind knowing that this process is going to be as easy as possible for you so you 30:49 can get back to what you want to do and that's to help your clients. Yeah, love that. Yeah, I've used a 30:56 handful of different data collection softwares out there and like there's a couple that like we won't name names, 31:02 but if I had to use them, I would mutiny first. Um, there's there's a couple that just they 31:08 don't they don't work for me. Um, and so like I will say out of out of all of the ones that I've used thus far, Hyasmus is 31:14 the most user friendly. Um, and I I agree with Tracy. love the the um 31:19 treatment planning process and how everything just pulls in pretty seamlessly and then it's more of a matter of editing um and fine-tuning 31:26 things and making it more individualized and and um specific to the client and their progress as opposed to having to 31:33 build everything from scratch every single time. Um that is a huge timesaver 31:39 for sure. Um, I also like my RBTs, I will say they all all of my staff right 31:46 now came from other companies that used other softwares and I always tell them 31:52 like on a scale of one to this one very specific pro company. Um, it's a four, right? 31:59 Like it's it's challenging. Like there are glitches and things that happen, but they're resolved quickly. Um, Hyasmus 32:06 does a great job of like ex like taking feedback and they're applying feedback constantly. There's updates I think what 32:12 like every other day it feels like. Um, so there's constantly changes, modifications, things, improvements to 32:18 the system and and it doesn't crash. I love that. Yes, that's important. 32:24 Yeah. Yeah. I always say like I used Hyasmus in my in my own private company 32:30 and then you know now now that Hyraasmus is here and it's being used by all of our independent providers and I when I'm 32:38 picking a software I um first look at it from an RBT um perspective and then I'll 32:44 look at it from what a BCBA will see. And that's really because like our RB if 32:50 we don't have good data collection then like it doesn't matter what we do in the 32:56 treatment plan like it's not real data. And so is it easy for RBTs to take data 33:02 reliably in a way that is just um minimal response effort. And so that's 33:08 why I picked Hyraasmus whenever um I was choosing a product for for my own 33:13 company. And what I kind of tell other people is like listen, and I think I know what you're talking about, Sabina, 33:19 of like the other one, but there's there's things that make BCBA's lives easier, but really at the end of the 33:25 day, we have more RBTs on our team than we have BCBA. So like, let's do a product that's really well um thought 33:32 about thought about for our RBTs. 33:38 Okay. Well, we will shift to our closing question, which I will have all of you 33:43 answer. But we always like to close our podcast by having our guest um think a 33:48 little bit different. We spend so much time focusing on our clients, which are very important. But I want you to think about the children that are closest to 33:55 you, whether you have children of your own, nieces, nephews, neighbors, whatever it might be. And it could could 34:01 be clients if those are the children that are closest to you. But our company slogan is focus on the child in front of 34:07 you. So in this busy world that we live in, a lot of you are starting businesses, scaling your businesses as 34:14 well. How do you personally, what's one tip or advice on how you can um keep the 34:20 focus on the child in front of you? Uh anyone want to go first? 34:26 I I for me, this is this is one that like I have to talk to my staff a lot about, right? And and it's mostly just 34:32 because you know a lot of times as adults so I'm I used to be a special education teacher and when I taught I I 34:39 have this very distinct memory of one of my pair professionals when I was like why are you being so you know aggressive 34:44 with this one particular thing that this kids needs needs to do and she was like well he should because he should and I 34:50 was like okay hold on right and and that statement has stuck with me for over a 34:56 decade now right like they're kids right? They're kids. They don't have the 35:02 same lived experiences as us. And so, you know, when we're looking at 35:08 problem behavior, skill deficits, things like that, they don't know better, right? They 35:13 don't they don't know what they're supposed to do in those situations, they don't have the same learning histories 35:18 that we do. And so we have to like by focusing on the kid in front of us that 35:24 means we're meeting that child where they are at acknowledging their current 35:29 lived experiences whether that's you know acknowledging you know trauma right I'm a trauma assumed provider and so we 35:36 we always are are looking at everything through that lens um but you know what 35:42 is what is your as this tiny developing human what is your experience right now 35:48 and what are your goals goals and what does your life look like? And you know, a does a 5-year-old know what they want 35:54 to be when they're an adult or what they want their life to look like when they're an adult? No. But they know what they want it to look like when they're 36:00 five. And we should work on that, right? And we should support them where they are at, meet them where they're at, love 36:06 them where they're at today and work on what they want and what is meaningful to 36:12 them. Love that. Thank you, Savannah. Couldn't have said it any better, Savannah. that like everything we do in 36:20 my company is geared toward each individual child, you know, each individual teenager, everything that 36:27 it's not, as it was said earlier, not a cookie cutter. And that's what I focus on when I think 36:34 of like think about the child in front of you, you know, it's it's just the nature of the business 36:41 that everything is individualized. Yeah, I would agree with that. Um, 36:47 definitely ask the clinician because I'm sure you've probably all heard the expression if you know you meet an 36:52 individual with autism, you've only met one individual with autism. So, we don't 36:58 want the cookie cutter cookie cutter therapy because our clients are not cookie cutter. So we have to make sure 37:05 of course that we're meeting their needs um within their individual lives and 37:10 what can help them grow and prosper because you know the support that they 37:15 have right now our end goal is to make sure they don't have that um within their abilities and their limitations. 37:21 And then for me, I would say on a personal level, especially being a new mom, um, with my own child, just, you 37:30 know, you know, she can't talk to me just yet cuz she's an infant, but it's just like, okay, constantly, what are 37:35 you trying to communicate to me? Like, how can I, you know, meet your needs and help you grow and prosper today and 37:42 things like that. So, yeah, I would say, yeah, for me that's pretty much what that is. 37:48 Congrats, Chanel. That's awesome. Yeah, I for me this is um it's super aligned 37:55 with one of the core values that I had um for for my old company which was balance and really the way we defined it 38:02 was wherever you are be all there um and I think as humans we carry a lot um 38:11 there's just a lot going on in the world there's a lot of different needs lots of different especially as an entrepreneur 38:17 there's many different ways you're being pulled and 17 different layers of a decision that you're making, but this 38:24 work is about the kids that are in front of us and that what kind of support and quality of life can we, you know, help 38:32 create. And so when we're there, they are the most important thing that is is, 38:39 you know, um that is happening. And so a lot of it has to do with where when we 38:45 had that core value of how do we how do we support our RBTs to be fully present 38:50 in the now. Um and how do we help them make decisions based on what they're seeing right now. So just like Savannah 38:57 said, meeting the kiddo where they are. We don't know what happened with sleep, with medication, with family, with all 39:03 of these different things. And so I see it as almost like a game of improv of 39:08 like, you know, Yes. understand like what what what where are you right now 39:13 bud and yes and here's how we're going to completely individualize what this 39:19 looks like um today to meet you where you are and I think the same thing with families and parent training you know 39:27 yes um you have had a really hard time and this is how we're going to individ 39:32 individualize today's activities in order to meet you where you are um 39:37 because the work is so important and we can't um get in the way of ourselves in 39:44 this. If we if we go after our own outcomes and our own initiatives, then 39:49 um you know that can really start to muddy the waters of what what the whole point is, which is the kids. 39:56 Absolutely. Well, thank you all so much for sharing your experiences, your 40:01 challenge, and your wins so openly today. Conversations like this are exactly why we created this miniseries, 40:07 so BCBAS can see that there's no single right path, only one that aligns with 40:12 your values, goals, and the impact you want to make. Thank you for joining us for the very first episode of Different 40:18 Paths for BCBA's miniseries. We have more powerful conversations coming your way featuring clinicians who are 40:24 redefining what's possible in this field. Until next time, stay curious, stay connected, and always focus on the 40:31 child in front of you. Thank you all. Thanks for joining us on Hyasmus and 40:36 Friends, stories behind the science. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast and leave us a 40:42 review. Your feedback helps us continue to share inspiring stories and foster empowerment within the autism community. 40:50 See you next time.