Little Hands, Big Plans - Motherhood and Business

Building a thriving SLP practice and community through Sing Play Speak with Calissa Smith

• Emilia Coto • Season 1 • Episode 17

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Calissa Smith shares how she built two thriving businesses around her family's needs while creating community for children of all developmental levels and their parents. She reveals the journey of transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship through a series of small steps of faith rather than one intimidating leap.

• Starting with group music classes at Sing Play Speak that incorporate language development before launching individual speech therapy services through Thrive Therapy
• Using the power of peer learning and socialization to benefit children of all developmental levels
• Taking small steps of faith instead of intimidating leaps when building a business
• How word-of-mouth referrals from community relationships proved more effective than traditional marketing
• Setting boundaries to protect family time even as business grows
• Finding divine timing in business growth, especially when navigating her son's epilepsy diagnosis
• The story behind her new Lake Orion space and the miraculous way it came together
• Creating genuine community spaces where parents and children can connect
• Future plans for mama entrepreneur meetups and therapist networks

If you're considering taking steps toward building your own business and you're a believer, put God's timing over yours. When you wait for the right timing, it will be better than you imagined.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another mom who needs encouragement. Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

For other episodes and resources, visit our website at https://littlehandsbigplans.co/pages/podcast

Speaker 1:

Today I am chatting with Kalissa Smith, a speech-language pathologist and the heart behind Sing, play, speak and Thrive Therapy Solutions. What started as group classes in her home has now grown into two businesses and, most recently, a beautiful new space in Lake Orion, michigan, where she's creating community for kids and moms alike. We talk about how she's built two businesses around her family, the power of group learning, what it really looks like to take steps of faith in entrepreneurship, and how her personal journey, including navigating her son's epilepsy diagnosis, has shaped her vision for both work and motherhood. Welcome to Little Hands Big Plans the podcast for moms who want to reimagine work after kids and build a life where family comes first, without giving up your dreams.

Speaker 1:

I'm Emilia and I know firsthand how much motherhood shifts our careers, our priorities and our pace. But instead of seeing it as a setback, what if we saw it as an invitation, an opportunity to design a life with a little more freedom, a little more presence and a little more fulfillment? Each week, we'll have honest conversations with moms who've shaped their work and business around what truly matters. Whether you're considering a career pivot, dreaming of a slower pace or just wondering what's possible, you're in the right place, so grab a little something warm, settle in and let's explore the possibilities together.

Speaker 2:

Hey, kalissa. Hey, for those of you who may not know you, can you give a brief overview of Sing, play, speak and Thrive Therapy? So my name is Kalissa Smith, sing, play, speak. I offer music classes for children birth to five and I'm a speech pathologist. So it's not your typical music class. It involves music and movement, language and socialization, and I've been doing that for about two years now a little over two years. And Thrive Therapy is my separate LLC. Thrive Therapy Solutions is where I provide individualized speech therapy services for children zero to 18 years. And which one came first? Same place feet came first.

Speaker 2:

But I will say the seed for Thrive Therapy was planted long ago, actually when my son who's now almost 8, when I had him, that seed was planted of. I really want this someday. I want to see private clients and have some freedom in my schedule. But I'm going to be honest if I would have started it eight years ago, it wouldn't have lasted. I just wasn't ready, I didn't have enough experience, I didn't have the place and the financial structure and all these things, the business mindset. I didn't have any of that eight years ago, but that's when the seed was planted.

Speaker 2:

I will say but Sing, play Speak came first and I was actually working full-time for another company when I had the idea for Sing Play Speak. So it actually started by calling. I called it sing and play Not a lot of people know that and I took the speak out of it because I didn't want any issues with my current company thinking I was doing speech therapy outside of my regular job. So I just exclusively offered music classes out of my home on Saturdays, mainly for working parents and for my friends and their kids. So that's how that started. And then Thrive came after and honestly, thrive came after. I saw the freedom that I had in my schedule after people in my music classes started saying, oh, my nephew needs speech or my daughter needs a speech evaluation, could you see us? And it just kind of organically flowed and it's almost like God reminded me remember that seed that I planted in you years ago. This is the time I'm curious about why. Because you were doing one-on-one.

Speaker 2:

And then, right away, you launched first doing the one-to-many. Yes, and I'm more affordable when a parent can come to your class in a group setting versus seeing you one-on-one. Yes. Why did you choose that model? Let's say this I could have made a lot more money just going right into individual speech therapy, so it wasn't really about the money part.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, doing a group model or, like you said, one to many, I feel like there's a lot of benefits to being in group therapy and because I was still working for another company that I absolutely loved and that supported me and people there saw my classes and they were so excited about it. Honestly, I saw a need of we don't have a lot of groups, especially post, like 2020, 2021. We don't have a lot of groups A for preschoolers and for working parents and, honestly, I felt like it was less pressure to sign up for a music class versus a speech therapy session. Honestly, there's a lot of research behind peer models, so I really wanted to open it up to everybody, not just children who are speech and language delayed, because there's power in children working with other children. In a sense, it's almost like they're mini speech pathologists.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And you know we have children in the class who their language skills and their speech skills are so strong. And then you have a child in the class, same age, who they are delayed and they're currently in speech therapy and you watch them interact and you watch them grow together and socialize. That sometimes is more powerful than me sitting across from a child doing speech therapy. And it's interesting that you say that, because both my kids have gone to your classes and absolutely love them. And at the last session that we were at, there was a kiddo who interacted a lot with a Roman and I had no idea that that person was also just had a little bit of trouble communicating and her mom came up to me and said this is so amazing.

Speaker 2:

I've never seen her do this before and yeah, it was so powerful to see that and I had no idea so and there's research on it. It's not just like something we've observed like, oh, maybe having kiddos who have speech and language delay along with neurotypical children. There's solid research behind kids. Actually I don't want to get too into this, but kids actually attend to other children's voices faster than ours sometimes, so they're learning from other children. Sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad. I'm learning that with my eight-year-old that they're learning from other children sometimes faster than us. So I honestly thought of my clients and their parents who sometimes feel really isolated. You know, I have parents who are going through the process of getting an autism diagnosis for one of their children and they're nervous about playdates. They're nervous about what if they make no friends at school, what if they don't get invited to birthday parties? So having a class honestly I wanted to build not just a class but a community where people of any like I really it's on the website. It says this class is for children of any developmental level, any language level. I just wanted it to be open to everybody and for kids and also their parents to have interactions with other children and parents, whether they have language delays or not. One-to-one model, that individual treatment sessions often it's private pay anyways, but often insurance companies aren't paying for group therapy.

Speaker 2:

How did you take the leap of courage to leave while paying jobs into entrepreneurship? I think that's a fear for many moms that have this calling that they want to pursue. But also there's the financial, practical side of things. So I love that you said leap of faith, because I feel like those words were super intimidating to me at the time and a lot of people have asked like leap of faith? Honestly, I just started taking small, little steps of faith and it wasn't this huge. It didn't. At the time it didn't feel like a leap because I had started with sing, play, speak. I was basically building community. I had support from my husband, which I couldn't do any of this without his support and my family, and it felt like a natural next step. And I think leap of faith sometimes for people sounds intimidating, like you're literally off one ledge of one building and there's a big drop below you. But I feel like when you're walking out, you're calling and when God is giving you the next step, maybe even just one step at a time, it didn't seem like a huge leap. It seemed like this is the time and I can't describe it other than it was sad, because I loved the people I worked with.

Speaker 2:

I had grown the most at the company that I left and I had a supportive staff, supportive boss. I had a supportive staff, supportive boss, and I had to basically tell them a little bit of I'm leaving and I can't exactly tell you what I'm doing with my time. You know you have to be careful in those situations. I knew that I was going to be leaving to do more music classes, to spend more time with my boys, and I knew that there were several opportunities out there for me and I knew that eventually it would be Thrive. But I didn't fully have that set up yet and I decided at that time that the best way to transition was to cover a maternity leave of somebody who was doing private practice and kind of like dip my toes in and see, okay, if this lasts for six months, it's May right now, if this lasts for six months and then I need to go find another job, I'll do it. But honestly, you're always going to have a little bit of doubt in the back of your mind and I don't think that we should shy away from that. I wish I was the person to be like.

Speaker 2:

I took a leap of faith. I boldly declared and such and such and such and such, but I did have fear in the back of my mind of, like, if this doesn't work, what's my backup plan? And hopefully nobody faults me for that. You know, and my husband and I talked about let's do it and let's see how this goes. You know, let's teach more music classes, cover this maternity leave, see some private clients and, as people start to ask you, if this starts to become bigger than it is right now, then that's obviously what God is calling you to do. And when I tell you, god started to open up doors that I was like what in the world? I'm not even knocking on this door and you're opening it for me. I'm not even reaching out to people. Word of mouth I have never handed a pediatrician a flyer and I have sustained my business essentially through Instagram and word of mouth. Both of them and people tell me oh, you need to talk to this pediatrician, you need to talk to this preschool or whatever it is the parents. It's getting their trust in you. I love that, because that sounds so much more manageable to just do one small step at a time as opposed to yeah I mean, everybody's story is different. Some people do have to make that leap of faith Exactly. Sometimes it is just I don't know fully what the staircase is, but I'm just going to take this one step and see where it goes.

Speaker 2:

For someone that might be considering the one-to-one versus one-to-many, what pros and cons do you see in each? Because your one-to-many offer really feeds into the one-to-one. Yes, you're hitting the nail on the head. So I really thought it was going to be the opposite way. I really thought that my clients, that I would say oh, by the way, I offer these amazing music classes almost like a supplement to your therapy, and that they would all just join and then they would tell their fam. It was not like that, it was the opposite. It really felt like, yes, sing, play, speak, started to act.

Speaker 2:

I don't like the word funnel, but it is kind of true. A funnel or a feed into Thrive Therapy, because you get to know people. You are with them for six-week semesters, so you know. Our classes are 45 minutes to an hour and we're getting to know people. You are with them for six-week semesters. So you know, our classes are 45 minutes to an hour and we're getting to know each other in a small group setting. People start to trust you, their kids start to sit on your lap and they start to post videos on social media and their cousins are saying like I want to join class and I feel like the community started to grow.

Speaker 2:

And then you start hearing you know we do need a speech therapist or we're thinking about switching and it just started to naturally and organically kind of come into place that kids in my classes a lot of them, not all of them, but ones who needed additional therapy were signing up for therapy with me. And I will say I am not the speech therapist that's trying to steal a child. So if people came into my classes and they were in speech and occupational therapy or ABA therapy and they were satisfied, I wasn't trying to poach them. This is kind of supplemental to what you're already doing. And you know I had friends who are in marketing saying you should be promoting Thrive at Sing, play, speak every week or every other week and I just honestly I would forget or I just really felt like if they need me they will come to me and that I didn't want it to feel pressured.

Speaker 2:

So I will say somebody considering this same type of model when it comes to group versus individual, I will really say it depends on what your goals are and how you're kind of structuring. How are you getting referrals? You know, if you decide I just want to go right into one-to-one therapy, then you really will have to take a different approach to marketing, have to knock on physicians' doors, have to go give flyers to preschools and daycares and have to post on mom's groups and all those things. People are tagging me in mom's groups and things like that. That's not where I devote my time and energy.

Speaker 2:

I devoted a lot of time and energy to group classes and it just spiraled in a good way. It snowballed into something really amazing where people felt confident recommending me to their friends and family because they got to know me over a six-week period. So I will say it just depends on what you're looking for and the structure of your business. Really, how much time do you want to dedicate towards marketing? Because marketing yourself it's exhausting sometimes. The best form of marketing to me is just I used to say this sounds very, it's not cocky, it's confident If I can get them in the door. I know they're going to love me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because I love on their children Can confirm Well, thank you. And I used to say that to my friends and friends who are in marketing and who are like do this, post this on Facebook. Make sure your reels have these hashtags. My time and energy is spent in those classes, preparing the songs, loving on the children, getting to know the parents. We're on vacation last week. What's your favorite color? Tell me all about your dog. That's the best form of marketing is getting someone's buy-in and knowing that I love you, I love your children. You don't have to sign up for this every semester. You can come and go as you want and we are still cool and I feel like put your time and effort into that and those word of mouth referrals are going to come if you want to do one to one.

Speaker 1:

You pour so much into the classes and I think that's why it's worked the way it does because you really just pour into the kids and the parents and the whole it's people can feel it when they go to your class.

Speaker 2:

So how do you structure your week between the two businesses, because most people find one is overwhelming and you're doing two. Having family close is huge Having my in-laws close, having my mom close and, honestly, a supportive husband but when it comes to the personal way that I structure, I guess my week is, I honestly have a million to-do lists, but it's always going to be what does our family need this week? So what are the sports? Where's the swim lessons? Who's taking who to what right? And sometimes I do it monthly, but we're always going to look at what are our family goals and we keep it all on a shared Google calendar.

Speaker 2:

What volunteer things are we committing to this week? Is Tim playing at church? Am I singing in the choir? Do we have choir practice on Tuesday night? Is that something we can say no to, because I need to prepare, you know.

Speaker 2:

So I will say our family stuff comes first and then when I look at Sing, play, speak and Thrive, I really try to structure. Now that Paxton, my youngest, is a little bit older, I really try to do music classes and see clients as much as possible during the day and I know that's not doable for a lot of working parents who need to bring their kids to me after school hours. And I will say I did get into a rhythm where I was having some pretty late nights because I simply could not say no to clients, because I love what I do and I wanted to help and I wanted to grow my business, and so I got into that a little bit, maybe in the fall of last year and I had to set some boundaries of when you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to another, even if you're not verbally saying it.

Speaker 2:

But when I say yes to another nighttime client and I'm at their house till 8pm, I'm saying no to saying goodnight to my boys, and I had to. Really, this year, 2025, was the year of setting boundaries and sticking to them, and so I'll say, right now, we make sure that we have child care for the boys throughout the day, and then on nights that I need to work late, which I'm only going to be working till 6 30, two nights from now on. I'm very happy about that. On nights that I need to work late to see after-school clients, we have help with our parent or Tim gets the voice. But I am really trying to prioritize getting them from the bus stop and getting them from pickup, because as your business grows, you feel guilty to say no to things. But I'm not perfect, so I got off course a little bit and then I got back on course. But when I first started, honestly, I would only see nighttime clients, so I would have the boys all throughout the summer in 2023. During that summer, I would have them all day, then when Tim would get home, I would go see clients. So, honestly, every season is going to be different for us. Our commitments and our capacity is going to be different in every season, but mainly boundaries, boundaries, boundaries that has been the word in this season. It is so hard and I think that's one of the biggest struggles that mom and every business owner but I think moms especially struggle with that.

Speaker 2:

With your one-on-one clients, you can change the schedule on a monthly basis as you. That gives you that flexibility as well. If I have my son, if he has a doctor's appointment on like a Thursday morning and I have two or three clients, it's as simple as sending a text my son has a doctor's appointment. Is there any way I can reschedule your appointment this week? I'm not asking for PTO because I'm my own boss and I don't have PTO. I have some flexibility in my schedule to reschedule clients for things like that, because dentist appointments happen, field trips happen and I knew I wasn't going to be a field trip mom or an every party mom.

Speaker 2:

I knew I wasn't going to be able to be that as a working mom, but when I was working full time that was a never for me, it was always Tim able to get off work. He was the best field trip. Dad, he was the best Halloween party game dude. It's like we actually had reverse roles for a while and now I feel like I'm stepping more into the role that I really wanted to be in, that I can say, yeah, I'll volunteer for that field trip. Just text a client, can you do tomorrow instead of today?

Speaker 2:

And my families are so gracious. They know that I'm a mom first, yeah, and I'm a speech therapist and music teacher after that, and they respect that because they are all parents and so it honestly doesn't feel like stress and, to be honest, if it makes them upset, those aren't my clients. They maybe need to go to a center where I don't have that happen. You know God has really sent the right people in my direction, that it feels like we're building community and family. So they understand, just like your sister would understand, if you canceled coffee because you had a doctor's appointment.

Speaker 1:

That's how it?

Speaker 2:

feels? Is your career, your business, what you envisioned before you became a mom, or has it been evolving? Oh, that, honestly, is a tough one, and it's, I will say. I watched my mom work hard for us. I watched her work at 1.3 jobs, and I watched my stepmom also work and my dad work, and I not that I thought that it would always be hard, but I always envisioned this nine to five kind of mindset and this hustle, this nine to five kind of mindset and this hustle, and I honestly thought that I would go back and even get a PhD and maybe teach and be a college professor and teach other people, and not saying that that would never happen again. Let's be clear, though I'm not going back to get a PhD, I'm not opening up a textbook like that again, but I will say it shifted a little bit, because children change everything and I feel like being my own boss and stepping into this calling it takes away this hustle kind of mindset. You're still going to fall into that sometimes, but it takes away this hustle. Be the best at the job, get the boss's approval. The way that I know I'm doing a good job is by watching my clients and talking to their parents and seeing that growth, not getting that raise at the end of the fiscal year or whatever.

Speaker 2:

And I guess when I first started out, you know I graduated in 2016. It's been almost 10 years since I graduated with my master's and I thought I'm going to give lectures at our national convention. I'm going to be a college professor one day. And now I'm on the floor, sometimes getting sneezed on, and that's okay. Sometimes getting sneezed on, and that's okay, so that's. I wouldn't have it any other way. And I really think that I've stepped more into like a family based model, if that makes sense, where I'm more focused on the families that I work with and supporting them than being recognized by my colleagues. And in turn, I am getting recognized by colleagues and they're saying, wow, look at what is happening, look at what, not because of what.

Speaker 1:

I'm making.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly so it kind of all comes full circle, because I thought that the way to be recognized and honored and loved and thought of as a great therapist was to be, like I said, like this business-y kind of speech therapist and attending lectures. And that's just not me anymore. It may be me someday, who knows, maybe I'll teach one day, but right now, having kids both under eight, it's not where I'm at and I'm so comfortable in where we're at and happy with where we're at.

Speaker 2:

Something that you shared recently and if we don't feel comfortable we can not speak about it, but you shared that your family recently had an epilepsy diagnosis, which is a big deal and also something that would impact just life in general. How have you been able to manage that along with growing two businesses? Okay, so I totally feel comfortable sharing about this, because I wish more people talked about this. And it is not all roses. It's not all happy times. And Paxton had his first seizure. Actually, we were on a cruise, he was 16 months and he had his first seizure due to a high fever in December of 2022. And I was working full time at a private practice in the area and I went back after that happened and they said, oh, it was just due to a high fever. And it's like I felt in my spirit that that wasn't the last time and I didn't really share that with anybody, but I'm not going to get emotional If I do. It's okay. I felt in my spirit that might not be the last time we experienced this.

Speaker 2:

And a full year went by and actually I was sing, play, speak and my private practice and things were going really well. And December 2023, 30 minutes before people are showing up for music class, paxton has another seizure. He didn't have a fever. This was the first time that we had seen it with our eyes, because my mother-in-law had seen the first one on the cruise ship. He was in her arms. And I will say my immediate thought was and I don't think it makes me a bad mom but I did think about the people who were showing up. Are they going to show up to an ambulance here? Are they going to? You know? And I made sure, obviously, to text a mom and she canceled the class for that day and reached out to everybody and I will say, through this process of Paxton's first seizure, then his second seizure, and then going through the getting an MRI and doing EEGs, and then doing more EEGs and overnight EEGs, trial and error with his medication, error with his medication, you don't realize that you're in such a hard time until sometimes it's like a lad in a stress response.

Speaker 2:

You don't realize the stress that's happening. You just get through it and you just duck your head and I will say to you I say get through it. We couldn't have done any of it without God. And there were songs that I sang over him, there were prayers that I prayed over him. You know we would take him up to the altar at church and have our pastors pray over him, like every week. During that time I'm sure everybody was like here comes this family again with their little guy just coming up to the front. And it was important to us that throughout that time that we really leaned on God. And a few months after a lot of that time had passed, I realized what that stress had done to my body, to my mind, to my skin, to my pores. But I will say, if you are listening to this and you're at the beginning of that journey, finding community is the best thing you can do right now.

Speaker 2:

I immediately got into the epilepsy groups on Facebook. I immediately started talking to my friends. Do you know anybody who their child has epilepsy? Connected me with local moms. We did played eggs, they gave me tips. There's this one mom. She didn't know me at all. We got connected somehow. She met me at a local park and she just let me cry as our kids played and she just talked to me and we talked about medicine.

Speaker 2:

I will say Paxton was on a medicine that made him angry all the time for about eight months of this. They said this is the safest medicine to give him, but it might make him like the Hulk. He would kick me in the face daily, he would scream at me, he would bite. It was an awful time and I would cry this is not my baby, this is not him. This is the medicine. And as a mom and a person who works with kids all day long, I had a lot of guilt on why can't I manage this behavior or why can't I get control of this and why am I letting it get to me so much? Why is it triggering me? After talking to this mom about that, we decided to switch medications. Completely different child if I wouldn't have reached out, tried to get community. He may still be on that medication and living an angry life right now, about to turn.

Speaker 2:

And I feel like you don't know what you don't know. If you're sitting in that fear right now, not only epilepsy but any sort of diagnosis Reach out. And our friend Gabby says if you are looking for community and you can't find it, build it. And so maybe that's you Like. Maybe if you're listening to this and you're navigating a tricky diagnosis and you're looking for community, build it. You will find people and you will find community. So I will say, couldn't have done it without God, without our family, without our pastors and people in our lives who were praying for us.

Speaker 2:

Paxton has been seizure-free since November of last year. He has been seizure-free since he got on that new medication and his whole attitude and everything has changed. He's back to being my boy, so navigating that along with the businesses. I couldn't have done it without all of the loving families I mean people writing me letters that just had me in tears, like bringing me cards, sending me well wishes, and there were some times too that he didn't go to daycare and he came to music class with me and people were totally cool with that.

Speaker 2:

You know, as a working mom, you're like, oh my gosh, can I bring them with me to this Right? You're like, can I? I mean my son's joining me tomorrow because I don't have child care, so he's joining me tomorrow and at my new workspace. And I just feel like I have that freedom now to do that. And I didn't have that and to no fault of their own, the practice I worked at it just wasn't allowed. That's okay, they were amazing. But having that freedom now, I realized that God was putting everything. I'm going to cry. God was putting everything in order for me, way before Paxton had an epilepsy diagnosis To be with him, to be able to be the one that takes him to his overnight, to manage his medication and his appointments I mean, there were a lot of them at first so I wouldn't have been able to do that working for somebody else. I would have felt guilt all the time submitting PTO and all that jazz. You know how it goes. Yeah, I think it is hard to manage life's complexities with a business.

Speaker 2:

But I think for moms, no matter how amazing the employer, they're not going to be able to match it because they can't put your family as a priority. If it doesn't work out, it's your finances, versus a company that can't. Even if they're amazing, it's hard for them to accommodate putting someone's family at the center of their business. I remember when I first went back after having Trey, my oldest and I went back part-time and then finances. I needed to go back full-time. So I messaged my boss hey, when can I start back full-time? She goes why? So she loved that I went part-time. She goes why do you want to go back full-time? I'm like for finances, right, wait, even you can have the most supportive bosses who are like, yes, here you need pumping time. Not a lot of people have that, so I'm very blessed that I did have that in both of the jobs that I worked as a speech pathologist before starting my own businesses. But even the most supportive employers, like you said, they can't put your family first, even if they treasure you value. You tell you that all the time even if they promote you, they still can't put your family's best interests. They can't. Yeah, they're running a business. Yeah, you talked a lot about your faith, but I know that there's been more god moment let's call them in the new, exciting thing that has happened in your business, which is you have this amazing physical space in Lake Orion, and I would love to hear the story and any other story that you want to share. Yeah, so it's kind of crazy.

Speaker 2:

We've been talking this whole time and I haven't said a single location where I've been, so I guess I should talk about it. So I have been doing speech therapy for the past few years either in my home, in our basement, which we converted to like a play space slash speech therapy spot, and I've also been doing music classes either out of my home or at different locations, and I've been blessed to partner with a local private school that let me use their music room. I've been blessed to partner with a local outdoor mall that let me use their music room. I've been blessed to partner with a local outdoor mall and do outdoor classes. But I had this desire that I would have my own space one day. But if you've done that before, you know not only the time commitment but the financial commitment that comes with that.

Speaker 2:

So I would say over the past eight months I was just looking. You know, sometimes I'd get online and I would Google our city and I would Google open retail spots or medical spaces and everything I'm looking at looked stale, clinical, dry, not what I'm looking for. And I thought to myself man, it's going to cost a lot of money to turn this in to a homey, loving, bright, kid-friendly atmosphere and not feel like you're in a doctor's office. And there's a reason I stopped working at a hospital. I don't want to work out of a doctor's office anymore. I am a play-based therapist. So I will say I've been praying about it. I thought maybe this will happen in two years from now. I'll probably have to get a small business loan. I'll probably have to hire contractors and people to paint and build and do all of these things, and it's going to cost a lot of money. I'm going to be in debt over it. I really thought about it, but I kept praying God, if you have a space for me, even if I rent a space out of a local church.

Speaker 2:

I was looking at local churches and in January I got takeout in downtown Lake Orion. Never, ever have I parked in this lot, but apparently it was a big takeout day. It was full and so I had to park in a really far lot. It was full and so I had to park in a really far lot, which made me walk past a beautiful play space and nobody was in there. So I looked like a child, looking like window shopping at a favorite toy. I put my hands up on the mirror. I wish you guys could see me right now and I'm peeking in at this amazing play space and not even thinking right, just thinking this is so cute. I'm coming here tomorrow and Google it, start following the play space on Instagram, and I just thought you know what. I'm going to reach out to the owner now. I'm going to sign up for open play tomorrow and then I'm going to reach out to the owner on Instagram, shoot your shot, who knows? And I said I'm a music teacher. I would love to bring my son in tomorrow and if you're there I didn't know the owner's running the open play If you're there, I would love to talk to you about maybe collaborating with you, because this is a beautiful space. If you don't have any music classes, would you ever want to do this here? And I'm thinking maybe this could turn into a nice little collaboration. I could get my name out there to her community, she could get her name to my communities and for the next three months we started collaborating again.

Speaker 2:

This is at that same time that I'm looking, I'm praying and I'm telling her you are inspiring me to do something like this. You have inspired me to keep looking, to keep praying, to keep seeking, and we just connected so much over those few months that in June I prayed a prayer, not even thinking about this space, but I prayed a prayer on a Friday morning. I said God, if this is a Calissa desire, take it away from me. If this is a you desire, place it in my lap. Those are where my words place it in my lap.

Speaker 2:

And less than two hours later, the owner of that play space said I can no longer keep this place open. Do you want my landlord's info? And I was. It's like you have that moment where you're like God. Is that you, even though I had just prayed that prayer? We're human?

Speaker 2:

And so I did say yes. I said I would love your landlord's info, but you still have that moment of fear. What's rent going to be like? What's this going to be like? Am I still still gonna have to purchase stuff to go in this space, and I don't want to make it too long of a story, but a god moment. That happened again after we had started to work out the details of when I would basically take over the space, and that's the space that I'm currently in right now spoiler alert. But we started working out all the details and there's a lot in the space. There's toys, there's a huge beautiful loft, there's furniture, there's side tables, there's pretend play all this stuff there's pretend food it's a beautiful space that the owner and her husband did an incredible job on.

Speaker 2:

They poured themselves into it and she said to me I don't want this space, I don't want this to be taken down. You know, obviously do what you want, but this should be a kid space. And she said the fact that I have peace, knowing that it's going to you and you're going to use it to continue to build this community. And so I will say there were questions of what are you going to want to keep here, buy from us and what stays, because those are the logistics not everybody likes talking about. And I'm not made of money. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not made of money. But I did say to the owner belief I'm not made of money. But I did say to the owner. I said I wish I was made of money and I could offer you basically a price for everything in this space. I said but I'm not, so please just let me know which things are going to be too hard to move and I'll pay. I'll do what I can with what I have.

Speaker 2:

And that night Paxton was up at 2.30 am and I was praying and I felt in my spirit to pray about what amount I could offer her for everything in the space, because I just thought I would love for her to not have to move any of this. I would love for her vision and everything to just stay in here and then me just come in and continue it, continue open play, continue music classes and speech. Literally encompassing sing, play, speak. Little did I know. God gave me that name years ago before I would ever have this space Encompass, encompass. They're going to encompass this space. So back to the prayer. So I prayed God, what number should I offer her? And he gave me a number. And I'm going to be honest, I thought it was low, I thought I don't want to be insulting, but this is what I have and this is what God is telling me.

Speaker 2:

And that same morning at 9 am, she texted me and said my husband and I have been talking. Would you want to take everything in the space for that same number? And I got chills all over my body, didn't even talk to Tim about it. I said sure. And it just shows that when you're open and listening, god will give you those next steps.

Speaker 2:

And if I had said you know what I can't do? This it's too much. If I had, in that moment, said I am just going to have to figure it out, you guys got to take, it would have caused stress on her and me and but now everything got to stay in the space. But now everything got to stay in the space, mostly everything got to stay in the space and it very much still feels cozy and loving and what the original owners of the play space wanted it to look like, and it honestly feels like it's a continuation of what they started to build and we're going to collaborate in the future, so this doesn't have to end. Yeah, you know her vision and her passion and I'm grateful for her friendship. It doesn't have to end when I started owning the space. That makes sense.

Speaker 1:

I think it's one of the amazing things of getting to walk with God is getting to see and witness and pay attention, because I think God's always there, even when we're not there yet, but you don't get to see it or know as much that it's a God thing if you're not paying attention to it, and I think that your story highlights that so much.

Speaker 2:

And I could just feel God's love surrounding and writing your story and your business story. That's one of the things that I think. I always used to compartmentalize different things, like my faith is here, friendship is here, business is here, it's been more recent that I've been able to witness more because I'm seeking guidance more than I was before.

Speaker 2:

I just think, don't miss that if you're listening to this, because it's such a blessing to have that guidance in your life. What do you wish you had known, based on your journey so far that you didn't know when you first started Someone that is perhaps going to take the first step, that it could help someone in that position? There's a learning curve. All of us have a learning curve, as moms, as business owners, I think. For me, I thought it was going to be easier to get clients right away and, yes, god has blessed the business and people are coming. Word of mouth is happening, but it wasn't without. Word of mouth is happening, but it wasn't without some dead time. I mean, there were mornings where I would take the boys and and Tim would say, okay, when's your first client? And I'm like 12 30 and I really had hoped, you know, I would have a 9 and a 9 30.

Speaker 2:

When you're working for somebody else and the referrals are steady and coming in, you really, really don't view. When you go out on your own, you're not thinking of, you're thinking like, oh, people are just going to come. I thought that it would happen faster, and that's where the patience and the waiting and realizing that these things take time. So if you're starting out in whatever business that you're in and you need clients referred to, you don't think it's going to start out just oh. I all of a sudden have a full schedule and I've only been working two months. It takes time and it takes making connections, building community, and it will come though. So don't lose faith, it will come. But there are seasons that are less full and, like I said, when you work for a company that you have steady incoming referrals, you don't see that side of things. So that was a learning curve for me too, and because now you have been able to grow, what do you think are the top three things that moved the needle the most in terms of getting clients in the door? I love top threes Getting clients in the door.

Speaker 2:

I will say word of mouth, so that's my top one. If you are connected, I always tell people that I talk to. I do, by the way, under the radar, do coaching for people who want to start their own business. If they want to start, it's kind of on the DL, because a lot of the people that I'm speaking to are working for other people right now, so it can't be like I'll have a success story talking to Calissa, but I will say word of mouth, of course. Getting people in your community like your close friends and family or church friends to pass your name on to people that they know. Sometimes all it takes is you post something on Facebook I'm accepting new clients and three or four people share it.

Speaker 2:

Having those people in your life that are getting that word out for you, I think, is a good place to start. I have somebody who I've been talking to about starting her own speech therapy business and I said what about your church? That's the first thing I said to her what about your church? Can you talk to the moms in your mom group at church? And she's like I didn't think about that. And I said that's going to be where you can start getting referrals, because guess what, if they're in your mom group at church and they are stay-at-home moms, they also might be in another mom group. And then their friends might be in another mom group. And you know moms support moms. When there's a need, moms are reaching out.

Speaker 2:

Joining local groups that's another one, a number two. Joining local groups that's another one, a number two yeah, so, using your local mom facebook groups and just joining your church group, yeah, just building community that way. Three, so it's hard to pick. Three you're really, I feel like really active on social media, but you do it in a really good way. Where it's not, I don't know. Sometimes, sometimes I feel inauthentic.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes, when I see at the beginning when people are starting businesses, it seems too salesy and you don't do that.

Speaker 2:

So my number three thank you, amelia is social media. Which social media? It's like a love it, hate it situation, right? Sometimes I'm like, oh, this is awesome, and I will say I go through phases where I'm like these people are my best friends. And then other Sometimes I'm like, oh, this is awesome and I will say I go through phases where I'm like these people are my best friends, and then other times where I'm like I need a break and that's natural.

Speaker 2:

But I will say, when I first started out, I was posting a lot of information. This is how music can help your child grow. These are three things I recommend as a speech pathologist. These are some milestones information, information, information and I was like this is going nowhere and I decided to shift from information to more inspiration, if that makes sense. So still having an informational piece. But I'm going to be honest. Moms these days have access to all this information at our fingertips. If we want to Google speech and language milestones, we're going to Google speech and language milestones for my child's age. They need to see you working with children. They need to see the children enjoying the classes. They need to hear. Why did you start this business? They need to hear things like this, and when I made that shift in my mindset from these parents need all this information to. They need to be uplifted and inspired and feel something when they see your social media a shift happened and I felt like people started buying in to it a little bit more.

Speaker 2:

I will say, with social media, followers does not equal your total reach. Followers does not equal even for me. It doesn't equal sales for me. I don't feel like for social media that I'm converting people that are on my Instagram to people who are joining my class. I have people in different countries viewing my Instagram. I have people in Utah and California and so they're not going to be converted to clients, right. But I will say, using that as a tool to reach people in your community and let them see the real you, the one who sometimes posts like anybody have potty training tips, because I've been sitting on my bathroom floor for 45 minutes trying to get my three-year-old to poop. People need to see the real you and when they see that that they're like you know what? I would love to join her class because she's real, she's putting it out there, real and there's a certain fakeness that comes to social media. I fall into it occasionally. I'm not perfect. Sometimes I do only post the happy stuff. There's weeks that I do. But also I feel most connected when I just share parenting stuff with people and stories. And so I guess my number three is social media. That's a really good tip I'd never thought about.

Speaker 2:

Can you share a little bit more about what your vision is for your new space and some fun things that might be happening there soon? Yes, there are things I can share and there are things I can't share yet. So I'm getting excited about some things that are in the works right now. But, like I said previously, sing play, speech therapy, obviously and this space will be owned by Thrive Therapy Solutions but sing, play, speak classes will be offered out of this space and in the space we're going to have speech therapy, clearly, and music classes, and we're also going to continue to offer open play out of this space. So families, especially in the fall and winter months in Michigan, we need somewhere to go. Open play will probably consist of an hour to an hour and a half of open play and it will be an affordable open play area where eight to ten kids can come at a time with their families and they can come and enjoy the space, build community, get to know other families in the community. And that's the biggest thing that I want for open play is just to build community. And some people would say, probably you can make more money seeing private clients during that time. Well, I could, but I don't want to. I want to build community.

Speaker 2:

But on that community line, I really feel like there's a need right now in Michigan to connect mamas, especially not counting out the dad, but mamas who are small business owners. So I'm planning to maybe have a quarterly mama's meetup with some mama entrepreneurs. I'm also going to be planning a quarterly pediatric therapists hangout where we can get together and collaborate, because often I get asked for referrals for other therapies. So, do you know an occupational therapist for feeding? Or do you know a great physical therapist in the Rochester area? And I don't have a great list you know of? Oh, here, here, here, here. My goal here is to connect, collaborate, but also to basically have a referral list of people that it's not just I heard about them, but I met them, I heard their story, I heard how they built their business and why they do what they do and people that align with what I believe. Same thing with the mamas in business. Maybe that's what I call it.

Speaker 2:

Mamas in business I like it, mamas in business Same thing there. You know, we all have so many different things. We are so different in our fields. Right, when I encounter somebody who needs your services, I have met you, I know your character, I know who you are. I didn't just receive your business card and say, oh, this is what Amelia does, I guess I'll pass it on. We also need support, because it's hard, it's not easy, and we need to support each other, not only in referrals but in yeah, I've been there before too. You know just hearing each other out, getting together, talking like this about how are you marketing? What do you do with social media? What has worked, what hasn't? And we're all still learning. I think it's an evolving thing because you can have someone that is just starting out, but then if you talk to someone that has had a space for 10 years, that's huge in terms of things that worked and didn't work and that can help you. You know I feel the same way, like the first time I hired.

Speaker 1:

That was like, oh, my goodness what does that mean I have a bad month and how am I gonna pay this person? And yeah.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, I love that, and I don't think it exists yet because I haven't been looking and I think there's a lot of general business, but it feels so different than no. Actually, my kids are at the center and I'm just trying to build around them. We understand the power of mentorship. I had mentors growing up in church and I had mentors as a singer. I had people who mentored me in singing and in worship leading, and I think that those same principles that happen can also be translated to our businesses. The problem is, when you go out on your own, you reduce your coworkers to zero and so you don't have as many people to bounce those ideas off of. But I will say one thing that I want people to remember when it comes to people who have done this longer than you, be careful about comparison. I've heard somebody say please don't compare your chapter one to somebody's chapter 10, but learn from them. Don't compare, but learn. And I think the tough thing is not comparing to somebody who's in your same field and who is further along than you, and I think it actually takes a lot of humbling to say can you mentor me, can I learn from you, can I pick your brain, but we need to also humble ourselves to see and talk to people who have done it before to give us ideas. This is how I do it with my kids, or this is. I shifted this around in my schedule and it's made a huge difference. It's different reading it on social media versus talking to somebody. I'm so excited for that. I can't wait. Honestly, I think it's going to be such a gap in this area. Find a need, fill in need. Yeah, is there anything else in your heart that you want to share and, if not, where can people connect with you? I'll leave it with this. If you're listening and you're on the verge of taking steps of faith towards building your own business, whether you're a speech therapist or any profession if you're a believer, if you put God first and his timing, it's going to be good. And I want to just emphasize that If you put his timing over yours, it's going to be good. If I would have started this eight years ago, when the desire and the seed was planted but it wasn't time, it would have fizzled out. But I did wait on God's timing and it's better than I've imagined. So that's what I'll leave them with, but I will say you can follow me on social media. You can follow at singplayspeak on Instagram and also at Thrive Therapy and I on Instagram. Those will also lead you to our Facebook and our websites are singplayspeakcom and thrivetherapysolutions. I know that one's a mouthful, but follow me, because you mentioned the coaching piece.

Speaker 2:

If someone is not in this area, let's say Canada, that's where I, and from both sides. So I've worked with people that are trying to do the group model and they are now successfully. I have a place in Ohio. We talked about it, we met over Zoom, we talked through what they wanted it to look like and now they literally are just moving into their second space. It's so cool and that was just kind of a friendship, collaboration rather than coaching, but it really got my wheels turning. So, yes, if you are interested in starting anything similar to this whether it be group classes or starting your own speech pathology business, speech therapy business please reach out. I would love to work on it. It's something that I'm wanting to get more into is the coaching side of things. Even though it's intimidating, sometimes I'm like, am I qualified for this? But God qualifies us right. So yeah, you can absolutely DM me. Thanks, kalissa.

Speaker 1:

For today's episode takeaways. I have six. For today's episode takeaways. I have six. One faith and business intertwine.

Speaker 1:

From navigating her son's epilepsy diagnosis to discovering her new space in Lake Orion, michigan, kalissa's story shows how faith, prayer and paying attention to God's timing help both her family and her work. Two saints take time to grow. The vision for Thrive Therapy was printed when Kalissa became a mom eight years ago, but the timing, experience and resources weren't right until later. Sometimes waiting on God's timing makes the dream more sustainable. Three community is powerful. Through Sang Place Peak, kalissa created a space where children of all developmental levels learn from each other. Research shows that kids often respond more to peers, and parents find connection too. If you're in Oakland County, michigan, and are looking for community, stay tuned on the different things that Kalissa has created and has in store for her new space and, if not, think about how your business could create community.

Speaker 1:

Four steps of faith versus leaps of faith. Entrepreneurship didn't come from one giant jump, but from taking small faithful steps, starting with music classes at home. But from taking small faithful steps, starting with music classes at home, then covering a maternity leave and letting doors open naturally. Five one-to-many can feed. One-to-one Group music classes were not just a revenue stream. In Kalissa's case, they became a trust-building entry point that led families to seek out individualized therapy when needed. And lastly, boundaries protect what matters. As her business grew, kalissa learned that saying yes to late-night clients meant saying no to family moments. Setting boundaries became essential for sustainability.

Speaker 1:

That's it for today's episode. Thank you for spending this time with me. I know how valuable your time is and I hope you're walking away feeling encouraged to dream a little bigger about what's possible for your work and family life. If this episode spoke to you, it would mean so much if you shared it with another mom who needs this kind of encouragement. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you want to keep the conversation going, connect with me on LinkedIn. Just search Emilia Cotto. That's E-M-I-L-I-A, c-o-t-o. Until next time, remember motherhood isn't the end of your dreams. It's just the beginning.