From $10/Hour to 22 Centers: Tahra Cessna's Autism Care Empire Started in a Garage

[0:16]  Welcome back to the another episode of the Hard Hustle Podcast. Next guest, she started in the garage. Now she's actually shaping the outcomes across the country. Tara doesn't just lead, she actually builds systems that truly last. Tara, first of all, thank you for showing up here today. You knew you wanted to teach at five. What made you stay in the fight when it really got hard because I can imagine it was never really easy to get here?

[0:39]  Absolutely. Uh yeah, so teaching was always a passion of mine. I got very fortunate to know exactly what I wanted to do from an early age and I thought, you know, how lucky of of me to have that. And so, um, you know, starting in the classroom experience and seeing general education with autism, you know, kind of embedded in and IEPs and all of the things I was dealing with, I felt that I needed to get some more training and structure. And my my whole goal was to figure out what's my path and is this my end? And I found that, you know, the general education was not it. and I had more more to do and more to say there.

[1:14]  And how long have you been in the special uh needs uh space now?

[1:17]  So I started teaching in early 2000 and I shifted over around 2002 2003 to the autism space and I haven't left.

[1:26]  I love it. Yeah. A long time. I actually have a niece and nephew that I was able to see the about two weeks ago and the first thing I thought about going to my sister's house. One's seven and one's eight, I believe. And I thought to myself, first thing I need to do is make sure that I I see them, right? Because a lot of times it could be completely forgotten. They they kind of in the background. So I show so much love to my little niece and my little nephew. And I'll tell you, my nephew at that moment just wanted me to carry him like a little baby. And uh my sister's like in in shock. She's like, he doesn't do that to anybody. Like I'm so surprised and he would not let me go. I put him down and he's looking at me like, "Pick me up." Hello.

[2:03]  And I love that you're in that space because uh there's so much um stigma when it comes to kids with autism, right? Like what what brought you what kind of led you to fall in love with the special needs?

[2:17]  Yeah. So, it started with um I had a child with autism in my classroom. I was teaching fourth grade at the time and I had a lot of IEPs, but this one is very unique to me. I saw that there was a lot of needs there and I wasn't trained well in school to accommodate for IEPs. So, I reached out to my guidance counselor and my principal and they weren't sure really how to help me. They could give me some basics, but they didn't they didn't know what to do, you know, in my classroom environment. So, I ended up reaching out to um a local, you know, um FAU card here. They they provide autism resources. And I reached out to them and I asked like if somebody would come in and, you know, view my classroom and kind of help me. And so somebody did come in and they gave me a lot of great tips and pointers on how I can structure my environment not just you know for this individual student but all of my students and and it you know helped me of course and in those conversations um you know she's like hey I think you would be great in this field why don't you come work with me afternoons weekends see if you like it summertimes and and so I did and I gave it a shot and I was driving you know over an hour to see clients away you know far from my house and

[3:20]  I was getting paid $10 an hour to be a behavior your therapist. That's what we were called back then. This was, you know, before there was mandates by insurance or Medicaid to cover these costs. So, we had to find the parents that had the resources to pay for therapies. And so, I I kind of fell into it that way and fell in love with it and realized, okay, I need to go back to school now um and start, you know, this path. And so, I did. And I um started, you know, my BCABA, that is your bachelor level board certification. I went back to school, got my masters and my master's level, BCBA certification, and it kind of just sprouted from there.

[3:56]  That's so good. I know I say this almost every podcast, but you truly were chasing the purpose and not the paycheck at that moment.

[4:02]  Um, and and realizing that long term it would be, you know, a huge win for you and for those that you're able to kind of bless in this journey, uh, as well. So, thinking about it, you you've kind of seen that ripple effect as well. what does it look like when you talk about families and what they actually need to hear the most during these times?

[4:20]  So, yeah. So, the stigma of autism, um, what I want them to know is, and sometimes I have families that don't want their families to know that their loved one has been diagnosed. Um, they'll get a med medical diagnosis and don't want the school to know, vice versa. And so, what I want them to know, it's not about the diagnosis, it's about getting the resources that your loved ones need. And so autism is very unique and the support that is provided through applied behavior analysis therapy is truly the the best. It's the gold standard. It's evidence-based. It's backed in science. It's grounded, you know, for decades now to have proven outcomes um for these individuals quality of life. So I don't want them to feel stigmatized. I want them to get them so that they can get the resources and they don't have to share,

[5:01]  you know, the diagnosis with anybody. They do need to make sure that we have the diagnosis so that we can get the funding that we need. Identify the right classroom environments, school settings, applied behavior analysis, speech, language, occupational therapies, like what will your loved one need? And it's those things and that diagnosis opens the door, right? It's

[5:20]  yeah,

[5:20]  it's just a way that they we learn differently and so the resources are a little different. The way we structure our environment will be different. The way we, you know, reprimand will be different. Mhm.

[5:30]  And is this something that you feel if if caught really early on truly makes a difference for the life of the child as well?

[5:36]  Yeah. So absolutely um you know evidence has shown us that early intensive behavioral intervention 35 to 40 hours a week um you know starting at the age of two or whenever that diagnosis happens. Um these individuals can go on and live lives that are very productive, meaningful. They have jobs. They're driving. They're dating. They're living independently. That's what we want. And now that's not the outcome for everybody. Just because you've started getting ABA therapy at two years old and you had 40 hours, that's not everybody's learning path, but for for many it is and it can be. And so I've worked the gamut of the lifespan. I've had very littles to people in their 70s. And I saw how challenging it was for me to work with those adults that had never had ABA. They had never been, you know, awarded this type of therapy in the past. They're living in group homes. um they're living in environments that were very sheltered, structured, very restrictive, and you know, nobody knew kind of how to teach them. And so having to come in and reshape those environments and the strategies we used with them that it took a lot longer because I'm re-breaking, right? I have to the these bad habits or old habits, they die hard. Like, you know, these are now old dogs and they're ready. They don't want to do it this way. So, I have to I really have to push them along. And it takes time. And you really have to build trust. you really

[6:50]  and I ask you mentioned about just like funding opportunities for those that have it and those that may not have it. Um you've kind of being in the space for so long. If someone is doesn't have the funds to get 40 hours a week, is it still possible that they can actually receive this through different resources?

[7:06]  Yeah, so private insuranceances um there has been mandates mandates in every state now thankfully. It took time before we had every state covering this, but every state has, you know, private insurance that requires it. And almost, I think all states are have a Medicaid mandate as well. And now, if their policy doesn't cover it, there are other policies they might be able to opt into. They could do some self-funded policies that add in the autism benefit. Um, but also there is an amazing grant out there, the uhcccf.org grant, and this is through United. um healthcare doesn't matter what funding you have. Um it is a financial based grant so you have to qualify based on your finances. Um but they'll give up to 5,000 a year and up to 10,000 a lifetime um to offset out-of- pocket costs that families like maybe they have insurance but I have a $10,000 deductible and I can't afford it. So they'll offset some of those costs. There are other grants out there that families can receive as well. And so Autism Speaks is a great website to go to to say, "Okay, here's the state that I live in, what resources are available to me and which one of them offers, you know, the autism specialty treatments that my child might need." And then they can go from there. This

[8:16]  so cool. I don't know if I've seen this side when it comes to those that have that are autistic and and um you know, I've seen as adults on what we're doing for homes and how we're allowing them to live on their own. I think that's so cool. But you're in a space that it gets even before that, right? is how do we help them even before that? So, I truly love it. And right now, you're you're both running the nonprofit school and a national care organization. Like, how do you wear both hats? Like,

[8:41]  are are you not over exhausted at this point?

[8:43]  Yeah. The good news is that I started the school, which is my 501c3 in 2011 with some, you know, I'm a co-founder, so I'm not the sole founder. I'm the co-founder with um some really amazing parents and therapists. And so blood, sweat, and tears in 2011, 2012, 20, you know, through Yeah.

[9:00]  through the gamut. Uh blood, sweat, and tears. It was very challenging. My children that I have were little at the time. I was also in school um myself. So not much sleep, not much, you know, personal care for myself. So that was really tough. But the school now is running independent of me. I help help to raise some money. I help I am basically the parent liaison. Parents call me, they need a school for their child. I let them know here's our resource. set up the tours. Here's what you know we offer. Will we be a good fit? You know, you got to check that out. Let them know about the funding. And I essentially it is a welloiled machine. And so

[9:35]  I'm good there. My work and then that's volunteer work for me that the entire time I've never, you know, taken a paycheck. That's got everything I could have earned goes right back to that program because it is grassroots nonprofit, you know,

[9:48]  from the ground up. And so my other job is where I that's my salary. That's where I make my money and that's where I have to put the majority of my time.

[9:56]  If the Heart and Hustle podcast has ever sparked any idea or made you think differently, do us a favor. Make sure to guys share this, post it on LinkedIn, or even text that nonprofit friend that you just have. Whatever works. This is what keeps the conversation going and allows us to just grow this community together. Seriously, we appreciate you.

[10:18]  I love that. Like, how cool. And when you started this school, if I'm not mistaken, was this out of the garage where you had this idea?

[10:24]  Yeah. So,

[10:25]  I was hired. I was a behavior therapist, you know, as a BCABA back then. And um we had a we had a we had a client that the mom called me and said, "My son has been kicked out of our our private school and our charter school. Um they were also in a monastery and he was having just some extreme behavior. So the public school system put him on a hospital homebound which meant that he got a teacher that would come out one hour a week to teach him and that because he was just so severe.

[10:52]  Um a lot of medical issues, a lot of medical issues and a lot of behavioral issues. So I was hired to teach him. She knew I had I was a you know behavior analyst and I had a background in education. So we set up the above his garage into a classroom and you know day after day intensive therapy he gained three school years with me in nine months you know which is great but it's not practical like anybody's going to gain when they get to be in this sterile environment where I'm g you know everything is geared toward him he doesn't have to deal with peers being you know unruly or loud or you know siblings coming in to bother him. It was us in this sterile environment. So, we saw his gains and other parents were like, "Hey, I'm seeing what you're doing here. I want my kid to be a part." So, a couple of other kids started to join us and I'm like, "We got to do better because I can't be their playmates. I can't be their peer, right? Like, yeah, we're having a lot of fun here, but it's not this is not real world."

[11:44]  So, started reaching out to like local churches, other private schools, like who would partner with us, but the caveat was I didn't want to have my own facility where it was just children with autism. I wanted them to be able to mainstream into integrated settings where they could have opportunities for, you know, related arts and recess, lunch, activities, and academics. So, we found this school that was willing to partner with us and our crazy idea. And so, like the first model began with eight student, no, 11 students. We had 11 students. Yep. Uh, grades three through five. And they, those parents took a chance, right? I'm like, "Hey, I'm starting this program." I worked with all of those families. the majority of them I was their behavior analyst and like we trust you.

[12:28]  If it doesn't work, we'll go back to the public school system which

[12:31]  it's not going to be a loss. It'll be fine. And so we did it and it it just exploded from there. By year two, we had three classrooms and then, you know, it just kept going, which was really nice.

[12:41]  Wow. You you seen the need, you found a solution, the rest is history. Right.

[12:46]  Right.

[12:47]  Uh I love that. And what does success look like when you're talking about um your students like beyond the grades um or the test scores? What does success look like for you for these students?

[12:56]  So I mentioned earlier like not every student is going to be that academic student, right? Some of them it's independent living. So success for me I think about quality of life outcomes. What where do they want to be? Because I could define success for them like hey you're you know you're getting good grades and you have a friend and you're doing these things. But if that's not meaningful to them if they're like I don't want friends. I want to be, you know, by myself and I'm I'm fine with it, then that's success, too. So, it's

[13:20]  they're happy.

[13:21]  They can get their wants and needs met independently. Um, they have resources around them and like a a family structure or a friendship structure that can support them in times of distress and and things of that nature. And ultimately that they can have some kind of meaningful interaction in their community, whether it's through volunteer work, whether it's through a friendship, whether it's through gainful employment. That's what I want for them. So success over time is going to be it's ultimately independence and um you know upholding their dignity because you think about it there's individuals that I have to help them shower and toilet and bathe and all of those things and no 17-year-old male wants to me to help them do those things. So it's independence in

[13:59]  those kinds of skills. That's success.

[14:04]  You're amazing. I mean, we can talk about a whole a whole bunch of different avenues really in this space, but you just have this um way of leading, right? The way that you show up. Was there anything that you felt you had to unlearn when you think about, you know, being a teacher, you know, general ed and then getting into the special ed, was there anything that you had to unlearn and had to overcome yourself?

[14:25]  No, I don't think unlearning happened. I think relearning, right? Like I had to Yeah. Yeah. I didn't un everything I learned as a teacher was a an amazing foundation. and this is what I needed, right? Because now I recognize um like how to set up structures, how to be creative, how to think about multiple students at one time, um you know, prioritizing needs, that kind of stuff. And tie it back to academics, too, because in behavior analysis while we're doing therapy and we're not allowed, like I say allowed, but like funders don't want to hear that you're teaching the child how to write their name or learn their colors or learn how to add. But as I'm going through treatment, I can start to do those things in tandem, right? So it's not the bulk of what the data that I'm taking, but in the background, they're learning these things through being with me.

[15:10]  That's so cool. Yeah. Know that that's that's really good. And like you mentioned, every part of your journey is that learning and it's just taking what you had and you know, whether relearn or just add to to it. Um, in reality, what what another thing I think last time we spoke was that you were talking about adding or maybe you already implemented it was AI, right? the need of AI in a space where um it could help us. It's truly a tool. A lot of people would think very differently and say it doesn't have compassion. However, today I I thought to I spoke to a leader. He said there's no compassion. There's no empathy. Like and I'm like, well, I don't know if you use the same AI that I use because sometimes I laugh at what AI is telling me, right? So, there's a humor in AI. Sure.

[15:49]  Um and I think it's really how we utilize it and how we set it up and prompt it. So, when you think about AI, you're not afraid of it. I think you said you're using it. How is it helping you guys at a level of the school, the nonprofit?

[16:01]  So, a couple of ways that we're able to use it. So, we're using it not to like replace us. We're using it to do the tasks that uh uh don't allow us to be as connected. So, if you think about like the scheduling needs, right? They that takes some time. You've got to make sure you have the right staff with the right kiddos at the right time and the right spaces that that that can be leveraged through AI. If you think about the notes, the documentation, this takes a lot of time and it's required in order for us to get paid. Just like when you go to the doctor, you have to have a clinical note. That takes time. All of these things take time. Uh emailing, sending out, you know, just updates. You can leverage AI to do those things. So now I have more connectivity with the people that I care about, right? My staff and my clients. I can use AI as this tool and resource, not to replace, but to enhance.

[16:45]  Yeah. So for those that may think that AI is actual threat and not a tool, what do you say to those individuals? you know, they're going to get on board or they're going to be obsolete. So, it'll happen over time. If you're not embracing it, you're going to find that you will soon be the bottleneck for your team. Period. End all beall. Like, it's coming. It doesn't have time to wait. Like, technology is not going to wait for us to be comfortable with it. It's just here. And so, we have to be like, okay, I'm good. What what you know, and how can I enhance and embrace it? And not that we're going to be I'm not a techsavvy or tech forward person. My husband will tell you, I don't want to change phones because I don't want to have to like learn new things. I don't I want to keep this email like that's how bad it is at the same email platform because I don't like things on one side instead of the other. But

[17:27]  what I do know is I have to get over that, right? That's my issue and we've got to figure it out. And I think we can use it to enhance in such ways. So right now um we've used two like

[17:39]  what we would say tech type of technologies um virtual reality

[17:43]  and eye gazing tracking software. So we partnered with Floria, they're a virtual reality and bioam and they are like eye gazing software and so we're able to use this to enhance the therapies and we can go into like settings right that maybe wouldn't be appropriate for a child. Maybe we want to teach crossing the street safely but this child runs and elopes and so putting them in an environment where they had to cross the street safely it it could set them up for failure. So we could use virtual reality for that. We could use it for like identifying like stranger danger um or like animals. Like so many kiddos, they love dogs. They want to they want to pet the dog, but dogs will bite you, right? So teaching them like what do I do when I approach a dog that I don't know? Um like all of those things I can teach in in a way that it's truly they can generalize it, but also keeps them safe. Um what do I do when I come to a body of water? Like here in Florida where I live, there's water everywhere. We lose more kiddos to drowning with the diagnosis of autism than anything else because of just the sheer volume of water that we have around and their inability to really understand the dangers there. And so we could teach that using virtual reality. And there's a lot of ways that you can again enhance it. It doesn't replace what I'm doing. I'm not sitting back and like, okay, just go on your machine and I'll be in the corner. I'm then helping them to talk through it afterwards. Right. So these sessions are enhanced, not replaced. So, the school you mentioned, Florida. Um, that's where the school's at,

[19:06]  right?

[19:07]  Correct. Uh, where in Florida is it located?

[19:09]  Um, we are in Stewart, Florida. Yeah.

[19:12]  Oh, the

[19:12]  Treasure Post Autism Project at Community Christian.

[19:14]  Cool. I'm in Florida, too. And I think maybe you said that. So, when I'm like Florida, I'm thinking my my nieces and nephew. I'm like, wait a minute. This this would be what a cool opportunity. Um, I'm She's out in Abundale, though. So, I don't even know from Steuart. Abundale is probably a distance um or whatnot. But, no, that's cool to just know that you're local, so I can call you up. Hey, I'm having these. You know, you're you're expert right now. I love this.

[19:34]  Whatever you need.

[19:35]  I love this. So, Tara, you you tell us about the VR pilot. You've told us how you guys are implementing VA and I think it's pretty cool. You're moving at 100 miles per hour. What's your internal check-in to make sure that it's still aligned at times because I can imagine that you're just going going, but at some point we got to take that that break to say, "Hey, am I good?"

[19:55]  I know. So, yeah, we I am going fast, but it doesn't stop my focus, right? I want it to sharpen my focus. And so there's ways like you can move quickly and make messes knowing that like you just have to come back and and check in. So the check-ins are tying back to the why, my mission and vision, why am I here?

[20:15]  What are we trying to achieve? And I'm am I still doing those things? Um and so it can be time bound. Maybe every quarter, you know, folks can check in with themselves to say, am I still, you know, aligned with my treatment modalities or, you know, is there drift? And there's going to be drift. happens. It's very subtle, right? It's not like you're all of a sudden like, oh, I'm in left field and I'm, you know, doing some other therapy and I don't know how I got here. It just kind of happens. And so, that's where I want, you know, folks to think like, what is our checks and balances? And it's always tying back to what's my core value? Why did we begin this? You know, am I still following that, right, that same vision? And if the answer is no, then what do we need to do to get back on track? Because sometimes the answer is no. And sometimes you do need to pivot. And and I think as as important as setting goals and your path for business, it's when do I reset? When do I restructure and say this isn't working or I'm no longer aligned now? What do I do? So setting those timebound things as well.

[21:11]  Tara, so we talked about five years old wanting to teach, right? But where does the entrepreneurial spirit come from? because you you went from a just being regular dagger, getting me a nine-to-five job, but then you got into entrepreneurship, which is very very different, not for everyone. Like, where did it all really resonate? Where did that start for you?

[21:31]  Yeah, I've just been given a lot of great opportunities. So, my entrepreneurship, like I run businesses for other people, like the big businesses that I've done, mine have always been small. My school, my my ABA clinic that was it was tiny. Um, but I I help others to to do their businesses as well. And I think it's I've had great mentorship. I've had, you know, good models. Um, I've been in the right place at the right time and I work really hard. I love what I do. I always see like if this fulfills my passion, then I'm just going to work hard in this space and things will come to me. I'm not a planner in the way like I didn't set out to say I'm going to start these things. What I say is I want to do good work and let's see what happens there.

[22:08]  And I love your philosophy. What's a hard leadership uh moment that really shaped that philosophy? like a a challenging leadership moment or what?

[22:16]  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. A challenging leadership moment that really kind of put that philosophy in place in place.

[22:22]  Lots of um I've had lots of lots of challenging leadership moments. Um I think sometimes when you have initiatives that you want to launch that maybe other people aren't aligned with, that's tough. Like getting folks on board, maybe they don't see the vision right now. Um and it's like you don't want to pull teeth to get your team to follow you, but you want to show them like, hey, bear with me. give me three months. If you see that we're not doing this the right way or we're not still aligned in our mission, then you can call me out, but give it time. So, it's helping to change mindsets. It's helping people to change course when we need to. Um helping the people to really trust in you, you know, um that's, you know, get getting your followers.

[23:00]  That's never uh it's easy, but it's not easy, right? The mindset shift, right? I'm kind of playing that as well. We're taking over a nonprofit. Been doing the same thing for the last five years. So you come out with these creative ideas and it's not the norm. It's like wait a minute, is that really going to work? Right.

[23:15]  Um so it's really being confident in your ideas as well, right? And allow as you mentioned getting people to really follow on that. But I love this and and you mentioned earlier that you did this with two young kids, right? Two young kids. I don't want to give you more than what you need. Okay. Just

[23:30]  anymore, but they were frame.

[23:33]  How you balancing the time? I mean, you're being mom, you're obviously an entrepreneur, you're you're nonprofit leader, you're doing so many different things. People are asking like, "Wait a minute, how does she even do this?" Because they're exhausted doing one thing. What what what is your go to on this?

[23:46]  Um, it's really focusing my priorities and spending the time. When I'm at work, I'm at work. When I'm at home, I'm at home. And so, my kids know that my job is very important to me because they've been in it. Like, they volunteer with me. They have met my clients. Like, we have clients that have lived with us in the past. So they've seen me actually bring autistic children home. And so it happens. Um what they also know is that I as much energy as I pour into my work, I pour into them. And so when they're with me, they're with me. I volunteer at their schools. I am a cross country mom. I'm a band mom. I'm a track mom. I I'm going on my son's uh cross country um uh running camp this week. So like I'm going to do those things. I'm going to make it happen. But it's not about the quantity. It's really the quality. And I know people say that, but you really have to you have to make that time. And when work is done, like let it be done and and set those boundaries for your team. And as a leader, what I try to do, too, is I recognize that everybody that's working with me, the majority of them have loved ones. They have family members. So, if I'm pinging them all night or weekend, they're going to feel like that's the norm, and they're going to think that it's all right for them to do to their team members. So, I want to set those boundaries. Um, I want to respect them. Sometimes if I do have to get a hold of them, I'll let them know like feel free to call me tomorrow, but I need to put this out here or we do have a problem and I need you to call me today, but they know that's few and far between. So, hey, I better get on this call. Um, but I like to set boundaries for my team as well.

[25:07]  You got to, right? You are the leader that everyone's looking at. Maybe they don't hear us, but they definitely see what we're doing, right? They mimic all our their uh our leadership. So, I like that. If someone wants to support inclusive autism care, where would they actually start today? Tara,

[25:20]  like literally anywhere. But I'd say, you know, if they want to do special Olympic organizations, like I'm a coach there and I'm always looking for volunteers. That's always like something non forprofits, you can contact Autism Speaks. I mean, you there you can't throw a rock these days and not find something that is doing something with inclusion or special needs individuals. So, I'd say like really go online and reach out and and we don't just need people that that say, "I want to do it," but like really partner with us. And it's it's even like business owners, not necessarily that they're like going out and they're volunteering their time, but what they're doing is they're open to employing people with, you know, disabilities. Like that's the kind of partners we also need. Like our community like needs to come together and say,

[25:59]  you know, what what can can we do as a collective

[26:03]  that would be helpful.

[26:04]  That's so cool. I actually met a a leader Lighthouse in Louisiana. I believe that's what the organization was.

[26:12]  And um that's their market, right? But what's so cool is that they part they have this huge warehouse where those that have these disabilities are working these manufacturing machines that you think it's impossible, right?

[26:23]  But they're literally working these machines and they're they're they do that and they have a sub shop and it's them working it and and all these materials that are going out is them building it. So I hear I hear you and it's like yeah, just hire them. Like they're all willing to work. They all want the same kind of life experiences, but a lot of times we don't give it to them because we may look at them and think that they can't handle it. But there's people out here working heavy machinery that I'll probably be scared to do and they're doing it, you know, like easy. So, I like

[26:53]  give them a chance. I'd say give them a chance. There's always there's always a job that they can do. Maybe not the whole job, but a part of it. and maybe they're not they can't be paid yet, but let give them the opportunity to to try it for a set period of time and then they can earn, you know, the paycheck once they've proven that, hey, I can carry out, you know, the outcomes that you need for this this job. And that's something that we teach, too. You know, when I teach these VO skills and these life skills, I want to make sure that when they have the task completed that I'm not there breaking it down and setting it up for the next student or setting it up for the next individual. Because if they got to their job, let's say they were stocking shelves and they stocked everything beautifully and there I was behind them unstocking it. Like it's kind of degrading and it's also like well maybe maybe my job is to stock and and unstock. So I want them to know like put it up there. However you do it that's what it is. That's your permanent product and now I can pay you for this permanent product.

[27:41]  Yeah I like that. I like that. Where can people find more information whether it's the school, whether it's the organization that you're a part of so they can you know reach out for more information or even Yeah. LinkedIn as well. Let's add that in there if people want to connect with you for more engagement.

[27:54]  My LinkedIn I'm I guess is Tara Cessna. I don't know. Um I'm not very social. Um so beerman autism.com is the website for the company that I work for. Uh tcapschool.com is the school. Um they can email me. If they email the tecap school, they're going to get me directly. It's my cell phone number on that link. So um it's me. It's still me. Um yeah. So if they have that and then again like I I I keep saying Autism Speaks but there's always like autism chapters um you know in the area that they can also reach out to.

[28:25]  And the organization that you're a part of is it a pretty midsize large size organization?

[28:29]  So the organization that I'm a part of now we're in seven states. Um we have 22 centers right now. We've just signed three more leases. We're going to open one more in New Jersey. So uh but we do early intensive behavioral intervention. So ages nine and under. Um, and yeah, it's it's pretty amazing.

[28:46]  Okay. All right. Well, listen, I love the information. I love that we were able to share some resources and also just kind of speak to this topic. But it's time for that blind question. Are you ready for the blind question that last left you?

[28:55]  Oh, goodness. Blind questions. Okay.

[28:58]  What would the 5-year-old teacher version of you say about the woman you are now?

[29:02]  Um, I think she'd be happy and proud. Like, I did it right. Like I I I t what's pretty cool is like when I left the space of forward facing like client facing and went into the administrative side of it. I was nervous because now I'm losing connectivity with my clients and and all the things that I was doing. But what I what I gained is hey now I'm connecting with hundreds and hundreds of families because I'm impacting their teams across the nation. Um the company I worked for before we were in 28 states we were in Canada and all those families that I got to be a part of indirectly but directly. And so I I thought that was, you know, something that I have to share, too. When I move leaders up, they're like, "But I don't want to,

[29:40]  you know, lose connectivity with my clients." I'm like, "You don't have to, but you're going to you're going to touch even more lives." So I I think I would be proud of myself to say that I' I'm doing what I've what I've wanted to do my whole life, and I feel like the work I'm doing is really good work.

[29:54]  And what a good example to hopefully those that heard the story. You set out to do this as a young kid. You put these words out. Um, and that's just what your goal has been. I'm a big believer that sometimes we plant these seeds and that we're watering them every single day and we don't know when it's going to, you know, flourish and here you are. Something that, you know, as a young kid, I used to tell myself cuz I was adopted. So I was like, um, when I get older, I want to give back because to me, I I felt like it was a second chance in my life.

[30:20]  And I had the opportunity at like the age of 20 to start a 501c3. Like something I never thought, right? Like talking about giving back. Um, and now leading a nonprofit. Like these are things that I told myself since I was a young kid. Or I want to be a host on a stage. Well, God God said, "Hey, you're a host of a podcast. This is your stage, right?" So, uh, even for those that are listening, if you have this vision, continue to chase it. Like, if you have a passion, chase it. Purpose, chase it. Not always about the paycheck. Not always all about the money. Even though it makes life a little bit easier for us, but I truly think do the things that you love and make the world a better place. Um, because it's not about us. And I know you know that, Tara. It's not about us. Now that we become parents, it's like how do we continue to pour back into the next generation? And you're doing an amazing job. So kudos to everything that you've truly been doing.

[31:06]  Um we thank you. Is there any words of Oh, matter of fact, what is your blind question to the next leader?

[31:10]  My blind question because we're the Heart and Hustle podcast. So

[31:13]  yeah,

[31:14]  what is one lesson your heart had to learn the hard way and has now shaped your hustle today?

[31:20]  Oo, I love how you incorporated that too, Tara. Thank you so much for doing that. Tyler, we appreciate your time here. Um, sorry that we have to end. I'm pretty sure we'll do this again. But guys, the only way that we can do this for free is share, like, and comment. All right, we talked about how can you be of assistance without having to donate anything. Well, let this conversation resonate with those that have family members that are have autism, right? They're trying to figure out what can they be doing. They're looking for schools. They're looking for organizations that can help them.

[31:50]  Tara is exactly who we need to go speak to. Okay, so blow up her phone. She just told you all the websites. Tara, it has been a pleasure. My name is Ephrain. This is Tara. We'll catch you guys on the next episode. Lers.