From Speech Therapist to CEO: Rina Barak on Scaling to 300 Without Losing Culture

[0:01]  [music] Welcome back to another episode here with Miss Reena. She started out as a speech therapist believing she could help one child at a time. Now she's actually leading an organization of nearly 300 people because she realized that to scale impact you must empower teams to lead too. Where did you get that idea Arena? Did it just come to you? Was it good leaders that poured that into you?

[0:36]  Well first of all thank you for having me. um that just came really through experience of working with people and seeing that when you empower them

[0:46]  to become a leader,

[0:48]  it's just so much more powerful than doing the work yourself and you could touch so many more lives and make such a big impact that way. So over time, I've just found the more you invest in your leaders and your people, the more it comes back to help and just make a greater impact.

[1:04]  No. Yeah, 100%. I mean, we can't do it by ourselves, right? We definitely need that team. You've created the team around you and you began as a speech language uh pathologist I think is what it's called. What was that moment you realized therapy does more than just teach words? It actually changes how to it changes someone how to um how someone lives.

[1:22]  Well, that I saw really early on. My mom was a speech therapist, my dad was a psychologist. So, came from a very helping family and they always just loved what they did. um they would come home with these stories and you could just see how it brightened their lives and brightened their day and just helping other people. So, I wanted that for myself and I thought, you know, working directly with people, I thought that was going to be just my career and that's where it would end and that was going to be amazing. And then um just got the opportunity to become a leader and really help other clinicians and that's kind of how it shifted. But from very early on, I saw kids talking for the first time because of the work they were doing. um [clears throat] people with strokes or cognitive issues just finally getting their memories back and their communication back and it just changes lives. When you can't communicate it's there's nothing more debilitating than not being able to communicate your wants, your needs, saying I love you to people just, you know, all those things. It's just was definitely the field I wanted to go into.

[2:26]  And at one point you actually had the opportunity to own your own practice, but you actually chose to stay with the organization you're with. uh what held you in and what did you see in the path to leadership inside that organization? If you could just tell us the organization by the way so you can tell us your title, organization and then answer the question.

[2:41]  Absolutely. So I'm the CEO of SLEA therapies. Uh started as speech language and educational associates. So kind of shortened that down. Um yeah, I went into the practice saying I'm going to get all the experience I can all ages. Um, it was a company known for working with all types of disorders, all ages, all types of settings, school districts, clinic, um, everything you can work with is what they had. So, I thought, let me go. I'm going to get really good hands-on experience and then let me open up my own practice. Similar to my mom, she had the flexibility of, you know, working when she wanted, creating her own schedule. That seemed appealing to me at the time, but I knew I wanted to get a lot more experience. So started with SLEA and I kind of just loved the other professionals around me um both in the schools and in the clinic that I work just meeting other people who are in it for the similar reason and working together with clients, sharing clients, talking about what's working, what's not working. Um learning from them, being able to mentor others. Um, and I knew I wouldn't have that if I went out on my own. And that was just something that like every day I was excited to be around these people and just learn from each other and have that opportunity.

[4:06]  And you've been able to really grow through through the uh different paths. I mean, from therapists, director of speech, you oversee uh at some point you were overseeing, I believe, OT behavior um CEO in 2021. Which transition was actually the hardest? And how did your clinician's empathy help you actually lead better? [sighs and gasps]

[4:27]  Every stage came with its own challenges. So I don't know that there was a hardest I think the biggest learning curve was becoming the CEO. Um I have I didn't have a financial background. I really learned to love the business side of things and um had learned along the way kind of what works, what doesn't work and how to lead and manage people. Uh, but being a speech therapist, I mean, that was a grind. You we're working with really, you know, kids with some pretty severe disorders and high needs and behaviors and it just it takes that energy of doing that all day and making sure you're showing up with the best quality of work that you can so you could give the kiddos, you know, you only see them for a half hour to an hour of time to an hour at a time. So you're making sure you're maximizing the time they have with you and working with the parents. So that was hard and I would just come home every day like I'm exhausted. Um and then becoming the director, that was really when I started working with people um and fell in love with that. And I saw that there was just so much growth that needed to happen and the training needed to be amped up and people weren't necessarily learning what they needed to learn in school. most of it was learned on the job and um not always with the right supervision. So just seeing that there were people who had a ton of potential but not necessarily um reaching that potential because they would just get thrown in. So, as a director, really putting the framework in place to train properly, um, putting check-ins along the way, more structured supervision, and really making sure that that next generation of therapists is also reaching that highest caliber of quality so that we can service more clients in the the best way possible. And then, see was just learning different programs. I was a speech therapist. So, learning um the new insurance codes for OT and behavior, learning how those programs work, you would think they're similar because it's pediatric therapy, right? But they're so different. Um and [clears throat] that was just a whole new challenge on its own. And then, of course, all the business that goes on.

[6:38]  What was that feeling like? I mean, you're you're walking into a new space, you know, now you're really leading the organization, right? You're the the head of the table. I can imagine there's a lot of different uh mindsets things going on, right? Maybe there's a little bit imposter syndrome, maybe there's a little bit of excitement, maybe there's a little bit of am I way over my head? Like what's really kind of going on when you get into this role?

[6:59]  Yeah, I think having a leadership team and people surrounding you that really believe in the mission and that making sure everyone knows we're all working towards the same goal. So, if we're going to give each other feedback, it's not personal. Um it's not because you're doing something wrong. It's because we want to do better. And I think once we had a team in place that was just committed to that growth mindset and accountability and pushing forward and learning from our mistakes, then we were able to move really quickly and we became a really high performing team.

[7:29]  Um, but it was hard at first because it was a team that wasn't used to accountability, kind of stuck in their ways, you know, so it took some growing pains for sure to get there.

[7:38]  Um, so I would just say that, you know, surrounding you can't do it alone. You just said that. So, that's 1,000% true. Um, and I think asking questions and never thinking you're the smartest in the room. I think just by staying curious and asking as many questions as you can to gather data and not coming in pretending like you know it all. I think that makes a big difference when you're trying to really learn and grow.

[8:03]  I love that. And now your organization is actually integrating speech, a little bit of OT, behavior, educational therapy. Why is a whole child model essential when um when many practices remained just kind of in in a single path?

[8:18]  Yeah, so we've had multiple services from the beginning. Started as just speech therapy and added educational therapy. Um and then it was learned pretty quickly that a lot of kids come in and they don't just have one need.

[8:34]  You know, they might come in with a communication issue, but it's impacting them at school. it's impacting how they're behaving. Um maybe they have sensory issues, maybe they're super sensitive, maybe they're picky eaters, maybe they have um physical things going on like um they're not digesting properly or sleeping well. All of that is just everything that makes up a child, right? So parents would often come in and say, "Okay, it's speech therapy. That's what the doctor recommended." But then once we get working with them, there's so much more going on.

[9:05]  And I'm a parent of four. I know how hard it is to get to any type of service with a child and how stressful that is. So, being able to have a one-stop shop where everything can be worked on together and you have clinicians who are all collaborating and it's consistent um and really working with the families to address all the needs um is just so important. And I think before we had those services and the goal was to have more of a whole child approach but because the directors were so siloed and not there wasn't that multi-disiplinary collaboration that was natural and happening um intentionally it wasn't as effective and we've really gotten into a place where we're all working together regardless of what you went to school for what your licenses were teaching each other. we're crossraining um because it just makes for a well-rounded approach when everyone's learning from each other.

[10:02]  And you just mentioned families just having that difficult time at times. I mean, I have two. You said you have four, so I can imagine two is a lot. Four is seems like a lot. Okay. So, I can imagine there's [laughter] definitely some challenges

[10:13]  and families in crisis often face overlapping challenges. But how does your organization design um support that that isn't fragmented but also it's just coordinated and and more compassionate

[10:24]  starts with our core values. I always from the second even from the interviewing process we review our core values. We make sure that whoever we're bringing in is in line and feels the same way and really believes in our values and our mission. Um and if they don't then they're not the best fit for us and that's okay. You could be an incredible clinician, but if you're not on board with how we treat people from the very beginning, it's just not a good fit. So, um, from the time that we interview to the onboarding, they meet, every single new hire meets with me personally. Um, so I touch every single new hire just to go over our mission, our purpose, and our core values. Um, and that is not just words. We put it into action. What does it mean? Um, so like quality is one of our values. This quality can mean a lot of things and you can interpret it one way. How I describe it is you're wanting to grow. You're open to feedback and you're ready to learn. It doesn't mean you're the most experienced or that you already know everything. I'm always telling them from the beginning just make sure that you're in that growth mindset. So that's what it means. So I put actions to all those values um and how we treat people. So, anyone from the intake team to scheduling to billing to the clinicians, every single role in the company knows why we're there, how we act, what we do. Um, and I think that translates to the clients and and it really brings it full circle. Every decision that we make has our core values in mind and we ask ourselves, are we meeting our values? Are we meeting our mission? Are we fulfilling our our purpose? And [clears throat] that's kind of how we operate everything.

[11:59]  I love it. I I love that at an organization when they live by their values. Like I I there was only one organization that I've been with and I've had a couple of jobs, but truly talked about their values all the time, especially when they get to um on board. I think that's huge, right? Where we really get to tell them about the values, but then you really live the values. Like that's more important because as you mentioned, talking about it is one thing. Actually being what you say you are, it's a whole another thing. And you had to early in your leadership, you had to kind of navigate some of the things like um the customer is always right, right? That toxic mentality. How did that dynamic hurt clinicians and how did you shift that? I mean, there were so many different things that you had to learn as you were really scaling into this this role.

[12:44]  Yeah, I think it's natural for in the customer service when you're working with clients and parents. um if they call with a complaint, I think it was natural leadership to automatically side with them, say we'll make it right. Um what does that do in the end? You start getting disengaged clinicians that weren't even asked their perspective. Often it's not the right story or it's just a different perspective. Um a lot of turnover, a lot of talking in the halls about how they wish, you know, leadership had their back. So really changing that mindset, living and breathing the idea that the clinician's actually always right until proven guilty. It's okay. Everybody knows it's okay to have a parent on the phone. They could be complaining. There's nothing wrong with saying, "I hear you. I do need to talk to my clinician and do maybe more of an investigation or just hear both stories. I will absolutely call you back and make sure that we're getting, you know, to the bottom of this and moving forward." Um, and I think parents do respect that also that you're really taking the time to look into things. But slowly over time, our clinicians learned like, oh, they have our back or um, and like I said, when you invest and just put the time into your clinicians, it goes right back to the clients. Then they actually then we start having less complaints and they start doing a better job because they feel empowered to be them and um, they know we'll have their back and they just want to then give that over to the clients. And I think the service just gets better from having that approach.

[14:14]  How much are you leaning on your mom when you talk about just I'm thinking about entrepreneurship and the things that you had to really kind of learn especially being a CEO. I think was your mom having her own business. Was that really helpful and resourceful for you that is it someone you just call when you're going through some things?

[14:30]  Yes and no. I think business is definitely not my mom's forte. She is like a clinician through and through. She's one of the best therapists out there. Um, I think we've gotten support where she'll call me actually if she's having some questions on how to do some things, which is awesome and um, feels great to be able to help her out. I think business has just evolved in general and the caliber um, and the sophistication of what it takes to really

[14:56]  Yeah. I mean, getting a business a small business a certain point um is a little easier, but really scaling and expanding and hitting more markets and um yeah, that was definitely something she had no experience with. So, just kind of learning learning on the ground and um

[15:15]  do you ever get a coach or anything or just like you mentioned just learning as you go?

[15:19]  A lot of learning as I go, a lot of failing in the moment and learning from that. And I always tell people if you're not failing, you're not growing, right? So

[15:29]  I agree. Yes, I 100% agree.

[15:31]  So lots of failures, lots of wins along the way. And then I have had mentors um [clears throat] not necessarily in the same industry, but people who just want to also make the world better and brighter um and are kind of aligned with that and have run businesses who really understand what we're trying to do and that it's not all about the money. And of course there's a business to run, but the most important is the culture and the quality that we're bringing to the table. Um, and my mentors have, yeah, really helped with that.

[16:02]  And they really helped out tremendously because you roughly doubled the staff from like 150 to 300. Um, expanded to seven locations. What culture metrics do you hold scarce that you won't let go as you continue to build?

[16:17]  So my favorite thing to do is promote from within. If you have a good person on the ground, we're constantly talking about everyone bring me your all-stars and your key key players. They're our next leadership level. And we've promoted so many people that way. Um, and like I said, more important than the clinical skills or anything is that they are so true to those values and our culture. Um, because those cheerleaders are everything. Um, [clears throat] so we our performance reviews are very heavy on the values. Um, of course we're addressing other things like how they do their admin work and their documentation. Um, but that's a small percentage. I actually think that we weigh heavily more heavily on how they show up and their attitude um, and their growth mindset. And those are the people the people scoring the highest in those areas are the people that we want to grow with us. Um, and once people in place, it kind of all can just trickle down. If you don't have the right people, then it's [clears throat] really hard.

[17:19]  And all that's working for you because um you've also mentioned to me, we got to bring these stats out for people can know what kind of good leader you are here. You got 87% participation in your culture survey like where the industry is about that 60 to 70. What did you do to motivate engagement? I think people are having a hard time. And did you did you learn anything from some push back? Was there any push back?

[17:40]  For sure. So, this was like our fourth year doing surveys and I we had never gotten that much engagement. So, when you keep at it and you're consistent and you just believe in what you do, anyone out there who's listening who hasn't been able to get that type of engagement, it's not over. It's definitely possible. Um, I would say the biggest takeaway is really once you survey the staff and you get their feedback, you know what your strengths are, you know what your opportunities for growth, listen to them because they're on the ground and they really know. And I think as leaders, your gut instinct is to get defensive or to like shut it down and not really take it in. But you have to just wear a different hat when you're reading these answers and um understand there's room for growth and then actually make those changes and then hold a meeting or a huddle or whatever it is to let the staff know here are some things that we're going to change based on your feedback or here are some things that we can't change yet, but I hear you and we're going to go in our strategic planning meeting for the next year with these items in mind and we're we don't have the answer today, but we're going to think about it. And when they see those changes over time, then they're like, "Oh, they're actually listening and more people engage and more people give their feedback." And I think it just creates that culture of like, "Okay, these aren't answers that are going nowhere or they're just for stats that go nowhere. They're actually acting on our feedback." [clears throat] So, open communication

[19:06]  and listening to your employees because they do know best.

[19:11]  Not to you, Joe. I think it goes back to the amazing leadership and why you're in the seats that you are because it does matter when people are feel seen and heard. They're more likely to to just show up, you know, for the organization to continue to live by the values that you mentioned a little earlier. So, there was no enticing with no ice cream party or anything. It was just strictly just doing

[19:30]  you really those that wouldn't be valid if we did that, right?

[19:34]  [laughter]

[19:34]  But I was so proud of our staff that um we actually raffled off to the entire team whether you participated or not because we got that level of engagement. We raffled off PTO which is always a highlight and people

[19:46]  Oh yeah. Yeah. Who doesn't want some time off celebration?

[19:50]  And um to continue to just talk about your your amazing leadership, you've also earned multiple best places to work awards. How much of that is intentional design versus actually um the emerging culture? So we are employee owned. I don't think we talked about that yet. So it's really unique where I'm not the owner. I lead the owners and all of the employees have a stake in the company. So

[20:15]  I think that just in itself creates for a culture where the hard work you're putting in comes back to them at the end of the day. and that culture. While we've been in ASOP for since 2018, I don't know that people were bought in because um they weren't necessarily part of the decision-m um they weren't ne necessarily asked to give their feedback. They didn't really know how the business operated. So when you're told you're an owner, think like an owner, act like an owner, doesn't really go somewhere. So really making it a part of everything we do to involve them, to share with them. um

[20:54]  love that

[20:55]  I think has really helped that culture and then just constantly trying to do better. Um there's always always room to do better. And paired with that ESOP, the employee ownership, it's a retirement plan. You know, we have a 401k, so it's a second retirement plan where over time your share values grow and grow as the company grows. And I think a lot of our um newer generation of employees, life's expensive. We're working in LA, so cost of living is high. And I think a lot of people are like, "Yeah, that sounds great." that if they offer me another dollar or two down the street, I might take that cuz I need that now. So, I kept racking my brain on what can we do to really get this culture of ownership from the beginning with all types of employees regardless of age or where they're at in life. Um, which [clears throat] brought me to start open book management. And that was just like the perfect compliment to the employee ownership because it's giving employees all the information about the business besides for everyone's salaries, but they really get they're privy to what revenue we're bringing in, what we're spending, um down to the bottom line so that and we're reviewing it every month so they know what's working, what's not working. If we're trying to put changes into place, how is that impacting us? We could see that impact over time. So they learn to understand the business more, become a part of it. Um, and then they get a stake in the outcome where if we exceed budget, money goes back to them immediately in bonuses. So um, I think that's just kind of tied the two together where there's these short-term goals of we're trying to constantly do better in the short term and then ultimately long term with increasing that share value over time.

[22:45]  I love that. I mean, I can see why you guys are the place to go work at. For sure. I mean, you really care about the people definitely by some of the things that you're mentioning. If we can kind of talk about to to to our therapists and clinicians that are wanting to step into leadership because you mentioned about hiring from within. What first move should they make as clinicians and therapists that want to move in and move up in a business like this? I think being that role model and really um I think the clinicians that are open to answering I know your schedules are busy but if you make the time to mentor others support others um all of a sudden you kind of your schedule kind of expands and I found that throughout the way there's never enough time in the day but somehow when you make the time intentionally all of a sudden you kind of have it to to work on what's important.

[23:41]  Um, and just, you know, like I said, asking questions, checking in with people. Don't forget the small talk and and realize that people are people first. They're employees after. We always say family and health come first. I can't tell you how many things are going on in people's lives behind the scenes that they're not talking about. And sometimes it's perceived as, oh man, they're in a mood or they're having a bad day, but they really are having a bad day and maybe they're just not sharing it with you. So we always say come with empathy, dignity, always treat everyone as if something's going on cuz maybe something is going on. And I think that just

[24:19]  um has as a leader, I think when you have that empathy, it's really met back with that loyalty and and [clears throat] devotion that people want to stay with you because they know you care. Empathy needs to be used not even just workspaces, just in everyday life, right? Um people just don't have that. I don't I don't know why, but yeah, having empathy, treating people, everyone the same at the end of the day, right? No matter at what level you're at. Um that all goes a long way because you just never know when you're going to be to be working for that same person that maybe one day was working under you. And I've seen that plenty of times. I can imagine Arena, you've seen that plenty of times. It is just going and doing the things that you love. having not forgetting your why. People got into these roles for a reason, right? Because they had this passion and this purpose. So I also believe it's remembering what the why is because as you mentioned, we all have bad days, but when you go to work and you remember the why, it changes the perspective that we have for that day and the way that we're going to be treating somebody. So I love that you you incorporate all these different things. And on top of all this, you're a mom of four. Like you talk about time. How do you balance your time?

[25:25]  Is there a calendar? Do you have assistant? Like what does that look like? know that there is a such thing as balance cuz [clears throat] there's always this like work life balance. Sometimes work is taking over, sometimes home is taking over, it's fluid. I think people um just need to go easier on themselves and realize that there are going to be harder times than others. I think my kids now look at me. Um, at first I had like so much mom gale. I always try to make it to everything, so that's not the issue. But just like coming home late or um maybe on their vacations, not spending as much time with them as maybe some of the other moms do. But I think they're seeing hard work in action and just like I saw with my parents, they're seeing me coming home and and knowing that I'm making a difference. And if I could teach my kids anything in life, it's, you know, do something with purpose. even if they, you know, whether they're working or not, just making sure that they're making the world a better place. And I think

[26:20]  um I'm proud to kind of be that model for them.

[26:24]  And [clears throat] I don't know about the time. I didn't even answer your question, but [laughter]

[26:28]  I don't think I got it through it all. Anything,

[26:31]  but we make it happen. We make it work.

[26:33]  Hey, real quick. If you're enjoying the podcast, we first want to say thank you. And we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some don't even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences where that's actually supporting your your families, those patients or the entire community. We're actually creating tech that connects. Check it out. Francis.ai. No, I I I love it. I'm kind of in the same boat, right? And I actually felt that uh I guess father guilt or parent guilt, whatever you may want to call it. I went to Boston for three days and in my mind I knew that it was for work. I knew that I was chasing a dream. I knew that, you know, I was putting in the work really to provide for the family. But everything in me was like, man, am I being selfish? Did I just sit here and spend all this money to come do this project that doesn't have an instant ROI, but there's an ROI down the line? Like all these things were running through my mind because I just wanted to be a good parent as well as be a good leader. So, it's funny that you say that. I think a lot of us end up in those situations. But when you just break it down as your kids are watching the hard work you put in, they're seeing you chase their your dreams, right? And and continue to have that conversation with your kids like, "Hey, mom or dad, you know, we left because we had to do XYZ or remember that thing I was telling you about. I want to go do it." Like it truly does give them so much more perspective on who they can become in their lives. We are the we are leader first in our homes before we are leaders outside in the world.

[28:03]  Absolutely

[28:04]  right. We have to be able to lead at home first. And I love that you continue to say that I'm leading at home first. Um I try to show up to everything possible. Maybe I don't give all the time, but I'm still there. I'm present. And that's more than people that are not present, right?

[28:17]  So kudos to you for doing it. And as as a as a woman, as a mom, let's be honest, kids love their mom more. So you really working 24/7. So respect for that as well. I gota

[28:27]  after I seen what my mom my wife does 247 because she's a stay at home mom. And I mean, of course, even after birth, I'm like, I respect women so much more. I don't know that I could do some of the things that you guys do.

[28:39]  Always jokes like he could be with the kids all day and they're angels. The second I walk through the door, all of a sudden they have like so many needs and all the things come out. He's like, I promise they were good all day. I'm like, it's just me. It's it's [laughter] we could be doing the same thing. It's just I bring out

[28:54]  mom. Yeah. I used to feel some type of way about it to be I mean I guess I'm still kind of in that phase where my kid my son at least doesn't care too much for me unless I don't know he wants something out of my hand or something but it's always mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom and I just had to kind of understand that's just the way the life is man mom's you guys are the queens you guys hold really um what did like my wife like to say while you may be the head I am the neck or some along those lines I'm like yeah whatever

[29:20]  no give yourself credit I'm sure

[29:22]  oh man no I I It's just so cool to see where you're at because of what you mentioned, the passion and purpose. It was never you chasing a paycheck. It was you just wanting to give back. It was you seeing your mom as well and how how work how hard she worked and now you're just kind of replicating that, but also adding yourself into it. Um, so that's that's pretty cool. What if every therapy organization adopted that one book management you talked about earlier and and ownership culture? How might the how might the entire field actually change? You ever thought about that?

[29:54]  I think so many things click into place for these clinicians who don't have a finance or business background once you start sharing the numbers. Um like we have a cancellation policy. We know there's going to be harder times and you're going to have to cancel or kids get sick, right? Um but there are those families who just aren't as committed as some of the others and we have a wait list of families who would love to be coming consistently. So, we've had to put a cancellation policy in place that if there's, you know, multiple no shows or too many cancellations, then unfortunately, you know, you get a warning at first, but we do have to do a removal because, like I said, we have this weight list and the clinicians, um, it was really hard to get their buy in. And if they are not communicating the policy as you want them to, it's really hard to enforce. And then I think when we started showing the impact of what those cancellations are having on the numbers as an employee owned company that at the end of the day impacts them all of a sudden you have people more on board and they're communicating in a way that is empathetic but also that we still have to you know be true to what our policy is and I think it just some things just click better um where they're wanting to do makeup sessions if they're count you know if they're out sick they're they're squeezing in makeup sessions where they can for sessions they missed and um it just makes for this team culture where everyone is really in it together and like I said where you're also taking feedback you know it's never personal you're never taking it to heart for the greater good of the entire company and ultimately our clients. So I think that we've definitely seen that shift with the open book management that I don't know we would have we might have gotten there eventually but I think it would have been harder and um not as natural. So many organizations should really fall in line and take this into account and and really because I think if you could do this throughout different organizations, you just have a a place where people want to go work now, right? Cuz they feel like, oh my god, like have you seen what's happening in in this space? Like this organization is doing this now this organization. It's just making everyone feel good. So you feel if more people were to really adopt this that we're looking at a better place into the healthare system?

[32:06]  Yeah. Yeah, when I started as a speech director, I was told I kind of led blindly. Like I wasn't shown the financials yet. I was told to make people work more productively. You know, it's just it's really hard when you don't know

[32:20]  all the details to make that change or to know what works. So, I think telling your employees to do something without giving them those details or really showing them that it's it's not as [clears throat] meaningful and it's not really going to go, you know, they might nod their head and say, "Yeah, but I don't know that they're going to then make changes um without really being a part of that change."

[32:42]  I love that. I'll leave you with this last this blind question before we hop off here. You built forward from clinical empathy into executive leadership. What is one belief you held early maybe from that therapy training? I mean, you talked about it wasn't the best training, but the therapy training that you later had to unlearn to really lead more boldly.

[33:04]  I think the hardest part and it's it comes with all leadership. I think the hardest part is um realizing when someone is not on board with the culture you're trying to create or is not really fulfilling the role they need to fulfill and acting quickly. Um I think as leaders we're we it's so hard to let people go or to part ways with people. Um but I promise the sooner you do that the more other people can rise to the occasion and the bigger impact you can make. Um, and I learned that early on when I was holding on to people who I loved as people and the last thing I want to do is um, you know, show I was trying to create a culture where like we're going to help everybody grow, but there are some people that just don't want to. So that's where I think you need to realize, yes, always invest in your people and train them and make sure they have what they need to do the job and set the expectations and lay all that out up front. But over time, if you're you're saying it's just not there, I think you have to make that hard decision sooner than later so that everyone else that you know can move forward.

[34:13]  That's the hard part about being a leader is having to let someone go. Um especially as you mentioned when you really know the person outside of that, like outside of who they are at a job, knowing they have a family, knowing that this is what but their attitude also doesn't really change. It's like

[34:28]  I mean, am I really being that person or are you being that person? because I'm I'm trying to help here, right? But we can only do so much before we realize

[34:37]  it's stressing me out, stressing everybody else out, and there's someone out there that wants this opportunity to be in this seat and and we have to go and figure that p, you know, find that person.

[34:45]  So, I love that you mentioned that.

[34:46]  And just to close that loop, I think when you are investing so much time in that one person who isn't necessarily on board, what are you telling your star people, right? I think always focus your energy and time into the people who are really holding the fort down and doing their best work versus the other people because I think what's going to end up happening is those stars are going to say, you know, they're getting more attention than I am. Maybe this isn't maybe let me take this energy elsewhere. And I think um as leaders, you really just need to realize those calls earlier on. You know, some of the things as we start to um wrap this up here, I know we we asked that blank question already, but one of the things when I used to hire people, um I used to always say you need to have initiative, right? Like I don't have to sit here and micromanage you. You have to have a sense of urgency and um I I I used to work at Subway and speed. Like those are my three things that I knew you have to have. And if I didn't see those three things within the first 90 days, like we got to move. What are the what are some of the things that in your mind you say these are the things that I'm looking for in a tal in in talent?

[35:50]  Absolutely. Yeah, we talk about that all the time. And we have those 90-day check-ins so people are there's no surprises at any point. We have check-ins along the way. 30-day check-in, 60-day check-ins, 90-day check-in, six month checkin. So, I always say by the time that annual review when there's money on the table and you're either getting a raise, you're not getting a raise or how much of a raise. um they know exactly why or where they're at and it's been transparent the whole time. I think accountability, I don't care if you make mistakes, you are human, especially earlier on in a new job, whether you're experienced or not, learning a new job and getting settled in a new role is hard and there are mistakes. But if you're not learning from them, um that's a problem. I think just commitment and we live in a time where people are [sighs] I don't want to bring work home with me. I don't want to put in that extra time to learn. So, I'm very transparent. I don't want you taking work home. But if that's what you need to do to kind of get up to speed and and learn a, you know, just learn on your own. It shouldn't be like that forever. That's not sustainable. But that's what you know, sometimes that happens when you want to do a good job. And if um someone's seeming like they don't want to put in that time to really to really learn that that's hard and we'll have a conversation about it. Um and then just ultimately team player. Being a team player, you know, it doesn't mean like doing favors for everyone all the time, but you're ready to jump in if you need to. And I think that makes for an incredible culture. When people are out on maternity leave, they're out sick. You just see people jumping and how can I help? And they and then it's reciprocated when they're out. So, I think um those team players are really the people who also are acknowledged and and rise up.

[37:34]  I love it. Um as we close this off, where can we find more information if people wanted to know more about your organization? Are they looking for a career path? Uh what is a website? You got social medias. Where can people find you?

[37:45]  Yeah, sleapes.com. We have a website. We have an Instagram sla therapies. We're on LinkedIn. Um you can message me directly, Reena Bareric. Uh we're always hiring, you know, can never have enough great people. So if you're great and committed and wanting to work, please reach out. Um and then same if you're a family or a parent or someone in your family needs help or services for speech, OT, occupational therapy, behavior, um academic support, child development. We work on so many skills. So, if you're, you know, recently found out about a diagnosis or you're just struggling, I think a lot of parents don't even know that what our services can do and they just are like, "Ah, my child's a picky eater or my child has such a hard time getting dressed in the morning." Like, we work on those skills for you and it doesn't have to be so long. Or we just give you tips and strategies, you know. Um, so we're happy to help. We're part of the community. We train teachers. We go into schools. Uh we could do Zoom presentations or in person live. We're based out of California, but we've definitely offered our services to out of state too when it's appropriate. So happy to help however we can.

[38:58]  Reena, we thank you so much for the work that you've been doing. Um and we'll continue to do for years. It looks like you're embedded into this by just this conversation. You got a lot of years to go. Okay, just letting you know. Okay, you're still young. You still got some energy in you. you've been doing this for some years, but it's just cool to see where you've been able to grow as well here. Um, in such a short period of time as a CEO, you know, almost three years as a CEO, and you there's been growth there, a lot of growth, and there's still so much more growth to have. So, we appreciate you, Reena, for being here. If you guys are still watching, and you guys are looking how can I be a part of this, make sure you guys check out their website, and u we'll catch you guys on the next one. I'm Ephrain. This is Reena. See you.

[39:31]  Thank you so much.