The Story of US!

They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  Well, that is exactly what we did. 

Tina and I had spent the last 7 years working closely together at a local children’s hospital.  We were constantly collaborating, working to improve our expertise and demonstrating leadership skills throughout that time.  Then, like many others throughout the nation, we found ourselves caught in a massive layoff due to the effects of COVID-19.  After the initial heartbreak, we were determined to continue what we had already started together.

We both had a long career (25 years) with experiences in very similar settings:  schools, home health services and out-patient rehab before meeting at the hospital.  It was as if this partnership was meant to be long before we even realized it.  Armed with resilience, determination and team work, we both launched our individual companies in July 2021.  Tina is the proud owner of OT Skills 4 Kids, LLC and Carla owns SLP Speak 2 Me Speech Therapy, LLC. 

Tina had found a great resource called Ready, Set, Treat?: The Official Pocket Guide to Starting Your Solo Private Practice by Kristen Goodwich and Susie Curtis which we followed to detail.  We would both highly recommend their philosophy.  It is interesting how Facebook and Google notice what you are searching for and begin to send you ads for all kinds of advice….that costs thousands of dollars.  The Ready, Set, Treat book cost us $17 on Amazon and it has been a great resource to get us to where we are now.

At the time of the layoff, we weren’t ready to “rent” space so we started building up our client caseload individually; driving all over town and seeing kiddos in our own homes.  However, we always had a dream!  I remember telling Tina, “Let’s see how we are feeling in 6 months and then re-evaluate what we want to do next.” Well, 6 months later, Tina found a very affordable office space at a school that had extra classroom space.  She had an office and I was working from home.  Working from home was not ideal, keeping the pets at bay, the house clean, etc.  So, finally, I joined Tina at the school.  We were working together, but still separate.  Then, as if by divine providence, the school needed the classroom space and we were at another cross-road.  THIS! This is when Sunny SPOT Therapy was born.

Throughout this entire process, we have maintained a sunny disposition.  Tina had a sunny-shaped sunflower as part of her logo and, well, we ARE in sunny Florida.  Coming up with our business name was easy-peezy!  We found our space with a shared office, sensory gym and rooms for us to do individualized therapy.  We are finally in business together! The DREAM became our reality!

We have seen clinics described as boutique-style and holistic.  We describe ours as a Co-Op; A cooperative-style clinic that combines the expertise of pediatric speech and occupational therapy specialists from OT Skills 4 Kids and SLP Speak 2 me.  We work cooperatively together from our Sunny SPOT in Casselberry, Florida.

We invite anyone who has concerns about their child’s development, speech, language, feeding or sensory needs to give us a call or find us at SunnySPOTtherapy.com.