What do you do when the deck is stacked against you and your career goals?
How do you pivot when things aren’t going according to plan?
Who do you turn to for help when you’re flying solo as a private practice owner?
Vanessa Alcala M.S., CCC-SLP, CDP, has the answers to all of these questions and more in this week’s podcast.
Vanessa’s journey to becoming a successful private practice owner and entrepreneur is not a traditional one. Her career as an SLP started with many challenges.
Honestly, after hearing her story, it’s amazing that she kept going.
Yet, she did.
This week Vanessa shares:
- the challenges she faced entering the field
- what it was like to be front-line staff during COVID while pregnant
- her decision to open a private practice
- how she built a community of like-minded professional women in healthcare
- her response to her community’s need for pediatric therapy
- the importance of creating multiple streams of income
…and so much more.
Tune in to listen to this episode packed with a wealth of information and inspiration.
Who knows…maybe you’ll find the push you need to pursue that dream of yours, too!
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Follow Vanessa at:
https://www.instagram.com/theravolvewellness/
https://www.instagram.com/sip.and.social/
Concierge Marketing Shop: https://www.theravolvewellness.com/marketing
Vanessa Alcala, a first-generation college graduate, is the owner of TheraVolve Wellness Co., a private practice serving children and adults in the Tampa Bay area. She is a bilingual, ASHA-certified Speech-Language Pathologist, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and former dementia caregiver. Vanessa earned her Master’s degree from the University of South Florida, where she studied abroad at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, specializing in dysphagia rehabilitation for adults and aural rehabilitation for children following cochlear implant surgery.
Throughout her academic and professional career, Vanessa has engaged in impactful community outreach, including her involvement with The Aphasia Recovery Connection Cruise, bilingual external visual memory aids for individuals with dementia alongside the late Dr. Bourgeois and extensive clinical experience at the USF Center for Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders alongside Joy Gaziano, M.A. CCC- SLP, BCS-S. She is also certified in SPEAK OUT!, MDTP, and the Lingraphica Certification Program, and has provided evaluation and treatment for pediatric, adult, and geriatric populations in outpatient and skilled nursing settings.
In addition to her private practice, Vanessa co-founded the Concierge Marketing Shop, an online shop dedicated to helping healthcare entrepreneurs elevate their brands. The shop offers customized services such as branding, web design, digital/print marketing materials, and social media templates, providing comprehensive support to private practice owners. Vanessa is also the Co-host of Sip and Social, the first-of-its-kind, rapidly growing networking community for women in healthcare, with events nationwide. Through this platform, she and her co-host Sarah Breshears foster connections, collaboration, and empowerment for women in the healthcare space.
In her free time, Vanessa is developing a course called Impact to Income: Public Speaking for Healthcare Entrepreneurs, where she shares her expertise on leveraging networking and marketing strategies to diversify your income and secure paid public speaking opportunities in the corporate world. She also enjoys spending time with her sweet husband of 10 years, promoting bilingualism with her son who just turned 3 and is now patiently awaiting the arrival of a baby girl in January of 2025.
