320: Advocating Without Burning Out

Show Notes:

In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie chats with Renee Brown—school-based SLP, mom of two teenagers, and the voice behind @TheBusySpeechMom on Instagram—about a topic every SLP needs to hear: how to advocate for yourself so you don't burn out. Renee shares her unexpected journey from elementary education teacher to medical SLP to school-based clinician, and gets real about what it actually takes to push back on impossible caseloads, have hard conversations with admin, and still show up for your kids every single day. From framing service delivery in terms admin actually care about to building a session routine so smooth your kindergartners run it themselves, this episode is full of practical wisdom, refreshing honesty, and a much-needed reminder that advocating for yourself is the same thing as advocating for your students.

Here's what we learned:

  • There's a shortage—they need us more than we need them. Walk into every interview owning that.
  • Admin isn't the enemy. They don't know what they don't know, and it's on us to fill in the gaps.
  • Lead with dollars. Early intensive intervention now means fewer students needing services in middle and high school.
  • Don't bring a problem without a solution. Admin loves when you've already done the thinking for them.
  • When contract time is up, your time is up.
  • Revising an IEP isn't a big deal—it's just good clinical practice.
  • A consistent session format means your students eventually run the whole thing themselves.

RESOURCES

📘✨ Grab your copy of The Secondary SLP Roadmap here! https://www.speechtimefunpd.com/stf-book 

Learn more about Hallie Sherman  and SLP Elevate: 

JOKE OF THE WEEK:

Q: What is a video game's favorite type of weather?

A: Cloud-y, because it saves their progress.

Where We Can Connect: 

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00 Hallie: Hey there, SLP friends. It is Hallie here, popping in with the best news ever. My new book, Secondary SLP Roadmap, is officially available. If you've ever wished for a clear, practical guide for working with middle and high school students, this is it. It is packed with real stories, ready-to-use strategies and tools you can use right away. Grab your copy now, check the link in the show notes, or search Secondary SLP Roadmap on Amazon, and then of course, please do me a favor. When you are reading it, snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, @speechtimefun. I love seeing where you're diving in, the speech room, the couch, waiting in a doctor's waiting room, all the places. All right, ready? Go grab your copy, and let's make secondary speech feel doable and fun. 

00:00:56 Hallie: Welcome to SLP Coffee Talk, the podcast designed exclusively for speech language pathologists who work with older students, grades 4 through 12. I am your host, Hallie Sherman, your SLP behind Speech Time Fun, the Speech Retreat Conference, and the SLP Elevate Membership. And I'm thrilled to bring you conversations, strategies, and insights that will give you the jolt of inspiration that you need. Whether you're tuning in during your morning commute, on a break in between sessions, or even during a well-deserved relaxation time, I am here for you each and every week. Let's do this, SLPs.

00:01:36 Hallie: Hey, hey, and welcome to another episode of SLP Coffee Talk. Today, I have a guest on the mic who we're gonna be talking all about how to work smarter, not harder, how to advocate for yourself so you don't burn out, and so that you still love being an SLP, because she's someone who knows about being a busy SLP, because her Instagram might be the Busy SLP Mom. So Renee, welcome to the show.

00:02:02 Renee: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I can't even believe that I'm here talking to you. You inspire me, you do so much for the community, and I'm happy to also contribute with the segment.

00:02:13 Hallie: So share a little bit about your journey and why you chose Busy SLP Mom.

00:02:20 Renee: Oh, busy, busy, busy, busy. So a little bit about me, I'm 42 years old. I have two teenagers. So when I created the Busy Speech Mom, they were younger. I wasn't even married yet. So it's really been a journey from beginning to end and where I'm at right now with them. So my daughter just turned 14. So that's why I said now I have two teenagers. My son is 16. So we've gone through all of those stages of busy as a mom, right? Now I'm at the stage where everyone has Life360 on at all times, and I track all of their movements. 

00:02:53 Renee: And then as far as a speech therapist goes, first, I have my degree in elementary education. I have my teaching certificate so I can teach K to 6. Actually, I went back to school to be a speech therapist after my grandfather who used to drive me. He lived down the road. He used to drive me even as a senior in high school. He used to take me to high school. He would drive me and listening to polka music. Everyone else was coming in these vehicles, listening to Kenny Chesney and Metallica. And I, you know, knew all the different polka songs. 

00:03:27 Renee: So he was diagnosed shortly after I graduated from my degree with elementary education. He was diagnosed with dementia. And I was then exposed to the world of speech therapy. And I thought, wow, I really like this population. So actually when I graduated from grad school, I was a medical SLP for a little while. And then it just came full circle where I went back to the schools. I went back to where I started originally.

00:03:57 Hallie: And I bet you never thought you would.

00:03:59 Renee: You know, I really didn't know because I loved teaching. I still love to teach people. I take on grad students. I love showing them and teaching them what we do and make it make sense, right? Like we have all of these research, but let's apply it. Like let's make it make sense. So I love, love to teach. And then with my grandfather, I just fell in love with the geriatric population and I loved treating dysphagia. But then I had children, they grew up, there was a need. And I could see that, you know what? I can even take what I learned as being a medical SLP and I could apply it to being a school-based SLP. There's a lot of things that they'll coexist in the two worlds. So yes, and now I'm back in the schools. I actually treat K to 5. 

00:04:48 Hallie: I love that. And as we all know, one thing that people are concerned about or if they're thinking about the schools or they're in the schools is the large caseloads and demand. So can you share a little bit about your experience with that?

00:05:02 Renee: Absolutely. And I think one thing that we need to think about is when we… step one would be the interview, right? You're going into these places and we need to understand there is a shortage. There is a need. They need us more than we need them. So it is really critical, I feel to, and believe that to go into an interview and be honest, have an honest, open conversation about what does the caseload look like? What are the demands and the duties of that job position? What do they want from you, right? It's really important to know really what they're looking for and what your duties are going to be before you accept a position. And then having that conversation. 

00:05:48 Renee: So for me, as being a school-based SLP, having K to 5, I had to have a conversation with admin. And the way you approach that kind of conversation is you need to know your intent, the purpose behind the conversation and what your goal is. So my goal, and ultimately I have that right now. I mean, admin changes. So of course, as admin changes, you know how that goes. But my goal, and I explained this to them, was to have full autonomy over my caseload and my schedule. I wanted to bring that private practice type style of speech therapy into the schools so that kids, no matter what grade they were in, or just because they were at schools, they got exactly what they needed from me. So we had an open conversation.

00:06:36 Renee: And honestly, the admin, they had this number in their head and I asked them, where did you get this number? Well, the state says, as a case manager, you can have this number of children on your caseload. And as a contributor, you can have this many more. And so it was up to me to let them know what that actually looked like. You know, this child who has a severe speech and language delay that's in kindergarten that you want me to treat, that has not had any speech therapy to this point, we are a Title I public school. You want me to see them one time a week for 30 minutes in a group of five.

00:07:17 Hallie: And then you're gonna blame, why are you not making progress? [crosstalk].

00:07:24 Renee: Right, because… and you know, we always wanna give people the benefit of the doubt. We wanna see good in people, right? So I look at admin like, and everyone can do this, like look at admin like, they don't know what they know until you tell them. So they're being told by the state, they're told this number. So in their minds, they think it's okay. And then they move on with their day, right? But they don't know what that means. I mean, how many people, we have this conversations all the time. I think all the SLPs, no matter what setting you work in, people really don't know what we do.

00:07:57 Renee: They don't know what it takes and how much time it takes to write documentation, to do a reevaluation report, to sit in the classroom, to do an observation, to write up a report, you know? So having that open and honest conversation about what that looks like so that you can treat that child efficiently and effectively in a school-based setting so that they get what they need so they can access their academics, because that's law, right? That's law. It makes sense, you know? 

00:08:29 Hallie: And I also find when you word it in a way that, like what's in it for them. Admins looking at dollars. 

00:08:34 Renee: They sure are, absolutely. 

00:08:36 Hallie: So the more intervention, we know like with early intervention, the more intervention we provide, the less dollars this child… like let's just say, you know, may cost the district later on. They might need less personnel. They may need less afterwards. They might need less something. Maybe not, but like that is something you can present that case to. Like I used to say that all the time, like whether you need it three times or two times or this or that. And I'm like, this could actually end up saving you money. Do it now versus later. 

00:09:09 Renee: Right. Well, and so that's a whole nother thing, our numbers. So again, we are a Title I district. Our numbers in special education, they're high. They're high. 

00:09:20 Hallie: I was in a Title I school as well, so I get it. 

00:09:23 Renee: Yeah, so we know there's a correlation between speech sound disorders and reading, spelling, writing. So if you want me to treat a child with a severe speech and language delay in kindergarten, one time a week for 30 minutes and a small group of five children, they're probably going to end up being then in the first, second grade, they're going to qualify because they're going to be so much further behind than any of their peers. Rightfully so, because I haven't been able to give them the treatment that they deserve. And I'm here to treat them, not to appease the institution. 

00:10:01 Renee: And I truly feel like when you understand your purpose and you believe in yourself and you believe in what you can offer, admin can see that. They see how you communicate to them. And so like, I just feel as long as you keep that in mind, the purpose, the intent, why you're even there. You know, we're not there to make the school money. We're there to help kids. 

00:10:29 Hallie: [inaudible] to go with that Medicaid route, but you know. 

00:10:31 Renee: You are, well, there we go. 

00:10:32 Hallie: We want to go that route. But it's so true though, because in the school that I was in, they kept hiring more and more reading staff. And I'm like, but there's still just one of me, but I work on reading too. Look at me over here. And it's like, if you could advocate more, like that we too are helping in that realm that you care so much about.

00:10:54 Renee: Sure. And it is about the dollars for them. And I think when we can understand where they're coming from and we can present it to them, like this is your business model, but your business model isn't working. And this is why. You know, they'll listen. The board members will listen. The school board will gladly listen. You know, right now it's reading, math. Math is pretty good, but reading is huge, huge. And they're always wanting to know, you know, what can we do? Or they're changing curriculums. They're spending all of this money on curriculums. You know, pick me, pick me. I'll tell you.

00:11:30 Hallie: You're learning about science of reading. Guess what? There's a language component. And I'm the language expert. It's in your building right here. 

00:11:37 Renee: Like, utilize me. And actually, so even talking about advocating, there's another speech therapist that she's, so I'm through the district. She is contract. You know, we came together because we work well together. Of course we all do. And we had a conversation of, okay, what would it look like? Like right now I treat K to 5. She treats basically the overflow and secondary. I said, well, what would it look like if maybe I did K to 2? Because a lot of the caseload right now is the younger kids. And they're the ones who are more involved that need maybe one-on-one more frequent time.

00:12:16 Renee: I said, well, what about if maybe I did K to two and you did the overflow? And then I then could treat, say, little Johnny three times a week or four times a week. I mean, I have kids on. That's how I do it. I base it off of the need. But it would make sense. So that's something that we have already brought up to admin this year. That's something that we discussed together, made sure we were on the same page. And we talked to admin and admin thought, you know what? That makes sense.

00:12:42 Renee: Because again, I said, you know, we're starting to get to the point where we might need a third speech therapist. And how do we keep you from hiring a third speech therapist by creating a model that makes sense, that allows us to provide the treatment that's necessary for growth so that these kids don't require speech in seventh, eighth and ninth grade. It makes sense. 

00:13:06 Hallie: I love that. I love it that you're wording it in a way that shows them, you know what you're talking about, but also admin doesn't like to see problems. They love when you come to them with a solution. Like I see this problem, I'm actually helping you out. I already thought of like the solution. I wanna hear… no, like were you always this confident going to your admin or was it more over time you felt more confident with it?

00:13:29 Renee: Okay, so that's a fair question. I think it stems from the medical side a little bit. Things that I was exposed to, things that I learned early on. I learned boundaries really quickly. You know, you feel like you are worth all of these things and you give 100% to, let's call your work a relationship, okay? You give 100% to work, your relationship with work and work only gives you 20%. That relationship's not gonna last. I learned quickly too that, you know, some people just… their morals and ethics, they don't align with mine. And I tried, but it was better for me to walk away than to let that consume me. My mental health was worth fighting for in that situation. 

00:14:22 Renee: And early on, I remember being 22, 23 years old. I mean, this was my first job right out of grad school, right? So that's really, like you really don't know. I mean, you know, people tell you, but you have no idea. And I remember thinking, okay, I'm gonna put my resignation in. I'm gonna do what I need to do because this is how I truly feel about this. And they were interviewing the next week. We are replaceable. Everyone is replaceable. If something happened to me, even now in the position that I'm in, they would have to fill my position, right? So I feel like that built my confidence, knowing my worth, knowing that, you know, it wasn't worth my mental health to fight for something that maybe somebody else isn't going to put back into it. Like they will replace you tomorrow. They would replace you tomorrow. 

00:15:12 Renee: So I feel like that built my confidence, if that makes sense. Like that just brought in to a point where like, I can communicate my wants, needs, desires. And I had a job immediately. You know, I went from different positions. There's so many jobs out there. I think we're all nervous. Like we think that we're stuck in this place, right? We're not. There truly is a need.

00:15:35 Hallie: It's so true. I also find more often, I know for me, we're people pleasers. We don't wanna like rock any boats and cause any tension. And we have to look at it like, it's not personal. Like, yes. And knowing that we, us SLPs, are coming from a place of good intention, we can only do what we can do. We can't control what that other person, how they react, how they respond, whether they take our like suggestions or not. But like, it's not personal how they…

00:16:07 Renee: No, it's a business. We have to remove the emotion from it. So, and that kind of goes back to the admin. So admin's telling you, you have to have this astronomical caseload size, right? They're not doing it because they don't like you. They're doing it because somebody told them that it was illegal. But we take that personally. We get emotional about it because we're not able to do our job. But here's the beautiful thing about advocating for yourself. When there's a conflict, which basically this is, admin believes one thing, you want another. That's a conflict. 

00:16:39 Renee: But when we have a conflict, we grow. We learn more about ourselves. We learn more about other people, you know? So when we have conflict, we can grow and we can have that adult conversation and discussion to get where we know our kids need to be. And without us advocating, our kids can't get there. By advocating for ourselves, we are advocating for our kids, right? So it's grown in me. It's not something that happened overnight, but I believe that having those conversations in the medical field and outpatient and then in schools, I just feel like I really know the only way I can serve the kids that I provide services to is to advocate for myself. If I can't advocate for myself, I can't advocate for them.

00:17:29 Hallie: I know many SLPs feel like they aren't confident in knowing the recommendations that they should be making. Like, you know, my admin's telling me this, but like, I don't know how to express why they might need more or less. What would you say to them? And what have you said to maybe grad students that you've trained in how to make those decisions?

00:17:49 Renee: Sure. Well, so one thing is, you know, we have cohorts, right? We go through grad school. We know what it's like and we still have those relationships. So, you know, even when I went from the medical field to elementary school, I had conversations with speech therapists that I knew personally from my cohort that worked in schools. And I asked them, what does this look like for you? And I asked all of the questions. Actually, I still ask questions. My grad student who I just had in the fall, she is off in the schools and I asked her, we just had dinner the other day or the other night. And I said, so what is it looking? 

00:18:24 Renee: The only way we know how to advocate for herself or what somebody might need is to have conversations with like-minded individuals. So like she said, the intermediate unit that she works for, she gets 45 minutes a day for billing on top of her 45 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of lunch. And I thought, I love that. So that might be something that I'm going to look at and decide if that's something that I also need. So I feel like that's how you know to advocate.

00:18:56 Renee: And I also think that it's hard going into a job, right? You don't know the kids, but once you're there and you get to know them and you build that rapport, you build that connection and you see their needs, that's how you know, okay, this child needs this type of therapy. And it's okay to revise an IEP. I revise them all the time. It's not hard, okay? It is more a little work maybe initially.

00:19:22 Hallie: A secretary or a school psychologist might say, like try to talk you out of it because they want to do more work on their part, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

00:19:29 Renee: No, revise the IEP. I revise. So the beginning, I'm glad we actually came here because that's a point that I would love to discuss is… at the beginning of the year… so I'm not sure the reason for transitional services when they transition to have those meetings for EI to school. This year, they're going to include me, but up until this year. Yeah, up until this year, I have not been included. So this is what happens.

00:19:53 Renee: The first week of school is, you know, you're getting your schedule together. I have to screen all of kindergarten and all of preschool. I have to do all of these screenings. I pull the kids that are supposed to receive these EI services and I do my own screener and it's in depth. And I can tell you right then and there what that child needs. And I love everybody… in every setting that you work at, but not everyone has the same amount of time to write something. And I'm very detail oriented. I'm not type A, but boy, I go in there. 

00:20:32 Hallie: You're like B+, you know?

00:20:34 Renee: Like a B+, yeah, it's a B+. A-, B+, right there. So that's when I can tell. So I would encourage anyone who's not sure to take the time, first week of school when you're coming together with your schedule, when you're having to do these screens, if you're like me and you need to do the screens and pull them off the side and see what they really need. I'm telling you, there are times where I've seen it is that a kid was pushing one time a week, 30 minutes and the child had a severe speech and language delay. The speech sound inventory. I couldn't believe it, but I- 

00:21:11 Hallie: How are you supposed to do that in a pushing session? One time? No.

00:21:15 Renee: No, no. This kid needed the cycles approach. They had multiple phonological processes. There was just no way this child was getting what they needed. And so I made sure that they would get that and communicated that.

00:21:28 Hallie: And I used to do the same thing. Cause like, I couldn't start seeing the students right away cause I didn't work on the scheduling, this and that. I was waiting for like certain paperwork and things to be done. Go through all the IEPs and if anything stood out like different recommendation then, or like these seems like serious goals, but not that serious of a mandate or the mandate is serious, but I don't know what… the goals are vague. Go in, check the kid student out, speak to the teacher. They want to see red flags right away or things that you should know. Like that's the perfect time to do that.

00:22:03 Renee: Oh, absolutely. So that's how you can advocate for that. That's how you can figure out what your caseload will look like and how you can build that autonomy and how I've built autonomy over the years. And then having that constant conversation though with the admin, like letting them know, nudge, nudge, hey, hey. Caseload's creeping.

00:22:22 Hallie: What has been one boundary that you've set to like that has totally changed your work-life balance and has helped you just get through the craziness with work?

00:22:31 Renee: It's taken some time, didn't happen overnight, but when the contract time is up, my time as a school-based SLP is also up. So sometimes that means stuff doesn't get done, but if stuff doesn't get done, I let admin know why it didn't get done. You wanted me to do a duty. I couldn't do my billing. These are my contracted hours. 

00:22:57 Hallie: Would you rather me stand on a sidewalk or bill Medicaid? What's gonna help you out more? Do you need a body or do you need money?

00:23:04 Renee: Right. Well, yeah, absolutely. But it's crazy how all of this builds upon one another as a school-based SLP, but it truly, truly does. So in order for me not to take things home, I need to tell admin what's going on.

00:23:19 Hallie: I love that. So the SLP listening, who's feeling overwhelmed, unsupported by their admin, what's one thing that they can do tomorrow that might lighten their load? Or even today, they're listening.

00:23:33 Renee: Well, take a deep breath and just know that you aren't alone. And I think that saying we're burnt out or this is the way that things have always done, that doesn't mean that's how things always have to be. And it starts with you. You have what it takes to advocate for yourself, advocate for your kids and have the caseload you deserve in a school. You shouldn't have to change settings, right, to do what you love and what you know you're good at. 

00:24:06 Renee: Like you're doing an amazing job. Everyone has felt this way one time or another, but it's what you do next, right? It's what you do next. What do you want? What is your purpose as a school-based SLP? What is your goal? And what do you need to do in order to get there? And if it's having a conversation with admin, then it's having a conversation with admin. And I promise you that they're gonna see value in you. And if they don't, then it's okay to look elsewhere. I feel like sometimes we're creatures of habit too, right? I know that I can be if something feels familiar, but sometimes we have to take a breath and decide what it is that we want. What are our goals? 

00:24:49 Hallie: I love that. Any last bit of advice or anything else you wanna share that we didn't discuss here today? 

00:24:56 Renee: I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think. I feel like we really… I mean, there's all kinds of things that you could discuss with like small groups in a school-based setting with elementary students. What does that look like? Strategies and techniques that you can do. And honestly, one thing that I have found helpful that I actually learned in the elementary education tidbit when I was an elementary educator was keeping kids engaged means sometimes busy, whatever that means. 

00:25:31 Renee: So one activity I'll have, like I always use and I created these strips, right? They're condensed. And I made the images larger because I have a lot of kids on my caseload that have visual impairments that do not wear their corrective lenses. 

00:25:43 Hallie: Of course, why would they? 

00:25:45 Renee: Why would they, right? So they're sitting there squinting and a lot of times then you're getting this type of like, you're modeling a lot, you're doing imitation type word responses because they can't see. They can't see the print, they can't see the image. So they're larger, right? I wish I was lying about this. But so keeping them and knowing and having a system in place, like, okay, so this is why you're here, right? First and foremost, this is why you are in speech. We're here to have a good time, but my gosh, you're saying a T for a K. And so sometimes when you're saying key, you're saying T and people are confused. Like, that's how I talk to… that's how I say it to them. And I said, so let's work together and let's figure out a plan. This is what we need to do in order to fix that. And in the meantime, if you wanna play Shark Attack or whatever. 

00:26:34 Hallie: Like a pig, Jenga, whatever you want. 

00:26:36 Renee: But I also have like those sensory tiles. It's more than just sensory. Put those out and have them do hopscotch while they wait for their turn. So if you're working with one kid, this other kid's doing hopscotch. I'm telling you, they're having a blast and they're not interrupting you. And then switch and it happens so quickly. So kids are moving. You can keep kids moving the entire session. There's things that you can do to keep them engaged and have effective sessions in schools.

00:27:05 Hallie: I love that. And not being so afraid to not have as many trials or opportunities with that kid. Any opportunity is more than they would have had prior or elsewhere.

00:27:14 Renee: Sure, sure. Because we have this system. My kindergartners, my five-year-olds, they come in, they're ready to go. They know I pull out the strip because everything looks… So these strips, they're for different intervention approaches. But the format is the same. So kids know what's expected of them. They learn early on, first few weeks of school. And then by the second nine weeks, I don't even have to say anything. The kid goes to the shelf, they pick out the game. They don't ask how many times do I have to do this? What comes next? They just know. It's a well-oiled machine at this point. So I really feel like as a elementary school-based SLP, having systems and formats in place that are consistent that kids can recognize and are familiar with, that's where you're going to get those high reps and that buy-in.

00:28:04 Hallie: I love that. I love that you're not fearing the chaos or the group setting and knowing that you can still make magic happen even when there's a lot of things going on. 

00:28:13 Renee: Right. And I have some people ask me, well, how do you do child-led in a group? And I love child-led, more than the next SLP, okay? But when you have a small group of kids, I'm going to be real honest with you, it's through rock, paper, scissors. It's through rock, paper, scissors. The kids get together and I say, okay, that's how we decide which game to play. And typically we might play, say, one game, the first 15 minutes, a second game, the last 15 minutes. And then guess what? If that third person, I'll write a note in my documentation that says, Billy Bob gets to pick next week first, you know? And they love it. They're cool with it. They don't fight. They're just, okay, rock, paper, scissors, shoot, you know?

00:28:59 Hallie: And that teaches another life lesson and social skill as well. Learning how to deal with it, be patient. Good quality skill to learn. 

00:29:07 Renee: Right, absolutely, absolutely. 

00:29:10 Hallie: I love that. Renee, where can people learn more about you and everything you have to offer?

00:29:16 Renee: Okay, so I am on Instagram. And my name on Instagram, my name's Renee Brown, but it is the Busy Speech Mom. And again, because my kids were really young when I created it. Now my kids know… it's so crazy because my kids don't want me to post photos of them online. So, but it's still the Busy Speech Mom. So you can find me on Instagram there. I have a Teacher Pays Teacher store. And, you know, I connect with a lot of SLPs. They ask me questions. I love to connect with other people. So they can always reach out to me too if they ever had a question about being a school-based SLP.

00:29:48 Hallie: I love that. We'll have all the links in the show notes, so not to worry. I always end my episodes with a joke because jokes build rapport and they're filled with lots of language. So what is a video game's favorite type of weather? 

00:30:02 Renee: Oh, I'm not sure. 

00:30:04 Hallie: Cloud-y, because it saves their progress.

00:30:08 Renee: That is a good one. That is a good one. 

00:30:12 Hallie: If you like the joke, guys, steal it, claim it as your own. I didn't make it, ChatGPT did. And if you didn't like it, you can blame me. Just make fun of me and it's okay. I can handle it. Thank you, Renee, so much for your wisdom, your knowledge, your experience to share with everyone. I know everyone got a little inspired, got just some inspiration, insight, and a lot of validation that like what we're doing is right. It's okay to advocate for yourself. And thank you for just keeping it real with us. Sometimes we need to just hear that someone else is experiencing it too. And that it's okay to speak up and it's okay to be your advocate for yourself and also for your students. I love that. So thank you so, so, so, so much. Go check her out. And until next week, everyone keep caffeinated, keep calm, but most importantly, stay out of trouble. 

00:31:11 Hallie: Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of SLP Coffee Talk. It means the world to me that you're tuning in each and every week and getting the jolt of inspiration you need. You can find all of the links and information mentioned in this episode at my website, speechtimefun.com. Don't forget to follow the show so you don't miss any future episodes. And while you're there, it would mean the world to me if you would take a few seconds and leave me an honest review. See you next week with another episode full of fun and inspiration from one SLP to another. Have fun guys.

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