335: Wondering How it All Began?

Show Notes:

In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie finally tells her own story. From an undecided freshman at University of Buffalo to accidentally falling in love with speech pathology through a friend doing phonetics homework in the library, to getting peed on the morning of her one job interview in 2009 — yeah, that happened. If you’ve been listening for a while and always wondered how Speech Time Fun actually started, this one’s for you.

Here's what we learned:

  • How Hallie accidentally discovered speech-language pathology and found her path during college
  • Why real clinical experiences (especially with older students) completely shaped her approach as an SLP
  • How one challenging student led to a major shift in how she planned and delivered therapy
  • Why meeting students at their actual level can transform engagement and progress
  • How a gap in resources for older students led to the creation of Speech Time Fun and Teachers Pay Teachers resources
  • How sharing ideas online grew into a full business, including Speech Retreat, SLP Elevate, and her podcast
  • The importance of saying yes to opportunities and building something bigger from everyday struggles

RESOURCES

🎤✨ The Speech Retreat is Back! Learn more and register here!
https://www.speechretreat.com

📘✨ 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: Why did the tomato turn red?

A: Because it saw the salad dressing.

Where We Can Connect: 

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00 Hallie: Quick break, SLPs, The Speech Retreat is back. It's the virtual professional development event that is actually fun. Think about it, raffles, laughs, a virtual photo booth, and real world ideas that you can use the very next day for preschool through high school. Six different speakers that actually get it and are talking about topics that are relevant to you. Earn CEUs live, join PDHs on replays, and connect with a community of SLPs who love what they do. Don't miss it, learn about the next event, the date, the speakers, and more at thespeechretreat.com. 

00:00:44 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. 

00:01:24 Hallie: Hey, hey, and welcome to another episode of SLP Coffee Talk. Today, you got just me today. And if you are new here, welcome. And if you have been listening for a while, I mean, we're up to episode 335. I realized that I never really truly shared my story here on the podcast. And I wanted to do something a little differently since it is the first week of July, everyone's off for summer, unless you're working summer school. Apologize. But hopefully you'll listen to this and on your way to work. And I wanted to just take a break from strategies and tactics and just share my why. Why am I here? Why am I doing this all? A little bit more about me, if you may or may not know. Maybe you'll learn something new about me. 

00:02:08 Hallie: All right, so why did I start Speech Time Fun? How did I start all that fun stuff? So, a little bit about me. When I went to undergrad, University of Buffalo in New York, I was completely undecided. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I just went there because I had a lot of options. Although it was against my mother's request, or desire, whatever you wanna say, because she wanted me to be a teacher and they didn't have a full teaching program there where you can graduate with a teaching license and teach while in graduate school. 

00:02:42 Hallie: That said, we all know you can still become a teacher and just go to graduate school first and all those things, which a lot of my friends did. But she was like, no, you can't go there. There's no teaching program. And I'm like, you know what? It's the farthest away from home, but still in New York, I'm going. Little, you know, rebellion there. Okay, and my father wanted me to go into business. And I'm like, that's not for me either. But I didn't know. So when they called me and said, we need to make the, you know, your plan, I was like, maybe psychology, maybe like social work. I knew I wanted to work with children in some capacity and wanted to help, I didn't really know what. 

00:03:19 Hallie: So my freshman year, I took classes like Psychology 101. I ended up taking Macroeconomics. Almost failed that one, by the way. And I took like Health and Human Services. Like, I don't know, like intro to like social work or something like that. And I just didn't love anything. I was like, yeah, I don't know. And then I met a friend who ended up becoming one of my best friends. And she was taking the undergraduate classes for Speech Pathology. I'm like, what? Tell me more about this. And she was taking her phonetics class and doing the, and like making sounds in the, you know, library while she's learning her phonetics. And I'm like, this sounds interesting. So I did some research, you know, research back then. This is, you know, early 2000s. And I was intrigued. I was like, this is kind of like being a teacher, but not being a teacher. So I found myself being like rebellious to my mother, but also at the same time wanted to do what I wanted to do. 

00:04:15 Hallie: And so sophomore year, I ended up taking Speech Pathology intro classes, which funny enough was also at the same time that I was pledging a sorority. Which if, you know, you pledged, you might know it's not a lot of time to study and things like that. And I should probably mention that I was like a good B student in high school. I was that student that didn't study, but got a B and was okay with it. Like when they threw me in some honors classes, like in middle school, I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle the challenge. I could not handle the pressure. And I dropped out or got kicked out of all of those.

00:04:49 Hallie: Anyway, so as you may assume, I went into college, not really knowing how to study and had to figure a lot of things out on my own. Like I said, I almost failed Macroeconomics and some other classes that I probably shouldn't have taken my freshman year. And that was not because of like freshman year partying. It was I did not know how to study. Like I was teaching myself for the very first time. So then sophomore year, I'm pledging a sorority and now taking my speech classes for the first time. I think it was like Intro to Speech and Phonetics that first semester while I was pledging. 

00:05:20 Hallie: And funny enough, like I just fell in love with it that even though I didn't know how to study, I was having not much time. Although I had to be allotted like study hall hours that we had to like library hours, whatever you want to call it. And I ended up getting A's in those class while pledging. So I knew there was something there. So then I decided to dive deep and just go all headfirst into this field. And I wanted to just learn everything I could to see what it was all about. I ended up getting a… internship or I wouldn't call it an internship. It really was a job over the summer being a para in a preschool. But I was, you know, I called it an internship because I was there for like the purposes of building my resume. You know the drill. 

00:06:03 Hallie: And then I ended up my senior year, was this my senior year? It was my senior year, going into my senior year, I got a job working at Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center. So if any of you listening know what that is, it was a clinic in Buffalo and I was the aid there or whatever you want to call it. I was just the assistant. I did a lot… in the summertime, I would help them with this literacy program. And then during the school year, I was like the photocopy girl kind of thing. I went there in between classes, got some hours in, but I really just loved, loved, loved the field. 

00:06:34 Hallie: I mean, even I was telling my daughter this the other day, cause she was, you know, she's struggling to learn how to study and she's 12. And [inaudible] I'm recording this not in July, if you're wondering why she's studying. And I told her, I go… one, you know, I didn't know how to study either and I had to figure it out. And I was like, even, and I was telling her tricks that I learned when I was taking anatomy and physiology. I mean, here I am, not a studier. And I found that I didn't do well studying last minute. And I realized that I took the week before to study and break it up in a little bit. It was working for me. So I was trying to teach her from that experience so she can learn it in college like I did. 

00:07:13 Hallie: But anyhow, I was passionate and like determined to get into graduate school. Luckily enough, I got into three of the six graduates programs that I applied to. And I'll tell a little funny story that I applied to the University of Buffalo's master's program because my boyfriend, which is now my husband, I wasn't sure if he was gonna graduate on time. He is two years older than me. He was on the long-term plan to graduate. And I was like, in case he doesn't graduate on time, let me get into the master's program there. Luckily enough, he did. I ended up going back home, living at home to save money. And I knew I wanted to end up on Long Island. And so I wanted to do my grad program there. This way I can get all my practicums and things and get the connections on Long Island.

00:07:56 Hallie: Okay, the reason I tell you this is because when I graduated, I was determined to get a job in the schools. And I did everything I could – sent my resume everywhere, did all the things. And I had no experience. I got a leave replacement right after graduate school from like, well, figure what, I graduated in May. So from May to June, I got a leave replacement and it was in a autism classroom. And I was like basically the speech pathologist in that class. So it was only six kids. It was a great, perfect first job right out of grad school because it was like six kids I was responsible of. And I was in the classroom, so I really wasn't by myself. And I was collaborating a lot with the teacher. And I was really honestly just like continuing on what the speech pathologist did. 

00:08:36 Hallie: So I thought, I was like, I'm gonna get a job in the schools right after this. I had no experience. And on Long Island, there's a lot of SLPs where a dime a dozen, they didn't want me. So I ended up doing my CF in a special ed preschool. But I realized that year that preschool was not for me. I just didn't love it. And so I put my resume out that spring again. And of course, a year later, now I have experience, there were no jobs. This was now 2008, 2009. We all know what happened in that time period. Job markets changed, economy changed. And luckily enough, I did get one interview, literally one. 

00:09:12 Hallie: And I will share a funny story that I might not have ever shared very publicly on this one. But the day of that interview, that morning, I already told my boss, because I didn't want to tell them that I was leaving for an interview. I told them I had a doctor's appointment, you know, the good lie. I happen to have – I can't believe I'm sharing this out loud. I happen to have gotten peed on by a [inaudible]-year-old that I was working with that day. So I had to run home and change. And they were expecting me to come back, but I had this doctor's appointment. I also had to shower like 14 times because I had the one job interview that I had. 

00:09:41 Hallie: But let's just say I was so motivated to be done with preschool because of that experience. That day, I went on that interview and they asked me to come back the next day for… to do a demo lesson. Keep in mind I also had one business suit at the time. This is, I don't know if people are wearing business suits then, but then that was what we were wearing for job interviews in the public schools. So I had to then go – and it was raining. So I was drenched and got peed on that day, showered 14 times, had to clean out my car because it smelled like pee, all the things. And I had to go get another business suit. 

00:10:17 Hallie: So I had to run and get a business suit. And then keep in mind, I never – oh, I should mention the job was in a middle school and high school, which I had zero experience with. So I had to find another suit. I had to figure out what in the world to do with middle school demo lesson. And I remember calling up my friend who was doing her… who just finished student teaching in a middle school. And I'm like, and keep in mind, science teacher, not even speech. And I'm like, what do I need to know about middle schoolers? And she's like, they can't follow directions. And I was like, all right, let's do that.

00:10:46 Hallie: So I came up with this whole following directions activity. It was May, so I did this whole baseball theme and like they had to follow the… they got to get around the baseball field. I was a motivated… 20 something year old and I ended up getting that job. It was a leave replacement for a full year. That was, I went from preschool to middle school and high school. And I made a lot of mistakes. I had no idea what I was doing. And I've shared a lot of them, you know, on the podcast and on my Instagram, but it was just survival mode. I had no idea what I was doing.

00:11:15 Hallie: And I really was hoping that this job would lean into another year, but it didn't because they would have hired me. They said that they didn't have a position. So I put my resume out again and got a job in an elementary school and did the full year there. And then there was a position, but I didn't get it. Yeah, this is a true story. I didn't get it because I… long story short, the middle school and high school I worked in, they wanted me to like… you weren't allowed to ask questions. It was like, you know, they hired me because they trusted me to like do my job. But the next district I worked in, they expected me to do what everyone else was doing. And I didn't know that. I was going from the different cultures of the different districts and I was not aware. They didn't hire me because I was like trying to do my own thing. 

00:11:56 Hallie: Okay. So then I ended up getting hired the day before school started in a district, working in a fifth and sixth grade building, doing another leave replacement, which ended up leading to a second year. And then that girl resigned. And that was where I worked for 13 years until I left the schools to be speech type on full time. 

00:12:17 Hallie: All right. But like I said, fifth and sixth grade [inaudible], it's basically… it was considered an intermediate building, but the students were like basically like middle school, but it was treated… like, it was like depending on like what they wanted to consider middle school and high school. Like middle school and elementary, not depending on like the, you know, what they needed to do, whatever. Anyway, but we all know grades 4 through 12 is a different beast with speech. And I had no idea again, what I was doing because I only did the middle school and high school one year, made tons and tons of mistakes. I had no idea what I was doing, just inherited these goals and just found anything I could possibly use with these students. 

00:12:52 Hallie: And I've said this story many times and I'll, you know, repeat it. I had this student, I'm going to call him K and he gave me the run for my money. And he made me really question just everything, whether or not I can be a speech pathologist, he questioned my just sanity, all the things. And he tormented me, the students in the group, everything. I was spending hours planning for his one session. Meanwhile, I had 65 other students on my caseload, back to back. Luckily this was before I had children, but I knew I couldn't live like this.

00:13:20 Hallie: So I ended up… long story short, I ended up, I asked his reading teacher, how did she work with him? She's like, he's reading at a kindergarten level. And I realized I was giving him fifth grade work and he was reading at a kindergarten level, no wonder why he's acting this way. Made me change my whole approach, started using, you know, videos and things that didn't involve reading. And I ended up, and really truly understanding why they were there and how to work with them in a way that was different than what they're working on these language goals as well in the classroom and how I'm different. And that's when everything changed. 

00:13:53 Hallie: And I wanted to document this and I didn't know how or what, and I figured, let me just start a blog. This was around the time, this was in 2012, and Pinterest was just started and I saw that there were a lot of education blogs, like elementary teacher blogs, but there's nothing for speech. And I saw ideas floating around Pinterest that were like great, you know, activities for reading for teachers, but there was nothing for speech. And I changed the captions on some of them, like more for myself, like this would be a great idea in my speech room if I did blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 

00:14:26 Hallie: And then I saw it like floating around Pinterest. And I'm like, oh my God, I'm onto something here. So then I started my blog. I created it by hand. I had no idea what it was doing. It was DIYed. My husband had… I didn't even tell him this, and he's an IT, by the way. Probably could have told me how to make a website. But I did that and people started reading my blog. And I'm like, oh my goodness. Like I always thought it was more for therapeutic purposes for myself. I did not think anyone was gonna read it. I called a Speech Time Fun cause I thought maybe I might start a private practice one day. Didn't know what I was doing. 

00:14:57 Hallie: And that's when I realized, people like asking me for more, like they wanted like my ideas and materials. And that's when I found out about Teachers Pay Teachers. So in August, 2012, I opened my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Posted my first activity, which was Cupcake: Cause and Effect. You cannot find it. I took it down cause it was pretty hideous. But there was nothing out there for older students that people were buying it. And I was like, oh my God. So I realized I was onto something. So I started posting more resources on Teachers Pay Teachers. And then I realized I wanted to help SLPs more. And that's when I started the speech retreat because I wanted, and doing professional development because I wanted to be doing more than just giving the resources. 

00:15:32 Hallie: And then after 2020 happened and we all know what happened there, people were telling me they wanna buy all the resources in my store. And I had over like 500, 600 at the time. And I'm like, that's crazy. And that's when I had the idea to start SLP Elevate where I can give SLPs everything they need, plus showing them how to use it, plus giving the tools and the resources so they can make the appropriate decisions for older students, which I had to figure it out on my own and what I was making for myself. And that's how SLP Elevate started. 

00:16:01 Hallie: I started this – if you're curious, I started this podcast in 20… had the idea for it in 2019, started it in February, 2020. I was working with a business coach at the time. I always was investing in learning how to grow this business and things like that. And he was like, you need a podcast. And I was like, I don't have the time, I'm working full time. He's like, and he basically gave me a recommendation of a podcast produced like a company that would help me execute it. And I was like, he's like, you need your voice out there. You have such great ideas. You can help so many SLPs. And I'm like, all right, done.

00:16:35 Hallie: So I got that contact in December, 2019, and just sent that email, sitting there right then and there from this retreat in San Diego and made it all happen. And then to wrap it up, I… in 2023, I had a preschooler, my little one was graduating from pre-K and my older one is in third grade. And I came back from a business retreat in San Francisco. And I'll never forget walking on the boardwalk in Long Beach, New York with my husband. It was like, we just got back was March. And I was like, I'm quitting. And he's like, what? But he like, we always talked about like, what would be… when would I leave the school? But it was like a joke, but not really happening. 

00:17:21 Hallie: And he saw my face. He was like, you're serious. I'm like, I can't keep working two full time jobs. And I can see I can have so much more of an impact on SLPs everywhere. If I leave my school job and I can be more present for my children after work, where I was after work being Speech Time Fun hat. And here we are ever since. And I've been able to… since leaving the schools, I've been able to travel more to present at different conferences. I've been able to now, I've gone to local school districts and present on their superintendent stage since I was not at work that day, like where I normally would have been. And I've been able to add some new features and resources inside of SLP Elevate since I have so much more bandwidth to think of these ideas and bring it to life. 

00:18:04 Hallie: So that's a little bit about me and my journey to what I am doing now. Why am I doing it now and how it all got started. I hope you enjoyed this episode. It's a little different than what I've done in the past. And I would love to hear from you. Maybe you learned a fun fact about me that you didn't know. And if you like this, I'll be sharing more things about me more in the future. 

00:18:28 Hallie: Oh, I forgot about my joke. I always have a joke. All right. Why did the tomato turn red? Because it saw the salad dressing. Until next week, everyone stay out of trouble. I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes episode with me, Hallie Sherman from Speech Time Fun. 

00:18:52 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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