Welcome to the Summer Storytelling Series! We're kicking it off with Janet M. Reyes MA, CCC-SLP - or as you may know her from Instagram, la SLP Chingona! Listen in as Janet talks about navigating being new to the field and how she has become a mentor for other SLPs and SLPs-to-be.
For our summer series, we are compiling a few episodes this summer that we may have recorded a while ago as well as new podcast guests and interviews to ignite new conversations within the SLP space.
We got a chance to catch up with Chelsie Esek, MS, CCC-SLP, FCCS, the co-creator of the Black SLP Magic Conference. She shared with us what mentorship means to her and what motivated her to start the #BlackSLPMagic Conference.
Please follow Chelsea on Instagram at @esekhealth and Jordyn Carroll, her co-creator @jrc_theslp
On this episode we catch up with one of our previous guests: Michelle Juarez. Michelle is a Speech Therapist in Guatemala who is leading the way in awareness and visibility for those in need of speech therapy services. She is the current president of the Board of Directors for the Association of Speech/Language Therapists in Guatemala. She has been a Speech Therapist for over 8 years and services clients in her clinic, in their homes, and via telehealth. She is also entering the world of research and is looking forward to presenting at ASHA in the upcoming conventions. Michelle believes Communication is a human right and has big goals for herself and the field of speech therapy in Guatemala.
Check out Michelle’s instagram @speechables.gt and Somos TLgt @somostlgt for more information on Terapistas del Lenguaje en Guatemala.
This episode features an interview with Raelen Watkins, B.S.Ed., Naomi Doerr-Garcia, Dr. Nina Santus, Ph.D., CCC/SLP, from the University of Georgia's undergraduate student organization: Minorities in Communication Sciences & Disorders (M-CMSD). Raelen created the group with the support of UGA CMSD faculty with the goal of creating a supportive community for minority students, engaging in advocacy related to DEI, and hosting recruitment activities that target diverse populations of young adults to bring more diversity in newer classes of SLPs and audiologists. You'll enjoy listening to their mission and what they've accomplished so far as well as what's on the horizon.
Instagram: @mcmsd_uga
On this episode we are joined by Barbara Fernandes, M.S. CCC-SLP. Barbara Fernandes, is the founder and CEO of Smarty Ears. She is well known for her innovative and breakthrough products for speech and communication disorders. She is a trailblazer in our field and has transformed an entire industry to adopt mobile technologies through the design and development of over sixty mobile speech therapy applications and an entire symbol library: Smarty Symbols. Most recently, Barbara has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institute of Health, and she released a ground-breaking technology called the Speech and Language Academy. She has received multiple awards, and is an Amazon best selling author. She is also a mother, a daughter, a friend, and a generous mentor. On this episode Barbara shares her story from Bilingual SLP to Business owner and takes us through her journey to finding joy in her work and creating projects from moments of adversity.
Connect with Barbara here: https://www.instagram.com/geekbarbara/
On this episode Dr. Ianessa Humbert shares her story. Her story is one of resilience, self-actualization, and strength. Dr. Humbert takes us through her experience as a daughter of immigrants who later became an immigrant to the U.S. herself. She connects those experiences to how she's been able to navigate a field that is 92% white - and she shares how her story and the story of those before her propel her in building new spaces for herself and other SLPs. We are thrilled that she took the time to share her wisdom with us! Dr. Humbert is an accomplished scientist and entrepreneur in the areas of swallowing and swallowing disorders but her expertise and her outlook for our field applies to every single one of us.
Contact Dr. Humbert here: https://www.instagram.com/ianessahumbert/
This episode features a conversation we had with Arynn Byrd, MA, CCC-SLP, a PhD student in Communication Sciences. She joins us to tell us about her doctoral degree experience and to talk about the importance of having the right supports in place to navigate graduate school. Arynn also lays out ideas for finding the right PhD mentor, establishing your network, and how students of color can advocate for themselves in the pursuit of a graduate degree.
Reach out to Arynn here: https://www.instagram.com/arynnbyrd/
Join us as we interview and chat with Melanie Y. Evans, MS CCC-SLP (she/her), the Pediatric Speech Sister as she’s known on Instagram. She shared with us how she found speech-language pathology, how she learned to take care of herself, and how she became a Spanish-bilingual SLP. Melanie also talked with us about finding your power as a BIPOC SLP as well as what projects she’s got on the horizon.
Connect with Melanie here: https://www.instagram.com/pediatricspeechsister/