EPISODE 244

[INTRODUCTION]

[00:00:00] MD: Okay. For this week's Ð or I guess we have two episodes this week. For the second half of this week's gratitude moment, I have to give my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Frances Burns, who is the Chair of Francis Marion University's Speech-Language Pathology program. 

This woman mentored me and changed my entire outlook on diversity, inclusion, and equity when it comes to our field. The amount of hours she poured into me and continues to pour into me are just profound. I am so grateful for the growth, for sitting in the uncomfortable, as she said, so that we could make this a better place, so we could create safe places, and for her time. Because time is a very incredibly precious commodity. 

As she reminded me on like a lot of occasions, "Don't be a workaholic, Michelle. You need to go home. There's always time for this tomorrow.Ó Sorry. That's funny, if you knew us. But I am grateful for her for that growth and for the work that she's doing within early intervention and to create a school and a program that is turning out the finest early intervention, speech-language pathologists that South Carolina has ever seen. 

So, y'all, I hope you enjoy this episode brought to you by Kendra T. for the 8% Summit, and seriously, take a peek at the work being done down at FMU with Dr. Burns. Because, y'all, it's changing stars. 

[00:02:04] MD: Hi, folks, and welcome to First Bite: Fed, Fun, and Functional. A speech therapy podcast sponsored by SpeechTherapyPD.com. I am your host on this nerd venture, Michelle Dawson, MS, CCC-SLP CLC, the All-Things PFDs SLP. I am a colleague in the trenches of home health and early intervention right there with you. I run my own private practice, Hartwood Speech Therapy, here in Colu Town, South Carolina, and I guest lecture nationwide on best practices for early intervention for the medically complex graduates. First BiteÕs mission is short and sweet; to bring light, hope, knowledge, and joy to the pediatric clinician, parent, or advocate.

[00:02:51] EF: By way of a nerdy conversation, so there's plenty of laughter, too.

[00:02:55] MD: In this podcast, we cover everything from AAC to breastfeeding.

[00:02:59] EF: Ethics on how to run a private practice.

[00:03:02] MD: Pediatric dysphagia to clinical supervision.

[00:03:05] EF: And all other topics in the role of pediatric speech pathology. Our goal is to bring evidence-based practice straight to you by interviewing subject matter experts.

[00:03:15] MD: To break down the communication barriers, so that we can access the knowledge of their fields.

[00:03:20] EF: Or, as a close friend says, ÒTo build the bridge.Ó

[00:03:24] MD: By bringing other professionals and experts in our field together, we hope to spark advocacy, joy, and passion for continuing to grow and advance care for our little ones.

[00:03:35] EF: Every fourth episode, I join. I'm Erin Forward, MSP, CCC-SLP, the Yankee by way of Rochester New York transplant who actually inspired this journey. I bring a different perspective, that of a new-ish clinician with experience in early intervention, pediatric acute care, and non-profit pediatric outpatient settings.

[00:03:55] MD: Sit back, relax, and watch out for all-hearts growth and enjoy this geeky gig brought to you by SpeechTherapyPD.com.

[00:04:10] MD: Hey. this is Michelle Dawson here. And I need to update my disclosure statements. My non-financial disclosures: I actively volunteer with Feeding Matters, National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders, NFOSD, Dysphagia Outreach Project, DOP. I am a former treasurer with the Council of State Association Presidents, CSAP. A past president of the South Carolina Speech-Language and Hearing Association, SCSHA. A current board of trustees member with the Communication Disorders Foundation of Virginia. And I am a current member of ASHA, ASHA SIG 13 SCSHA. The Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia, SHAV. A member of the National Black Speech-Language-Hearing Association, NBSLA. And Dysphagia Research Society, DRS. 

Additionally, I volunteer with ASHA as the topic chair for the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Planning Committee for the ASHA 2023 Convention in Boston. And I hope you make it out there. 

My financial disclosures include receiving compensation for the First Bite Podcast from SpeechTherapyPD.com as well as from additional webinars and for webinars associated with understanding dysphagia, which is also a podcast with SpeechTherapyPD.com. 

I currently receive a salary from the University of South Carolina and my work as an adjunct professor and student services coordinator. I receive royalties from the sale of my book, Chasing the Swallow: Truth, Science, and Hope for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders. As well as compensation for the CEUs associated with it from SpeechTherapyPD.com. 

Those are my current disclosure statements. Thanks, guys. 

[00:06:08] Announcer: The views and opinions expressed in today's podcast do not reflect the organizations associated with the speakers and are their views and opinions solely. 

[INTERVIEW]

[00:06:17] MD: Hey, everybody. This is one of two double episodes for the month of July. Because some of y'all may know, I like to batch record in advance to balance everything on my plate. But every once in a while, there's episodes that come up. There's speakers that I meet that stir my heart and stir my soul. And I think we have to get this work done. 

Thank you to Yumi and Sumi behind the scenes for entertaining all of my notions when I'm like, "Hey. Oh, we got to add this." Thank you for working this in. Because I met today's guest back at NBASLH in Washington, D.C. in April. Today's guest is none other than Kendra T. Allison, who's a speech-language pathologist and founding owner of Speechology Communication Services. 

But I am assuming most of y'all know her from the 8% Summit for Speech Pathologists and Audiologists of Color. And this year will be her second 8% Summit. It's happening next month in August, the first weekend in August, if memory serves correct, in Charlotte, North Carolina. I would recommend y'all check out her website, kendratallison.com for additional information. But I'll let her explain all of that. 

I just want to say she's phenomenal, has a heart of gold, and I wish y'all could see her house because I'm looking at it in the background of the camera and it's to die for. Bohemian meets historical, with pops of plants and colors. I've got plant envy!

[00:08:00] KA: Wow. Thank you for that wonderful introduction and the description of my home decor. I love it. 

[00:08:06] MD: It's so cute. I wish you could see it. I'll have to send you my Pinterest file because it's basically all my Pinterest. I get into trouble at night before bed. 

[00:08:14] KA: Oh, I was just on it last night myself. Because I'm looking to decorate a new bathroom that we just installed. 

[00:08:22] MD: Have you seen the blue ones where they have the stars in the sky? I want to do constellations on a bathroom ceiling. 

[00:08:29] KA: Oh. We have a canopy here on this porch.

[00:08:32] MD: Oh, God, that's gorgeous. Yeah.

[00:08:34] KA: Mm-hmm. That was a bear to put up. But we got it. 

[00:08:41] MD: Well, thank you so much for coming on and for saying hi at NBASLH. And it was so wonderful to meet you. But tell us about you. Who are you? What do you love? And how did you become a speech pathologist? 

[00:08:53] KA: All right. Well, you already said my name. I'm Kendra T. Allison. Or Kendra T., the SLP, as I used to use as my Instagram handle. I am a native of Detroit. I'm from the D. What up doe? That's what we say. ThatÕs our greeting. And I've been living in Charlotte for about 17, 18 years now. I came here right after grad school to start my adult life. 

What do I love? One of the things you've already mentioned, it is nature, plants, home decor, and creating art. For me, creating things is an outlet for me. My partner and I, we love to do home decor projects and DIY projects. I love monstera plants. When you said plant envy, you didn't even see this one. I have a monstera right here that I call Monty. And Monty is doing very well. 

All my plants have names. I name them based on the species that they are. This is a dragon fire Kalanchoe. I call it Dragon. The Santa Maria, I call it Sansa. Sansa, like from Game of Thrones. Speaking of nerdy. 

[00:10:04] MD: I have a birth plant Ð my grandma raised me Ð that my grandma gave me when I was born. And it used to be Ð it's old. She's old. She's fragile. Not really. She's built like a tank like her mother. But it used to be in a tiny little pot. And you should have seen it when we moved. Because the movers went and moved the plants, that beast is Ð she probably rivals me in weight now. And I won't say how much. But there's a thing. 

She was climbing the kitchen in my old house. But here, we've got her in the reading nook. And she's already started going up the vine. But she's 40 years old. She's made it. I just [inaudible 00:10:41]. 

[00:10:42] KA: Yeah. No. That sounds amazing. As much as I love plants, I don't have as much of a gift for them, you know? Like as much as my heart wants to have. Some do well. Some just barely make it. Some are just here. But I try. And so, one of my friends is like my plant role model. I ask her for tips. Her plants grow. They're huge. They're gigantic. They're amazing. 

Another thing that I like to do is I like to dance. I love to dance. And it's really just free dancing. I don't do formal dance classes. I'm not trained or anything like that. But if I'm out, if there's music, something is moving. I can't even really control it. It's the shoulder, it's the hip, itÕs a foot. Something. Something is moving. I love to dance. It's like a release for me. It's like a decompression for me. It's kind of how I interact and socialize, you know, with people in different settings. 

I recently learned a motto. Well, kind of made it up. But it was based on a discussion. People who dance together connect together or something like that. But I just love to dance, you know? It's great. And it's exercise too. 

[00:11:52] MD: Are you a Pisces? 

[00:11:53] KA: I am not. I am a Leo. 

[00:11:54] MD: Really? Okay. I would have thought Pisces. Yes. I'm a Pisces. But that just basically means I'm super emotional, empath, and cry very, very easily. Happy tears, frustrated tears. Just tears. They just flow. This is Ð yeah. 

[00:12:09] KA: It's interesting that you mentioned those two traits of a Pisces, being emotional and an empath. Because I feel that I'm more of that now at this stage in my life than I ever thought I was. I never identified myself as being an emotional person. But, yeah. Now I am kind of an emotional person and kind of an empath only because I can feel and I'm receptive to people's energies and their perspectives. 

[00:12:37] MD: But that makes us innately equipped for the calling that we do. And, folks, if you're listening, and if you too are an empath and you take it home at the end of the day, the best advice I ever got was from my daddy. He said, "Imagine yourself in a hamster bubble." You know, like the little balls. I mean, not falling everywhere. But you can look out and engage but you can protect yourself and block what comes in. 

When I get overwhelmed by the traumas that my patients are going through, I just imagine putting up that little clear, invisible wall so I can engage and pour out but protect what I bring home and trickle over into the family, you know? 

[00:13:24] KA: Yeah. Interesting you just mentioned that part. That part of being an empath is why Ð I've been told I'm not quite an empath. It's more of a clairvoyant. But I just mix up the terms. I don't know. The whole point is it's like, okay, I'm feeling energies, and I'm sensing and I'm open, like I said, open to different people's needs and their perspectives. I don't know if empath is the right word. But I am an emotional person. 

I have been pretty good at having that hamster bubble, I would say, naturally. But like you said, like for what we're doing as speech pathologists, as people-people, as social working elements in our fields, all these things, like, yes, my personality and everything does inform that. 

And I don't know which came first, the chicken or the egg, in the sense of I never described or identified as an emotional person. However, I chose this field, speech pathology, and then it just so works out that I'm good at it. I've become more of an emotional person as a working professional and mature woman. 

[00:14:26] MD: I feel like, as a profession, we forget that the term emotional Ð you hear it, and there's so many negative connotations with it at first, right? But we need to shake that off because this is Ð our jobs are that. Our jobs are they are Ð we have mountaintops and we have valleys that we're walking with our students, our patients, and our clients. Now, do you treat adults or do you work with pediatrics? 

[00:14:59] KA: I work with pediatrics. And the fun story there is that I thought I wanted to work with adults. 

Okay. I'm going to go back to answering your question you asked a long time ago: how did I become a speech pathologist? In summary, I did not have a major when I started college. And so, I did one of those classes and then one of those personality tests. And in the box of things that I may be good at or interested in was speech pathology. 

Daycare owner, provider, which is something that I thought I wanted to do because I worked in a daycare that was owned by this couple, a younger couple in Detroit. I thought I wanted to own my own daycare as well. But speech pathology was the only thing in the box and I didn't know what it was. It sounds like maybe it's, I mean, something to do with speech. But I didn't know exactly what it was. This was in the pre-google era of research. I had to go to the computer lab and use the school. Whatever system or research system that we had access to as students. 

And I learned that there was a general studies Ð one of the classes that we could take to count towards our general studies requirements, and it was the intro to speech. I thought, "Okay, I'll learn about it and see what it is." My professor, who became my mentor, Dr. Hyter, she took an interest in me and she noted that I was good at the material, I was doing well in the class, and that I was interested in it. She said, "Are you thinking about doing this? Because there are not many Black women in this profession." 

And I thought, as a Ð I was like 19 or 20, I didn't really know what that meant, there are not many. Because she was one. My first speech pathologist I ever met. She was a Black woman. I'm like, "What does she mean? Okay. You know, sure." I did some more pre-Google era research into what speech pathology is. What we can do with it? Where we can work? The populations and settings that we can work with. How much money we can make? And, again, as a 19, 20-year-old, I'm like, "Hmm, that's pretty good money." 

[00:16:55] MD: I know. But then you go to mortgage and you're like, "I have no money. Where are my monies? What happened to the monies?" Continue. 

[00:17:01] KA: Hadn't hit that adulting yet. Yeah, I was like, "That's pretty good money." What drew me to it was the freedom and the flexibility that I could envision myself having and being a speech pathologist because of the work settings, like the variety of where I could work and populations. 

And also, I saw it as my pathway to business ownership as well for our future. I decided to major. And also, it's one of those things where, in my research, like it can't be outsourced, you know? Because outsourcing was a big thing at that time that I had just was starting to learn about as a part of the global economy studies or whatever. And so Ð 

[00:17:39] MD: [inaudible 00:17:39]. I mean, being in Detroit and having the crash with the economy there. Like I can see how that would be impactful. 

[00:17:47] KA: Yes, if I was thinking about it like that. But, again, I was 19 or 20. 18, 19, 20. I'm just like Detroit has had it hard. But I didn't really realize what that meant in relation to other cities and their economy. This was 2001, 2002, you know? 

Learning about outsourcing and what that meant. I'm like, "We can't ever be outsourced. People always need this therapy from us, from a human here, locally." I decided to major in speech pathology. And as I got into it, I did discover, "Oh, yes. There are not that many of us here." And I say us, Black people. Brown people as well. But I mean I'm Black. 

There are not many of us here in this field. Because I was one of the few students in my undergrad class. And then when I started my grad school cohort Ð and as you know, when you're with that cohort, you're with the same group of people for two and a half to three years. And so, I was the only Black student in that group. 

And then my professor who said, "There aren't many of us,Ó she was the only Black professor of all of the faculty in the department. I got that exposure and I'm going to say a wake-up call. Because I didn't really expect much more. But that happened early on in my field. 

But fast forward, I chose the major. I thought I wanted to work with adults because I was also influenced by Gray's Anatomy at the time. And I thought Ð 

[00:19:20] MD: Love this. Okay. Continue. 

[00:19:24] KA: Ð about working in the hospital. That sexy, have a lab coat, be doing rounds and whatnot. I'm the speech pathologist of the group. I thought that's what I wanted to do. 

[00:19:34] MD: [inaudible 00:19:34] too big. I'm sorry. Adult [inaudible 00:19:36]. I did my CF with adults, and that was it. Yes, in first-year. And ever since then, it was kids. And the thought of going back now, I'm like, "No." 

[00:19:46] KA: Aha. No. Exactly. Exactly. I did an internship with the school and with the hospital. And I just never felt comfortable or felt like this is where I was supposed to be. Like I had way more doubting of myself during my hospital adult internship than I did with the school, pediatric internship. 

When I started working, I was still kind of open to either idea, working in the medical setting with adults or the pediatric setting with schools. And then, of course, I learned more, more about what that could mean. But I was open to both. And I started mostly with pediatrics and a little bit of adult. And then, yeah, I just came to find that I just felt comfortable working with children and hopeful working with children because of their prognosis and progress ability. And so, yes, I work pretty much pediatric at this point. 

I do have some adults that I do consults for because I work at a care facility. That's a care facility for severely profoundly impaired of all ages. I do have a little bit of adult exposure and medical type of setting that I can keep those skills kind of fresh. 

[00:20:56] MD: Yes. Okay. Your passion is effervescent. That's what I love. And you took your experiences and created something beautiful in the 8% Summit. To fill in these now Ð folks, if you're listening, I need to give you a big picture. There are 223,000, 228,000 speech-language pathologists and audiologists that are members of ASHA if my numbers are correct. It can be totally screwed up. But like it's a boatload of people, right? 

[00:21:32] KA: Something like that. 

[00:21:32] MD: A lot of people are familiar with the special interest groups that ASHA has. We have Ð like SIG13 is the one I'm a member of. It's a special interest group for dysphagia. They have SIG 12, which I didn't renew this year. But SIG 12 is a special interest group for AAC. 

But in addition to the special interest groups, ASHA has caucuses that are loosely affiliated but kind of standalone entities in that respect that you can join. In the month of May, we had the Asian-American Pacific Islander Caucus on. They were sharing that they represent 3% of our colleagues. 3% and 8%. But if you think about it, that's how limited in diversity our profession is. But if we look at the populations that we serve, there is so much more. 

Also, on that note, they do have a new disability caucus, which I'm very excited about. If you are a colleague that has a disability, you can join this caucus, I think it's their newest caucus, and raise awareness about that. But I digress. NBASLH is the only Ð originally, I think it was a caucus. But it's the only standalone association now. For membership, you can go to their respective conference once a year. They have ongoing CEUs. And it was fantastic. But that's where you and I met. How did you decide to set up the 8% Summit? And what is it? 

[00:23:11] KA: Okay. All right. To break down those numbers a little bit more for ASHA member profiles that I looked up. 3% of ASHA members identify as Black, African-American descent, for, I mean, a long time. There's the profiles that they have over about a 20-year period. These numbers pretty much stayed the same over those 20 years. 

And so, this is ASHA members, speech pathologists, SLPAs, audiologists, CFs. Everyone who is a member of ASHA. 3% of ASHA members identify as African-American or Black. The number, like you said, of Asian-American and Asian descent, was also about 3%. Latino and Hispanic numbers are a little bit higher at about 6% with the diaspora Ð basically, Latin diaspora. A pretty large population of people around the world. That's about 6%. 

When you put all of those together, the people who identify as, and this is ASHA's description, racial or ethnic minority members are 8%. That's where I got the number the 8% Summit for because I wanted my event to be inclusive of pretty much everyone who might feel minoritized, marginalized, and whatever other -ized we have within our profession. 

The reason why I started it. Again, here's a little short story. I try to keep my stories short. Hidden bullet points. As the only graduate student in my cohort who is Black Ð I mean, I had another classmate who was also a person of color. But I was the only Black student. So this is my experience. When I graduated from that cohort and started working, again, I'm the only Black or maybe one of the few Black SLPS on the work teams that I was on. And I moved to Charlotte from my school, Western Michigan University. Go Broncos.

When I moved to Charlotte, I'm meeting all sorts of people. I'm trying to build personal, social relationships as well as work relationships. And then I realized after I had met so many people socially and personally, work relationships and whatnot were not as diverse. I thought, "Okay, I want to know some more Black SLPs, some more diverse SLP professionals just to have a community in that way." And so, I got some emails from a friend of mine who knew some. And then I knew some. So that I put them together and I tried a meet-up. 

Now this was somewhat ill timing but also, I think, a result of the timing. At this time, it was 2020, the end of 2020. We were coming out of the quarantiney part of the pandemic. But things were Ð 

[00:26:18] MD: The quarantiney part! 

[00:26:21] KA: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Things were just starting to open up. And if you remember back to that time, when we were in the quarantine and then things were starting to open up and having this big, heavy, still somewhat mysterious virus out here looming over all of us, people were feeling this emotional need to reconnect to people from their past, with their family. Also, this feeling Ð this, again, emotional need to build relationships and build community with people that they had around them at that time. 

So like I said, this may have been the result of the time that we were in because that's where that feeling came from. I just realized that like, "Oh, I don't really know too many other SLPs who look like me." So I wanted to build, or find, or build that community. And Instagram had been great at that point for doing that. 

I planned a meetup. It was an in-person meetup outside, social distancing, which we don't even say that word anymore, that phrase anymore. Where did it go? Where COVID went: away. Socially distanced, outside, at an outdoor recreational plaza near my home. And I said, "Hey, ladies." It could have been men, gentlemen, as well. But I just didn't have any on that list. And I said, "Hey, ladies, let's meet up just as an informal meetup. Get to know each other.Ó I had planned some Icebreaker type of things.

And of the group that I had, it was about eight, seven or eight, maybe half of those ladies said that they could come. And then on the day of, half of those ladies said, "I can't come." But I was still expecting Ð well, my numbers are off. I was still expecting about three or four. 

I got there. I sat there. Had a little something in my cup. And I was just like Ð it was such a nice day. It was probably the last nice day for a meeting outside here in Charlotte of the year. It's sometime around October or November. And so, I said, "Okay. No one's here. No one's coming. I'm just a lonely girl." I said, "Well, when I get to the bottom of this cup, I guess I'll leave, you know?" And just as I got close to the bottom, one person showed up and she sat down. And it was a new person who I didn't know before. We met. We talked for a while. And so, I would say by that measure, it was a successful attempt because I did meet at least one new Black SLP. 

[00:28:54] MD: Unless you put yourself out there to create opportunities, you'll never have the opportunity, which is I think that's the scariest thing. Folks, if you're listening and you have that idea that like gets you excited, do it. For me, personally, I put a prayer on it. And if it's your will, then let's just hold on tight. Because Ð and hold on tight. Because when it goes Ð whoa.

[00:29:22] KA: Right. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Then I tried another meetup. This one was a virtual one. I had more attendance and participation. I had some icebreakers again planned again. This time, I had people, more people to break the ice with. And so, that went well. 

And then fast forward to ASHA's first We're Back Convention in the end of 2021. And I went to a similar event. And I thought, "Okay, it was so great being in the room of professionals where I wasn't the only." I thought, "All right. I'm going back to Charlotte and I'm going to try again." 

I asked a friend to help me do it. Thinking about my vision for how I wanted it to be, I wanted it to be, again, open and inclusive to all the groups of people. I wanted it to be open and inclusive to all of the groups of people who might feel minoritized or marginalized. And then when I was doing my research with the ASHA member profiles, I learned of that 8% number and who all that included. I thought, "That's what I want it to be, I want it to feel like." 

8% Summit was born. And we started planning it in January of 2022. The first one was in August of 2022. And then speaking of putting yourself out there, that was a huge putting myself out there because there were so many parts to planning that that I had never done before. And I was doing so much networking. I was talking to whoever wanted to talk to me to potentially sponsor it, to attend it, to speak at it, to help volunteer at it, to tell your friends about it. There was a lot of putting myself out there over the next eight months of planning the first 8% Summit. 

And, of course, there are those feelings of doubt of, "Oh. Are people Ð do they see this as something that might be valuable to them? Are they going to come? Are they going to buy tickets? Are they going to Ð okay. The people who are sponsoring, are they going to feel like it was worth it for them? How can I Ð" There's a lot of that: how can I? How can I? How can I? 

[00:31:33] MD: Implementation science. It's the reassessment. Implementation science. We can utilize that approach in so many different facets of our lives. But yes. 

[00:31:43] KA: Implementation science. 

[00:31:45] MD: Dr. Rebecca Wada taught me about this. She is the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Vice President for SCSHA, for the South Carolina Speech Hearing Association. I think it's inclusivity. It might be accessibility. Becca, forgive me. And she's also Associate Assistant Professor at Francis Marion University. But that's her subject matter expertise, is implementation science. 

And you literally describe it. You put something into action. And then how do I reassess the effectiveness? And it's not a one-and-done. It's a continual state of being. Yes. Continue. I'm excited about that. 

[00:32:23] KA: Oh. I was doing science and I didn't even know it. Yeah, putting myself out there was a lot of that. And of course, a lot of self-doubt. But then as I got closer to it, to the event, I think around June or July. And looking back on all of the things I had been doing, and the feedback, and the enthusiasm and the excitement for it that I have been getting, that's where it kind of clicked, like, "This is going to be great. This is going to be worth it." People want this. They're excited. I'm excited. And it was. It was all that. All that and a bag of chips, as we used to say in the 90s. 

[00:33:05] MD: I remember that. I'm there. 

[00:33:08] KA: Yeah. Some older folks still say it. But Ð 

[00:33:11] MD: My stepmom still says cool beans. 

[00:33:13] KA: Cool beans. Yeah. I know. 

[00:33:15] MD: Cool beans. I'm like, "Really? That's bad." 

[00:33:18] KA: Yeah, I know. My parents still hang on to some of those sayings from the 90s. And that's cute. They feel like they're relating to me and my sister. Okay. But yeah, it was great. And again, the feedback that I got during the 8% Summit and afterward made it all worth it. You know, the work and the self-doubt, like I said, and all that. 

I felt really fulfilled that people felt seen. They felt included in the community. They also had fun. Because that's one of my big things. It's like I want things to be fun. I don't want it to just be heavy. I didn't want the 8% Summit to be like a complaining session about how hard it is to be Black, or Brown, or a Person of Color in SLP. Because the reality is it's difficult and challenging to be a BIPOC person in any field, in any profession. 

Because in most professions, we're going to be the minority anyway, you know? I didn't want it to be like a complaining or a venting session. I wanted it to be celebrating the positivity of the challenges that we have overcome in this field to become an SLP and an audiologist. 

Let me go back to the planning of it. I also wanted to have the 8% number to include the audiologists as well. Because that membership profile is all the members of ASHA. It's not just SLPs. Now, that has been an uphill battle. First, i had to find some audiologists because I didn't even know any. Second, audiologists of color? Where are they? I was stalking Instagram pages. I was stalking Facebook groups and DMing. Sliding all kinds of DMs to have conversations and meet and greet with some Black, and Brown and of color audiologists. So I did. 

I met several. And of the several that I met, two were able to come to last year's summit. They were both from out of state. They traveled just to come to it. Again, I was like, "Oh, my heart is full." Those comments, and like I said, the feedback. People said, you know, "This is such an amazing event. I had an amazing time." I wanted it to be for people who are private practice owners, business owners, and also, clinicians and employees who work in different settings. 

What I learned afterward was that there were a couple of text groups that came out of that where people who were starting their private practice connected with each other. And they had a text group where they are helping each other and supporting each other with that. 

I had another event that was specifically for supporting speech pathologists who are starting their private practice or had started it. And that's called the 8% Summit Means Business. That was really productive as well. And again, that goes back to the community building, that support building. I'm not the person who I see myself as the guru in doing these things. But what I am, one of my strengths is connecting people who are good at and in need of, so that they can support each other. And again, in a fun, social way. 

[00:36:30] MD: Two former students right now that I'm thinking off the top of my head. One of them over in the PD section of South Carolina. And one of them in Charlotte that I have to connect you to because you would light their worlds afire and they need that. Okay. 

[00:36:48] KA: Please do. Please do. 

[00:36:49] MD: What happens at the summit? Are there networking opportunities? Are there courses? I want to know the meat and potatoes of this. 

[00:36:56] KA: Okay. Great question. The overall mission of the 8% Summit Ð and again, I created this because of where I was in my life at that time. And, basically, I was creating what I needed as a grad school student and as a working professional starting out. 

But the overall mission of the 8% Summit is to connect a community of BIPOC SLPs and audiologists. And for those who don't know, BIPOC is an acronym. Black, Indigenous, POC is a Person of Color, and I add Brown in there because people have so many different identifications. I mean, the B can be double-time, Black and Brown. Black, Brown, indigenous person of color. But pretty much anyone who has been considered a racial or ethnic minority. And I don't like the term minority. You know what I'm saying? I use BIPOC. Describe myself as Black. 

To connect a community of BIPOC SLPs and audiologists for collaboration and contribution to each other and to our CSD fields. And that's kind of specific. But it's vaguely specific. Just the way I like things to be. Because the collaboration, the contribution, like that can look different for every summit. I am planning on having this ongoing. 

And last year, the first year's theme was Get Your C's. Connection, collaboration, and last year was care. And then this year I've developed that into a mission statement of connection, collaboration, and contribution. That's the mission. 

I impart that or implement that by different parts of the 8% Summit. Last year, and then planned again for this year, the connection piece. That is an opportunity for networking. Because I don't want Ð my vision was not for people to just come and sit down and listen to speakers. I wanted there to be functional, real-life networking opportunities to connect with people, the other attendees at the conference, but in a low-pressure way. 

So last year, I made a networking bingo game. And it was fun to see people Ð we had one gentleman. I can't say ladies. But our guests, they were going around with their networking bingo sheets and they were talking to people. And it was to find someone who works in pediatrics. I had some basic simple ones. But also, find someone who's an author. 

I made the board based on how I knew and learned and had connected with so many different people who then were coming to the summit. And at the minimum, like, "Well, I'm an author. If they're paying attention, they'll know that." They can check me off. But I knew there was another SLP there who was an author and had published a book too. 

[00:39:48] MD: What book have you published? Tell us. Drop it. 

[00:39:50] KA: Okay. Well, since you asked, I have self-published some trivia books. I love trivia, pop culture, trivia, random facts. I am the random fact queen, you know? The people in my life, I think they're pleasantly annoyed by it. Trivia. And so, it was wordplay Black trivia books. Because my trivia books were based off of 90s TV shows that I grew up on, A Different World and Martin. 

And I had a third one planned. But I stopped. I was like, "I'm going to do a series of three." And I was working on the third one, which is going to be based off of Fresh Prince. But I didn't do it. 

Anyway, and me not doing that as a part of my mindset shifting and unlearning this idea of once I start something I have to finish it. But even if it's not serving me mentally or emotionally, my time, my energy, I have to finish it. Me not doing that third book was like part of my growth. And like I don't need to do that. You know, for what? 

But the two books are on Amazon. I was selling them from my website, another website. And I was doing vending opportunities. At the 8% Summit, I had a lot of books on hand because I was getting out of the trivia book biz. That was just a side hustle. I was getting out of the trivia book biz. And so, I gave away all of my books in the gift bags at the 8% Summit. 

Because, again, one of the principles of last year's was care. And I had created trivia books as a way of doing self-care. You know, the tuning out, dropping out, off the grid of things that may be stressing you like life and work, social media, or whatever, and doing a good old-fashioned trivia book. I had created them as a self-care mechanism. So they fit in with last year's theme of connection, collaboration and care. I gave them out. Again, if they were paying attention and they saw the book in their gift bags by Kendra T. It's like there's an author. 

[00:41:54] MD: But wait. You said it so fast. And I'm Amazon. What is it called? 

[00:41:57] KA: Okay. It's Word Play Trivia Books or Word Play Black Trivia Books. I put them on Amazon so long ago. Yeah. 

[00:42:07] MD: I will find it. But continue. 

[00:42:08] KA: Either one of those. Yes. I think I have them linked on one of my Ð 

[00:42:12] MD: I found it. Martin TV Show. Oh, my God. This is great. Yes. Yes. They're there. 

[00:42:21] KA: Well, thank you for looking. There was so much good content. And with a different world, so many lessons. Because it was about a college, a fictional HBCU. People think it's a real college. 

[00:42:32] MD: I used to watch it when I was little. And I enjoyed it. Yes. 

[00:42:38] KA: [inaudible 00:42:38] area, right? 

[00:42:41] MD: I'm from Virginia. I grew up outside of Fredericksburg. 

[00:42:43] KA: Yeah. You know, you grew up in a space where there were HBCUs around you. And see, I'm from Detroit. We didn't have any in Michigan. There used to be one. But it's closed since then. That life to me was kind of far away. HCBUs are all down south. 

Going back to my grad school experience with being the only Black student and one of few in undergrad and the only one in grad school, when I was thinking Ð like I contemplated going to an HBCU down South for grad school. And I didn't because it just was financially and fiscally more responsible for me to stay in Michigan and state tuition, you know? 

And my school was great. My school was great. I have no complaints about my school overall. Like I said, when you're a BIPOC person in higher education pursuing a profession, it's just kind of the assumption that you may be one of few people who look like you in that field. You know, that's life. 

I thought that by not going to an HBCU for grad school I was missing out on this like big, Black, fun experience. You know, as a grad school student, I thought, "Well, hey, I'll just stay here in Michigan. I'm having fun." I got ways of having fun up here. 

But then I learned when I moved down here to Charlotte and was talking to people and meeting people, I learned that, actually, the HBCUs at the grad level in speech are either more diverse, like 50-50 or more white students. And I thought, "What in the world? How in the world is that possible?" I've learned about that since then. 

Okay. Let's go back to the 8% Summit. You got to keep me on track a little bit because Ð 

[00:44:29] MD: I got you. You get excited. I mean Ð 

[00:44:31] KA: I mean. 

[00:44:32] MD: Ð to be fair, I have ADD/ADHD. So this is how my brain works. So I can canoodle with all of the things. But the themes this year. So you're going to have like an opener and a meet and greet. But when people leave, what are they going to take with them to expand their horizons? 

[00:44:55] KA: Interesting that you use the word expand. I told you the mission statement. And the theme of this year is Ð I'm still working it through. But it does involve the word expand. 

[00:45:08] MD: You were thinking it too loudly. I could hear it. 

[00:45:13] KA: Yes. We have just lined up our speakers and are going to be announcing that soon. And I wanted the speakers to be applicable as much as possible to not just speech pathology but also audiologists. Because it is majority speech pathologists. I do want more audiologists and SLPAs to come to the summit this year. 

We have some great speakers lined up that are going to be talking about different ways to expand your private practice, expand your clinical practice, and expand your contribution to our field. Our contribution is simply by being here because we're contributing to diversity and representation, but also contributing to the political action calls that are necessary for our field for us as BIPOC professionals. But also, just as a field in general. 

What people are going to leave with is, first part, after doing some great networking, they're going to leave with some more connections that are of SLPs and, hopefully, audiologists from our local area. Because most of the attendees are from Charlotte and then the greater North Carolina area. And then we had quite a few who traveled from other states. But they'll leave with some great connections of people at the summit. 

My hope is that they leave with some great connections. I try to personally connect with everybody there. If I haven't already before in the build-up process. But leave with some great connections. And also, leave with some great collaborations and expanding their mind, expanding their practice, expanding themselves. And I am looking to offer PDHs this year. 

ASHA has kind of Ð and they've written their requirements for being a professional development hour and everything. And so, it's vaguely specific. Again, language that I like. Yeah. I'm going to offer that this year for the speakers. And again, I haven't announced the speakers yet. And I'm going to be doing that this week. And then announcing what the topics are going to be and the overall theme in the next few weeks. 

I work mostly in the schools. I just got out of school. The school year just ended for us here in North Carolina. And then I went to Cuba. And then I have my father-in-law's ailing. I have a lot of things that I'm dealing with right now. I'm like, "Okay, when June hits and the summer hits, I have more time to finish off some of these small details." But it's all in the name of planning and it'll all be planned out. And people will be notified well in advance. 

[00:47:54] MD: One, do you know Ms. Felicia Lawrence from South Carolina State? 

[00:47:59] KA: I do not. No. 

[00:48:01] MD: She is Ð and, Felicia, correct me if I'm wrong. Her and I served on the SCSHA board together years ago. She was the Ð I think at the time, might have been the VP of Higher Education. Because she wasn't the Finance Chair. But Felicia is the head of their undergraduate speech pathology program. And just possibly one of the kindest, most beautiful women you're ever going to meet in your life. 

She would be an awesome Ð look at me connecting. This is what I love to do. And Dr. Frances Burns, the Chair of Francis Marion University. Different spelling for the Frances and the Francis. But her subject matter area of expertise is early intervention, which is phenomenal. Because I know that that region needs EI SLPs. And that would be a great resource. 

If you're listening and you know somebody that knows somebody who could benefit from this experience and exposure, feel free to reach out. Because Kendra would Ð I'm sure. I would happily connect you to Kendra. Or Kendra is on social Ð what is your social media handle now? 

[00:49:07] KA: All right. My social media handle is my full name on Instagram, and Facebook, and Linkedin @kendratallison.slp. 

[00:49:20] MD: Love it. 

[00:49:21] KA: But if you just start that Kendra T, you know, A. Boom. And the rest of it'll pop up, right? That's also my email and my website, Kendra T. Allison. 

[00:49:30] MD: I get to thinking back too Ð and the reason I go to professors is I think about Ð I feel like our profession is moving in the direction where we're going to be growing. Our 8%, like it will bloom. And I'm starting to see Ð on the professor side wearing my professor hat, I'm seeing more diversity and our student population. That's exciting for me. Because I've worked at PWIs, predominantly white institutes. And then at university where it wasn't an HBCU. But Francis Marion University has a lot of diversity in its student population and faculty. It's wonderful to see the change. 

But this would be Ð I'm thinking like of how many students I've had over the years that would love as a CF to have gone here to this or even as like a second-year grad student to start meeting and start networking. Do you have a student rate? 

[00:50:32] KA: I have a student rate for graduate students. CFs are included in their overall rate because they're working there in a profession. But I have a student ready for graduate students. And then I don't have a student ready for undergraduate students because I have a space for them to volunteer. I feel like if we're talking about clinical topics and administrative or field topics, a lot of those things may be out of context for an undergraduate student. 

I didn't want them to have to buy a ticket to have access to get in the room. But I do have a few spots open for undergraduates to volunteer at this summit. And that way, they're in the room for free and then I can get some help. We're doing some day-off things, day-off things. And, yeah, last year we had one. We had one student in the Ð she was transitioning from undergrad to graduate. I was like, "Hey, you're in there. You're still in there." 

[00:51:23] MD: We did that for SCSHA. We had student volunteers get in. And if they volunteered so many hours, then they got to attend for free. And I'm telling you, ASHA does. It could still be expensive just for a hotel. I mean Ð 

[00:51:36] KA: Yeah. No. I know. 

[00:51:37] MD: But you can bunk together. And I love that. Because if you bunk together Ð I mean Ð 

[00:51:42] KA: And if there's a way I can help facilitate that, I will. You know, people have to ask, of course. You know, ask for what you need. 

[00:51:52] MD: And you shall receive. That's the second half of that sentence. 

[00:51:56] KA: Yep. Yep. Exactly. And speaking of those connections, I have connected with Dr. Nia Johnson. She was at SC State. And then Deborah Anderson. She's at Francis Marion. I met her at NBASLH. 

[00:52:10] MD: Yes. She's the clinic coordinator. 

[00:52:14] KA: I've been making as many connections as I can, like I said, to build relationships with university faculty. I've had conversations with people who are clinical supervisors. One of our speakers Ð hint hint. One of our speakers is a clinical supervisor at another university outside of North Carolina. See? Getting people traveling from afar. Well, afar-ish. You know? 

[00:52:36] MD: [inaudible 00:52:35] McLeod at University of South Carolina. Do you know her? 

[00:52:40] KA: No. See? All the professors you're naming are the ones I don't know. There are so many, which is great. 

[00:52:44] MD: Oh, my God. I am 100% biased. She was my son's therapist. I love her as a mommy and as a colleague friend and mentor. But yes. Continue. 

[00:52:58] KA: No. You're going to going to have to just send me an email with all these. I'll send you an email and then you can respond and connect me with people because I'm down for it. 

[00:53:05] MD: Okay. You have somebody coming in to talk about clinical supervision from another university. 

[00:53:10] KA: Well, she is a clinical supervisor from another university. She's going to be on a panel. And, again, we are fleshing out the panel things and the type of discussion and questions and things like that. 

To finish answering your questions See? I get off track. I want people to get, like I said, the connections and the collaboration, PDHs from that collaboration. And I want them to feel like they are getting contributions from each other, from ourselves. Whether that's supporting each other's businesses, referrals for our private practices, or contributing to our field with mentoring. I have some things that I'm planning in the agenda to support, or to enlighten, or build awareness for mentoring. ThatÕs something that I need to do and want to do is get involved with more mentoring. Whether it's official mentors or unofficial Ð mentees and mentors. 

I want them to leave with getting all those things and also with having fun. It's fun. They're also going to get a good meal. Okay. We're going to have a meal and snacks. This year, what's one thing that's different is I'm going to have a DJ setting some good connection, collaboration, contribution vibes, you know? 

The team that I've built up this year is great too. Last year it was a scrappy little organization, a little operation with me and my friend who were planning it. This year, I have an event planner, an event planning firm, and then a program coordinator that is helping with the program. It's going to be great. I'm looking to expand. See? The word again is going to come into play with the theme. Expand from what we did last year as the very first 8% Summit. 

[00:54:57] MD: I love this. Okay. If you could go Ð to the grad student that's listening right now, to the young professional that's listening right now that feels lonely and isolated, what words of advice do you have for them? 

[00:55:19] KA: Good question. The loneliness and the isolation were definitely feelings that I felt as a grad student and starting off in this field. So much that I wrote about it in the ASHA Leader. Why aren't there more BIPOC professionals in the CSD fields? And one of the things that I spoke about was, is it because of the relationships? And what I described as building social academic partnerships which is what grad school is all about. For group work, and projects and study groups and all that. And so, at least I experienced. And I know a few other BIPOC SLPs just also experienced that feeling of isolation and loneliness in grad school. 

For me, this is for my words of encouragement or advice, is that at the time in your life where you are, you may feel like you're the only. But there is somebody like you everywhere, right? It's just a matter of finding them and being open to finding them. Sometimes the like you can literally look like you. Sometimes the like you cannot look like you but have a similar experience like you or as you. Sometimes the like you could be future visions and goals like you. 

There's someone like you everywhere. You have to be open to finding those people and connecting with them and finding the community in your place. Use the resources, the great resource that is social media to do that. 

Back in my day Ð so I was in grad school and Facebook started. And so, then it was the way to find out about the parties going on around campus. And I was off on the Ð whole East Campus in grad school, knee-deep in grad school. I didn't know about what was going on on campus. And my student co-workers were like, "It's on Facebook." I'm like, "What is this Facebook y'all keep talking about?" I reluctantly got on it so that I could find out about the parties just in case I had time to go to a party and have some social relief from grad school. 

Anyway, the point is, is that it was nowhere near the social connecting community juggernaut that it is today. Use it. Use Instagram. Use Facebook, those Facebook groups. Use LinkedIn even. You know, when I say LinkedIn even, because I'm still struggling with how do I use LinkedIn? It's just like for grown up, older people, professionals. 

[00:57:59] MD: When I first found LinkedIn, I was like, "Isn't that for stifled white guys?" And that was my honest opinion about LinkedIn. There's a lot of SLPs and colleagues on LinkedIn. And what I found is that it's a good way to collaborate with my former professors. And they may not have an account that you can connect with. But it could be an account that you can follow so you can see about their research that they're publishing or what texts they printed. And that's a great way to maintain that professional relationship. 

[00:58:33] KA: Yep. Exactly. Exactly. It is basically like the professional Facebook or the professional Instagram. Yeah, it's great for that. But connecting with people. Finding the community of whoever you want, you know? Whether it is BIPOC SLPs or BIPOC audiologists. Or, specifically, Black SLPs. Or if you want to find white SLPs who are talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion, who are allies. Whatever you want to find is out there. Use those resources, social media, YouTube.

The good old-fashioned way of connecting, which I guess is good old-fashioned, sending an email, you know? To say hi. To introduce yourself. I mean, a DM. You know, that's what the kids do. The good old-fashioned way of connecting is an email. 

[00:59:26] MD: Okay. Wearing my professor hat, I have to say reach out to your professors as well. Because what my perception of academia was my lived experience. But it came from an upper-middle-class white family. And my parents were first generation college students. But they didn't know how to navigate grad school. We learned that together. 

But I learned academic literacy because they had academic literacy. I assumed academic literacy was a common phenomenon. Everybody knew it. And Dr. Michelle Norman, who, bless her heart, has mentored my crazy self for I don't know how many years since I was a grad student. And Dr. Norman, thank you. She sat me down one day and she goes, "Look, now let me tell you what you don't know." And I was like, "Okay." So I just sat there with Ð I mean, even though she was like a co-worker at the time, like she's always going to be my professor and I'm going to take like all of the notes. Because I remember, her 20-page motor neuron paper. And I will never recover from her 20-page. But I learned a lot anyhow. 

Unfortunately, what I have found is that a lot of my white colleagues don't realize when they enter into this that our students of color, our BIPOC students, may not come with that academic literacy. We assume when we say, "Do this. Do this. Get your background check. Get this done. Da-da-da," that they know how to go through those steps. 

I didn't know what I didn't know. And I'm still discovering. Come to us and tell us how we can help. And that to me like Ð and on the flip side, as a professor, seek it out, y'all. Ask a question. What else can I do to help you be successful? How can I fill in the gaps? How can I help you grow and feel confident? And not feel lonely and isolated. 

And there's also Ð NBASLH has affiliate chapters for grads programs as well, which Dr. Kia Johnson Ð she's been on the podcast in the past and she was talking about that. And one of the professors came up to me afterwards and she said, "If they're only one student of color in your SLP program, there might be more in the college as a whole, like the College of Health Science or the College of Arts. And so, see about connecting and creating and fostering relationships. 

[01:02:13] KA: That's a good point about there being more students of color, BIPOC students, in the college that CSD fields are Ð or the CSD program is in, like social work, nursing. I don't know what else is in. I don't remember. But that's a good point about connecting with your professors. 

When I left grad school, I kind of like left them all behind I'm like, "I'm free." But because of social media, I have gotten back in touch with my professors including, like I said, my professor who became my mentor, Dr. Yvette Hyter. And even, too, as an adult, in retrospect, looking back, realize that she was the professor that I needed in that moment. And I pretty much did everything that she told me to do. Like, "Apply for this. Apply for that. I'm doing a grant program. Apply for this." You know? And I did. And so, that's what I needed at that time. That level of support and push. 

Yes, connecting with your professors is a great way. And I know there are several people who do. Like they circle back and they do research with their professors or their mentor college professors. They have a regular ongoing mentorship-mentee relationship. And I think that is so great. That's a great suggestion. 

As I mentioned in my ASHA article, ÔWhy aren't there more BIPOC professionals in CSD?Õ In that article, I had done some polls on Instagram and Facebook of like why? Why did you get into this field? And when you were in grad school, like what were your challenges? If you were in this field but decided not to continue, why? What turned you away from it? 

I got some really good questions. And it boiled down to four possible factors of why there aren't more of us in this field. Lack of awareness. Those relationships. The social difficulties with the social and academic relationships. Finances. And to your point, Michelle, about speaking about the mindset of a first-generation person in college or even a second-generation. But the first one to go into this kind of field. 

The idea that finances can be definitely a huge challenge and a huge obstacle. Including the idea or the thought of having to pay to work for free with the student internship now. ASHA has their disclaimer in this article about student internships can be paid. And I don't know about that. All I can say is what my experience is. 

And then is it representation? Is it literally not seeing people in this field? And then, therefore, not knowing Ð not thinking about it as an option for you. My overall conclusion was that it's a little bit of all those things and even a little bit of none of those things, you know? Because like I'm Black. I'm a Black SLP. But that doesn't mean that every other Black SLP had the same experience, or challenges, or obstacles with being a grad student. 

My suggestions overall for trying to increase diversity in this field are the three RÕs: recruit, retain, and represent. And so, again, to your point, Michelle, about the professors. Kind of being culturally aware and culturally Ð [inaudible 01:05:44] those are steps that can go towards recruiting and retaining. 

And then it's cyclical really. If you make extra measures, like by being culturally humble, by spreading awareness of our field, then you can get more people interested and then represent. And if you show that representation that we have diversity here, then we can make it more diverse with the representation. And then have more representation. 

We have representation that can help with retaining people because there's that support. There is, again, the cultural openness that we can always use in any situation. It's a cyclical process. But overall, I think that speech pathology or the CSD fields overall, we have a marketing problem. And that's for everybody. Because when we have career fairs in the elementary and middle school level, I don't remember ever saying like a speech pathologist table. Like something I didn't already know what it was. 

[01:06:45] MD: I put the onus of that on our state associations. If you are volunteering on the board and you're serving as the VP of membership and outreach Ð sorry. I'm past president of South Carolina. I have gone through not that particular role on the board. But I've gone through this thought process. Why are we not getting our membership to volunteer at a local high school? Why are we not Ð and it may not be your current working membership. But you have membership. There are life members that are retired that can go with wisdom and talk about it. Or tap into your NSSHLHA students. Tap into getting those student representatives that are on your board involved in going to the high school. 

That right there, those are actionable items that stage associations can do to grow diversity in the field as well as grow state association membership. That was a soapbox. I felt that one for my soul. It was like I have an opinion on this. But we can do that.

[01:07:48] KA: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. 

[01:07:51] MD: I think we can note. Yeah. 

[01:07:53] KA: Yeah. I am. I am. 

[01:07:54] MD: I like that idea. That's a good one.

[01:07:57] KA: Yeah. Yeah. Unpopular opinion. I am not involved in my state association. I leaned in and whispered that. Like the microphone didn't just follow me. But I am not involved. But I've been meaning to. It's just one of those things. There are different ways to get involved with and kind of see what works for what you're trying to do and the connections you can build there. In my list, you know? But I just haven't. 

[01:08:24] MD: That's all right. That's all right. We can't do it all at once. 

[01:08:28] KA: Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I just created the platform and created the thing that I wanted to see. Now I'm circling back to see, "Oh, how can I be involved with or get this involved with them and connect with them?" There's a lot of organizations and associations that we can connect and partner with. Just kind of taking those one at a time. 

[01:08:49] MD: We have gone so far over on our time. And I apologize because I feel like I'm taking a huge chunk out of your day. But are there any other last thoughts or like Ð 

[01:09:03] KA: Well, some things that I'm working on next and having a relationship or partnership somewhat with ASHA again. I have my article published in the January-February edition of the ASHA Leader that I've referenced in this podcast. And then, also, I am presenting at the ASHA Schools Connect Conference. And that is a clinical topic. Because I work mostly in the schools. That is on using brief individual therapy in the school setting. 

It's a model that Ð I mean, I didn't create the model. But that term, brief individual therapy or BIT therapy model. Well, I mean, I wrote that. I made that up. And I have an ebook on that linked to my website. That's what I'm doing next. And then I'm just Ð I am planning and organizing this 8% Summit weekend details. If anyone is interested in attending as a guest or sponsoring, we can talk about partnering and sponsoring vendors and things like that to get yourself, get your name, your business, your service in front of a great group of VIPs. BIPOC professionals and speech and audiologists. And it doesn't have to be like a speech or audiologist-specific clinical thing. 

I mean, if you provide a service that can help business owners or a service that can help with Ð or a product or service that can help with just our wellness and our self-care. Because you know Ð you know, Michelle, being in this type of profession where you were speaking about empathy and being able to protect your space. We oftentimes need help with separating and decompressing and taking care of ourselves and our wellness. 

I said all that to say that if you're interested in being a sponsor of the 8% Summit or a guest, or a friend of the 8% Summit in some kind of way, email me. Go to my website. Click on my form link there. Or email me. Or Instagram DM. I got two accounts on Instagram, kendratallison.slp and the 8% Summit. Yeah. Visit me in any of these places. 

[01:11:13] MD: Okay. Last question. If somebody's got some love money or they've got a little bit of extra mad money left over, they didn't spend it at the bookstore. That's where my grandma would always spend her mad money. Is there a scholarship or anything that you'd like to highlight? 

[01:11:28] KA: Yes. Again, and going back to my mentor, Dr. Hyter, she has a scholarship. It is the LLP Scholarship through Ð the Language and Literacy Practices Scholarship that helps people with being culturally responsive. It's trauma-informed and globally engaged. Like those are her principles. And that is Ð I don't know if the word is managed or endowed, through NBASLH. That's a scholarship that I've contributed to. 

And again, being under her tutelage for my undergrad and my grad school work, like she is super consistent with this scholarship and her overall mission with her company too. Because that was what she taught us about, you know? Language, and literacy and practices in diverse populations. That's a scholarship that I have contributed to and will again and looking to partner with the 8% Summit. 

[01:12:24] MD: I have a couple of ideas for additional connections. But I will spare people. 

[01:12:28] KA: I know, right? You just got to just send me the list. 

[01:12:32] MD: Yes. This was amazing. Where you're leading with joy and it's just Ð gosh. We need it. Thank you. 

[01:12:42] KA: Thank you so much, Michelle. Thank you for inviting me. It was such a pleasure meeting you at NBASLH. And you were so fun.

[01:12:50] MD: Although, I cannot dance. I mean, one of the ladies I was sitting with, she was like, "Honey, you really have no dance skills." I was like, "I know. I did ballet. I can do ballet." But like Ð 

[01:13:01] KA: No. No. No. No. No. See? No. No. No. I do not rhythm shame anyone, okay? I think that dancing is from the heart. And if you do it, if you feel good and it is Ð you get something from it, then who cares how you look? That was something that I had to come to terms with. I mean, like Ð 

[01:13:20] MD: I need to work on it. 

[01:13:22] KA: No. You don't. I mean, the only way you can work on it is like by doing it really. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The only way you can work on it is just by doing it. Like I don't think that anybody should not dance because they don't have what's considered rhythm, or they don't have a beat, or whatever? You know what I mean? Like if you do it and you like it and you feel good, then you should just do it and have fun. Just have fun with it. And being women of a certain age, I think they were both in the space of life I don't care if people Ð they think, you know? And how I look. 

[01:13:52] MD: I have to say something very liberating when I got close to 40. It was just like I don't care. I don't care. Things might jiggle a little bit more than they used to and hang lower and at odd angles. But we thought Ð 

[01:14:07] KA: I have this jar, a four-letter word. 

[01:14:11] MD: That is my favorite four-letter word. It should be sent around like articles of speech, in my opinion. 

[01:14:18] KA: I know, right? And so, it was given to me through my family group of friends. And it's like these are how many of these four-letter words that I have to give. And so, I'm going to responsibly disperse them to who I want to give one. Like I don't care about that. No F to give. I don't care about that. 

[01:14:43] MD: I honestly think your dispensary jar is Ð I mean, I've received the prayer box. I think that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. 

[01:14:54] KA: Yes. And this is a gift that my good friend Ð it's a gift from my good friend, Tanika Barber. She is a clinical social worker and therapist. And she has an event that she's having called Healing In My Heels. And it is for women to do exactly with the title. It's healing. It's speakers and talks. And so, like mental wellness and self-care. This is a gift that she gave to me. 

[01:15:18] MD: I love that. Okay. Please, folks, I'm going to get a picture of this and just tuck that right on in the First Bite Podcast page because that's amazing. If you'd be so kind as to share your jar of awesomeness with us all so that we too can pick up a jar. 

[01:15:38] KA: Mm-hmm. A little wooden four-letter words.

[01:15:41] MD: Yeah. Oh, my God. This is great. Oh, I need Ð Kendra, you're amazing. Oh, this is good. 

All right, folks. Be sure to check us out on First Bite Podcast on Instagram and on Facebook. Erin and I have been busy at it. We are currently stockpile-recorded all the way through to, I believe, the end of October and still grinding. And keep your eyes abreast. We're going to host a two-day seminar for pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders later this year. We're looking at a one-day seminar on the social determinants of health and health literacy. First Bite is Ð we got big plans to continue bringing evidence and joy to you. 

[OUTRO]

[01:16:31] MD: Feeding Matters. Guide system-wide changes by uniting caregivers, professionals and community partners under the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Alliance. 

So, what is this Alliance? The alliance is an open-access collaborative community focused on achieving strategic goals within three focus areas; education, advocacy and research. So, who is the Alliance? It's you. The Alliance is open to any person passionate about improving care for children with a pediatric feeding disorder. 

To date, 187 professionals, caregivers and partners have joined the alliance. You can join today by visiting the Feeding Matters website at www.feedingmatters.org. Click on the PFD Alliance tab and sign up today. Change is possible when we work together. 

That's a wrap, folks. Once again, thank you for listening to First Bite: Fed, Fun, and Functional. I'm your humble but, yet, sassy host, Michelle Dawson, The All Things PFDs SLP. This podcast is part of a course offered for continuing education through SpeechTherapyPD.com. Please check out the website if you'd like to learn more about CEU opportunities for this episode, as well as the ones that are archived. And as always, remember, feed your mind, feed your soul, be kind, and feed those babies.

[END]
FBP 244		Transcript

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