I still remember the day when Rachelle, my daughter, came home from high school and said that she knew what she wanted to do with her life. She had said for years that she wanted to go to Harvard and be an attorney – and she has the logical mind and intelligence for it. But, on that day, she had been working with a program with the younger school kids and decided that she wanted to be a Speech Pathologist. She made a poster outlining how speech therapy helps people, especially children.

She started college early, when she was 17, and had her master’s degree 5 years later. She took additional training programs during college in her chosen field, mostly working with children. She went to work for a private company in Knoxville performing speech therapy in surrounding schools, taking additional training during her time there, and spent 10 years working and learning. I remember so many times over those years when she was so excited about helping a child or learning a new technique to help a child faster or better. Like her mother, she has always wanted to help.

In 2010, when I had my first cancer diagnosis and tongue surgery, I learned how helpful Speech Pathologists can be for recommending foods and exercises during recovery – for foods, swallowing, and speech issues. After four tongue surgeries, I feel very blessed to have her help.

Rachelle started her own company, 123Speech, in the fall of 2019. Since her company was new, she decided to add tele-therapy to her practice. This was an excellent move with covid ramping up in early 2020! This has allowed her to provide contactless therapy throughout Tennessee and the other states in which she is licensed. She was able to hire her first employee after her first year, and now also has a part-time assistant.

It is good to have a job you like – but to have a career that you love and are passionate about is truly a gift. I am thankful every day that she chose this kinder, gentler profession that she is very gifted at providing. Rachelle’s website is http://www.123Speech.com .