"Don't expect your path to be linear"

“Don’t expect your path to be linear.”

It has been the one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received thus far in my career. Although I didn’t know it at the time.

When looking for CFs I reached out to an SLP at a hospital in my area about availability of CF positions. The woman I emailed was nice enough to respond (it was a “no”) but she did connect me with one of the SLPs that works there.

That 2nd SLP was also kind enough to speak with me about general career advice for a few mins (amazing!) And that quote is one thing that I think back to still, now that I fully understand what it means.

My path to voice has been anything but linear. In fact it’s been a squiggle, a scribble, a crazy maze. 🤪Just me or can anyone else relate?!

Could I have taken a much more linear path? Yes. But that would have meant settling for a job that didn’t give me the experience I wanted in a CF (SNF included for me). 👎🏻

A CF is supposed to be a time where you learn a ton, ask questions, hone your clinical skills and feel like both an expert but that you know nothing at the same time 🙃

I didn’t want a CF that didn’t challenge me or push me to grow in the right ways.

SO- I essentially pushed for and created my own CF positions on multiple occasions; I did multiple part time CFs, and ended up doing a much longer CF duration because of that in order to get the best experience and training in voice that I could. Sounds crazy? Well it was! It was also exhausting and a C’s paperwork nightmare (sorry ASHA!) but you know what?! It was every bit worth it.

The details of this complicated journey is far too long for the 130 character limit but what I’ll say here is “don’t expect your path to be linear”. Don’t settle until you get the experience you - but ONLY if you’re willing to make sacrifices and take risks.

Want to hear my full story the A to Z of how I ended up specialized in Voice? Join my email list here (scroll down) for the full scoop coming soon- warning: it’s a long one so you may want to get comfy and grab a snack while you read 😉

Reach out to connect and share what your past or current journey to voice or the voice CF has been like 👇🏻