Hidden Gems: Meet Lauren Huffman of Balanced Beginnings Pediatric Therapy, PLLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Huffman

Hi Lauren, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am originally from the southwest! I was born in New Mexico and after moving a couple of times, my family ended up in Jacksonville, FL when I was 12. I remained in Florida for college where I attended the University of Central Florida. I graduated with my Masters degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences from the UCF in 2007. While I was in graduate school, I worked as an assistant speech language pathologist with adults with developmental disabilities and really fell in love with the clients. As I navigated two internships in graduate school with both adults and the pediatric population, I discovered my love for the medical side of the speech language pathology, specifically when it came to feeding and swallowing disorders. For the first five years of my career I worked in a home health setting as well as a a prescribed pediatric extended care center ( PPEC). I loved the collaboration and relationship building that was established at the PPEC. In 2012, my husbands job relocated us to the Raleigh, North Carolina area. I accepted a position at a pediatric feeding clinic in Raleigh. When I became pregnant with my first child, I decided I needed a job that was closer to our home is Wake Forest and allowed for more flexibility. That is when I took a job providing early intervention services in the home and preschool setting through a local private practice. I enjoyed getting to know the families, collaborating with them, and helping their kiddos thrive in their home setting. In 2019, I took a break from working as my mother was very ill with a neurodegenerative disease and I wanted to be present for my parents as the disease progressed. As my parents navigated therapeutic interventions and medical care for my mom, my eyes were opened to the other side of what I do as a professional. What the day to day looks like when the professionals aren’t there. The stress that weighs on the mind of the caregivers. The toll that it takes on the family as a whole. In 2023, my boys were back in school full time after the pandemic and I was looking for something more for me. After lots of thinking, I decided to move forward with starting my own private practice. Something I said I would never do knowing the day to day operations can be quite stressful in the healthcare field.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road of private practice has been a little bumpy and I expect continued bumps as I continue. There is much to learn when it comes to the healthcare field. I am in network with Medicaid Direct in order to serve the medically fragile population. Other than that, I am not in network with any private insurance companies as it is just myself and the the resources and time needed to bill insurance are not ideal for a small business. This helps me keep therapy rates fair in price and in the future will allow fair reimbursement for other therapists. Educating families on the benefits of a self-pay provider can be difficult.
I am a speech language pathologist so I am always learning when it comes to the business side of things!
One of my goals is to launch small parent/child enrichment series to create community amongst the families as well as support the children in a social environment. I would love to see the kids and parents apply the strategies that they learn to a social scenario and learn from one another. The marketing piece of getting this groups off the ground has been my biggest challenge.

We’ve been impressed with Balanced Beginnings Pediatric Therapy, PLLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Balanced Beginnings Pediatric Therapy is a private pediatric speech, language and feeding practice. We put the emphasis on collaboration with the family and relationship building through the therapeutic process by seeing the children in their home or daycare/preschool setting. This not only allows for ease of therapeutic carryover but it also allows the therapist to work in the natural day to day setting with client creating comfort and familiarity. Balanced Beginnings is also focused on building community through offering small ” Grown-Up and Me” enrichment group series. This allows the therapist to guide and educate caregivers in a social setting that creates community.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t really think of it as good or bad luck. I have learned that there are highs and lows in life. As hard as those lows are, there is always something to be learned. Those moments and the growth that comes from them seem to shape how t0 approach the next chapter. For example, navigating my mom’s disease with my family was the hardest thing we have ever had to do. From that hardship, I have learned the importance of connection and trust between medical professionals and the families that we work with. As a speech therapist, it is more than just showing up for a session and not worrying about that client until our next session. We need to be building relationships for trust and comfort when it comes to caregivers as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balancedbeginningspeds/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090685955043