What if the career you trained for didn’t have to feel like a countdown to retirement? Today's guest turned professional dissatisfaction and a family health scare into the motivation she needed to build a private practice that truly serves her life, not the other way around. I'm so excited to share her story with you! I'm introducing you to Bianca Gizzi Fusco, a certified Speech-Language Pathologist and the founder of BG Speech Therapy, a private practice serving families in Woburn, Massachusetts. Bianca's path to speech-language pathology wasn't a straight line. She actually started out wanting to be a teacher but quickly realized she didn't enjoy the large groups and the rigid, over-planned structure of the classroom. While working as a paraprofessional in a preschool during graduate school where she was studying to become a reading specialist she discovered something she'd never even heard of before: speech therapy. It piqued her interest immediately, seeming to combine so many of her passions. So she took the necessary prerequisite classes, applied to grad school for speech, and never looked back. After earning her degree, Bianca started working in a middle school, the very one she attended as a child. She liked it at first, but she never loved it. And as the years went on, she became increasingly unhappy. She started questioning whether she was even good at her job, and whether she had chosen the right profession at all. One thing she noticed in the public schools haunted her: the constant question from colleagues, "How many years do you have left?" always referring to retirement. That question, she says, was deeply depressing. She knew she didn't want the best part of her career to be the end of it. Then came the turning point. During COVID, Bianca's father was hospitalized for a month and nearly didn't make it. She took time off work to help her mom run their family business while her dad was ill. That year, watching her family navigate a crisis, she had a reckoning: Life is too precious to have my career be a countdown to the end of it. With the support of her husband and parents who encouraged her with "Just take the course, what's the worst that can happen?" She signed up for the Start Your Private Practice course and never looked back. Today, Bianca runs a thriving clinic with a physical location specializing in working with young children, focusing on speech sound disorders, Gestalt language processors, early language development, and stuttering, a manageable caseload, and a schedule that prioritizes time with her two young sons. She sees clients back-to-back on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and Saturday mornings. She's at capacity not because she has to be, but because she chooses to be. And right now, that feels exactly right. Bianca's story is proof that private practice doesn't have to look like a big, multi-disciplinary clinic with a long waitlist and a full staff unless that's what you want. For her, success looks like flexibility, balance, and the ability to say "not right now" to hiring, while still building a profitable and fulfilling practice. In Today's Episode, We Discuss:How to start small and use a stepwise approach to build your caseload without quitting your day jobWhy your idea of "success" in private practice can and should change with the seasons of your lifeHow to use a cancellation list to fill your schedule without needing to hire staff Bianca is living proof that you don't have to be a Type-A and don’t have to be a brick and mortar owner to succeed in private practice. She calls herself a Type B+ SLP somewhere in between and that's exactly what works for her. Her favorite part of private practice? It swings with where she is in life. And that's something no pension can buy. Her story does not have to be the exception. You, too, can build the private practice of your dreams, whether that means a full clinic, a part-time side business, or something in between. If you're ready to stop waiting and start building a practice that's truly aligned with your goals, Private Practice School is here to help. We start with a Personalized Private Practice Plan and then give you the tools, such as the Life First calendar and our Numbers Made Simple Calculators, and me in your corner every week, whether you're opening the doors or growing what you've already built. Please visit www.PrivatePracticeSchool.com to learn more, and follow me on Instagram @independentclinician for more tips, inspiration, and resources to support your private practice journey. Resources Mentioned:Follow Bianca on Instagram: instagram.com/bgspeechtherapy/ Facebook: BG Speech Therapy LLC Check out her website: www.bgspeechtherapy.com Where We Can Connect:Follow the Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-practice-success-stories/id1374716199 Follow Me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/independentclinician/ Follow Me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jena.castrocasbon/
