Today we’d like to introduce you to Meara Baker.
Hi Meara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) since 2006, I have worked in a variety of settings. From 2003-2006 I worked full time as a school-based SLP Apprentice as I attended full time graduate school at the University of Northern Colorado. During this time I also started a family – my kids have 100% of my heart! I continued to work full time thereafter for 7 years as a home and community-based SLP for the Developmentally Disabled and Medically Fragile programs in New Mexico, serving all ages. It was here that I found my passion! Here, we worked together to find independence and self advocacy for our clients. “We” means the client, their families, support staff, and multidisciplinary teams. Our clients learned how to cook, manage money, learn bus routes, study for driver’s licenses, and change the oil in their vehicle. Others found their voice through Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC), opening a whole new wonderful world, making it possible to communicate with those who weren’t able to understand before. I saw deep into, and beyond the pediatric/school-age interventions. I saw how the demands of life and relationships became more complex and complicated to navigate as adults. I saw how to forge beyond “plateaus” and see how my services could open new, exciting doors; each door unique to its user. Most importantly, I saw how truly important the work we do for these very young children is SO incredibly important for their future adult selves. It’s immeasurable!
As my own life changed and brought me to new places, I spent the next 8 years trying to find an environment that honored balance between both work and family. Likewise, I wanted clients and clinicians to know their importance and impact. So, alongside my full time job in the schools for the next 6 years, I built a practice that unfolds everything I believe to be valuable to our community and staff.
Today, 2026 marks Star Speech & OT’s 11th Anniversary; we continue to reach for the stars! We have expanded to add a second location that also offers CranioSacral therapy and have the most amazing staff. I was humbly nominated as Distinguished Health Professional by the Global Who’s Who for Health Executives and Business Leaders among other honorable acknowledgements.
At Star Speech & OT, clinicians have autonomy and the ability to build their own schedules around lives outside of work. The company empowers and supports passions, financially supporting CEUs and specialty certifications such as SOS feeding therapy, PROMPT therapy, Orofacial Myofunctional therapy, and Craniosacral Therapy. One hundred percent of employee’s Health Insurance is paid by the company for full-time employees, and employees are eligible for the 401K matching program (up to 4%) on day one of employment. Time off is at the discretion of the clinician, within reasonable limits. The care provided to our clients is compassionate and honest, and communication always aims to offer openness and clarity.
Star Speech & OT has successfully provided whole-hearted services since 2015. I think we all find something at Star Speech & OT that we need in our professional lives. It offers a warm and welcome spirit, a family, friendships and laughs, appreciation and compassion. Shared knowledge and the invitation to grow. An open door and open communication. Community partnerships. Validation. Empowerment and support. And the greatest thing is – when it is afforded in one direction, it is received and reciprocated in the other.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Building Star Speech OT & CranioSacral has been nothing short of dedicated hustle. As a new mom in 2005, I had told myself my kids would not miss out on life’s adventures because I worked full time. By 2011 my family was complete with three of the most amazing kids I could ask for. Raising a very active family while working a full-time, school-based job alongside the development of Star Speech & OT is easily the job of 5 people. We are capable of the unimaginable when it is in the stars!
Star Speech & OT was born from the ground up, from $0. Anything it made, fed itself. My day job fed my home. In 2020 I stepped back from the schools, finding that I simply needed to be completely available to Star Speech & OT; by that time I had 10 employees. I now have 20.
By 2019 I’d saved enough money for a down payment to buy and build the clinic I designed. For the six years up to that point, I woke early in the morning, before most people were starting their day, to get a workout in, then sped home to get my three children ready for the day whether it was to the babysitter, daycare, or school (sometimes all three!), spent a full work day serving a caseload of 110-150 school children, and immediately left my day job to provide private therapy in a community church until the evening hours. In the meantime, I would either have my children cross the street to the church, or bus them home after school. After I provided private therapy for Star Speech & OT, I would hustle home to get one, two, or all of my children to their athletics and after school activities. They were never short on friendships and experiences! By the time we were home I had a couple of hours to prepare dinner, help them with homework, get them to bed, and prepare for the next day. Every. Single. Weekday. For years! Every minute of hustle was worth it.
During their elementary and middle school years my children were invaluable helpers to the growth of Star Speech & OT. They helped me shop for and deliver everything necessary for the clinic, deep clean every weekend, organize, and for several years I would load up the lawnmower from home while they took turns earning money to keep the clinic yard maintained. As Star Speech & OT grew, it demanded more and I simply reciprocated to its needs. More employees, more clients, more therapy materials, larger spaces, and …snacks. Snacks are of utmost importance to fuel the workday of hard working staff! It definitely was a fun adventure for my kids and I, and Star Speech & OT holds a place in our hearts almost as if it is an additional family member. Although there was hard work on the business side, what I needed to know or do always seemed to land in my lap or walk through my doors at just the right time, as long as I put in the effort to find it. There is definitely an element of “energy goes where energy flows” at Star Speech & OT.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Speech-Language Pathology was my first love. It allowed me to work in small group or individual settings with individuals, while addressing their personal needs for communication and learning. Speech-Language therapy addresses not only direct communication in terms of speech sounds and language, but also cognitive processes, feeding and swallowing, daily living skills, planning and sequencing events to fruition, and accommodating communication with augmentative and alternative communication systems (AAC). Most of us are unaware that 97% of communication is nonverbal. It is this “in-between” gray area that I find passion. This is the area where abundance lies and once we can access it and give it definition, it allows the individual to simply thrive!
As a business owner, I found my second love. In my profession as an SLP, knowing the essence of an individual and seeing their true potential was the ultimate tool to bring forth their capabilities. This is not without encouragement and support from me as the professional, dedication from the both of us, and grit from the client. As an employer I absolutely love to show my team their own ability to shine through opportunity, empowerment, validation, and gentle challenges. Treat others kindly, with humility, and be an example.
CranioSacral therapy is my newest love. It allows me to engage with clients on a much different, deeper level of connection. CranioSacral therapy is a soft-touch manipulation that relieves restrictions along the craniosacral and nervous system. It involves the release of fascia (our “emotional body”), soft tissues (supportive tissues of the body), and aligns structures to enable ease of flow for the body’s fluid systems and mechanics. It offers a nervous-system “reset.”
I am incredibly proud of my personal accomplishments, for the purpose of their intent on a grander scale. I am able to serve so many others in a way that is directly impactful, and the effects from that point forward trickle endlessly. If a system is top-down fed by positivity, compassion, healthy boundaries and expectations, interdependence and empowerment, and internal opportunities to uproot the beauty within each contributor …the effects are exponential to our collective community!
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Although my journey feels independent, the most meaningful network has been those who support me and truly SEE the intent in the bigger picture. Fellow colleagues who are willing to share life as a business owner and specialist. Fellow parents who offer help and understand the demands on some scale. Staff who express gratitude and a desire to contribute. Family members from afar who voice pride in my efforts. Kids who jump at the chance of something new. A fiancé who shows up for me and my children. Friends I may see once a year who seem like they’ve always been right by my side. Simple interactions that offer positivity, optimism, open arms, kindness, gratitude, and the ability to reciprocate can feed a visionary for a lifetime!
Pricing:
- $100 for 60 minute CranioSacral therapy
- Insurances accepted for Speech-Language and Occupational therapy
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.starspeechtherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/star_speech_ot
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starspeechtherapy
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/Meara-Baker-Star-Speech-OT-CranioSacral
