Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Bonkofsky. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Ashley Bonkofsky and Heather Amann met while working as speech-language pathologists in Davis School District. In 2016, Ashley began offering home-based speech therapy services to private pay clients and TriCare beneficiaries with her company, AGB Speech Therapy.
Aware that her husband’s military service would eventually take them elsewhere, Ashley encouraged Heather to begin her company, Better Learning Speech Therapy, to prevent an area gap in services. In 2017, Ashley and Heather operated competing businesses from the same clinic space. They sublet to add occupational therapy to the services provided.
Following an official merger in 2019, Better Learning Therapies was born. The company moved into a larger location to accommodate a feeding therapy program. Expansion in June 2019 included bringing occupational therapy in-house and plans to extend to physical and mental health therapies. COVID jumpstarted teletherapy options to which they pivoted over a weekend without a gap in services!
Better Learning Therapies conducts over 800 therapy sessions a month in both Utah and via teletherapy in Alaska.
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?
Better Learning Therapies has had our share of struggles. Business and running a company were not in our areas of expertise as speech-language pathologists. We had to learn how to handle finances, taxes, and insurance billing.
We’ve had to learn how to interpret and apply employment law and work with human resources. We’ve been fortunate to find experts to help us along the way.
We’ve been impressed with Better Learning Therapies, 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?
Better Learning Therapies provides interdisciplinary speech-language, feeding, occupational and physical therapy to pediatric clients and their families.
Our practitioners are highly trained in many specialized treatment approaches including Hanen programs for early language intervention, the SOS Approach to Feeding, PROMPT therapy for apraxia of speech and other oral motor needs, LSVT Big and Loud for treatment of Parkinson’s, and TMJ dysfunction just to name a few! Our administrative and billing teams are experts in helping all clients understand and maximize their benefits.
Those in the BLT family know that our foundational tenets of education, treatment, and opportunity drive all the decisions. We want those who have trusted us with their therapy needs to leave each session having learned something new that increases measurable treatment outcomes and provides ongoing opportunities for progress.
We have a huge heart for military families and recognize the struggles that are unique to a highly mobile family. We also strive to simplify life for families that are working with multiple therapy needs have multiple children in need of services.
At Better Learning Therapies, you’ll find a collaborative team of people ready to support your child and your family with knowledgeable and compassionate care.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
We were warned. We were cautioned. We were told to be very mindful of the plethora of poorly made partnerships that brought down a business. But, we’re lucky. We have many similarities, but our true strength comes in how we’ve adapted our differences to meet the needs of the company.
Our different People Styles and approaches work really well together. Ashley is a driver and Heather is amiable. Because we address and see things in different ways, it affords us a balance. Together we recognize and even seek things one of us alone might miss. Our differences also allow us to connect with our team members more effectively. We are able to divide up tasks and conversations that best fit the needs of each situation be it financial, operational, personnel-related, or just fun.
Our team experiences autonomy as professionals within their respective fields and enjoys open communication and opportunities to further their knowledge bases while working together for the best possible outcomes.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@betterlearningtherapies.com
- Website: www.betterlearningtherapies.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterlearningtherapies/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterLearningTherapies/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjwoYvECTr1j6spgkjpVAQ
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/BetterLearningTherapies
Image Credits
Christie Q Photography and Darren Scott BLT Families
