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Show Notes
In this episode of Tim Talks: ABA Therapy, Timothy A. Zercher sits down with Shannon Carr, the Owner & Managing Director of Living Soul of New York Applied Behavior Analysis, to discuss her journey in the field of ABA. Shannon shares her transition from school psychology to behavior analysis, her strategies for maintaining quality care across different environments, and how she’s tackling the challenges of recruiting and retaining top talent. Tune in for insights on building strong teams, collaborating with pediatricians, and overcoming recruitment hurdles in the ABA field.
Episode Overview
00:00 – Timothy A. Zercher:
Thank you so much for joining us, Shannon. We really appreciate having you on today. We appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule and sharing some insights with us today.
00:08 – Shannon Carr:
Yeah, no problem.
00:09 – Timothy A. Zercher:
Absolutely. So let’s jump right into our questions. Your job is not an easy one, and I find that almost everyone in this field has a story, sometimes really interesting, sometimes really personal, about how they got here. If you wouldn’t mind sharing your story, I would love to hear it.
00:24 – Shannon Carr:
Yeah, so it’s kind of a long one because I told them I’m older than I look. But actually, it got started 15 years ago. So I’m actually a school psychologist…
01:47 – Timothy A. Zercher:
Awesome, that’s awesome. Yeah, you do look younger than you are! So how do you maintain quality and consistency across home, school, and center-based services since those are all very different environments?
01:56 – Shannon Carr:
I’ll take it. Yeah, that really speaks to the strength of your team…
02:41 – Timothy A. Zercher:
That’s awesome. It’s all about the team at the end of the day. So what strategies have worked best for you in building strong collaborations with pediatricians and other agencies?
02:49 – Shannon Carr:
Yes. Yeah, so what I used to do is lunch and learns…
03:52 – Timothy A. Zercher:
That’s awesome. What challenges have you faced in recruiting and retaining top talent? I know that’s always a problem, especially in New York.
04:24 – Shannon Carr:
Yeah, that is our biggest problem right now…
06:31 – Timothy A. Zercher:
Absolutely. Well, I think you have to be right because the amount of time and energy that you put into new hires is so extreme that if you hire wrong…
06:34 – Shannon Carr:
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, so I have a Google calendar and I do time blocking…
07:35 – Timothy A. Zercher:
Absolutely, that’s awesome. So we just now talked about you are in a difficult space for recruiting. How does your team go about gaining new talent, especially attracting new talent? What is working well for you right now?
07:46 – Shannon Carr:
Yeah, so some things worked and some things didn’t…
09:52 – Timothy A. Zercher:
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. I like that smaller and more heartfelt specifically. What is one recruitment or marketing tactic that you’re currently considering or watching in the marketplace these days?
10:28 – Shannon Carr:
So I definitely still like the idea of word of mouth…
11:00 – Timothy A. Zercher:
That’s awesome. Well, and ways to amplify word of mouth, right? Word of mouth is one of those things that is hard to turn up and turn down based on demand, based on need. Thank you so much. We really appreciate you taking time.
11:08 – Shannon Carr:
Yes. Thank you.
