We had the good fortune of connecting with Ayleen Garcia Hernandez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ayleen, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I decided to start my own business due to the lack of bilingual providers in our field since I represent only the 8% of minority Speech Language Pathologists in the field. Out of that 8% about 6% of members in our national association, ASHA, speak a second language. If we think about these percentages and the growth that minority communities have had in the last 10 years, we are very behind in having sufficient bilingual providers to serve them. Consequently, I began to research everything about small businesses and read books. After I had a basic understanding, I knew I had to put myself out there and seek the mentorship of other private practice owners who also provided bilingual services. I began networking and eventually met with a few private practice owners in the area who were kind, humble, and willing to answer all of my questions. With the goal in mind to serve minority families, learning about small businesses, and seeking mentorship from other private practice owners, Farfalla Therapy, was born.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I own a pediatric bilingual therapy practice. I conduct bilingual evaluations and therapy in the areas of language, speech, and feeding development. Additionally, I conduct professional consultations with parents and other professionals. I believe my business sets me apart from other private practices because I am able to conduct services in two languages: Spanish & English. I am able to connect with many families because I have seen that some of my minority families feel more comfortable in sharing their struggles in their native language. It is already hard enough to navigate a situation in which families are being told their children are not meeting developmental milestones and on top of that be unable to fully express their concerns, worries, and fears to medical providers due to a language barrier. I am so happy to be the one able to breach that barrier and listen, help, advocate, and educate as many families as possible.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc. In your view, what are some of the most fun, interesting, exciting people, places or things to check out?
I would start our day by taking my best friend to eat breakfast at Oddfellows in Bishop Arts. Then, we would walk around and probably shop for a small plant at the Oasis Plant Shop, because she loves plants. I would then drive up to Trinity Groves and walk around Continental Avenue Bridge & West Dallas Gateway for the Dallas Skyline views. She loves snapping pictures so this would be a good spot for her to take beautiful pictures. After the long walk we would have lunch at Beto & Son. We love Mexican food. Afterwards, I would take her to see the new attraction at Klyde Warren Park which an interactive fountain that recently open called Nancy Best Fountain. After a lot of walking we would go rest and then have dinner at Gloria’s in Addison and dance the night away until 2:00am as we did back in our good college years.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without hesitation my family and husband deserve a shout out. My parents have always been my greatest supporters in all of my decisions. So whenever I told my family about the idea of starting a business my mom said, “Do it! You can do anything you want and you have proven to do so, God is with you.” They supported me by allowing me to live at home with them while I saved for the starting costs of my business. I first started my business on the side while being employed full time for another company. Subsequently, I got married and my second shout out goes to my husband who encouraged me to leave my full time job when finances were somewhat tight. He reassured me that we were going to be fine and that I had a lot of potential because I had always been driven, focus, and dedicated towards achieving my goals. So he knew this was just another goal of mine that I was going to be able to achieve without a problem. Third, my brother was a huge contributor to my business because as a finance major he explained to me what running a business entails, helped me navigate QuickBooks, and encouraged me to take Business classes like an accounting class for example. Without my family support Farfalla Therapy would not be what it is now. Lastly, I do want to give a shout out to the following books I read while doing this process which were, “You are a badass and You are a badass at making money” by Jen Sincero, and “small business for Dummies.”

Website: www.farfallatherapy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farfalla.therapy/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarfallaTherapy/

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