Highest Quality of Care - Ridge Zeller Therapy

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Meghan Zeller, MS, CCC-SLP, Co-Founder of Ridge Zeller Therapy, located in Chandler, AZ, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Ridge Zeller Therapy is a female-led and SLP-owned award-winning therapy company formed by JoAnn Ridge, MS, CCC-SLP, and me. Ridge Zeller Therapy has been providing comprehensive speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and educational psychology services in the Phoenix metropolitan area for 15 years.

Our team of professional licensed and certified Speech-Language Pathologists, Speech-Language Pathology Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, School Psychologists, and therapy practitioners are committed to professional excellence in improving the quality of life for children and their families.

We provide speech-language, occupational, and school-psychologist services and team-based autism evaluations across a variety of settings, including public and private schools, in homes, by teletherapy, and in our private clinic in Chandler.

Tell us about yourself

I have always had a passion for working with children with learning differences, in part due to my experiences with having dyslexia. I became interested in speech therapy after observing my cousins with cleft palate and lip attend therapy sessions. Soon after graduating with my master’s degree in speech pathology, I moved to AZ, where I worked with JoAnn Ridge. We saw the need for providers in our community and started RZT in 2008. We have successfully grown our company to 60 employees in 15 years. I am inspired by my staff every day. Together we have positively impacted thousands of lives. It is so rewarding to see all the progress and hear the success stories of our clients and families.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I feel our biggest accomplishment is in raising awareness and providing education. We proactively support our community by providing strong mentorship and clinical fellowships to continue a legacy of excellence in our profession. We also offer staff development workshops, in-services, and continuing education for school personnel, therapists, therapy assistants, medical professionals, and families.

We are committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based services to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities and their families, always respecting each individual's unique abilities, needs, and cultural diversity.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

We pride ourselves on putting our employees and clients first. This makes it challenging when changes are made that we have no control over by our funding sources, such as insurance companies, school districts, division of developmental disabilities, etc.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. Start small and keep your overhead low. When we started, we didn’t have office space or a fancy clinic. As owners, we did every job that needed to be done until we had the money built up to hire and expand.
2. Stay on top of your growth. Make sure you are driving your growth with data and you are staying in line with your company's vision statement.
3. Hire the right people. Having people you trust is so important. Make sure your accountant, attorney, mentors, consultants, etc., have your best interests in mind. When hiring staff, make sure you hire people that have the same values and goals as your company. It is better to have an opening than to have an employee that doesn’t represent your company.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://ridgezellertherapy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ridgezellertherapy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ridge_zeller_therapy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RZTherapy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ridge-zeller-therapy-llc/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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