Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Goltz.
Laura, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always knew I wanted to devote my life to helping people. This desire guided me toward occupational therapy when I was in college at Boston University (a loooong time ago : ). After spending some years gaining as much experience with various populations as I could (premature infants, medically fragile children, youth with brain and spinal cord injuries, at-risk pregnant teens, all the way up to the elderly recovering from hip replacements or strokes), I decided I would most like to help children.
When I had my first child I left my full-time job to stay closer to home with my baby. A family in need of OT asked me to treat their child in their home. That client was happy with the progress their child made and they shared my name with a friend whose child needed OT- and so on and so on…
After a few years my husband and I moved into our first home. This home was appealing to me because it had a large empty basement. I fulfilled a dream by designing the basement as a therapy clinic with swings, a climbing wall, a chalkboard wall, and a magnetic wall.
Clients noticed that my therapy was different and that their children were making quick progress, and were having fun doing it! My name started getting shared with more families- more than I could handle.
I recruited a friend who is a pediatric OT to see a few clients in my basement with me. Then I recruited a second friend, and the referrals kept coming. When I tried to take a maternity leave after having my third child, my home felt like it had a revolving door! It was time to move the clinic outside of my home. Seven years ago, we moved into a clinic with other therapy businesses. We had one large room and one small room.
This past December we moved into our new space. We were able to design it from scratch. We have a state of the art sensory gym and many small OT rooms. Our clinic offers other services including speech therapy, behavioral therapy, physical therapy and social work. I am so proud of the growth of the business and how many children and families we have been able to help.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been a pretty smooth road. Our growth over the past 15 years has been mostly organic. We don’t really advertise our services. I strongly believe that the quality of our services does the advertising for us.
When a happy parent tells their pediatrician, their child’s teacher, or their friend how great their child is doing in OT, that translates into referrals and allows us to help more children. We’re so thankful that our happy families provide all the advertising we need : )
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Timber Ridge Pediatric Therapy story. Tell us more about the business.
I’m proud of so many things: our 7 amazing therapists, the fact that our therapy is always goal oriented and evidence based, and our warm nurturing environment. We are unique in that I reward my OTs for successful discharges. We want to help children and families in the most efficient, positive manner, and then get the kids out of the clinic and where they belong- on the playground, on a sport team, and interacting with peers. We believing in working with the child’s “team” (parents, caregivers, teachers, physicians, and other professionals) to help the child meet their goals in the most fun, nurturing way.
Our mission:
At Timber Ridge Pediatric Therapy, LLC, we provide evidence-based, individualized therapy placing great value on our holistic, goal-oriented model. Our experienced clinical staff use their expertise to meet each client where they are and help them reach their full potential in the most nurturing and positive way. We value family members and caregivers as vital members of the client’s team.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8707 Skokie Boulevard, suite 402
Skokie, Illinois 60077 - Website: Www.TRPTKids.com
- Phone: 847-877-5210
- Email: info@TRPTKids.com
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
