Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Hallman.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My journey to where I am today began when I was fairly young, always having a passion for caring for and working with children. I studied child development in undergraduate and graduate school and did what most people do after they graduate…I got a job. I worked hard at providing supportive developmental therapy services for children with disabilities and their families in early intervention, but I never felt content. I also felt that my work with families was not as effective as I expected or hoped it would be, and quickly learned what people mean when they say, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” I realized that I still had so much to learn and was craving more knowledge and skills.
I have been blessed with many amazing mentors and colleagues who have helped lead me to where I am today, but it was one particular co-worker at a children’s hospital I worked at, who shared a website with me that would forever change how I viewed the work and engaged with children and families. This website was a blog that centered around a particular parenting/care-giving philosophy that immediately resonated with me and poignantly spoke to the many challenges I faced in my work. After voraciously consuming the information on the website and other places, I began to slowly weave pieces of the philosophy into my work in early intervention. What ensued were profound positive changes and progress in the children I felt stuck with previously. I realized that I had something I wanted to share beyond early intervention. I just wasn’t quite sure how.
I ended up moving from Chicago to southern California in 2013, after feeling serious burn-out from my developmental therapy work (and from the crazy Chicago winters). I needed a break and some major rejuvenation. So I took a couple months off and then started to do some part-time work in early intervention in CA, but also started dabbling in the real estate investing world. I never would have guessed that learning about building a real estate investing business would inspire me to also build my private practice. So, while I worked on my real estate investing business, Healthy Parenting Resources was simultaneously born in southern California. After desperately missing my nieces, I moved back to Chicago in 2015. Healthy Parenting Resources has grown through word of mouth from other therapists and families who have observed the positive results from my sharing and coaching of healthy parenting practices.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road traveled to where I am at today has definitely not been smooth. One of the biggest struggles I initially had was how to incorporate my new-found knowledge and passion within a system that very often felt like a contradiction to what I valued and taught. It took time for me to learn and accept that I couldn’t necessarily change the system, but that I could positively impact others who were involved in it.
I have also struggled with the loneliness of being an entrepreneur at times and maintaining my zeal for what I have wanted to accomplish through Healthy Parenting Resources. When you are the sole creator, visionary and grower of your business, it can be hard to stay motivated. The children and families have definitely been my biggest motivating factor.
It is still a struggle at times when the business fluctuates and I would say that my biggest struggle now is to strategically grow the business and various adjuncts to it that I would like to create.
Healthy Parenting Resources – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Healthy Parenting Resources exists to help parents and children be the best version of themselves. The supports that we provide to families are rooted in our depth of knowledge in child development and human behavior. We believe in the importance of the attachment relationship and view that as the foundation for learning and development. We help support a healthy attachment relationship by providing parents with the skills necessary to feel confident and competent in being the respectful leader that their children need them to be. The specific intervention strategies that are used come primarily from the RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) approach to parenting.
Healthy Parenting Resources is passionate about supporting children and families to lead peaceful and authentic lives. We provide holistic and global developmental, health, and behavioral supports to families with young children, to help maximize their developmental potential and long-term success. We provide these supports in a relationship-based, individualized, and strengths-focused way, through a coaching model, so that families can learn and implement parenting techniques that work for their child. We offer supports in a variety of settings, including the home, school/daycare, and community environments (i.e. restaurants, grocery store, park, etc.). We focus on the priorities of the family and identify which daily routines can be supported to help meet the family’s goals.
What we are most proud of and sets us apart from others is our effective and fast results when it comes to behavior challenges. We know how to coach parents in a philosophy that never fails when it comes to understanding and effectively responding to behavior challenges. We are proud of not compromising our values and beliefs when it comes to effective parenting that will last a lifetime, even if societal pressures encourage short-term band aids that many touts as being the best way. We often find and effectively address the root cause of behavior issues that families have been seeking help for from other professionals for months, but have not been able to understand or change.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It’s hard to choose one moment…I feel the proudest when families get to a place where they no longer need me to coach them because they have fully grasped and can effectively implement the parenting philosophy that I have shared with them and coached them on. It’s always hard to say goodbye to families at the end of our time together, but I know I have done a good job and am proud of my work with them, when they are ready to part ways, because it means I have been effective in supporting and coaching them.
More specifically, when parents tell me at the end of our time together that I have changed their lives for the better, or that they have never felt closer to their child, I can’t help but feel proud and melt with joy and gratitude! 🙂
Pricing:
- Initial 15-minute phone consultation – Free
- In-Home Evaluation (75-90 minutes) – $130
- In-Home Direct Service – $110 per 50 minutes
- Phone Consult – $90 per 50 minutes
- Prepaid Package Rate – $480 for five 50-minute in-home sessions (save $70)
- Prepaid Package Rate – $950 for ten 50-minute in-home sessions (save $150)
Contact Info:
- Address: 1631 S Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60616 - Website: http://healthyparentingresources.weebly.com/
- Phone: 773-653-4889
- Email: sandra@healthyparentingresources.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealthyParentingResources/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HPRChicago
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/healthy-parenting-resources-chicago
- Other: http://www.janetlansbury.com/2015/07/the-powerful-effect-of-respectful-parenting-for-children-with-special-needs-case-studies-from-sandra-hallman/
Image Credit:
Janet Lansbury
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