Today we’d like to introduce you to Christa Totty (formerly Sisson).
Hi Christa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The story is a long one, so I’ll hit the high notes. I am an open book, and I am always happy to share my experiences if someone can relate and benefit from my story. I am fortunate to have traversed (and continue to move) through many walks of life, starting from the daughter of a young, single mom, to having a blended family, to being a first generation college student with a master’s degree and business ownership. Throughout that timeline, a few words and phrases that surface include military, food insecure, advocate, physician’s wife, divorcee, traveler, single mom, teacher, clinician, neighbor, friend, and many, many more. I share these personal details because I understand the need to help the neighbor next door. I would say my life story is a driving force behind why and how I continue to seek positive change.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Thankfully the road has not been smooth for TideSpeak. The path has been rough,
jagged, and complex in the best of the ways. We just had our five year anniversary at
the end of June, so that was an exciting achievement for the company. The good news
is that we are growing and that growth comes with positive change. Navigating the
complexities of building effective and equitable services and a brand, coupled with
transitioning to non-profit status, has been humbling and challenging. Fortunately, I have developed resilience and
persistence that is required when the road isn’t as smooth.
As you know, we’re big fans of TideSpeak Language & Speech Therapy Inc & The Tide Network. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Our vision is to recognize that communication is beautiful in all of its
forms, even the “messy” ones. Speech therapy does not have to be what we’ve all seen
in the movies- sitting at a table, drilling words and sounds over and over and over until
ultimate perfection is achieved. In my experience, moving the body and developing
relationships promotes real communication way faster than rigid structure and routine.
Each person has a voice, and that person’s version of how they speak is just as
important and captivating as using articulators to produce sounds from the mouth.
Communication is more than just speaking words. The word TideSpeak was created to
captivate the idea that communication is like the tide. It ebbs and flows. It can be fluent,
beautiful, and captivating. It can also be dangerous, disorganized, and messy. It can be
steady, growing with time and exposure to the elements. It can come quickly in bursts
and then disappear like it was never there. I think TideSpeak toes the line of what
society thinks is effective communication and what the rest of the world needs to
accept.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Part of our positive change has been the development of our collaboration with
California’s Self-Determination Program (SDP). We have a new program called
Waterways, which utilizes independent facilitation (IF) to work with families and youth
registered with the California’s Department of Disability Services (DDS). Our newest member
of the TideSpeak team is our Waterways Program Director, Joe Chupp. In an effort to bring a clinical lense to the IF/SDP world, Joe comes from
a social work background in clinical therapy and home- and community-based services.
In Ohio, he helped develop a similar program for a Columbus-based non-profit
organization serving families and youth with mental health concerns in central Ohio. As
we continue to build our Waterways program, we look forward to connecting with
providers, services, and resources in San Diego to help better serve our clients and
their families who desperately need access in order to live more suitable lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tidespeak.com
- Instagram: @tidespeak
