Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Wiggins.
Five years ago, Lauren opened Behavioral Learning Agency, a small business consulting with preschools and elementary schools to advocate for her client’s acceptance into mainstream schools. While working with Behavioral Learning Agency, Lauren has come across families that were lost, stressed out and unsure what the future would hold for their special need’s children leading into adulthood.
Lauren’s current clients are approaching middle school and high school and are afraid that the current system will continually fail them and will not provide the tools needed for them to succeed in life. Lauren Wiggins has recently won the Liftoff Houston business plan competition (BPC) of November 2018 with the help of Mr. Martin Kaplan at SCORE and participated in marketing events that advertised the 2019 Liftoff Houston BPC by speaking about The Block of Greater Houston. Lauren completed a video interview with the Houston Public Library Foundation (https://youtu.be/wevn5ALS4_M) that discussed details about The Block of Greater Houston. Lauren has also completed an interview with the local television station HTV in March 2019, where she discussed the program Adventures With The Block. The Block of Greater Houston has a dynamic website at www.theblockhouston.org, where future/ current clients can learn about The Block of Greater Houston. Future clients are also able to find The Block of Greater Houston on Instagram @THE_BLOCK_OF_GREATER_HOUSTON or Facebook at The Block of Greater Houston. If our clients prefer to talk to a representative at The Block, they can call Lauren at 713-245-9925 or email lmwig@theblockhouston.org.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Envisioning The Block of Greater Houston was a lot easier than writing the business plan and implementing the moving pieces of starting and running a small business. I had struggled with understanding the Houston Permitting Department. I assumed that I needed a certain permit, and I paid for it and in the end, I paid for the wrong one. I felt lost, helpless and stressed trying to correct my mistakes in the Permitting Department because I had to take time off from my job to grab multiple numbers and waiting to speak to the wrong people. In the end, I had to walk away from getting reimbursed because I took too much time from my job to understand the Permitting Department.
Please tell us about The Block of Greater Houston.
The Block of Greater Houston is a mobile special need day program, where individuals with special needs live their best life. Our individuals with special needs choose the Block because it offers friendship and responsibility through independence, self-reliance, and empowerment. With over ten years of experience working in the applied behavior analysis and verbal behavior fields, the owner Lauren Wiggins has listened to her clients and their parents and created a destination with endless possibilities where her clients and The Block will succeed. I am most proud of our strength of increasing our client’s emotional awareness, socialization, coping, communication, and perspective-taking skills, affording our clients a more independent lifestyle. The goal for The Block is to become the principal liaison for sustainable respite for the special need’s population in the city of Houston and the go-to destination for inclusion in various events happening around Houston, from sporting events to theater productions.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would not have done anything differently because all successful business owners go through failures along the way.
Pricing:
- The cost of this program is $95.00 per day
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theblockhouston.org
- Phone: 713-245-9925
- Email: contactus@theblockhouston.org
- Instagram: @THE_BLOCK_OF_GREATER_HOUSTON
- Facebook: The Block of Greater Houston
Image Credit:
Members of The Block
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