Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Gonzalez.
Natalia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I come from a hard-working family. My parents were the first of their families to go to college as my grandparents stopped attending school because they had to help with household activities, farm and construction work. When I was young, I always participated in group activities at school and was always designated as the “mother” of the group. My priority was always my classmates, friends and others around me. Now looking back, I know that the values and examples that I had at home from my parents, led me to be compassionate, attentive, kind-hearted. While in high school and college, I always had a “part-time job” at diverse stores, tutoring and at the university. I was always a hard-working student. Everything I had was the result of lots of effort and sacrifice. Don’t get me wrong, it was important to have good grades, but I also needed to work hard to obtain other things that would help me be a successful in the near future.
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?
It has not been an easy road. Juggling between diverse jobs and studying full time for a bachelor in Psychology and then a master degree, was the definition of a rollercoaster. Some many emotions happening at the same time but at the end, all worth it to the point that I will do it all over again. And then, when I was in the second year of my bachelor degree, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus. I had swollen joints all over my body, which led me to use assistive technology to be able to record classes and depend on others to continue my journey and be successful. For me, that was not easy. Since I was little, I had been independent and a leader. To suffer from an immune disorder and to depend on others was difficult as I was not used to it. I was used to being an example, being successful and always take care of others and then, just like that, it was completely the opposite. I needed some time to grieve, however, that time was quickly gone, and my values and positive attitude pushed me to finish my studies as planned. It was my turn to be an example for the people that suffer auto immune disease and struggle to continue setting up goals in life and continue even if it’s a rocky road ahead. The rest is history, as I battled between continuing studies in Psychology or being a Speech Language Pathologist. To this day, I believe I chose the right path.
Gonzalez Bilingual Therapy Services – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
When I graduated, I moved with my husband to the Greater Houston Area. For five years I have mostly worked with early childhood programs. My passion for early intervention has taken me to pursue diverse courses and specialized trainings to improve my skills to help this population, especially in the area of feeding. I felt that there was a part of me that needed to help more families who experienced feeding difficulties with their children, especially at early ages. That is why in 2019, I founded my company: Gonzalez Bilingual Therapy Services, LLC. My goal with this company is to provide more information about the importance of facial development and the impact of oral structures in feeding, speech and language skills, especially to be able to help Spanish speaking families in my area be more informed. I am trained in Tethered Oral Tissues from Chrysalis Orofacial, founded by Autumn Reed Henning. Her training inspired me to take the leap and start doing something valuable for the community.
There is a lack of appropriate information out there regarding issues that occur during breastfeeding, bottle feeding and when introducing solid foods to babies. I believe there is something I can do to help others gain more information and guide them in the right direction. Due to COVID-19, it has been hard to provide more information to families and colleagues (Dentists, Pediatricians, Chiropractors, ENT’s and Lactation Consultants) to collaborate and help guide families. Services are being offered via telehealth to continue serving the community while keeping everyone safe. My main goal is collaborative care to provide more information and make appropriate decisions. Being able to use each clinician’s expertise to provide best care for our patients are crucial for success.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite childhood memories are being in extracurricular activities at school. I was part of many groups at school were we got to participate and plan community service activities. The process of all the hard work to prepare for the events was not easy and took a lot of time in addition to being a student. When the events arrived, the look on other people’s faces and the joy of providing underprivileged communities with sympathy, smiles, food and toys, made every step of the way worth it. I believe that had a huge impact on what I wanted to do as an adult in life. All the hard work from juggling with working and attending graduate school, all the practice placements and all the sacrifice to gain more knowledge to be more informed and serve the community are all worth it. Taking the leap to create a company where I get to see the positive impact on my patients is a great feeling. I celebrate every little success that will offer a positive change to them and their families.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gonzalezbilingualtherapy.com/
- Email: ngonzalez.slp@gonzalezbilingual.com
- Instagram: @gonzalezbilingual
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gonzalezbilingual/
Image Credit:
Azulimon Photography
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