Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Tao.
Annie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The idea behind Always Keeps Progressing originated about a year ago. It had just struck midnight on my 26th birthday, and I was sitting on my couch contemplating a question I had been considering for a while – did I want freedom or stability? All my life, society had taught me that I needed to go to college, get a job that with good benefits, and save up for retirement. Leading up to my 26th birthday, however, I began to question whether this was what I wanted for my life.
The idea of starting my own business came to me while I was working as a speech-language pathologist for other companies. Each year, I found myself looking for something new. I was becoming burnt out with each job, constantly yearning for something more. It always felt like something was missing. I realized then that what I was missing was a challenge. I realized I wanted to develop my own company, one in which I could truly decide who I wanted to be and what I wanted to accomplish. With my own company, I could come up with my own innovative ideas, design, employee/employer dynamic, and therapist/patient dynamic.
Growing up, I had always been passionate about music. I had learned to play the piano and violin from a young age, later teaching myself guitar as well. Throughout my college years, I continued studying piano, earning a bachelor’s degree in music performance and gaining valuable experience as a concert soloist with my college’s symphony orchestra. Later, as I began my graduate studies in speech-language pathology, my busy schedule left me with less and less free time to practice piano or play music. I had always been so passionate about working with kids with disabilities, yet I felt like I was no longer able to channel my inner creativity and artistic personality. At the same time, I felt frustrated that many of the existing companies weren’t utilizing technology in the right ways to improve the client and therapist experiences. Wrapped up with all of these thoughts, I decided to open up my own practice. Always Keep Progressing, my company, would be dedicated to children with Autism and other disabilities, and would uniquely transform speech and occupational therapy through the joint powers of technology and music.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
This journey has definitely not been easy. There have been many sleepless nights and moments when I thought I wouldn’t be able to do this anymore. At the end of the day, though, it has all been unbelievably worth it. Building Always Keep Progressing up from the ground has been one of the most challenging projects I’ve ever taken on. As a young woman of color trying to start my own company, I have faced many challenges. Not only has it been difficult to be taken seriously due to my age and generally young appearance, but it has also been a struggle just trying to be heard by others in the industry.
The hardest part has been feeling helpless when I inevitably face roadblocks, particularly when working with insurance companies. Many of the insurance companies and doctors are accustomed to working with bigger companies that have been around for a long time. As a result, for someone with no prior experience in running a business, I feel like I won’t be able to make it in this industry. However, I’ve come to realize that even when I am feeling overwhelmed, the moment will always pass. In one day, one week, or even one month, those moments won’t feel like such a big deal anymore. Everything I’ve experienced has given me a newfound admiration for anyone who has started their own company, as well.
Please tell us about Always Keep Progressing.
Always Keep Progressing is a private healthcare practice that provides speech, occupational, and music-infused therapy to children with developmental delays, Autism, and/or other disabilities. We provide services in-home care, in schools, and in our clinic in Biscayne Park, and we specialize in Autism, speech/language delays, and music-infused therapeutic approaches. There are so many things about the company that I am proud of – the technology-based, paperless approach to being an eco-friendly company, the therapies we utilize, our team of staff and therapists who make our company so great, and the ways in which our staff are willing to go out of their ways to help families out as much as they can. Obtaining services for children through insurance can be stressful and daunting, and as a result, we aim to make the client experience as stress-free as possible. Our music-based approaches to therapy are truly unique and help to set us apart from other practices. So many children, particularly children with autism, have an interest in music that can make a world of difference in therapy progress. We also create blogs to bring awareness to the world of autism and to give voice to the lived experiences of individuals who have been diagnosed with autism https://alwayskeepprogressing.com/autism-stories-a-story-from-london/ (and their families) from all around the world. We want to show families who might be going through similar things, that they are not alone.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
From everything I’ve experienced, I’ve realized that if you truly want to succeed and you really believe in what you’re doing, you have to dedicate 100% of your time and effort to the business and really give it you’re all. If I had to start over, I would have been even quicker to leave my other jobs so that I could have had even more time to devote to building up this company. In the beginning, I also would have dedicated a lot more time to contracting with insurances at a faster rate. All of this extra time could have allowed me to establish AKP earlier, having a greater impact on children for a longer time.
Contact Info:
- Address: 11601 Biscayne Blvd, STE 312, Miami, FL 33181
- Website: www.alwayskeepprogressing.com
- Phone: 786-206-4151
- Email: info@alwayskeepprogressing.com
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