December 15, 2023 • 31 mins
Kristin has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR family members involved in her ABA organization that she started in 2017. We dish on the tips/tricks needed to make that successful and what it means to build a values-aligned organization that's invested in your team members. Enjoy, kind listener!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome back to Building BetterBusinesses in ABA with me,
Jonathan Mueller.
It's a weekly podcast about theforces reshaping our autism
services field.
Learn from successfulentrepreneurs, payers,
investors, and leaders inapplied behavior analysis.
Thank you, kind listener, forletting me into your world
today.
Now onto the show.
Jonathan (00:30):
My guest today is Kristen Hanson.
Kristen is a BCBA and the CEO,founder, and clinical director
of Axis Therapy Centers.
She's on the board of directorsfor the Autism Society of Iowa.
She's on the autism expert panelfor the Iowa regional autism
assistance program.
And she's a former board memberof the Iowa association for
behavior analysis.
Kristen founded Axis in 2017Axis is a multidisciplinary
(00:54):
clinic providing ABA socialskills groups, occupational
therapy, speech therapy, andcurrently has four clinic
locations across Iowa.
Kristen lives in Maxwell withher husband and three kiddos,
and in her free time, she enjoysgoing to baseball games,
attending concerts, reading, andcoaching her children's sports
teams.
Kristen, welcome to the pod.
Thank you,
Kristin (01:13):
jonathan.
And thank you for having me.
So
Jonathan (01:15):
excited.
Yeah, I'm excited too.
you know, one of the things thatwhen we first met that you told
me like your goal was never tobe a CEO or a business owner.
And that's so resonated with mebecause like, I feel like this
is a story of so many BCBAbusiness owners and non BCBA
business owners like myself.
I ever really set out to dothat.
But it just, we sort of happenedto do it.
(01:35):
What was your goal in startingAxis?
Kristin (01:38):
Well, I mean, you are absolutely right.
Being a CEO, being a businessowner, it was never a goal,
never thought I had in my mind.
all I knew is that I wanted tobe a BCBA and I wanted to help
kids and families.
So before starting Access, I'dbeen working as a BCBA and I was
doing all the direct treatmentfor the kiddos on my caseload,
(01:59):
but I saw that there was such aneed for ABA services in our
state and I just felt like Ineeded to make a greater impact.
I wanted to create a place forfamilies and children with
autism to come for serviceswhere they could feel safe and
supported.
And while it just started as asmall little ABA clinic with
(02:20):
myself, I mean, within a fewmonths we had technicians, we
had speech therapy, eventuallyat occupational therapy.
So I never imagined, I couldnever picture Axis growing into
what it is today, but honestlyit all happened so organically.
Jonathan (02:36):
I want listeners to understand.
I love this portion, what youdescribed, like you want it to
make a greater impact.
And if there's ever a sniff testfor like, is someone getting
into our field that startedorganization for the right
reasons?
It comes down to that.
I didn't want to be a businessowner necessarily or CEO or
anything big and fancy.
It was just, you want it to makea bigger impact or a bigger
difference in kids lives.
So I think that's reallypowerful.
(02:58):
And tell me Kristin now that youare a successful CEO.
Business owner of a practice.
what does wild success at Accesslook like to you?
Kristin (03:06):
I would say.
For me, wild success is knowingthat every single individual
that comes into Axis, whether itbe a client, a family member,
um, a staff member, that theyfeel some sort of positive
impact.
So, I want clients and familiesto feel a positive and
(03:26):
significant change.
And I want staff to feel valuedand to know that they're a part
of.
Making that impact on somebodyelse's lives.
So I just, I want them to feelempowered.
So I guess wild success to me isthat anybody that comes into
contact or experiences anyaspect of Axis is.
(03:46):
It's impacted positively.
Jonathan (03:49):
This is why we're so like minded.
This is what we talk about, andespecially in the context of
candidates and recruiting, whenwe talk about Ascend and
Element, it's like, if someoneis positively impacted by an
interaction with us, even ifthey choose never to come work
with us, or we choose that maybethey're not the right fit, they
should somehow benefit from thatinteraction.
That just feels like what makesour communities in our world.
(04:10):
a better place.
Um, and so I love that.
I absolutely love that.
so something that's kind ofunique about you, is that your
brother is your businesspartner.
I got to meet Eric at the autisminvestor summit in LA in April.
Oh my gosh.
That's such a fun conversationwith him.
I feel like I get to talk tohim.
Yeah.
Yeah.
but as your business partner,you gotta give me all the digs,
dude.
(04:31):
I'm not looking for gossip, butjust like what is it like
working with a family member andthen like what tips and tricks
would you share with listenersabout getting that working
relationship right?
Kristin (04:40):
Well, I actually have three business partners.
And they are all family.
So, that's something uniqueabout Axis is that, there's four
owners.
It's myself, my brother, my mom,and then my sister in law.
So Eric's wife.
a lot of people say It's notsmart to mix family and
business, but in my situation,there would not have been a
(05:00):
business without family.
but I would say my brother wasprobably the strongest factor,
the person pushing me to startAxis.
I mean, my family were the onesthat had the business
background.
So I was just the clinician witha passion and they were the
experienced business owners.
And so it was just the perfectcombination.
(05:23):
Um, but yeah, my brother is theone that is with me on most of
the day to day stuff.
And I mean, I gotta say it'spretty awesome.
So we have both said that.
That this has brought us closertogether, like our relationship.
I mean, growing up, he wasalmost four years older.
So, we weren't that closegrowing up.
(05:43):
So it's pretty cool now workingwith my brother, we've taught
each other so much.
I've learned so much from him,business side.
And I think he's probablylearned so much from me, I
guess, clinic side.
And he's had so many.
Business ventures in the past.
And he said multiple times thatthis is the first time that he's
actually felt the spark or feltthe passion for the business
(06:05):
and, made it a bigger thing forhim because now it's creating a
legacy for our family.
And he, he just loves thataspect.
And, um.
I don't know.
We've learned a lot about eachother over the past, almost six
years running a businesstogether.
And I think you kind of saw byhanging out with us as we, we
balance each other out as he'sbusiness guy and expand and, and
(06:30):
grow and big, big business.
And I am.
Like clinician side andsignificant change and that
quality.
And so we just learned so muchfrom each other.
And honestly, I love knowingthat at the end of the day, no
matter what either one of ushave said or did that may have
pissed each other off is that.
I'm 100 percent positive that wewill always have each other's
(06:52):
backs.
We'll always support each other.
It's unconditional love andsupport.
It's like, we can't quit on eachother.
Any other business partner youcould quit, but I mean, we
can't, we can't quit on eachother.
So it's pretty awesome.
Jonathan (07:04):
I wanna hear your tips and tricks, but I remember one
of the conversations we had inthinking about balance, which is
so important in any partnership,no matter if that person's
family or not, he's one thatwants to grow.
And you told me one point,you're the one that's thinking
about, well, who is thatclinical director whom I'm going
to put in that center to besuccessful?
Right.
And you need both of thoseperspectives.
Um, complimentary perspectives.
(07:26):
I found that always maximizesthe chance that an organization
is going to achieve theoutcomes.
Uh, but anyway, sorry tointerrupt you.
Tell me about those tips andtricks.
Kristin (07:34):
You're right.
I mean, before I go into that, Ijust want to touch base that it
is.
Perfect balance because he isthe one that has pushed me out
of my comfort zone and hasactually developed me into a
business owner.
And recently we just did, an allstaff training where we bring
all four locations together.
We spend the whole day together,doing different workshops and
(07:55):
trainings.
And something that we doannually is we'll do the DISC
personality assessment with ourstaff.
And, my mom.
used to be a lecturer on that.
And so she gives thatpresentation.
And so it's really fun to learnabout what every single person
within your organization, whattype of personality they are.
And then we go into, the bestways to communicate with
(08:18):
different personalities and howyou're perceived and how you
should maybe alter the way youcommunicate.
but I was going to say like mypersonality type on this
assessment has changed over thepast two years.
And.
It's honestly, it's, myexperience as a business person
and running a business.
I I, I've had to change my waysand the way my mind works.
(08:41):
And while my secondcharacteristic is still there,
my, my dominant one has changed.
And so it's pretty awesome tokind of literally, again, I love
data.
So to see that data on my owngrowth, as far as tips and
tricks or advice to get thatworking relationship, right,
definitely think there needs tobe.
(09:01):
Clear and honest communication.
Something that my family,especially Eric has learned from
me is over communication is bestwith me.
not that I'm always going tohave a response or anything, but
I just, I want to be in theknow.
And so communication back andforth.
and also an understanding ofexpectations and knowing what
(09:21):
your lane is, what your role isand who's going to support who
and what, and who's going totake the lead.
So just knowing expectations,understanding them, but.
As long as everyone's on thesame page and working towards
the same mission and have thesame values, then you're golden.
Jonathan (09:38):
You are golden.
I have to come back to the discbefore I come to the working
relationship.
I am a huge and passionate fanof disc and we use that
actually, that elementfrequently as a way, not as a
way to categorize people, butmore as a way, it sounds like
the way you're doing it, helpingyou best communicate.
Um, and yeah.
(09:59):
receive information from others.
And just for our listeners whoaren't familiar, you know, you
can do a basic free test online.
the four different types aredominance, D, influence, I,
steadiness, S, andconscientiousness, C.
and then you have like your truestyle, I think they call it, or
your natural style.
And then you have adaptive, likehow you adapt to the workplace.
(10:20):
Now my style is actually Athousand percent consistent,
natural and adaptive.
And it's a big I influence andthen a little d.
What's yours, Kristin?
Kristin (10:31):
Well, I used to be an S I, dominant S, um, and now I'm a
dominant D I.
And so the I is, like your fun,loving, party, you know, person,
fun.
I, I'm glad I didn't lose that.
Cause that's definitely there.
But before when I was thesteady, mediator, everybody's
(10:52):
gonna, let's see your bothsides.
Now I I've taken on more of thedominance.
Like we got to take the lead.
We're going to give direction.
We're going to make sure there'sfollow through and.
And I guess I'm, I'm reallyproud of that too, is because to
me, you kind of have to be a Dto be a strong leader.
Jonathan (11:09):
You do.
It's, it's a common personalitytype.
Um, I feel like when meetingCEOs of organizations and one of
the things I love about the discand would love your reflection
on this, if you see it that waytoo, is within 30 seconds, you
can understand where someone is.
And it's based on two questions.
on one axis is, are they, openor guarded.
(11:30):
And on the other axis is arethey fast paced or slower paced?
And so totally open and, fastpaced that's my style.
That's I influence.
And that's me.
And like, I, you know, wear myheart on my sleeve and I'll say
what's on my mind.
but what's really interestingis, I know a D, because, oh,
okay, I'm going to see someonewho's fast paced but is a little
(11:51):
guarded.
And these are the folks usuallythat are getting right to the
heart of it at the beginning ofa meeting.
And a D, their biggest fear isbeing wrong.
And the biggest thing they craveare options.
And so it always helps to setthis reference point for me as
I'm talking to someone.
But I don't know, tell me moreabout how you use DISC.
Kristin (12:10):
So we use it in this.
Specific scenario with our staffis we use that where we wanted
everyone to know what theirpersonality type was.
And then we actually had them goto a corner and with the picture
of the letter so that everyonein the room could see what
personality type everyone is.
And then my mom would be talkingabout the characteristics of
(12:33):
that person and talking aboutways that they.
like to be communicated to andways that they communicate to
others.
and so it was really cool tolook around the room and I see a
lot of, my back end people, likethe insurance specialist, admin
people, like their C's andthey're like, heck yeah, their
C's.
(12:54):
They like procedures.
They like to get it done.
They like to know we're going todo it right this way.
And this is the way it's goingto be done.
And we're going to get it done.
Right.
And I know it's going to be doneright.
And then we've got our I's overthere that's like, yep, there
are party planners, but theydon't always remember to get the
session notes done.
Um, yeah.
It was really cool.
(13:14):
Um, then we, we moved into kindof a training and a workshop on
communication.
So effective communication witheach other.
best ways to get your messageacross an email.
If you're sending an email to aD, don't write six paragraphs.
Um, the D just wants to know theheart of the message.
And, um, if a D is emailing anI, they might read it as you're
(13:35):
mad at them.
When in fact, you're just like,I got to shoot this out real
quick.
So maybe throw a smiley face atthe end, you know what I mean?
So it's just learning how tobetter communicate with each
other, at every level.
So don't take things personaland maybe cater the way you're
communicating with somebody ifyou feel like it's not being,
you know, received the way thatyou were hoping.
Jonathan (13:57):
You know, I know some of our listeners are listening
right now and they're like,Jonathan, Kristin, that takes so
much time.
And how do we take people awayfrom their caseloads and all
this other stuff?
And my answer to that is we arefreaking people, businesses at
heart.
Right.
And that's where most of ourcosts go.
That's the entirety of whetheror not we're successful or not
successful is if we have wellqualified values aligned people
(14:19):
to deliver services to ourfamilies.
And so how my perspective is,how can you not spend all this
time since we are people, humanservices business, right?
Absolutely.
Well, speaking of this, you'vegot seven BCBAs.
Um, and one of the things thatlike really blows me away, all
(14:39):
of them, Kristin, started asbehavior technicians with you.
what's been the secret to yoursauce and homegrown growing your
own
Kristin (14:46):
luck?
No, I'm just kidding.
Um, honestly, I would say takingthe time to really connect with
them, when they come in astechnicians, giving them quality
training, helping them identifywhere their strengths are with
skills, where they still need togrow, where they want to grow,
(15:09):
what are their goals, shortterm, long term, knowing that a
lot want to go back to school,getting partnerships with
colleges.
just empowering them and thatcould be training, coaching,
making sure that they have theresources they need to succeed
and always, always, alwaysmaking sure they know their
value.
I just think it's very vital tohave a strong, solid foundation
(15:32):
of values that your entire team,your entire organization knows
what they are, they understandwhat they mean and they are able
to make them actionable on a dayto day basis.
Jonathan (15:42):
I want to pinpoint this here.
Make sure your staff understandtheir value.
I think it's really easy in, Imean, how hard it is running
organizations and as leaders,the million and one things we
have in our checklists.
and look, our ABA field, it'shard right now to be successful
in our ABA field.
and that just means that it'sreally easy to skip over the
(16:04):
most fundamental thing, which istelling your people what they
mean to you and what they meanto their clients.
You can't do that enough.
You literally can't.
Like that's just the physics, Ithink, of human relationships.
So I love hearing that you, youdo that.
And when I hear you morebroadly, Kristin, describe this
(16:24):
organization, AXIS, that you'vebuilt, you know what comes to my
mind is this term of like anorganization of intention.
Um, cause I think mostorganizations and most systems
in life and in the world beyondjust like businesses, they tend
toward entropy, toward chaos,right?
if they're not the right systemsin place, the right
reinforcement, the right, all ofthat stuff that goes into
(16:46):
creating good systems, right?
But.
Anyway, what I hear in my mindis this organization of
intention.
what have you gotten right?
and what have been ongoingchallenges that you've
experienced when it comes tobuilding your leadership staff?
Kristin (16:59):
Um, definitely investing in.
The staff, all staff, first ofall.
So There's a quote that wasshared with me that I love that
is if you create leaders, peoplewill stay.
and so I love the idea ofeveryone in your team, make them
a leader, train them to be aleader.
Cause you can be a leader ofanything.
(17:22):
it goes back to just empoweringthem, give them the tools
necessary to succeed and thenlet them soar.
so I have been blessed with someamazing individuals that have
made the choice to be a part ofAxis and they give it their all
and making sure again, that theyknow their value and to continue
to build them up so that theycan just be their very best and
(17:45):
excel at the skills that they'regreat at is.
is what it comes down to.
I guess some challenges that,that I've experienced would
probably be not putting theright people in the right
positions.
So either that be puttingsomeone that's not the best fit
for a higher leadershipposition, or waiting too long to
(18:07):
put somebody in that leadershipposition that should have been
there earlier.
So learning from, I wouldn't saymistakes, but just learning from
things that didn't work out theway you wanted them to.
Jonathan (18:21):
Yeah, you know, there's this misconception,
Kristin, that I've seen, notjust in ABA, across all
organizations, all businessesout there, that it's like
leadership is this designation.
And frankly, that's BS.
in fact, designated leadership,like you have the title, is
actually the weakest form ofleadership.
There, there are other forms,right?
Like, peer leadership, activefollowership.
(18:44):
there are plenty of, Every Mypoint is everyone is a leader
and you just tact at that,right?
mm-Hmm, But people won'tnecessarily think that, Hey, as
an RBTI can be a leader becauseI'm planning a party, or because
I'm helping to provide in greatinput into the next iteration of
our residency program orwhatever it is.
literally, everyone can be aleader, and I think it's our
(19:05):
responsibility as leaders tohelp them understand that.
And then.
Create a context environment inwhich they can step up and be
their best leader.
Yes,
Kristin (19:16):
absolutely.
There's been so many positionswithin or titles within our
organization that have just comeabout organically and developed
because of people wanting tostep up and take on more because
They feel like they have thoseleadership qualities.
And so we've just developed somany different positions and
(19:37):
levels that yeah, take the lead,soar.
you've got the skills, go for itbecause it's such a cohesive
unit within an organization whenpeople feel that they have the
freedom to take the lead andmake that positive impact and
change and to use their skillsto the best that they can.
Jonathan (19:55):
So true.
Take the lead, soar, you've gotthe skills for it.
Dude, I'm going to put that likeup on my wall.
I don't know if you've seen TedLasso, but you know, he's got
that believe statement.
It is above his office.
I'm going to do that.
Take the lead, soar, you got theskills for it.
That is like pure motivation.
By the way, Kristin, so sorry,slightly changing topics here.
But, I think I just learnedrecently that y'all actually
(20:16):
have your three year BHCOEaccreditation, which is the
highest level of accreditationthat there is.
And for listeners that aren'tfamiliar, number one, go out and
just get accredited, right?
Whether it's BHCOE or ACQ orsomething, just go do it.
This shows such a powerfulsignal for quality.
but three years is hard to getbecause you have to pass certain
thresholds in.
(20:36):
Feedback from your families andfrom your team members, right?
And it's a nerve wrackingprocess.
So I got to ask you, what wasyour experience going through
BHCOE accreditation and why theheck did you even decide to do
it in the first place?
Kristin (20:48):
So we, when we very first opened, we went through
with it and we got the one yearand.
I was like, come on, we're goingto do better than that.
And so we reapplied the nextyear and yes, we did finally get
the three year.
It felt so good.
we sought that out because wewant to continue to have
evidence that we are the highestquality and we are going to do
(21:10):
the best that we can, by allstandards.
I mean, we've literally had ahuge company come in and
critique every single thing ofour business and our care from
every aspect, from families tostaff to policies, procedures.
but also it holds us accountabletoo.
It holds us accountable tocontinue to strive and make sure
(21:34):
that we are Again, always at thetop and doing the best that we
can.
Jonathan (21:40):
It's so funny how our stories are so similar.
So we got actually BHDOE, Idon't know if they still do, but
they had a preliminaryaccreditation.
We got that in early 2018 whenwe were still small.
And then 2019 we went throughthe full accreditation and we
got a one year just like y'alldid.
And then in 2020 we got thethree year and for good measure,
we went after telehealthaccreditation and we got that
(22:01):
too.
That was like, it was amazing.
Yeah.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Oh my gosh, thank you.
It's a lot of, I mean, you, youknow it best.
It is a freaking lot of work,but it's like, you know, put
your money where your mouth is,is my opinion on this.
But, you know, you made thiscomment, hey, we can do better.
And I think this is reallyimportant.
And that is accreditation isn'tthis destination.
(22:22):
Accreditation is simply acommitment to continuous
improvement.
And as an organization,especially as a human services
organization, entrusted with thelives of kiddos with autism.
I don't know if an organizationisn't actively demonstrating
every single day we arecommitted to 1 percent better
every day, or we're committed tocontinuous improvement.
(22:43):
Then I'll that, I don't knowthat, if I were the parent of a
child with autism, not that Ican speak for them, but I don't
know that I would want my kiddocoming to a place that wasn't
very openly committed tocontinuous improvement.
Kristin (22:55):
Absolutely.
I 100 percent agree with that.
Jonathan (22:58):
Well, Kristen, what's one thing every ABA business
owner should start doing and onething to stop doing?
Kristin (23:03):
I would say if you're not already doing this, Take the
time to listen to your staff.
Take their feedback intoconsideration.
Make change, make improvements.
something that we do at AXIS isthat we have check in meetings,
and that can be with your directsupervisor.
It can be with me.
It can be with the ownershipteam as we want to really
(23:25):
promote that open communicationand We want to hear from them
because AXIS or anyorganization, wouldn't be what
it is without every singlelevel, every single staff member
on the team.
But listen to them, listen totheir ideas, listen to their
concerns.
They are going to be the onesthat, a lot of the times, Techs
(23:46):
have amazing ideas.
they're the ones that aretalking to the parents, pick up,
drop off.
they're gonna have amazingideas.
They're in the day to day andthe thick of it and the
trenches.
But listen to your staff andtake the time to invest in them.
It does take a lot to close downfour clinics.
for a whole day and to bringeverybody together and to buy
(24:08):
them lunch and to not haverevenue coming in for a whole
day.
But the impact that makes isit's empowering.
there's staff that haven't evenmet each other cause we have
four.
Locations.
And so bring them together forteam building.
we ended the day with a bigbarbecue at a park and our
families joined and just thatfeeling of cohesiveness and
(24:30):
togetherness and everybody'skids are playing together and we
got to meet husbands andboyfriends and girlfriends and
wives and just take the time tocreate that strong culture
because your staff are going tohave some hard days.
They're gonna be burnt out.
They're going to feel likethey're at their wits end, but
that's going to be the thingthat they're holding onto is
(24:52):
that sense of community, thatsense of support and like their
work family.
So we say that all the time isthat you're part of the Axis
family.
So take the time to invest inyour staff, to create that.
sense of security and supportwith them.
just take the time to listen toyour staff and get to know them
and they feel
Jonathan (25:13):
valued.
I'm not sure how you run asuccessful organization without
doing that.
Right.
If, or without listening tothem, especially because to your
point, they're the experts.
In fact, I, and I'm not sure ifI've I mentioned this before on
the pod, early on in the ascenddays, I used to do like almost
secret, not secret shopper.
Like I would let the RBT know wewere all at home based, but I
would say, Hey, I'm going tojust show up at the end of your
(25:34):
session and just say hi to thefamily.
Say hi to you.
Would love to hear how thingsare going.
And do you know what families,would consistently, the question
they would ask their techs andmost organizations aren't aware
of this, Hey, how well does yourABA provider treat you?
Because families know.
families feel like they have arelationship not with the
organization, but with theirbehavior technician.
(25:57):
And it was an eyeopeningexperience.
It was eyeopening for me becauseit forced me to then get in this
mindset of always thinking howis an RBT or a BCBA gonna answer
that question the next time afamily asks and what can I do to
make sure that they say, Oh mygosh, I love being here and I
feel well supported and I lovecoming every day.
(26:17):
So
Kristin (26:18):
I get it.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that it's, it'simportant to send out those
staff satisfaction surveys, wesend them out every six months
and we take the time.
We read through every single oneand we let staff know we read
it.
We heard you.
This is a summary of what we'rehearing.
And We want make them aware thatwe're actively listening.
(26:42):
We'll make a change.
If we can make the change, we'lldo it for you.
same thing with those caregiversatisfaction surveys.
You've got to get those out too.
They are your stakeholders.
This is who you're doing it for.
If they're not happy, thenyou're losing your whole point
of doing
Jonathan (26:55):
what you're doing.
Amen So what's one thing that,uh, ABA organizations should
stop doing?
Kristin (27:02):
Well, that's a hard one to answer.
So every business is different.
Everybody's got their own uniqueset of practices.
So it's hard for me to, toreally pinpoint that.
I
Jonathan (27:13):
don't know.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
Well, how about this?
If someone's not beinginquisitive, be curious Yes,
yes, for sure.
Where can people find youonline?
Kristin (27:26):
Well, our website is www.
axistherapycenters.
com.
It's A X I S.
and we're also on LinkedIn.
My LinkedIn is Kristin Hanson,BCBA.
And we are also on Facebook.
Jonathan (27:42):
And I'll make sure to drop all those in the show notes
and, uh, Hanson is spelled H A NS O N.
Kristen is spelled K R I S T IN.
And so it's now time.
Kristen, are you ready for thehot take questions?
Yeah, let's do it.
Alright, you're on yourdeathbed.
What's the one thing you want tobe remembered for?
Kristin (28:05):
The love for my family.
I want my family to know howmuch they meant to me and how
much I loved them andappreciated them.
Jonathan (28:14):
What's your most important self care practice?
Kristin (28:18):
That would be taking time for myself, which is very
hard.
just shutting off work and beingpresent and in the moment with
my kids is just like a hardreset for me.
Works every time.
Jonathan (28:30):
Do you have a favorite song and or music genre?
Kristin (28:35):
I can get down to just about any genre of music, but I
will always be a small towncountry girl at heart.
I do know every word to WeDidn't Start the Fire.
So, if I had to pick a favoritesong or karaoke song, you better
believe I'm going for that one.
Jonathan (28:53):
It's a history lesson and an inspiring, uplifting
melody at the same time.
It
Kristin (28:58):
is! Absolutely.
Jonathan (29:03):
What's one thing you'd tell your 18 year old self?
Kristin (29:07):
I would say for the love of God, girl, learn to
budget your money right now.
Jonathan (29:12):
It's, it's, that's not something like it gets taught in
schools and I don't understandwhy.
No.
Kristin (29:19):
Oh my gosh, no.
Jonathan (29:22):
Well said.
Well Kristen, if you could onlywear one style of footwear, what
would
Kristin (29:28):
it be?
Probably slippers.
I'm a slippers girl.
Slippers or slides.
Jonathan (29:34):
Function and comfort all the time.
I love it.
Well friend, thank you so muchfor coming on the pod.
It has been awesome catching upwith you.
Kristin (29:41):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
It's always fun talking to you.
Hey, kind listener.
Thanks for tuning in.
If you like this episode, canyou do me a favor?
Give me a rating on yourfavorite podcast channel.
It helps more values alignedpeople like you find the pod.
Till next time, peace.
Welcome back to Building BetterBusinesses in ABA with me,
Jonathan Mueller.
It's a weekly podcast about theforces reshaping our autism
services field.
Learn from successfulentrepreneurs, payers,
investors, and leaders inapplied behavior analysis.
Thank you, kind listener, forletting me into your world
today.
Now onto the show.
Jonathan (00:30):
My guest today is Kristen Hanson.
Kristen is a BCBA and the CEO,founder, and clinical director
of Axis Therapy Centers.
She's on the board of directorsfor the Autism Society of Iowa.
She's on the autism expert panelfor the Iowa regional autism
assistance program.
And she's a former board memberof the Iowa association for
behavior analysis.
Kristen founded Axis in 2017Axis is a multidisciplinary
(00:54):
clinic providing ABA socialskills groups, occupational
therapy, speech therapy, andcurrently has four clinic
locations across Iowa.
Kristen lives in Maxwell withher husband and three kiddos,
and in her free time, she enjoysgoing to baseball games,
attending concerts, reading, andcoaching her children's sports
teams.
Kristen, welcome to the pod.
Thank you,
Kristin (01:13):
jonathan.
And thank you for having me.
So
Jonathan (01:15):
excited.
Yeah, I'm excited too.
you know, one of the things thatwhen we first met that you told
me like your goal was never tobe a CEO or a business owner.
And that's so resonated with mebecause like, I feel like this
is a story of so many BCBAbusiness owners and non BCBA
business owners like myself.
I ever really set out to dothat.
But it just, we sort of happenedto do it.
(01:35):
What was your goal in startingAxis?
Kristin (01:38):
Well, I mean, you are absolutely right.
Being a CEO, being a businessowner, it was never a goal,
never thought I had in my mind.
all I knew is that I wanted tobe a BCBA and I wanted to help
kids and families.
So before starting Access, I'dbeen working as a BCBA and I was
doing all the direct treatmentfor the kiddos on my caseload,
(01:59):
but I saw that there was such aneed for ABA services in our
state and I just felt like Ineeded to make a greater impact.
I wanted to create a place forfamilies and children with
autism to come for serviceswhere they could feel safe and
supported.
And while it just started as asmall little ABA clinic with
(02:20):
myself, I mean, within a fewmonths we had technicians, we
had speech therapy, eventuallyat occupational therapy.
So I never imagined, I couldnever picture Axis growing into
what it is today, but honestlyit all happened so organically.
Jonathan (02:36):
I want listeners to understand.
I love this portion, what youdescribed, like you want it to
make a greater impact.
And if there's ever a sniff testfor like, is someone getting
into our field that startedorganization for the right
reasons?
It comes down to that.
I didn't want to be a businessowner necessarily or CEO or
anything big and fancy.
It was just, you want it to makea bigger impact or a bigger
difference in kids lives.
So I think that's reallypowerful.
(02:58):
And tell me Kristin now that youare a successful CEO.
Business owner of a practice.
what does wild success at Accesslook like to you?
Kristin (03:06):
I would say.
For me, wild success is knowingthat every single individual
that comes into Axis, whether itbe a client, a family member,
um, a staff member, that theyfeel some sort of positive
impact.
So, I want clients and familiesto feel a positive and
(03:26):
significant change.
And I want staff to feel valuedand to know that they're a part
of.
Making that impact on somebodyelse's lives.
So I just, I want them to feelempowered.
So I guess wild success to me isthat anybody that comes into
contact or experiences anyaspect of Axis is.
(03:46):
It's impacted positively.
Jonathan (03:49):
This is why we're so like minded.
This is what we talk about, andespecially in the context of
candidates and recruiting, whenwe talk about Ascend and
Element, it's like, if someoneis positively impacted by an
interaction with us, even ifthey choose never to come work
with us, or we choose that maybethey're not the right fit, they
should somehow benefit from thatinteraction.
That just feels like what makesour communities in our world.
(04:10):
a better place.
Um, and so I love that.
I absolutely love that.
so something that's kind ofunique about you, is that your
brother is your businesspartner.
I got to meet Eric at the autisminvestor summit in LA in April.
Oh my gosh.
That's such a fun conversationwith him.
I feel like I get to talk tohim.
Yeah.
Yeah.
but as your business partner,you gotta give me all the digs,
dude.
(04:31):
I'm not looking for gossip, butjust like what is it like
working with a family member andthen like what tips and tricks
would you share with listenersabout getting that working
relationship right?
Kristin (04:40):
Well, I actually have three business partners.
And they are all family.
So, that's something uniqueabout Axis is that, there's four
owners.
It's myself, my brother, my mom,and then my sister in law.
So Eric's wife.
a lot of people say It's notsmart to mix family and
business, but in my situation,there would not have been a
(05:00):
business without family.
but I would say my brother wasprobably the strongest factor,
the person pushing me to startAxis.
I mean, my family were the onesthat had the business
background.
So I was just the clinician witha passion and they were the
experienced business owners.
And so it was just the perfectcombination.
(05:23):
Um, but yeah, my brother is theone that is with me on most of
the day to day stuff.
And I mean, I gotta say it'spretty awesome.
So we have both said that.
That this has brought us closertogether, like our relationship.
I mean, growing up, he wasalmost four years older.
So, we weren't that closegrowing up.
(05:43):
So it's pretty cool now workingwith my brother, we've taught
each other so much.
I've learned so much from him,business side.
And I think he's probablylearned so much from me, I
guess, clinic side.
And he's had so many.
Business ventures in the past.
And he said multiple times thatthis is the first time that he's
actually felt the spark or feltthe passion for the business
(06:05):
and, made it a bigger thing forhim because now it's creating a
legacy for our family.
And he, he just loves thataspect.
And, um.
I don't know.
We've learned a lot about eachother over the past, almost six
years running a businesstogether.
And I think you kind of saw byhanging out with us as we, we
balance each other out as he'sbusiness guy and expand and, and
(06:30):
grow and big, big business.
And I am.
Like clinician side andsignificant change and that
quality.
And so we just learned so muchfrom each other.
And honestly, I love knowingthat at the end of the day, no
matter what either one of ushave said or did that may have
pissed each other off is that.
I'm 100 percent positive that wewill always have each other's
(06:52):
backs.
We'll always support each other.
It's unconditional love andsupport.
It's like, we can't quit on eachother.
Any other business partner youcould quit, but I mean, we
can't, we can't quit on eachother.
So it's pretty awesome.
Jonathan (07:04):
I wanna hear your tips and tricks, but I remember one
of the conversations we had inthinking about balance, which is
so important in any partnership,no matter if that person's
family or not, he's one thatwants to grow.
And you told me one point,you're the one that's thinking
about, well, who is thatclinical director whom I'm going
to put in that center to besuccessful?
Right.
And you need both of thoseperspectives.
Um, complimentary perspectives.
(07:26):
I found that always maximizesthe chance that an organization
is going to achieve theoutcomes.
Uh, but anyway, sorry tointerrupt you.
Tell me about those tips andtricks.
Kristin (07:34):
You're right.
I mean, before I go into that, Ijust want to touch base that it
is.
Perfect balance because he isthe one that has pushed me out
of my comfort zone and hasactually developed me into a
business owner.
And recently we just did, an allstaff training where we bring
all four locations together.
We spend the whole day together,doing different workshops and
(07:55):
trainings.
And something that we doannually is we'll do the DISC
personality assessment with ourstaff.
And, my mom.
used to be a lecturer on that.
And so she gives thatpresentation.
And so it's really fun to learnabout what every single person
within your organization, whattype of personality they are.
And then we go into, the bestways to communicate with
(08:18):
different personalities and howyou're perceived and how you
should maybe alter the way youcommunicate.
but I was going to say like mypersonality type on this
assessment has changed over thepast two years.
And.
It's honestly, it's, myexperience as a business person
and running a business.
I I, I've had to change my waysand the way my mind works.
(08:41):
And while my secondcharacteristic is still there,
my, my dominant one has changed.
And so it's pretty awesome tokind of literally, again, I love
data.
So to see that data on my owngrowth, as far as tips and
tricks or advice to get thatworking relationship, right,
definitely think there needs tobe.
(09:01):
Clear and honest communication.
Something that my family,especially Eric has learned from
me is over communication is bestwith me.
not that I'm always going tohave a response or anything, but
I just, I want to be in theknow.
And so communication back andforth.
and also an understanding ofexpectations and knowing what
(09:21):
your lane is, what your role isand who's going to support who
and what, and who's going totake the lead.
So just knowing expectations,understanding them, but.
As long as everyone's on thesame page and working towards
the same mission and have thesame values, then you're golden.
Jonathan (09:38):
You are golden.
I have to come back to the discbefore I come to the working
relationship.
I am a huge and passionate fanof disc and we use that
actually, that elementfrequently as a way, not as a
way to categorize people, butmore as a way, it sounds like
the way you're doing it, helpingyou best communicate.
Um, and yeah.
(09:59):
receive information from others.
And just for our listeners whoaren't familiar, you know, you
can do a basic free test online.
the four different types aredominance, D, influence, I,
steadiness, S, andconscientiousness, C.
and then you have like your truestyle, I think they call it, or
your natural style.
And then you have adaptive, likehow you adapt to the workplace.
(10:20):
Now my style is actually Athousand percent consistent,
natural and adaptive.
And it's a big I influence andthen a little d.
What's yours, Kristin?
Kristin (10:31):
Well, I used to be an S I, dominant S, um, and now I'm a
dominant D I.
And so the I is, like your fun,loving, party, you know, person,
fun.
I, I'm glad I didn't lose that.
Cause that's definitely there.
But before when I was thesteady, mediator, everybody's
(10:52):
gonna, let's see your bothsides.
Now I I've taken on more of thedominance.
Like we got to take the lead.
We're going to give direction.
We're going to make sure there'sfollow through and.
And I guess I'm, I'm reallyproud of that too, is because to
me, you kind of have to be a Dto be a strong leader.
Jonathan (11:09):
You do.
It's, it's a common personalitytype.
Um, I feel like when meetingCEOs of organizations and one of
the things I love about the discand would love your reflection
on this, if you see it that waytoo, is within 30 seconds, you
can understand where someone is.
And it's based on two questions.
on one axis is, are they, openor guarded.
(11:30):
And on the other axis is arethey fast paced or slower paced?
And so totally open and, fastpaced that's my style.
That's I influence.
And that's me.
And like, I, you know, wear myheart on my sleeve and I'll say
what's on my mind.
but what's really interestingis, I know a D, because, oh,
okay, I'm going to see someonewho's fast paced but is a little
(11:51):
guarded.
And these are the folks usuallythat are getting right to the
heart of it at the beginning ofa meeting.
And a D, their biggest fear isbeing wrong.
And the biggest thing they craveare options.
And so it always helps to setthis reference point for me as
I'm talking to someone.
But I don't know, tell me moreabout how you use DISC.
Kristin (12:10):
So we use it in this.
Specific scenario with our staffis we use that where we wanted
everyone to know what theirpersonality type was.
And then we actually had them goto a corner and with the picture
of the letter so that everyonein the room could see what
personality type everyone is.
And then my mom would be talkingabout the characteristics of
(12:33):
that person and talking aboutways that they.
like to be communicated to andways that they communicate to
others.
and so it was really cool tolook around the room and I see a
lot of, my back end people, likethe insurance specialist, admin
people, like their C's andthey're like, heck yeah, their
C's.
(12:54):
They like procedures.
They like to get it done.
They like to know we're going todo it right this way.
And this is the way it's goingto be done.
And we're going to get it done.
Right.
And I know it's going to be doneright.
And then we've got our I's overthere that's like, yep, there
are party planners, but theydon't always remember to get the
session notes done.
Um, yeah.
It was really cool.
(13:14):
Um, then we, we moved into kindof a training and a workshop on
communication.
So effective communication witheach other.
best ways to get your messageacross an email.
If you're sending an email to aD, don't write six paragraphs.
Um, the D just wants to know theheart of the message.
And, um, if a D is emailing anI, they might read it as you're
(13:35):
mad at them.
When in fact, you're just like,I got to shoot this out real
quick.
So maybe throw a smiley face atthe end, you know what I mean?
So it's just learning how tobetter communicate with each
other, at every level.
So don't take things personaland maybe cater the way you're
communicating with somebody ifyou feel like it's not being,
you know, received the way thatyou were hoping.
Jonathan (13:57):
You know, I know some of our listeners are listening
right now and they're like,Jonathan, Kristin, that takes so
much time.
And how do we take people awayfrom their caseloads and all
this other stuff?
And my answer to that is we arefreaking people, businesses at
heart.
Right.
And that's where most of ourcosts go.
That's the entirety of whetheror not we're successful or not
successful is if we have wellqualified values aligned people
(14:19):
to deliver services to ourfamilies.
And so how my perspective is,how can you not spend all this
time since we are people, humanservices business, right?
Absolutely.
Well, speaking of this, you'vegot seven BCBAs.
Um, and one of the things thatlike really blows me away, all
(14:39):
of them, Kristin, started asbehavior technicians with you.
what's been the secret to yoursauce and homegrown growing your
own
Kristin (14:46):
luck?
No, I'm just kidding.
Um, honestly, I would say takingthe time to really connect with
them, when they come in astechnicians, giving them quality
training, helping them identifywhere their strengths are with
skills, where they still need togrow, where they want to grow,
(15:09):
what are their goals, shortterm, long term, knowing that a
lot want to go back to school,getting partnerships with
colleges.
just empowering them and thatcould be training, coaching,
making sure that they have theresources they need to succeed
and always, always, alwaysmaking sure they know their
value.
I just think it's very vital tohave a strong, solid foundation
(15:32):
of values that your entire team,your entire organization knows
what they are, they understandwhat they mean and they are able
to make them actionable on a dayto day basis.
Jonathan (15:42):
I want to pinpoint this here.
Make sure your staff understandtheir value.
I think it's really easy in, Imean, how hard it is running
organizations and as leaders,the million and one things we
have in our checklists.
and look, our ABA field, it'shard right now to be successful
in our ABA field.
and that just means that it'sreally easy to skip over the
(16:04):
most fundamental thing, which istelling your people what they
mean to you and what they meanto their clients.
You can't do that enough.
You literally can't.
Like that's just the physics, Ithink, of human relationships.
So I love hearing that you, youdo that.
And when I hear you morebroadly, Kristin, describe this
(16:24):
organization, AXIS, that you'vebuilt, you know what comes to my
mind is this term of like anorganization of intention.
Um, cause I think mostorganizations and most systems
in life and in the world beyondjust like businesses, they tend
toward entropy, toward chaos,right?
if they're not the right systemsin place, the right
reinforcement, the right, all ofthat stuff that goes into
(16:46):
creating good systems, right?
But.
Anyway, what I hear in my mindis this organization of
intention.
what have you gotten right?
and what have been ongoingchallenges that you've
experienced when it comes tobuilding your leadership staff?
Kristin (16:59):
Um, definitely investing in.
The staff, all staff, first ofall.
So There's a quote that wasshared with me that I love that
is if you create leaders, peoplewill stay.
and so I love the idea ofeveryone in your team, make them
a leader, train them to be aleader.
Cause you can be a leader ofanything.
(17:22):
it goes back to just empoweringthem, give them the tools
necessary to succeed and thenlet them soar.
so I have been blessed with someamazing individuals that have
made the choice to be a part ofAxis and they give it their all
and making sure again, that theyknow their value and to continue
to build them up so that theycan just be their very best and
(17:45):
excel at the skills that they'regreat at is.
is what it comes down to.
I guess some challenges that,that I've experienced would
probably be not putting theright people in the right
positions.
So either that be puttingsomeone that's not the best fit
for a higher leadershipposition, or waiting too long to
(18:07):
put somebody in that leadershipposition that should have been
there earlier.
So learning from, I wouldn't saymistakes, but just learning from
things that didn't work out theway you wanted them to.
Jonathan (18:21):
Yeah, you know, there's this misconception,
Kristin, that I've seen, notjust in ABA, across all
organizations, all businessesout there, that it's like
leadership is this designation.
And frankly, that's BS.
in fact, designated leadership,like you have the title, is
actually the weakest form ofleadership.
There, there are other forms,right?
Like, peer leadership, activefollowership.
(18:44):
there are plenty of, Every Mypoint is everyone is a leader
and you just tact at that,right?
mm-Hmm, But people won'tnecessarily think that, Hey, as
an RBTI can be a leader becauseI'm planning a party, or because
I'm helping to provide in greatinput into the next iteration of
our residency program orwhatever it is.
literally, everyone can be aleader, and I think it's our
(19:05):
responsibility as leaders tohelp them understand that.
And then.
Create a context environment inwhich they can step up and be
their best leader.
Yes,
Kristin (19:16):
absolutely.
There's been so many positionswithin or titles within our
organization that have just comeabout organically and developed
because of people wanting tostep up and take on more because
They feel like they have thoseleadership qualities.
And so we've just developed somany different positions and
(19:37):
levels that yeah, take the lead,soar.
you've got the skills, go for itbecause it's such a cohesive
unit within an organization whenpeople feel that they have the
freedom to take the lead andmake that positive impact and
change and to use their skillsto the best that they can.
Jonathan (19:55):
So true.
Take the lead, soar, you've gotthe skills for it.
Dude, I'm going to put that likeup on my wall.
I don't know if you've seen TedLasso, but you know, he's got
that believe statement.
It is above his office.
I'm going to do that.
Take the lead, soar, you got theskills for it.
That is like pure motivation.
By the way, Kristin, so sorry,slightly changing topics here.
But, I think I just learnedrecently that y'all actually
(20:16):
have your three year BHCOEaccreditation, which is the
highest level of accreditationthat there is.
And for listeners that aren'tfamiliar, number one, go out and
just get accredited, right?
Whether it's BHCOE or ACQ orsomething, just go do it.
This shows such a powerfulsignal for quality.
but three years is hard to getbecause you have to pass certain
thresholds in.
(20:36):
Feedback from your families andfrom your team members, right?
And it's a nerve wrackingprocess.
So I got to ask you, what wasyour experience going through
BHCOE accreditation and why theheck did you even decide to do
it in the first place?
Kristin (20:48):
So we, when we very first opened, we went through
with it and we got the one yearand.
I was like, come on, we're goingto do better than that.
And so we reapplied the nextyear and yes, we did finally get
the three year.
It felt so good.
we sought that out because wewant to continue to have
evidence that we are the highestquality and we are going to do
(21:10):
the best that we can, by allstandards.
I mean, we've literally had ahuge company come in and
critique every single thing ofour business and our care from
every aspect, from families tostaff to policies, procedures.
but also it holds us accountabletoo.
It holds us accountable tocontinue to strive and make sure
(21:34):
that we are Again, always at thetop and doing the best that we
can.
Jonathan (21:40):
It's so funny how our stories are so similar.
So we got actually BHDOE, Idon't know if they still do, but
they had a preliminaryaccreditation.
We got that in early 2018 whenwe were still small.
And then 2019 we went throughthe full accreditation and we
got a one year just like y'alldid.
And then in 2020 we got thethree year and for good measure,
we went after telehealthaccreditation and we got that
(22:01):
too.
That was like, it was amazing.
Yeah.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Oh my gosh, thank you.
It's a lot of, I mean, you, youknow it best.
It is a freaking lot of work,but it's like, you know, put
your money where your mouth is,is my opinion on this.
But, you know, you made thiscomment, hey, we can do better.
And I think this is reallyimportant.
And that is accreditation isn'tthis destination.
(22:22):
Accreditation is simply acommitment to continuous
improvement.
And as an organization,especially as a human services
organization, entrusted with thelives of kiddos with autism.
I don't know if an organizationisn't actively demonstrating
every single day we arecommitted to 1 percent better
every day, or we're committed tocontinuous improvement.
(22:43):
Then I'll that, I don't knowthat, if I were the parent of a
child with autism, not that Ican speak for them, but I don't
know that I would want my kiddocoming to a place that wasn't
very openly committed tocontinuous improvement.
Kristin (22:55):
Absolutely.
I 100 percent agree with that.
Jonathan (22:58):
Well, Kristen, what's one thing every ABA business
owner should start doing and onething to stop doing?
Kristin (23:03):
I would say if you're not already doing this, Take the
time to listen to your staff.
Take their feedback intoconsideration.
Make change, make improvements.
something that we do at AXIS isthat we have check in meetings,
and that can be with your directsupervisor.
It can be with me.
It can be with the ownershipteam as we want to really
(23:25):
promote that open communicationand We want to hear from them
because AXIS or anyorganization, wouldn't be what
it is without every singlelevel, every single staff member
on the team.
But listen to them, listen totheir ideas, listen to their
concerns.
They are going to be the onesthat, a lot of the times, Techs
(23:46):
have amazing ideas.
they're the ones that aretalking to the parents, pick up,
drop off.
they're gonna have amazingideas.
They're in the day to day andthe thick of it and the
trenches.
But listen to your staff andtake the time to invest in them.
It does take a lot to close downfour clinics.
for a whole day and to bringeverybody together and to buy
(24:08):
them lunch and to not haverevenue coming in for a whole
day.
But the impact that makes isit's empowering.
there's staff that haven't evenmet each other cause we have
four.
Locations.
And so bring them together forteam building.
we ended the day with a bigbarbecue at a park and our
families joined and just thatfeeling of cohesiveness and
(24:30):
togetherness and everybody'skids are playing together and we
got to meet husbands andboyfriends and girlfriends and
wives and just take the time tocreate that strong culture
because your staff are going tohave some hard days.
They're gonna be burnt out.
They're going to feel likethey're at their wits end, but
that's going to be the thingthat they're holding onto is
(24:52):
that sense of community, thatsense of support and like their
work family.
So we say that all the time isthat you're part of the Axis
family.
So take the time to invest inyour staff, to create that.
sense of security and supportwith them.
just take the time to listen toyour staff and get to know them
and they feel
Jonathan (25:13):
valued.
I'm not sure how you run asuccessful organization without
doing that.
Right.
If, or without listening tothem, especially because to your
point, they're the experts.
In fact, I, and I'm not sure ifI've I mentioned this before on
the pod, early on in the ascenddays, I used to do like almost
secret, not secret shopper.
Like I would let the RBT know wewere all at home based, but I
would say, Hey, I'm going tojust show up at the end of your
(25:34):
session and just say hi to thefamily.
Say hi to you.
Would love to hear how thingsare going.
And do you know what families,would consistently, the question
they would ask their techs andmost organizations aren't aware
of this, Hey, how well does yourABA provider treat you?
Because families know.
families feel like they have arelationship not with the
organization, but with theirbehavior technician.
(25:57):
And it was an eyeopeningexperience.
It was eyeopening for me becauseit forced me to then get in this
mindset of always thinking howis an RBT or a BCBA gonna answer
that question the next time afamily asks and what can I do to
make sure that they say, Oh mygosh, I love being here and I
feel well supported and I lovecoming every day.
(26:17):
So
Kristin (26:18):
I get it.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that it's, it'simportant to send out those
staff satisfaction surveys, wesend them out every six months
and we take the time.
We read through every single oneand we let staff know we read
it.
We heard you.
This is a summary of what we'rehearing.
And We want make them aware thatwe're actively listening.
(26:42):
We'll make a change.
If we can make the change, we'lldo it for you.
same thing with those caregiversatisfaction surveys.
You've got to get those out too.
They are your stakeholders.
This is who you're doing it for.
If they're not happy, thenyou're losing your whole point
of doing
Jonathan (26:55):
what you're doing.
Amen So what's one thing that,uh, ABA organizations should
stop doing?
Kristin (27:02):
Well, that's a hard one to answer.
So every business is different.
Everybody's got their own uniqueset of practices.
So it's hard for me to, toreally pinpoint that.
I
Jonathan (27:13):
don't know.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
Well, how about this?
If someone's not beinginquisitive, be curious Yes,
yes, for sure.
Where can people find youonline?
Kristin (27:26):
Well, our website is www.
axistherapycenters.
com.
It's A X I S.
and we're also on LinkedIn.
My LinkedIn is Kristin Hanson,BCBA.
And we are also on Facebook.
Jonathan (27:42):
And I'll make sure to drop all those in the show notes
and, uh, Hanson is spelled H A NS O N.
Kristen is spelled K R I S T IN.
And so it's now time.
Kristen, are you ready for thehot take questions?
Yeah, let's do it.
Alright, you're on yourdeathbed.
What's the one thing you want tobe remembered for?
Kristin (28:05):
The love for my family.
I want my family to know howmuch they meant to me and how
much I loved them andappreciated them.
Jonathan (28:14):
What's your most important self care practice?
Kristin (28:18):
That would be taking time for myself, which is very
hard.
just shutting off work and beingpresent and in the moment with
my kids is just like a hardreset for me.
Works every time.
Jonathan (28:30):
Do you have a favorite song and or music genre?
Kristin (28:35):
I can get down to just about any genre of music, but I
will always be a small towncountry girl at heart.
I do know every word to WeDidn't Start the Fire.
So, if I had to pick a favoritesong or karaoke song, you better
believe I'm going for that one.
Jonathan (28:53):
It's a history lesson and an inspiring, uplifting
melody at the same time.
It
Kristin (28:58):
is! Absolutely.
Jonathan (29:03):
What's one thing you'd tell your 18 year old self?
Kristin (29:07):
I would say for the love of God, girl, learn to
budget your money right now.
Jonathan (29:12):
It's, it's, that's not something like it gets taught in
schools and I don't understandwhy.
No.
Kristin (29:19):
Oh my gosh, no.
Jonathan (29:22):
Well said.
Well Kristen, if you could onlywear one style of footwear, what
would
Kristin (29:28):
it be?
Probably slippers.
I'm a slippers girl.
Slippers or slides.
Jonathan (29:34):
Function and comfort all the time.
I love it.
Well friend, thank you so muchfor coming on the pod.
It has been awesome catching upwith you.
Kristin (29:41):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
It's always fun talking to you.
Hey, kind listener.
Thanks for tuning in.
If you like this episode, canyou do me a favor?
Give me a rating on yourfavorite podcast channel.
It helps more values alignedpeople like you find the pod.
Till next time, peace.
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