Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen McElfresh and MaLesa Reese
Hi Carmen & MaLesa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We met professionally several years ago. Our professional relationship was characterized by curiosity, respect and trust, and over time, emerged into a friendship. That friendship serves as the foundation of our business, Ethos Speech Language Learning.
We spent a lot of time at coffee houses imagining the future. As we began to think about a business, we spent a lot of time asking ourselves questions such as, “Is it possible to create a business that expresses a deep and ongoing passion for children and their families?” We asked other questions about how we might create a culture within a business that values high standards, mutual accountability, teamwork, and collaboration. And we asked ourselves if it was possible to own a business while being both trustworthy and trusting in our relationships to the people we work with and serve. We believed that a business should be about more than the bottom line and so we set out to do just that.
Alright, 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?
One of our biggest challenges has been the simple fact that there are only 24 hours in a day. Each day brings a list of essential tasks that must be completed. Our families have been incredibly supportive, stepping in to help at home, which has been invaluable. Additionally, our strong friendships have allowed our families to spend quality time together, enjoying life on a deeper level.
We’ve also learned the importance of resisting the urge to grow too quickly. Early on, we committed to balancing quality with growth. This has meant saying no to opportunities we were excited about, but knew weren’t the right fit at the time.
Like many new business owners, we’ve faced obstacles such as financial management, social communication, establishing policies and procedures, time management, and recruiting and retention. Our business coach, Andrew Flippo with SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) in San Antonio, has been a tremendous asset. He meets with us monthly and provides guidance in every aspect of our business.
As you know, we’re big fans of Ethos Speech Language Learning. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Ethos Speech Language Learning is a values-based company committed to the well-being of children with speech-language or learning challenges, empowering them to thrive in school, at home, and in relationships. Ethos provides therapy, evaluations, professional development and other educational resources. We address many types of problems such as speech sounds, language, social communication, cognitive communication and fluency.
We are both licensed and certified speech-language pathologists, and we have extensive backgrounds in executive leadership. We both grew up in small towns, MaLesa in Texas and Carmen in Pennsylvania, where we learned important values such as having strong social connections, a sense of belonging, a good work ethic, and collective responsibility.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
We’ve given a lot of thought to what it means to grow a business. As we watch our business grow it is important to us that we highlight quality over quantity. In other words, we don’t have to be big, but we do have to be good. As we consider others who will join our team we want to hire people who reflect Ethos’ values. Our values statements include such things as:
* We will treat others with dignity and respect.
* We will be both trusting and trustworthy.
* We will maintain a working relationship of transparency and mutual accountability.
* We value teamwork and collaboration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ethoseducate.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethoseducatesa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568647792003
