Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Hooks Bobrowicz.
Hi Melissa, 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?
When I was in undergrad and graduate school, my children received Early Intervention Speech services in the birth-3 program, and it inspired me to go into Early Intervention as a Speech Therapist. I worked for 10 years for non -profits that packed our caseloads and did not give us the appropriate pay or time that we needed to serve our clients with the dedication and preparation that they deserved. We had to do hours of paperwork during our personal time that took my time away from enjoying my own children. After 10 years of that, I began working for myself as a private contractor for Erie County doing Early Intervention. Eventually I hired staff and built up my small practice, Hooks Early Intervention Services, Inc. For many of our children that aged out of the birth-3 program, there was often a waitlist for children trying to get services in outpatient facilities locally, so decided to add a private pediatric practice that serves children of all ages. Last year we found a space to rent, and I have dedicated the whole last year to getting the office ready. On July 25th, 2026, we held our grand opening of the Hooks Pediatric Clinic located in Erie, PA. Now we can serve children through Early Intervention until they turn 3 and can also serve children of all ages via in office, teletherapy, and travel sessions through our clinic.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road for me to get started on my own. When I first became approved as an independent contractor for speech therapy, Erie County would not give me a contract. Instead, I had to contract with a neighboring county, Warren/Forrest County in Pennsylvania. I had to drive 1.5-2 hours there and back daily to see children and it was exhausting. It was by luck that a friend of mine, who worked in a local daycare, recommended me to a family. They requested me as their therapist and were willing to wait until Erie County drew up my contract. I built my caseload slowly and then began building my staff. I converted from Melissa A Hooks Early Intervention Speech Therapy into Hooks Early Intervention Services, Inc. At the start of 2020, I had 3 full-time Speech Language Pathologists, 3 half-time Special Instructors and 2 part-time SLPs. When Covid-19 hit, it was really hard. I worked day and night to get 2 separate Payroll Protection Loans and one grant to pay my staff, but I still lost staff. One of my Special Instructors had to quit to stay home with her special needs children, one was let go due to job performance, and one was scalped by another agency. One of my full-time speech therapists quit and the other two took full-time jobs at the schools but stayed working with us part-time. I was working on building things back up until September of 2024. All of a sudden in September 2024, the referrals for our county dropped in half and kept dropping the last two years. I had to lay off two staff members that had been with me for over 5 years, last spring, and it was heartbreaking. I also had to stop paying myself and take money from my retirement to keep the business going and get the office space up and running. I also had to take a full-time job doing teletherapy with the Baltimore County Public School System, so I had an income while I managed the Early Intervention business and building the office. Finally, this summer, referrals began to pick up. I was able to fill the caseloads of the few staff members that I had left and I was able to hire another full-time Speech Therapist. I also struggled for several months this last year trying to get credentialed with insurance companies. I hired an agency to do it for me, but it cost a great deal, and they did not set up my billing correctly. I had to hire a billing specialist to help me and eventually we got it figured out. Now we have two full-time speech therapists working seeing children in Early Intervention, 3 part-time speech therapists seeing Early Intervention children and clinic children.
Through Covid and the drop in referrals the last few years, my passion for working with children and families stayed true and our agency is making a comeback. I’m so proud of all that my staff and I have accomplished.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I and my staff provide speech language therapy to children ages birth – 3 for Erie County and children of all ages in our Pediatric speech clinic. In September, we will begin offering sensory friendly haircuts to local families at a discounted rate and small group toddler/pre-school language play groups. All of our Speech therapists are PA licensed and ASHA (American Speech Hearing-language Association) certified or clinical fellows working towards their ASHA certification. One of my therapists, Katie Bartels, has a double Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology and Teaching Speech to Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She specializes in working with children with deafness and hearing loss. I myself, and another SLP, Christy Adams, specialize in working with children with language delays, articulation and phonological processing disorders as well as children on the spectrum. I have hired several clinical fellows in the past and helped many women achieve their licensing and ASHA certification. I believe that we have to reach out and lend a hand to the women graduating and help teach them from our experience. I currently have two clinical fellows on staff. One has just completed all her training hours and is in the process of getting licensed and the other just graduated in the spring and started working with us in July. We have a wonderful, small group of dedicated professionals that really care about helping children and their families.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I know most people would consider making a lot of money and constantly growing their business a success. I have a different view. My standard of success is measured by my clients and the progress they make. When I am in a session with a client and they achieve a goal or target that we are working on, it brings me the greatest joy. I had a fifth-grader last school year who had been working on his /r/ sounds all through elementary school, especially /er/. By the last couple sessions, he was able to say “early”, “earth” and “girl” when he focused. We were wooping and so excited. In Early Intervention, we go into toddler’s homes and work closely with families and when they age out, it can be sad. But then, when I see them out in public and they are talking and thriving, it brings my heart such joy. Sometimes my Early Intervention families will recommend me to another family or request me specifically for their next child. I also have trained several clinical fellows and even though many of them have not stayed in Early Intervention, they often keep in touch. In fact, today I reached out to one of the therapists that I supervised as a clinical fellow. Even though she went to work at the schools after a few years, she asked if she could work for me again seeing some Early Intervention clients part-time. Even if my business has struggled financially for different reasons over the years, I measure my success by how much I have helped my students, clients, their families, and my staff.
Pricing:
- We accept insurance for clinic clients through the clinic: Aetna, Aetna Better Health, Highmark BCBS, Geisinger, Cigna, Human
- No pricing for birth-3 Early Intervention Services
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hooksei.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hooks.ei.services/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HooksEIServices
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hooks.ei.services
