mom about town
14 JANUARY 2025 | NOLAFAMILY.COM WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST REWARDING EXPERIENCE IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR? WHAT DOES A NORMAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU? ASHLEY: The morning is very crazy. My kids are usually up between 6:45 and 7 [a.m.] Then, we are getting them ready for school, [and] we’re in the car usually by 7:20. I usually will do school drop-off for the toddlers, because my husband works from home, and Riggs stays home with a nanny. I will typically work out before all that happens. I will either head off to see patients, [or I’m] treating in the morning. I head to my clinic to do admin. I go pick up my kids between 3 and 3:30 [p.m.] and then start a crazy afternoon of parenting. [The kids] go to bed at seven, and then if I don’t have a dinner or something that evening, I will finish up some work, spend some time with my husband, and then [we’re] early to bed. ASHLEY MCINNIS BY MADISON VOORHIES PHOTO BY TIFFANY GODBOLD WITH BLINK PHOTOGRAPHY A shley McInnis has built a life in New Orleans filled with family, career, and community. Originally from southern New Jersey, she and her husband, Reed, chose the Crescent City as the place to raise their family, drawn by his roots and the support of nearby loved ones. A busy mom to three young boys, Ashley leads a thriving speech therapy practice, Bright Start, which she launched while expecting her first child. She embraces the city’s vibrant culture, tight-knit community, and lively traditions while expertly managing the joys and challenges of parenting, growing her business, and exploring New Orleans’ parks and restaurants with her family.
Husband: Reed Child: Finn, 3; Everett, 2; and Riggs, 12 months
Occupation: Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and Owner of Bright Start Hobbies: Reading, exercising, spending time outdoors with family and friends, trying new restaurants
ASHLEY: Starting Bright Start. I started Bright Start when I was pregnant with Finn. I really just wanted one SLP to cover my maternity leave, and that’s how we got started. Now we have 21 providers on our team. We are meeting the needs of the community, so I feel like that’s my most rewarding and humbling experience. We pretty much hire based on referrals or word-of-mouth in the therapy community in New Orleans. We also hire based on the needs of the community. It’s been really cool to see. And then also getting to serve so much of the greater New Orleans area. We primarily work with birth to three, but then we see kids all the way up to 18. I think right now we have almost 500 patients that we see, so it’s rewarding to be able to serve a variety of different populations and demographics all the way from Lafayette to here and beyond. HOW HAS BEING A PARENT INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU
APPROACH YOUR WORK? ASHLEY: We work a lot with the birth to three population, and I currently have those ages at home, so I feel like at times, I’m at the advantage [of] having all of these child development tools in my work kit–to use from the parent side and therapy side! I tend to use sensory, speech, and toy strategies from work and carry that over into the home, my mama brain, and perspective to not only help guide my parents of the kiddos that I work with but then to understand the perspective of the child from not just a therapy standpoint. Also, just understanding that kids are kids–[at] both work and at home–and that takes a lot of patience from all sides, and sometimes both avenues are a work in progress. WHAT ARE SOME JOYS AND CHALLENGES OF BEING A MOM? ASHLEY: Oh gosh—I mean the joy
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