Speak Out
August 2014
29
BRANCH news
new south wales
David Kinnane
Speech Pathologist,
Banter Speech & Language
For fifteen years, I was a
finance and private equity
lawyer, working in Sydney
and Hong Kong. I loved my
job, but it wasn’t something
I wanted to do forever. As
a volunteer, I’d enjoyed
working with kids with
reading difficulties, and was
interested in language and
literacy. My younger son had
a language delay, and seeing
him thrive with the benefit of
speech pathology inspired
me to take the leap.
Today I run a private practice
in North Strathfield called
Banter Speech & Language.
I also manage a law firm,
(Bodkin Wood Legal &
Advisory) with my wife (who
is a lawyer), that specialises
in advising allied health
professionals on legal issues
associated with establishing
and running their businesses.
My communication,
problem-solving and people-
management skills, as well as
my client and management
experience, have been a big
help in running my practice
– although it did take me a
while to stop talking like a
lawyer!
Evelyn Siow
Speech Pathology Student,
University of Sydney
For six years, I worked as
an audit manager at a
“Big 4” accounting firm in
Sydney. Getting promoted
to manager and getting
married in the same year
prompted me to think about
what I wanted to do in the
next chapter of my life. I
decided then that it would
be a good time to pursue
my interests – if not then,
when?
I had always been interested
in health and was attracted
to the mix of arts and science
that speech pathology
offered. I was also attracted
to the variety of different
contexts and people
with whom we speech
pathologists work – a far
cry from performing
financial statement audits
twice a year, every year!
While many of the
professional skills from
my previous career have
been transferrable, I have
found that my ability to work
towards deadlines and plan
and prioritise tasks have
been most helpful.
Trish Nicoll
Speech Pathologist,
Cerebral Palsy Alliance
For eleven years I was
a primary school teacher,
working in both Australia
and the UK. I had a particular
interest in early literacy and
numeracy education. I always
enjoyed having children
with additional needs in my
classroom, and loved the
challenge of tailoring the
curriculum and my teaching
to meet the needs of children
with different learning styles.
My change in career was
driven by a love for literacy
and the desire to work
more on a one-to-one basis
with children as opposed
to in a classroom setting.
I feel that the skills from
my previous career have
contributed enormously
to my current work. The
literacy and language basis
has been invaluable, and
my knowledge of the school
system (and classroom
reality!) has given me
credibility and understanding
when providing suggestions
to teachers. I’ve also found
my ability to engage with
parents and work with
children of varying ages very
useful.
Laura Blasdale
Speech Pathology Student,
Macquarie University
I worked in public relations
for four years as an account
manager for a PR agency,
working across a range of
brands when I started to
consider whether this was
really where I wanted to end
up.
I'd always been fascinated
with how children with a
severe-profound hearing
impairment could speak,
when they couldn't hear, and
I still am! When I realised that
a ‘speechie’ was the person
that helped to facilitate this
process, I knew this is where
I wanted to be.
People commented on how
big a change it was to move
to speech pathology, but
at the end of the day, it's all
communication! PR requires
exceptional ‘people skills’ – an
innate ability to communicate
with people at all levels. Both
careers involve educating
others, as well as advocacy
and a natural willingness
to see others benefit from
what you have to offer. It's
definitely been a significant
career change but I'm excited
to put these new skills into
place as a full-time speechie!
Jesica Rennie
& Eryka Arteaga
NSW Branch Co-Editors
Taking the leap into speech!
Having come from
previous careers in biochemistry and graphic design respectively, Eryka and I were curious as to what
drove people to leap into speech pathology from other roles. Below are a range of insights from speech pathologists who had
began their careers on a very different path.
