Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominique Jones
Hi Dominique, 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?
Dominique was raised in Melbourne, FL. She loves sunsets, basketball, live music, and spending time with her family and friends. Dominique is a wife and a mother of 2 children. She is a Board Certified Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist that works with the pediatric population, from ages 0-22 years old. In the summer of 2005, Dominique moved to Orlando to begin her college experience, where she earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders in 2009. She has been working with the pediatric population since 2011, where she began working for Orange County Public Schools as a Speech and Language Clinician for 7 years. During her time with OCPS, she earned her Master of Science Degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Nova Southeastern University. Dominique also holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence awarded by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is licensed by the State of Florida.
In 2020, during the pandemic, Dominique’s oldest child wanted to learn how to tie their shoelaces. Long story short, we struggled, until we created our own way. Then, our way started helping other family and friends. Once we realized what we were doing worked, we designed and created, Tie-Mates® Shoe-tying Kit. We host workshops, attend local community events and sell our kits online. This product sparked a new sense of creativity and helped jumpstart our business, Noonie & Bubs, LLC, where we now provide speech therapy services (in-person and virtual) to the community.
Dominique has focused certifications and trainings in early intervention, speech sound disorders, early feeding skills, oral motor and myofunctional therapy. She enjoys working with infants who are having breast or bottle-feeding difficulties and children who are experiencing oral motor difficulties, which can impact their speech, breathing and feeding skills. Dominique also has a passion for education and providing students with a holistic approach to therapy. She assists local preschools/daycares with therapy services, resources, parent/teacher training and supplemental materials that compliment their curriculum. Dominique has also mentored and led fellow Speech-Language Pathologist’s over the course of her career and worked a stint as a Therapist Manager.
Dominique’s professional interests include early childhood development and education, intervention/prevention, speech/language delays, oral motor and myofunctional therapy, early feeding skills, social-emotional skills, shoe tying with an emphasis on language, hosting workshops, community events and parent education opportunities. To her, being able to have a career where you can be creative, collaborate with others, and work with children is a win-win-win. Dominique enjoys the endless opportunities this field has to offer and is excited about the ability it gives her to serve the community. She believes that we are all capable of learning new things and that knowledge and communication is power.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Well, no, it has not always been a smooth road, and I believe there are constantly bumps in the road while trying to navigate being a working mother and entrepreneurship. Starting from the beginning, I changed my major in undergrad 4 times before finding speech language pathology. Once I graduated, it took me over a year to get into graduate school because my test scores ended up getting lost in cyberspace. All of this taught me to be more flexible and to pivot, which was helpful when I began working as a speech language clinician in the Orange County Public Schools, finishing my graduate school program. After working in the school system for 7 years, I decided I wanted more balance while being a mom of two babies, so I started in the private practice setting, where I focused on more medical based treatment. That was a challenge in itself but was something I’d always wanted to do with my career. So, I started my own private practice where I took a small caseload to ease into entrepreneurship. Just as I had my footing, COVID happened and I paused my business and worked for an online company that didn’t practice the same values as I was building in my own practice. Once I realized my joy for my field was slipping away, I decided to start over. I reopened and rebranded my private practice after a move to Lake Nona, where I felt like I was starting a new chapter in my life. Since then, I have had doubts about being an entrepreneur while in the throws of motherhood. Finding balance has also been a challenge because there is always work that needs to be done when you work for yourself and want to grow a successful business. On the other side of these challenges, self doubt and obstacles, comes great reward, joy, focus, dedication and confidence and I found all of that when I decided to bet on myself.
We’ve been impressed with Noonie & Bubs, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My passion for children and education has always been the driver of my profession. I have been a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist for over 12 years, and I can honestly say that my career hasn’t ever felt like a job. I truly love helping others and getting to use my creativity to make connections with learning new skills.
After having children of my own, I began to realize that the knowledge I withhold in my profession is not only beneficial for families of children with delays or disorders but for all families. Whether you are planning on having children, have children or work with children, it’s important to have tools to understand child development, so you can enhance their lives as they continue to grow.
During my quest to get this knowledge out there, my husband revealed his passion for art and creativity. He has a professional background in child development, family and social services. Over 15 years of experience in child welfare has afforded him an opportunity to see a variety of situations where developmental tools were not readily available, or innovative enough to be effective. So, together we created Noonie & Bubs, a company focused on “enhancing child development, while empowering parents”. Not only is this our company name, but the nicknames of our children; the driver of all that we do!
I enjoy working with infants who are having breast or bottle-feeding difficulties and children who are experiencing oral motor/myofunctional difficulties, which can impact their speech, breathing and feeding skills. I work alongside amazing professionals from Lactation Consultants to Occupational Therapists. I also have a passion for education and providing students with a holistic approach to therapy. I currently assist local preschools/daycares with therapy services, resources, parent/teacher training and supplemental materials that compliment their curriculum.
I truly believe in the impact of a holistic approach when it comes to treatment. A holistic approach in pediatric speech therapy is vital because it considers the child as a whole, addressing not only their speech and language skills but also their physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development. This is why I enjoy working closely with other medical professionals, educators, caregivers and parents. This is why we value team and community in our practice.
Our business is growing and we are working on some very exciting projects, adding extremely valuable members and therapists to our team. We are also undergoing a facelift with logo, website and brand. We are excited for this next chapter for our business and can’t wait to share it with the community.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is playing basketball. I played my entire childhood and it molded and shaped a lot of who I am today. I made lifelong friendships and learned crucial values that serve me as an adult. I’ve learned persistence, how to work together with others, value others’ roles on the team and how to face adversity and loss. But the best memory I have with basketball was when I was in 4th grade and we were playing a rival team, so the game was intense and I ended up making a buzzer three point shot to win it. My son loves when I tell him this story and honestly it is a fun story to tell. Talk about learning to never give up because you have no idea what positive things can happen when you don’t!
Pricing:
- We are a private pay practice but we accept FSA/HSA payments, we can provide super bills and we are Step Up Unique Abilities Scholarship Providers
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.noonieandbubs.com
- Instagram: @nb_pediatrictherapy_slp
