What is The Collective and Why Should I Care?

What the hell is the Collective and why did Brook and I want to put ourselves through starting a business? It is a loaded answer that involves many late night plannings, energy drinks (for me), way too many puns and dad jokes (both of us are fathers), and a little bit of luck and a lot of opportunity. We have known each other for several years now and have always had a passion for school psychology and advocating for our fellow educators. During a conference a few years ago, we kicked around the idea of starting up a consultation company, but we wanted to be different. We did not want to be just another staffing agency looking to fill vacancies in districts. We want to make the districts and the educators better at what they do. We also wanted to become the hub for educators who needed help or a leg up in their profession. Whether that be through our blogs and guest writers, our free resources, or as a place where you can get CEUs from your couch or office. We want people in our industry to think, “What does the Collective think about this subject?” This helps with one of our three pillars: Building Community. I am an immense advocate for having community within our field. Conferences, workshops, social media, those are all areas where community and bonding can be achieved. However, there are many School Psychologists in the US who are not able to access that for whatever reason. Brook and I talked about that and how we can better create a community for School Psychs who do not have someone else to turn to at a moment’s notice. What about those that just want to run a case by someone who may be more of an expert in a certain area? They do not have that access. That is why we came up with the idea of The Collective. A group of professional educators and professionals from a variety of backgrounds and expertise. At The Collective we live by three pillars:

• BUILDING COMMUNITY
• COLLABORATION
• CONSULTATION

We have curated a plethora of badasses to help those across the state and country who need them. Of course, we have School Psychologists, but we also have Speech Language Pathologists, Assistive Technology Experts, and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Don’t you worry, our list of experts is continuing to grow as we speak. That is where the idea of The Collective comes from. A group of people who are here to help. We all need help working in education, it is a hard job to do. We know this. We have lived it and still are currently living it. We are all active practitioners and professionals, so our knowledge and experience are constantly being updated.

We have so many dreams and goals for the collective. We want you to be a part of it and join us as we go on this journey. If you think you can help in any way, please reach out to us! Though we may have started this little company, we know that we are not the gatekeepers of knowledge. We love to learn and are excited to meet you!