Family & Faith Help Ground Anchor Therapy Services

In honor of International Women’s Day, which fell on March 8, 2020, I’m highlighting several successful women business owners in the Mobile, AL area. Today I’m sharing my interview with Tasha Rowell of Anchor Therapy Services.

When I did my previous interviews, it was the first time we’d actually spoken in person. This time is a little different because I’ve known Tasha Rowell for as long as I can remember. We grew up attending church and youth group together, and even though our paths have diverged since our younger years, we keep in touch and follow one another’s families through social media and mutual friends.

Witnessing firsthand Tasha’s commitment to family, her experience with children (due in part to a large extended family), and her determined attitude, I’m not at all surprised to see her private speech-language practice, Anchor Therapy Services, growing and thriving since its inception a few years ago.

Though she began her career in the Mobile County school system and spent a year in a local children’s hospital, running her own clinic became exactly the challenge and opportunity she needed to complete her busy life as mom to three young girls and wife to a locally successful football coach.

Unless you gain an interest during undergraduate schooling or have children/family members with speech and developmental delays, most people (myself included) aren’t that familiar with the field of speech-language pathology.

For Tasha, becoming a SLP grew out of her existing desire to work in education and with the special needs population. “I became a SLP because I wanted to be in education but didn’t necessarily want to teach. […] When I heard about the field and being able to ‘teach’ and help the population I loved, I knew this was the career for me!”

It was her own family, though, that drove her to explore owning her own clinic.

“[When] I left the school setting for a hospital job, what I thought was my dream job, I missed my eldest child’s kindergarten year. My husband had to step in and go on all field trips and to all class parties. I realized missing all of those important milestones and adventures, that I didn’t want to work for anyone else’s schedule; I wanted to create my own.”

Though Tasha gets to create her own schedule and spend valuable time with her family, there are challenges and struggles that come along with the perks.

In fact, the very name of her business—Anchor Therapy Services—pays homage to the highs and lows of life and business.

“My business name […] came from my favorite Bible verse, Hebrews 6:19 [which says] we have this hope as an anchor for our souls. It has lifted me from many dark days of being a business owner.”

Through operating a successful business, cheering on her husband and his team at the football stadium, and living the example of perseverance (much like her Biblical role model, Ruth, and her longtime inspiration, Helen Keller), Tasha hopes to influence her daughters to forge their own unique paths.

“My girls are my world. They are all 3 different in every aspect, in every way. But they all see my drive for my business. I hope and pray the get the determination from me and use it to be successful in whatever career path they choose.”

When asked about the highs and lows of being a business owner, Tasha noted that the business side of things is a challenge for her, since she struggles with organizational skills and isn’t quite as “type A” as business owners and speech therapists tend to be.

While she acknowledges that the hard, dark, and trying times can hit at any given moment, spending time with her clients and seeing their progress makes it all worthwhile.

“Hearing a child with a genetic disorder who is unintelligible 75% of the time tell me ‘I don’t like that cat’ without any prompting or modeling makes me tear up. My sweet patients are my driving force for what I do.”

If you know a child, or have your own, who might benefit from pediatric speech therapy, you can find the contact information and hours of operation for Anchor Therapy Services on Facebook.