We had the good fortune of connecting with Megan Dare and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Megan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My motivation for starting my own business was so that I could be a part of the process of seeing children grow, learn, and make progress with goals. Working at large companies I found myself spending less and less time working directly with children and more time supervising very large case loads. Due to my case load it was difficult to spend time with any one client and I was not experiencing the same reinforcment that had kept me in the field since 2001. Starting my own business and working directly with clients has allowed me to fall back in love with my career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2010 and have been working with the neurodiverse population since 2001. One of the things that sets me apart from others in my field is that after 20 years in the field, my cup is filled after working directly with a family. Most people certified in my field for this long do not work directly with clients or families. The areas that I enjoy working on the most with families are helping to make the challenging moments some of the biggest growth areas. I also focus sessions on social and emotional activities to increase children’s awareness of their emotions, others’ emotions, and how they can help their body and brain in different areas. For example, teaching a child when to recognize when they may need a break from different work tasks and teaching the child to identify that feeling, communicate it to others, and then engage in a coping strategy that will help them. I’ve had families share that they used to do an activity but it has caused some children in the family to get upset and the family stopped doing the activity so that the child wouldn’t get upset. An example of this would be families that stopped playing board games together because if they played and one of the children lost the game, that child might engage in a tantrum so the family avoided doing the activity. My job is to help teach that child how to work through the anger and disappointment that can come from losing, and to teach replacement behaviors and increase communication between the child and other family members.

After the covid lockdowns, I started to reach out to different organizations in the community. I currently lead a free sensory friendly storytime at the Lafayette Library once a month. Our goal (library staff and mine) was to have a place that neurodiverse families could go to and feel relaxed, welcomed, and to help children get more excited about books!
I’ve also partnered with WOW! Children’s Museum, Denver Art Museum and The Butterfly Pavilion.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would go to Eldorado Canyon State Park and hike to where we could see the continental divide. We would then go up to Estes and do some snow shoeing. I was born and raised in Austin, Texas so finding a patio with chips, salsa, and margaritas is a must! My favorite places have been Teocalli and Rio Grande. Both have food and drinks that take me back to Austin but without the heat and humidity. 🙂

We would probably stop off at Comedy Works in downtown Denver! I love comedy and improv shows.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I arrived at this place in life because of the support of my family and friends. Their unending support and encouragement helped in the moments I had lost motivation to push forward.

Having the support of other business owners that work with the neurodiverse community has also been vital in keeping me sane during challenging times. They are primarily different women that I can go to for help and support that have been through the growing pains of having a business and the isolation that it can bring at times. I would like to thank Star London owner of Rising Star Behavior Services and Lea Anne Paskvalich owner of Next Steps Consulting LLC.

Website: www.guidinggrowthservices.com

Image Credits
All pictures taken by myself or a family member.

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