Meet Star London | Clinical Director & Owner

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

Hi Star, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My husband and I decided in 2018 that we would start our business. Our goal was to deliver home based services to special needs children, especially those with Autism (ASD). I had been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for almost 15 years at this point. I was tired of working for companies who offered little to no support, and encouraged unethical practices, and therefore decided to go off on my own. The biggest risk we took was moving from North Carolina back to Colorado to start Rising Star Behavior Services, LLC. Despite having lived in Colorado between 2007 – 2015, we had moved back to N.C. to be closer to family. However, the climate in NC, at the time, proved too challenging for our business, so we decided to move back to Colorado and start fresh. This also meant being physically separated from my husband for 6 months. He stayed in NC and kept his job so he could support us, while I moved to CO with our two daughters, aged 4 and 7 at the time, to do all of the leg work in getting our company started. Even though I had two young girls to take care of, I knew my business would be my most demanding “child” and begin to work long days to see my dream come true.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My goal from the beginning was to stay small and focus on the relationships I have with my staff and the families we serve. My company puts our clients first, and focuses on trauma informed care. I also do everything I can to make myself accessible to each of our families . And we know that when our staff feel supported and listened to, they will deliver the best care for our clients. Getting to where we are today has been challenging. At this moment we have 21 staff on our payroll, and 34 clients that we serve. However, if I would have known that COVID was only months away after gaining our first client, I don’t know if we would have continued. We were considered an essential business and allowed to continue to see families, but because we provided home based services, we didn’t know what we were supposed to do to keep everyone safe. Our policies shifted sometimes daily. Overtime that got easier, but as we grew, we discovered other challenges such as a making sure we hired the right staff, or developed company policies that supported a positive work culture. I also noticed that my responsibilities increased over time too. This has caused me to be stretched thin and extends my work days to 12 – 14 hours. Therefore one of my new goals has been to make sure I delegate appropriately so that my company can continue to be successful as I pull away from certain day-to-day tasks. I had a consultant tell me recently that I’m the most important person in my company, and therefore I need to make sure I take time to take care of myself, and allow others to the opportunities to take up new responsibilities.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Currently, I live in Arvada and love it! We’re close to Denver, close to Boulder, and depending on the day, you can easily escape to the mountains! I would start off by renting a cabin in mountain town like Breckenridge, or a little further out like Fairplay. Our days would be spent going on hikes, or snow shoeing, and relaxing in the evening to some of the most beautiful sunsets. After a few days, we may go back to Arvada. Each evening we could spend in a different town. One of my favorite downtown areas is Louisville. We could eat at Verde, then go downstairs and have a beer while playing pinball at Tilt. And of course, finish the evening off with a sweet treat from Sweet Cow. I also love taking out of town guests to the Empty Quiver in Broomfield, for archery. I think we could end our week going into Denver. Possibly to Union Station, or unwind and connect at Prost Brewery. And depending on the time of year, we could catch an Av’s game. Some of my favorite restaurants downtown include Sushi Den, or Temaki Den, and D-Bar. For our last day we could stay local, hang out with friends and play board games, if my guest was interested we could even shop for a new game at one of my favorite local stores, Black & Read!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am so thankful to have the support of many of those around me! The first person I should acknowledge is my husband, Jeff London. He’s the one who believed in me from the beginning. I resisted the idea of starting a business every time he brought it up. Finally, one day, I decided to listen to him and go for it. Through all the struggles and hardships, I’m glad I listened! I never would have thought it would be possible without his encouragement. Professionally, I owe a huge thanks to Megan Dare, owner of Guiding Growth, and Cathie Christmas, owner of Innovations Developmental Solutions. Megan was one of the first people I networked with once moving back to CO. She was in the process of starting her business, and was the best person to bounce ideas off of as well introducing me to some other amazing professionals in the area. I know my company wouldn’t be where it is today without her support! As my company has grown Cathie has been incredible at finding ways to help me become more efficient and keeping me grounded with my goals. Lastly, I have to acknowledge my employees. Each one of them is decided to their work and it shows in the progress of our clients!

Website: https://risingstarbehaviorservices.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/risingstaraba

Image Credits
All picture taken by Star London