
LLA Spotlight: Tracy Heupel
We have amazing therapists at LLA and want to showcase them to you! This week, meet Tracy Heupel!
Tracy is a Speech Language Pathologist who has been with LLA since August 2020. She serves students at Ashland City Schools. She became a therapist after realizing nursing school was not for her, so she set out to find what she was truly destined to do. At the time, she was working as a nurse’s aide and began observing the speech therapist who worked at the nursing home. She immediately took interest to her job and wanted to learn more. During the summer of 2014, she applied to the University of Akron’s Speech Language Pathology program and started on her journey to becoming a Speech Language Pathologist! It wasn’t until she started her schooling that she learned just how important Speech Language Pathologists are to our communities and the amount of people who are served on a daily basis. After only her first semester of school, she knew that she had made the right choice and has loved every minute of her journey to becoming the best therapist she can possibly be! One of her favorite things about being a therapist is getting to see her kids reach their goals. Her absolute favorite moments are when a child realizes they just did what they have been practicing for so long and working so hard on. She has been known on multiple occasions to get tears in her eyes because she gets so happy for them! She loves seeing their facial expressions when they realize they just met their goals too!
Let’s get to know Tracy better!
What is your favorite movie?
Steel Magnolias
What do you do in your free time?
If I’m not with family or friends, I am relaxing at home watching movies or at the yoga studio!
What is the funniest thing a kid has ever said to you in therapy?
“Ummm…. You wore your hair like that today?”
What is your favorite food?
Pizza
What is your best advice for kids?
Take a deep breath and you will get there! Just keep trying, if you mess up, it’s okay!
Would you rather have ice cream or cookies?
Cookies!
What is your favorite inspirational quote?
Dream, believe, achieve!
What is the best therapy advice you have ever received?
Sometimes, things do not always go as planned. You can spend hours planning your perfect therapy session only to realize nothing you planned is going to work that day. Just be flexible and have patience!
Where did you grow up?
Hartville, Ohio
What is your favorite season?
Summer
Tune in to our next Spotlight to meet another one of our wonderful therapists!