Meet Maria Jose Soong | School Psychologist & Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maria Jose Soong and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maria Jose, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have had the pleasure of spending 17 years of my career thus far helping families of children and adolescents seeking supports within the framework of public schools. The thought process behind starting my own business is that I believe wholeheartedly in my work and feel that a private practice expands my ability to make a difference in the lives of others. The South Florida community which I call home is comprised of many families that have recently arrived in the U.S. These families have expressed to me a need for honest and competent guidance on the educational options and services in our country, particularly for children with unique abilities and special needs. Within this context and in seeing the continued expansion of school voucher programs in Florida, I wanted to offer my honed expertise as a bilingual school psychologist to a broader community of families to assist in making sure their children’s needs are identified and they are receiving the best educational experiences available.

Many outside of the field do not realize the variety of services that a school psychologist can offer. A common association when others hear the word psychologist is a couch and a notepad for counseling and therapy. Indeed, school psychologists do offer counseling services for children and adolescents. However, besides counseling, a major role of the school psychologist is the provision of high-quality, full and individual evaluations to identify giftedness and other neurodiversities such as ADHD, autism, developmental delay, dyslexia, intellectual disabilities, and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Evaluations completed by a school psychologist are detailed and multi-faceted. These evaluations can provide one of the most comprehensive pictures of a child’s functioning in order to identify needs and strengths. The results can link a child with more individualized supports and services at school and in the community, some of which are legally protected.

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?
I am a very calculated risk-taker. There is a very sensitive and nuanced nature to the work of a school psychologist which I suppose requires those that enter the field to have this certain personality trait. We cautiously examine data from multiple angles to draw conclusions and make decisions. Risk taking in my career and in life has in many ways mirrored this.

Complex decisions are an integral part of my work, but the most difficult decision I have ever had to make as a business owner was simply to get started. I have spent over a decade developing my expertise within public schools and have been licensed for private practice for many of those years, but the decision to learn how to become a business owner and start a private practice was a careful one that took years in the making. I know my work and love what I do, but the idea of articles of incorporation, liability insurance, advertising, etc. was daunting to say the least. It was a leap of faith to begin building the foundation towards having my own business.

The single most important decision I made that contributed to my success was creating my business plan. It can be intimidating to start a business, particularly as a full-time working mom. It is easy to envision the end goal without feeling like the stepping stones to get there are clearly visible. In making the decision to outline my goals, implementation timeline, and marketing plan, I created a map that allowed me to focus on one step at a time. I continue to follow this outline, and it ensures that I stay focused and provide the best services I can to my community.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Miami is such a vibrant place to be in. For me, Biscayne National Park, the bay, and the beaches are my happy place. I highly recommend a boat trip around Biscayne Bay and a stop along the many sandbars. South Pointe Park in Miami Beach is a gorgeous place to spend the day at, with green space, the beach, and the pier setting the stage to waving off the massive cruise ships as they depart the Port of Miami on their adventures into the Atlantic. Living in the City of Doral, I am surrounded by many places to eat, drink, and visit. Within Doral, CityPlace Doral and Downtown Doral areas offer nightlife, restaurants from all over the world, and local shopping in a lively atmosphere. There are so many places to visit within South Florida, but these are just a few of the places that fill my cup.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am a wife and a mother, a daughter and a sister, a school psychologist and a business owner. But I would not be able to be all of these things at the same time without the support of my amazing husband. Therefore, I would like to dedicate my Shoutout to him. He is my partner and my rock.    

Website: www.psychservsoflo.com

Instagram: @psychservsoflo