The Growth Lab Podcast

What happens when a mom tired of dishes, waste, and feeling alone decides to build something better? In this episode of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Pallavi Pandey, founder of DTOCS, a brand creating classy, compostable tableware from rescued palm leaves, and DTOCS Consulting, a full-service Amazon growth partner. Pallavi is a Stevie Gold winner, a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow, and an Inc....

Maybe the reason you're stuck isn't that you're not working hard enough. Maybe you're trying to create a new life while wearing an old identity. In this episode of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Tracy Litt, founder of the School of Becoming and creator of Neuro Identity Evolution, to talk about the identity shift and what it takes to make it. Tracy shares her journey from single mother on foo...

What if the skills you already have, the degree you earned, and the experience you built were already enough? In this episode of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Hannah Boeck, business coach, creative strategist, founder of Cued Creative, creator of Scale Smart Academy, and host of the Scale Smart podcast. Hannah shares how she went from a burned-out speech therapist struggling to pay rent to b...

This one is for the mom nobody talks about, the one who keeps the entire family moving. She knows which child needs new shoes, when the dentist appointment is, and which kid has been coughing for three nights. She answers work emails while making dinner and still ends the day wondering why it feels like she is not enough. In this solo episode of The Growth Lab, Luba speaks directly to her about th...

For so many children in foster care, everything they own is carried in a trash bag, and the message it sends is that they are not seen, not valued, not important. In this deeply moving episode of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Rob Scheer, founder of Comfort Cases, who lived that reality and decided to change it. Rob grew up in the foster care system, and when his own adopted children arrived...

Sometimes the most meaningful businesses are not built in boardrooms. They are built in hospital rooms. In this Season 5 premiere of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Morgan and Josh Weiser, the parents behind TUBzi, an innovative bathing assistant born out of one of the hardest seasons of their lives. When their twins arrived three months early, the family spent more than 100 days in the NICU a...

Most people know Allen Genkin from the dance floor, but dance was never really the story. In this deeply personal episode of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with professional ballroom dancer and Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro competitor Allen Genkin, whose family has been family to hers since the day he was born. Behind the television lights and the trophies is a story of extraordinary resili...

It's 8:30 at night. Your child spikes a fever, or takes a fall off the playground, and suddenly you are weighing urgent care, the ER, the pediatrician, or waiting until morning. Every parent has stood in that exact spot, phone in hand, unsure which door to walk through. In this episode, Luba sits down with Dr. Daniel Kogan, owner and founder of MedX Urgent Care, to unpack what urgent care actually...

You know you were made for more than a packed caseload and an endless to-do list, but figuring out how to actually build the business can feel like guesswork. In this special business edition of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Ebony Green, owner and CEO of The Speak Center, creator of the SLP Business Suite, and founder of the Made for More movement, for an honest look at what it really takes...

Somewhere between the parenting books, the expert opinions, the evaluations, and the 2 a.m. Google searches, a lot of parents stop trusting their own instincts. In this solo episode of The Growth Lab, Luba explores how that quiet loss of confidence happens and why a parent's gut feeling deserves more weight than it usually gets. Through the story of a mom who sensed something was off with her son...

In this episode of The Growth Lab, Luba Patlakh sits down with Alex Lopiccolo, known as the King of Swings, a certified occupational therapy assistant and sensory integration specialist who has spent the last decade designing sensory gyms and teaching hands on workshops around the world. Alex shares how his own childhood experience with sensory sensitivities shaped his approach to movement based t...

This episode is one of the most personal conversations on the podcast, as host Luba Patlakh opens up about losing her own mom to cancer and how that loss shaped her view of advocacy and leadership. Luba sits down with Katia Conte, founder of the Daniela Conte Foundation, who shares the story of her daughter Daniela's four year battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer. K...

Is your child a late talker, and are you wondering whether to wait it out or pay closer attention? In this solo episode, Luba breaks down the real truth about late talkers, the version you won't find on social media. She explains what a late talker actually is, why understanding language is not the same as being able to communicate, and how speech delays ripple out into behavior, confidence, learn...

Most of us were raised on "clean your plate," "that's a bad choice," and "you're so lucky you can eat that." Then we grow up and wonder why food feels so loaded. In this episode I sit down with Lea Rifkin, a non-diet registered dietitian and founder of Kindred Nutrition Co., to talk about how early food messaging shapes our kids, and how we can rewrite that story while we heal our own relationship...

When childcare falls apart, everything falls apart with it, work, stress, and the whole rhythm of family life. In this episode of The Growth Lab, Luba sits down with Beth Heyer, founder of Babysitting Connection and mentor to women building service-based businesses across the country. Beth shares how a frustrating search for trustworthy sitters turned into a vetted, membership-based network now se...

Long before children can use their words, they communicate through behavior, their play, their reactions, and the patterns parents and teachers notice but can't always name. In this solo episode, Luba walks through the everyday signs that quietly signal a child may need more help, from delayed speech and frustration-driven meltdowns to sensory red flags, feeding challenges, rigid routines, and mot...

Behavior isn't random, and it isn't your child being "bad." It's communication. In this episode, Luba sits down with Kea Lee, M.S., BCBA, LBA, founder of Moment of Behavior, to unpack what your child's behavior is actually telling you, and how parents can shift from reactive to responsive. Kea brings 8 years of experience across clinic, home, school, and community settings, with a Bachelor's in Sp...

In this special solo episode, Luba shares the deeply personal story behind her very first children's book, Bobo Wears a Bowtie, launching this May during Better Speech and Hearing Month. This isn't just a book about speech, it's a story about courage, confidence, and helping children build the inner voice that says "I can try, I can learn, and I don't have to be perfect to grow." Luba opens up abo...

Jamie Giannino is a speech-language pathologist, private practice owner, and nonprofit founder who has spent the last decade working in the gaps the system pretends don't exist. Luba sits down with Jamie to talk about building Bee Bright Therapy and the Wordwise Speech Therapy Foundation side by side, what it actually takes to become an early intervention agency in New York State, and what pushed...

What happens when a pediatric SLP gets tired of reinventing the wheel before every session and decides to build something better? Luba sits down with Stephanie Feero, MS, CCC-SLP and founder of Chomper Champs, a speech therapy companion tool born in a feeding therapy room and now shipping to SLPs across the country. They talk about why play-based therapy produces better outcomes, how Stephanie wen...

The Growth Lab is back, and Luba is marking one full year of the podcast with a solo episode that's equal parts reflection and momentum. She gets honest about what year one actually looked like behind the scenes, how the show evolved from a business-focused platform into a space built for families and providers navigating child development, and why she didn't have it all figured out when she start...

In this episode, Luba sits down with Nicole Casey, speech language pathologist, clinic owner, and the creator of the Child Led SLP community, for a conversation that is equal parts clinical insight and personal honesty. Nicole unpacks what "child led" therapy actually means, clearing up the common misconception that it equals no structure or goals, and explaining how following a child's lead leads...

Somewhere along the way, parents were made to believe that advocating for their child means being difficult, confrontational, or “that parent.” In this solo episode of The Growth Lab , speech-language pathologist and child advocate Luba Patlakh challenges that narrative and explains why advocacy is not aggression, it’s clarity. Drawing from years of experience supporting families through IEP meeti...

In this episode of The Growth Lab , Luba Patlakh sits down with speech-language pathologist, educator, and clinic owner Jessie Ginsburg—known online as the Sensory SLP—for a candid conversation about the evolving world of speech therapy and what it really takes to support children and families well. Together they explore Jessie’s journey from starting her own clinic to building widely used sensory...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussion of suicide and loss. Please take care while listening. Crisis resources are included below. In this powerful Season 3 episode, Luba welcomes Mattie Murrey a former Speech-Language Pathologist and private practice owner of 30 years who traded speech drills for stages and story thrills. Now a keynote speaker, certified life coach, ghostwriter, and pu...