Timothy Zercher 0:00

Well, Anthony, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you taking time. Thank you, Timothy. I appreciate you having me on. Absolutely. Absolutely. So your background includes special education, healthcare administration, ABA, and behavioral health leadership. What originally drew you into the behavioral health field and how has that kind of shaped your approach to leadership?

Anthony Netkovick 0:20

Yeah. So I started in the field of special education about 10 years ago. I was a paraprofessional in a public school district. I do have family that is has experience, extensive experience in special education and assistive technology. So I have personal experience prior to my professional experience being around people of all ability levels. And in full transparency, I don't pretend to be somebody who at 18 years old had it all figured out and knew what they wanted to do for the rest of their life. So I tried a few different things. And then at the age of 20, I had the opportunity to be a paraprofessional in the public school district, work with children with special needs. Prior to that setting, I was not very familiar with ABA, behavior analysts or really behavioral health. More of the personal experience I had was surrounding education, like the actual academic part of working with people with disabilities. So in working in that role, I was introduced to a BCBA and introduced to ABA. And that's where really kind of my foundational knowledge started as far as behavioral health and that part of helping people with disabilities. So my definitely value people who provide that academic side of the field to people with disabilities. But I just found to be more rewarding to work with people on the kind of the behavior side of the spectrum there.

Timothy Zercher 1:32

Yeah, totally understand it. Totally understand it. We uh we found a similar thing, and that's why we work in behavioral health because people working in behavioral health are more pleasant to work with, honestly, than other industries. So you're currently helping build and expand the behavioral health services at OneWell Health. Well, been in like the biggest lessons that you've learned about launching new programs, because I know you've launched several in the right way so that they actually perform well.

Anthony Netkovick 1:56

Yeah. So I, prior to working at OneWell, I was a director at a different ABA agency. I've been involved in ABA leadership and administration at a few different companies. I was presented with the opportunity to help expand OneWell's ABA program and really start it from start it from scratch. And that's definitely an opportunity that I'm very grateful for so early on in my career, still to be able to start something from the foundation and grow it appropriately. So I'd say the biggest lesson I've learned is it's a lot of work. I think you really have to come in each day with just understanding that there's a big picture goal at the end of a tunnel here to have a really successful ABA program that reaches hopefully thousands of families and really helps, in my perspective, kind of set the tone for how the field and how that discipline should really operate in a variety of settings. But you really do have to take the small wins. It's not going to be an overnight project growing something from the beginning. And that's what I've really had to kind of adjust my mindset on because I'm a big picture person. I'm always looking at kind of what the end goal is. It's a lot of times, and as you know, in this field, what you have in mind for the future that can take many months, many years to reach if you're doing it the right way. So you really have to just take the small wins, really get to know the families and the staff that you're supporting. That's really what I've tried to establish with our ABA program. And that was a culture and mindset that OneWell really already had in place. But I've really put a lot of emphasis on building relationships with the first families that we've been supporting and in the first few staff. And that's really my goal is to keep the kind of a small program feel, even as this program continues to grow. And we do have future goals to expand services for ABA in multiple other states throughout the United States.

Timothy Zercher 3:40

I love that. I love that. Well, and I imagine it also takes patience, but I like that reframe to focusing on the small wins instead of trying to be patient for the big wins, because those can take a long time. Thank you, sir. Yeah. So you frequently talk about person-centered care and supporting families. How do you ensure that value remains at the center of growth, especially as organizations grow and expand and scale?

Anthony Netkovick 4:06

Yeah. So I think the great thing about my role in working with OneWell is that a lot of the values the agency already had in place and leadership already had in place prior to my arrival are similar values that I have as a person and as a leader. I think when you find an agency to work with that, you know, you and other leaders have similar core values, it makes it really so much easier to instill those values in that vision that you have for the services that you're building. So what I've really tried to do is make this program as accessible to everybody and anybody as possible. As we know, and I know every agency has their own reasons for it. Sometimes there are certain areas that they will provide services in or certain funding sources or certain insurance types. You know, what myself and leadership here really have in common is that we want this service, this program, our ABA program, our behavioral health services, really all the programs here at Onewell to be accessible to anybody, regardless of what insurance they have, what part of the state they live in. Really everybody deserves access to good quality care. So that's what really the person-centered care. And this is to kind of get back to something that one of my early mentors in the field told me is somebody who's really good at what they do in human services, is somebody who's really willing to do whatever it takes to help the clients and families. And I that really resonated with me because I feel like there's a lot of professionals out there that will do whatever it takes, maybe during nine to five. But what are unfortunately and unfortunately, sometimes there's things that happen outside of those hours or you have to push a little further. And that's just, in my opinion, what we sign up for when we're here to help a very vulnerable population.

Timothy Zercher 5:40

Absolutely. A very vulnerable population, a population that has needs outside of the nine to five. That's just the reality. Yeah, I love that. So, what have you found is the hardest part of growing a team or an organization?

Anthony Netkovick 5:53

I will say the hardest part I have found so far is it is a very competitive space right now, professionally for professionals. And I know that's probably a very cliche answer because you're sure you hear that all the time. I know I do, but it really is the truth. From a business perspective, there's no shortage of individuals or families or children for ABA or adults in our adults' behavioral health programs that need these types of services. There's plenty of families that need the support. Finding professionals number one, but quality professionals with similar values to what we have as an agency, I'd say is the hardest part because there is a shortage across the nation, and especially starting a program in Connecticut. This is a state with a very competitive market for ABA as far as professionals and those opportunities go. So I'd say that'd be the hardest part. I think we've done a really good job to this point of growing our program and growing our team of professionals efficiently and responsibly. But I think that's always gonna be something that's a topic that we have to navigate unless we see a dramatic shift in the amount of people willing to be behavior analysts or ABA therapists or positions similar to that. So I think that's what I've noticed is the biggest challenge that we've faced.

Timothy Zercher 7:06

Yeah. No, that makes sense. That makes sense. It is always hard. I think anybody in the ABA space, but even the wider behavioral health space, there's only ever not enough clients because the program funding has gotten disrupted or grants have gotten disrupted or something, and therefore it's hard to maintain the client load you have, or there's not enough talent. It's only ever the case. A perfect balance almost never exists, unfortunately. So you mentioned you're in a very competitive space. Since we are a marketing agency that operates in the space, we always have to ask some marketing type questions. The first is what works best right now for you to gain those new clients, especially outside of word of mouth, because word of mouth should always be one of the leading directions. And as I said, clients, I mean I mean to say talent. What brings those talent in?

Anthony Netkovick 7:48

Yeah, I think fostering a really supportive environment and getting word out there that you are a new provider, providing services is what I've found is something what we have to tackle. You know, OneWell was very prominent or is very prominent in the IDD population as far as professionals in multiple disciplines. But as IDD, ABA sometimes don't go hand in hand as far as people being aware of opportunities across both fields. ABA can feel very niche sometimes. So I think that's what we've had to navigate is just getting word out there that one well is not only an ABA provider here in Connecticut, where there are lots of opportunities for people, but a provider with really good quality values that wants to not just grow a program, but grow a responsible and efficient program that is going to support clients and families 100%. And that is always going to be the top priority. So I think that's just getting word out there. I think slowly but surely we've become a more prominent program in the state. And I think that will translate well to other states as we expand. But that's been something we've had to navigate thus far. And I feel we've done it very effectively overall. Just being patient though. You have to be patient. Take the small wins.

Timothy Zercher 9:07

Yep, exactly. Patience is a quality in almost every part of business, including marketing and talent. And so then what is one marketing tactic or strategy that you or your team is considering or even just watching really carefully in the marketplace?

Anthony Netkovick 9:20

Yeah, I think one thing we've implemented and considered is just really having a really strong and consistent presence of content and different types of content. So we've put out quite a bit of hiring content or content that is applicable to referrals and family. So they know the insurance types that we're in network with and the settings that we're providing services in. And then also educational content just about ABA. So that way maybe a family who's never had ABA before sees one well come across their feed with just content about ABA and person-centered care and what makes our program unique. So I think that's just a tactic we've utilized really well so far is just putting out good quality content, maybe not flooding social media with an excessive amount, but making sure that we're hitting different sources and also it's really quality content. And we have a really good marketing team here who's really since day one put ABA as a top priority of getting word out there that this is a program that one was offering. So I appreciate their support there.

Timothy Zercher 10:23

Love that. I love that. It is, I think, rarer than it should be that organizations really support their marketing team because in behavioral health so often people think it's not required. But it is if you want to get good talent, if you want to acquire clients and new programs, that kind of thing. So I love that. Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Anthony. I appreciate you taking time, appreciate the work that you're doing. You guys are making waves in a lot of in a lot of good ways. And I know that our audience sees it too. Thank you, Timothy.

Anthony Netkovick 10:48

I really appreciate the time today.

Timothy Zercher 10:49

It was a pleasure, sir. Absolutely.