MindWorks Collaborative is super excited to highlight the atypical path of today’s occupational therapist of color, Tomeico Faison. Not only is she a occupational therapy provider, she is a recognized entrepreneur, trainer, coach and advocate for increased service access for marginalized communities. Tomeico is the founder and CEO of Therapeutic Solutions of NC, a health and human service coach and consultant with Faison Consulting, and she is an adjunct professor at Rocky Mountain College.
What does Tomeico do?
As an entrepreneurial-minded occupational therapist she launched Therapeutic Solutions in 2003 to address what she saw as a gap in quality services for under-served communities. She started partnering with group homes, state run facilities, and community based agencies. Tomeico noted that the low-vision population was particularly under-served and decided to specialize in providing occupational therapy services for clients with low vision but uniquely added mental health services for these clients as well. She recognized that by providing her clients this type of wraparound support to manage their emotions regarding not having or losing their eyesight improved the clients success in meeting their occupational therapy goals overall.
How does Tomeico advance equity in occupational therapy?
Therapeutic Solutions is the largest provider of contractual private specialized in-home occupational therapy services in North Carolina and has seen much success over the years. To help other occupational therapists and health/human service professionals to start and grow service-oriented, niche/nontraditional and profitable businesses, Tomeico launched Fasison Consulting and started teaching at Rocky Mount College. Through her coaching business she helps participants figure out who is not being served well and then craft their business to fill that gap with excellence. Similarly, in her adjunct role at Rocky Mount College, she teaches a community based entrepreneurship course in the occupational therapy doctoral program.
Tomeico is committed to helping only those practitioners who are dedicated to working with under-served populations. She also has a deep interest in increasing the diversity of health/human service leaders. She notes that occupational therapy is a wonderful profession but like many healthcare professions there is a immediate need to increase the diversity of the field to reflect the rapidly growing diversity of the general population. Only 4% of the profession is Black. The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc (AOTA) has recently made some efforts to begin some introspective work on why the diversity problem persists. Their recent efforts reflect their growing awareness that increased diversity ultimately leads to improved innovation and service provision. In the meantime, Tomeico will continue to do her best to serve every community and to leverage her success to help others do the same.
Please help us to celebrate Tomeico’s hard work to increase culturally proficient services for marginalized communities and the diversity of occupational therapy business owners! Read more about her below:
Learn More About Tomeico
Name:
Tomeico Faison, OTR/L
Title and Organization:
CEO of Therapeutic Solutions of NC; Certified Business Coach at Faison Consulting
Hobbies/Interests:
I enjoy spending time with my family, writing, jogging, poetry/spoken word, anything related to entrepreneurship, and working in ministry. I also enjoy minority recruitment and mentorship of women of color and currently serve as a mentor at LaunchCary.
Education Background:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Bachelors of Science in Radilogic Science, Master of Science in Occupational Therapy; University of Alabama at Birmingham – Graduate Certificate in Low Vision Rehabilitation; North Carolina State University – Graduate Certificate in Business Coaching
When did you start working in OT?
I have been working in occupational therapy for the last 18 years
Why did you choose to become an Occupational Therapist?
I was interested in doing rehabilitation work in non-traditional settings and serving people with cognitive and psycho-social impairments
Can you share a bit about what makes your job so rewarding?
I enjoy seeing people have positive changes in their quality of life in spite of their disability. Additionally, I absolutely love helping occupational therapy entrepreneurs create their dream businesses. Many of my consulting clients are women of color who have overcome many challenges, some related to being a minority within majority settings. They often tell me that seeing someone who looks like them, another woman of color, inspires them to know that they too can own and run a business within our profession.
How would you describe a good day at work?
I am networking, marketing, teaching, consulting, writing and overseeing the administration of my company. My duties vary greatly on a daily basis.
Anything else you would like to share about your job/experience of working in OT?
Occupational therapists help people “occupy” their time in ways that are important to them. We help people do things they need and want to do in spite of disability status. Too often people don’t understand what we do. Our services are individualized and occupation-centered and therefore encompass a diverse repertoire of collaborative interventions!
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