When it comes to dorky, I’m pretty sure I’ve got you beat. Try this on.  In high school, I played hooky (with my mom’s permission) and took the train into NYC to….get half priced tickets to a Broadway matinee.  More than once.

And I still love Broadway, musicals especially. In fact, last weekend I dragged my whole family up (haven’t lived within train distance in years) to see Hamilton; a trip I’d had planned since before it was Tony nominated.  It was so worth it. (And it hits the road soon so if you’re interested, keep your eyes peeled.)

One I never saw was Title of Show, but it has a song I like the idea of—Nine People’s Favorite Thing. The show itself is about putting together a musical and the collaborators sing this about, well, their goals. They decide it’s better to stay true to your vision and strive for fewer super fans rather than settle for a stadium full of lukewarm ones.

What do you think? Let’s face it, most SLPs are going to lean towards people pleasing. Could you strive to be the one and only to a select few? Or would you rather be the ninth favorite thing for a hundred?  Given the scope of our profession, and the limitations of many of our practices, like the schools, which require us to be generalists, we are usually setting ourselves up to be the ninth favorite thing. Would you dare to specialize, really go after that one population you have a passion for, and satisfy fewer more completely? The irony, of course, is that often this pursuit eventually brings you a larger and extremely enthusiastic one. You could be a diva.

The celebrities in our field are those who have specialized, often to the point where you’d wonder, “Can I make a career out of such a narrow focus in my area?”  Maybe not, and that’s certainly a valid reason to pursue a more generalist focus.

But for those who do take the narrow approach, [they] “can’t regret what they did for love.”

I see a variety of pediatrics myself, but have a couple areas I’m focusing on more and more. What about you? Do you welcome the variety of a broad range of cases? Long to run off and join one “show?” If so, what would it be?