Meet our team
Our mission is to help children thrive by providing high-quality pediatric therapy while making the process easier for parents.
Founders
Erin Vollmer, MS, CCC-SLP
Erin is a certified and licensed pediatric speech language pathologist originally from Traverse City, Michigan. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Speech Language Pathology from Marquette University. She has practiced in the Chicago area for over 18 years; treating children in a variety of settings including schools, early intervention and private practice. Erin credits her desire to become a speech pathologist to her uncle, Bob Gartland, her dad’s twin brother. Bob had Cerebral Palsy and communicated using a simple communication board attached to his wheelchair and an adapted typewriter. Erin knew that she wanted to surround herself with people like Bob and studied speech pathology in order to work toward making communication easier and more accessible for children with disabilities.
Erin is a member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association, the Illinois Speech Language Hearing Association and the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She lives in the northern suburbs with her husband, four children, and two English Bulldogs.
Michelle Worth
Michelle received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master’s of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She spent almost ten years at J.P. Morgan Chase (and predecessor organizations) executing subordinated debt and equity investment transactions as well as portfolio management. Michelle left her finance career to spend time raising her children.
One of her children went through speech and language therapy so she brings her perspective of being a parent of a child with a speech and language need. She has always had a passion for entrepreneurship and is excited to be working with Erin to help families through TherapyWorks’ network of speech therapists!
Michelle lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband and their three children. She is originally from the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Admin & Management
Lainey Baron
MS, CCC-SLP
In addition to her role as TherapyWorks Clinical Coordinator, Lainey Baron is a practicing speech language pathologist. She has experience treating in the schools with a focus on supporting children in preschool and elementary school with a variety of communication delays and disorders. Lainey has also worked in private practice, providing in-home therapy for families in the Chicago area.
As Clinical Coordinator, Lainey communicates with and supports both the TherapyWorks therapist team as well as the families of TherapyWorks. She hold her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association, her Illinois Professional Educators License and her Illinois state license. Lainey lives in Chicago with her husband and two daughters.
Debbie Smith
Originally from Chicago, Debbie graduated from The Ohio State University with a BA in English, and then received her Masters Degree in Education from National Louis University. She was a reading specialist in San Francisco before moving back to Chicago to teach elementary school in the Chicago Public Schools.
After 6 years, she left teaching to stay home and raise her children, and since then has been an active member of her school community. She is excited to work with the team at TherapyWorks, which she initially learned about as a client for one of her children. She lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband, three boys, and two pugs.
