Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Nestor-Adams.
Hi Mary, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Mary Nestor-Adams and I am a pediatric occupational therapist. I am the Owner and Director of Heartland Therapy Services, a therapy business where we provide occupational therapy services to individuals with disabilities using hippotherapy (or, the use of a horse) during our treatment sessions. I started Heartland Therapy Services in 2019, shortly after volunteering at Heartland Therapeutic Riding – a horseback riding center that provides adaptive riding lessons to individuals with disabilities. I have always loved horses and animals. I grew up on a little farm on the outskirts of Kansas City in Peculiar, MO where my family had horses, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, pigs, cows, rabbits, etc, etc. My younger brother, Jack, and I grew up playing with and taking care of the animals and I think that’s when I first learned how therapeutic animals can be. Jack, who is four years younger than me, has an intellectual disability. When we were little, Jack had therapists who would come to the house to play and I was always right there joining in and observing. I knew from an early age I wanted to do something that helped other people, something specifically that helped people with disabilities. I found the field of occupational therapy in college and was immediately intrigued. Occupational therapy is all abut helping people do the things that are most important to them – their occupations – which may include daily tasks such as bathing or eating a meal, to hobbies and passions such as going fishing or playing on the playground with friends. I went to graduate school at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, where I got my Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. I followed my interest in animal assisted therapy there as well and completed my Doctoral Capstone at Saddle Up! in Franklin, TN where I spent 16 weeks working with their team of therapists who provide therapy services using hippotherapy. When I moved back to Kansas City after graduate school, I was looking for similar programs and found Heartland Therapeutic Riding. I started volunteering out there and when they found out about my experience, they asked me to start their therapy program – and that’s how Heartland Therapy Services was born! Now, we have a team of 4 occupational therapists and provide different programming throughout the year including Summer OT Intensives, weekly therapy sessions, and our new winter programming – Beyond the Barn – which will provide in-home or in-community services through the month of January.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting a business is hard! I went to occupational therapy school, not business school, so learning the ins and outs of starting and running a business has been a huge learning curve and I’m still constantly learning as I go, making lots of mistakes, and trying to learn from them. Obviously with starting the business in 2019, we had a bit of a pause in 2020 with the rest of the world with COVID. My husband and I also moved to the US Virgin Islands in 2021 and I passed my business off to another therapist for two years and managed at a distance. Since returning to the Kansas City area in 2023, Heartland Therapy Services has grown with adding three additional occupational therapists to our team and expanding and adding new programming. I’m continuing to seek resources and build my knowledge and skillset as a business owner so we can continue to grow.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Heartland Therapy Services we provide occupational therapy services utilizing hippotherapy. Hippotherapy is the incorporation of a horse into therapy sessions as a horse’s movement can engage sensory, neuromotor, and cognitive systems to work towards functional therapy goals. We use hippotherapy and nature based treatment methods to help our clients reach their therapy goals. Occupational therapy focuses on function – things that someone needs to do everyday to get through their day, such as eating a meal, getting dressed, or completing a school assignment. At Heartland Therapy Services, we provide weekly therapy sessions, week long therapy intensives during the summer and in home or community based services in the winter. We provide services at Heartland Therapeutic Riding, an adaptive horseback riding facility for individuals with disabilities, in south Overland Park.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as successfully running and managing Heartland Therapy Services and providing therapy services to as many families as we can while maintaining a good work life balance with my family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://htrkc.org/occupational-therapy
- Instagram: @heartlandtherapyservices
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandtherapyservices
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-nestor-adams
