Testimonial – Page 4

Krystin Ensign

Krystin was born and raised in the Tri-Cities and moved from Washington, D.C. to Spokane to begin a career as an SLP following graduation. Krystin’s interest in pursuing speech language pathology stemmed from her brother who was born with a cleft lip and palate and received SLP services throughout his childhood. Krystin has taken a special interest in feeding but enjoys working with a variety of patients. Her practice has been shaped by her training at Gallaudet, which instilled a strong sense of advocacy. Krystin is passionate about neurodiversity affirming care and family focused care. Outside of work Krystin enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and pets.

Taylor Adkins

Taylor grew up in Fresno, California, then attended Chico State University for college. Her family moved to Spokane, WA her senior year of college. She began her master’s in Communication Disorders at Eastern New Mexico University, and moved to Spokane to do her final internships so she could spend more time with her younger brother Clay, who has autism. She began as a student at Joya Child & Family in January 2015, and loved the staff’s team work, energy and commitment to the families. She then decided to make Spokane her permanent home and accepted her first job as speech therapist at Joya in the summer of 2015. Taylor has volunteered as a coach at ParaSport Spokane for three years.

Sierra Chantry

Sierra grew up in a small town in Washington. She received her AA degree here in Spokane through running start and went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Washington University. She received her Master of Science through Washington State University at the downtown Spokane health campus. Sierra fell in love with Joya and their mission during her final internship in graduate school. When she is not at work, Sierra loves being outside with her two dogs Chloe and Nala, or visiting with family in the small town she grew up in, Ione Washington.

Lauren Gelstin

Growing up in a small town in central Washington, I learned the value of community early on. I was fortunate to embrace the Spokane community while attending undergraduate and graduate school at WSU and to join Joya upon graduation. I thoroughly enjoy building and enhancing the communication skills of early language learners and leaving a lasting impact on them and their families.

Clara Hanson

Clara grew up in a small town in western Washington called Enumclaw. Becoming a Speech Language Pathologist was one of Clara’s early dreams and she has continually pursued opportunities to work with children and their families. She moved to Spokane in 2018 to attend Washington State University where she received her Masters of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences. Clara has a passion for working in pediatrics and empowering families by equipping them with tools and strategies for encouraging engagement and communication with their children.

Jennifer Wells

Jennifer has a special interest in infant and toddler feeding as well as phonological processing disorders. She loves working with children, birth to 3, and building relationships with, and supporting, the whole family. She is forever amazed by the early learning and development that takes place through play and daily life. Jennifer was born in Bishop California and grew-up in Bend Oregon. Jen has always worked with and had a passion for kids. Over the years, she’s been a babysitter, provided daycare services, worked in various in-patient treatment centers for troubled youth, and was involved with foster/adoptive parents. Jen is married and has three daughters. She enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, river rafting, working-out, coffee dates with friends, walking the dog, new and unique experiences and traveling.

Ashley Potter

Ashley was born in Key West Florida, grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and moved to Seattle in 1994. She graduated from University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences. During her undergraduate studies, she worked in a clinic in Seattle as a therapy aide and was also a respite care provider for a little girl with autism. This is where she fell in love with that population as well as pediatrics in general.

Ann Pirttima

Ann developed an interest in children with special needs and hearing loss after volunteering while she was in high school. She took sign language classes and majored in special education at the University of South Florida. After a year of teaching, she decided that speech therapy would be a better fit and returned to school to obtain a master’s degree in communication disorders.

Nikie Noldin

Nikie has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota and a master’s from Mankato State University. Nickie has always loved helping children, which inspired her to earn a degree in communication disorders. She is originally from Minnesota, but settled in Spokane with her husband Jim, about 30 years ago. She and Jim have two grown children. Nikie and Jim enjoy the great outdoors and love biking. Nikie has been at Joya since 1988 and has enjoyed many years of working with children and their families. She feels very blessed to have found such a wonderful place to work and enjoys working with such a dedicated and experienced staff.

Joya Stories