Hi there, I’m Karen Dudek-Brannan!

I’m a Professional Development Specialist, SLP, and founder/owner/operate of Dr. Karen, LLC, a company focused on empowering therapists and educators to design interventions that support language, literacy, and executive functioning. In my current role, I develop engaging professional development and products that help school teams work together to get better results.

On the De Facto Leaders Podcast, I share up-to-date evidence-based practices, my own experience, and guest interviews designed to help pediatric therapists, educators, and aspiring school leaders design services that support social, emotional, and academic growth and set kids up for success in adulthood. Whether you want to learn effective strategies for your therapy session or classroom, be an influential leader on your team, or find creative ways to use your skills to advance in your career, I’ve got you covered. You can listen to the De Facto Leaders podcast on most popular podcast directories, and can scroll through past episodes on this page here.

Latest Episodes

What “Biologically Secondary” Means for Literacy Instruction (featuring Dr. Pamela Snow)

The idea that exposing kids to enriching literacy and play-based experiences will effectively teach them to read and write sounds nice on paper.Unfortunately, it’s not...

The Relationship Between Language Skills and Discipline Referrals (featuring Dr. Shameka Stewart)

When schools respond to “behavior problems” in students, the focus is often on the symptom, not the cause. Failing to look beyond the surface behavior does a disservic...

Building the Literacy Skills Needed for Technology and Life (featuring Tom Parton)

“We don’t need to work on decoding because students have access to assistive technology and accommodations.”“We don’t work on word-decoding in high school.”“Working on...

Engaging Families and the Role of Tech in Addressing Book Deserts (featuring Cassandra Williams)

In this episode, I reflect on my conversation with my colleague Cassandra Williams as we discuss book and resource deserts, as well as how to engage with school commun...

Navigating Language Therapy as the Only SLP in the District

Ever feel overwhelmed being the only SLP in your district without a network of fellow clinicians for support? You're not alone; many in similar situations face these c...

More Episodes »