Although UCCS alumnus Taylor Loucks didn’t pursue his psychology specialization of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) until his senior year of college, he founded his own ABA company just a few years after.
Trend ABA, which Taylor started in 2020, provides therapy and services to children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities and their families.
“I chose psychology because I felt like it would allow me to help individual people and make an impact on a daily basis,” said the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences graduate. “When I was at UCCS, I took a broad array of psychology courses and dipped my toes into a lot of different specializations, but by senior year, I still hadn’t decided what I wanted to do as a career. One of my friends had a job in ABA and suggested I try it out, so I started working as a Registered Behavior Therapist (RBT) and felt like I’d found the direction of psychology I wanted to go in.”
Once Taylor learned more about ABA, he knew he wanted to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), which requires a graduate degree that UCCS does not yet offer, and he had a narrow window to apply and prepare for graduate school.
“I realized when I was at UCCS that to have the career that I was looking for within psychology, I would most likely need to progress to a master’s level degree,” he shared. “I made the decision really late to get into it. I basically graduated from UCCS and then a month later decided I wanted to try graduate school.”
Taylor quickly applied and was accepted to Capella University, an online program that allowed him to earn his graduate degree without having to leave his life and RBT position in Colorado.
“With the online degree, I could start quickly and maintain the RBT job I had while also joining the BCBA candidacy program at the company I was working for,” he explained. “I’d learn about these ABA evidence-based strategies in class at night, then go into work the next day and apply it in person. It was super helpful for learning that material and directly understanding how it’s applied.”
Applying those evidence-based measures is part of what Taylor loves about the work he does, along with making that daily impact on his clients.
“I’m really interested in science and now I get to do it on a daily basis, which is super exciting, and in my work, you get to see that growth and impact on the kids and families regularly,” said Taylor. “Sometimes it feels like you’re trudging through mud, but then you hear from the parents about the progress their kids are making and it’s amazing.”
Despite the responsibilities that come with owning a business, Taylor is afforded some flexibility by doing all his services in client homes, versus at a center. It also allows him to practice in the environments he considers most effective for clients and have some variety during his workday.
“I saw an opportunity to fill a void within Colorado Springs for the home-based services,” Taylor said. “Behavior is going to be different in different environments, so the cool thing about the home setting, from my perspective, is that it’s where the client spends the majority of their time. And, caregivers, family members and siblings can understand exactly what we’re doing with the kiddo and keep that consistency.”
“Now that I have a family, the flexibility with my job is awesome,” he added. “I’m able to support the families we work with and my own family at the same time.”
Taylor’s family includes his wife, Hannah, whom he met through work and also works in the ABA field as director of an ABA clinic, and their young daughter. Raising her and watching her grow is one of his proudest accomplishments, along with earning his degrees and BCBA credential.
“I’m so proud of my daughter and my family,” said Taylor. “I love spending time with her. And graduating with my bachelor’s was a big accomplishment in itself, so to also earn my master’s when I thought that was something I’d never be able to do makes me very proud.”
Looking ahead, Taylor hopes to grow his company and add services. Eventually, he’d like to fully transition to a management role and focus on running the business and training employees in ABA.
“The more I do it, the more I become interested in the management side,” said Taylor. “I really enjoy marketing, building relationships, and teaching people about what ABA is and why we’re doing it, so I’d love to be able to step more into that role where I can focus on managing and maintaining the company. I’d also like to add other therapies, such as speech, occupational and physical. Many of our patients can benefit from all of those or are already enrolled in them, so it would be great if they could just get it from one company.”
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