From the moment we started talking, I noticed Jane Wolf’s curiosity about people. When I asked where she was from, she didn’t just answer, she asked me about myself, and that spark of interest continued throughout our conversation.
That same curiosity once led her to a career in archaeology, digging into the past and exploring cultures. But she quickly realized that the work, while fascinating, was isolating. She loved studying people, but she also loved helping them.
“That combination of fascination with human behavior and desire to make a difference eventually led me to speech therapy,” Wolf, now a licensed speech and feeding therapist, said.
In her work, she combines her love of understanding people with hands-on support, helping children and adults navigate communication and feeding challenges. Her path has taken her across the globe.
“I’m from Montana originally. I was born and raised there,” she said. “I moved to Spain for two years. Then I moved back to Montana and then went to grad school in Utah. Then I moved up to Alaska and finally landed in Minnesota after I met my husband.”
She’s grateful to be on the North Shore, having been “a fair many places and admittedly Minnesota has been my favorite place to live, hands down.”
Her experiences abroad introduced her to teaching and one-on-one tutoring, which sparked her interest in speech therapy.
“It actually started in Spain. I was working in schools as an English teaching assistant, and I got involved in doing tutoring on the side with one-on-one conversational partners,” Wolf said. “I really enjoyed that one-on-one work. I realized that was similar to the type of work speech therapists do. So after I moved back to the States, I pursued speech.”
Wolf has worked in hospitals, including Masonic Children’s Hospital, where she encountered children from rural areas who had limited access to specialized care.
“They often had to travel to Duluth or to the cities to get specialized feeding therapy,” Wolf explained. “When we decided to relocate up to the North Shore, I thought this would be a nice opportunity to start my own practice and deliver high-quality care that you typically have to travel for. It’s kind of a mission to bring specialized healthcare like speech therapy to rural communities.”
Accessibility is a cornerstone of Wolf’s practice. She understands how scheduling conflicts and rural distances can limit care, and she has made it a priority to help families fit therapy into their lives.
“It can be hard to, if somebody has to take their kid out of school for therapy, or I know those after school hours just get booked up at clinics,” Wolf said. “I’m trying to provide extended hours, both before and after business hours to accommodate families who need extra therapy or who maybe don’t qualify for speech therapy through the schools.”
She also offers a telehealth component, which makes it easier for families who live farther away or have scheduling challenges.
Her practice focuses on a broad range of services, including speech, language, feeding, voice, and alternative communication.
“Speech therapy can be a little bit of a misnomer. People think about lisps or R sounds, but we also work on language disorders,” Wolf said. “Infant feeding is super fun. I really love it. And with adults, I can help folks who’ve had strokes, brain injuries, or age-related challenges with swallowing exercises. We also help children and adults who are non-speaking communicate using technology, like iPads with speech-generating devices.”
Wolf’s approach is shaped by her love of people and her desire to meet each individual where they are.
“I love people. I’m very much an extrovert,” she said. “It really gives me energy. Each family has its own culture, and in this field, you really have to respect that and work with them where they’re at.”
Even the challenges of her work don’t dampen her enthusiasm.
“When a client has multiple disorders, it’s both challenging and tremendously rewarding. There’s not enough hours in the day to target everything, so I really have to stay focused on what goals the family and I come up with to help them progress and figure out which thing to prioritize first,” Wolf explained. “It’s kind of a keep-your-eye-on-the-ball type deal.”
For children, Wolf uses play-based therapy and the SOS approach for picky eaters. Adult therapy focuses on functional strategies to help patients regain or compensate for lost skills.
“It makes it fun to be a kind of a personality and life investigator,” Wolf said. “It takes a lot of questions and careful wording to guide a person into being able to pinpoint how stuff is affecting them.”
Her curiosity once led her around the world. Now it leads her straight into the lives of the families she helps. Wolf’s work on the North Shore allows her to combine both passions, studying people, supporting them, and making a real difference in her community.
To learn more or schedule an appointment, visit janewolfslp.com or call 218-216-7068. Wolf’s office is in Two Harbors in the Agate Bay Professional Suites, 120 7th Street.
