We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Rogers recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brittany , appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
It’s such an interesting experience when the most difficult thing you’ve ever been through becomes one of the most defining moments of your career. In February of 2020 I was actually fired from my job. I was three years out of my Masters program working as a lower level therapist for an outpatient facility. When I first started, I was so excited about gaining more experience in my field but as time went on, I started to experience a series of racial microagressions by staff and clientele. Microaggressions can be a conflicting experience because as a person of color, you’re pressured in society to not always make situations about race, but when a few of my white coworkers around me started to validate that the problems I was experiencing were tied to race, I knew I wasn’t crazy.
A few months before I was terminated, I began being targeted specifically by a long term employee who was very close with my supervisors. One day she happened to witness an interaction between me and a client where I was giving the client a directive to not bounce a ball in the hallway, and she accused me of being verbally abusive to my supervisors. By the time I was informed of the accusations against me, I was suspended and not given a chance to verify with other witnesses what had occurred who could’ve proven my innocence. Two days after my suspension I was informed I was fired. As a therapist and mental health professional in general, being accused of verbally abusing a client is one of the worst accusations you can experience.
Being fired is one thing but being fired while you’re well into your career is a scary experience that nobody talks about. But one thing I’ve learned is that everything happens for a reason. This situation gave me the push I needed into private practice and having a career I was happy with and proud of. This ultimately ended up being the best thing that could’ve happened to me, not only because it was the catalyst to me having the career I had always envisioned, but also because I was fired a few weeks before Covid started running rampant and the world was shut down. Had I still been employed, I would’ve been considered an essential worker and would’ve had no choice but to work at a place I wasn’t happy at while going through a pandemic. This gave me the time to regroup, strategize my business launch, build my private practice clientele, and finish a book I had been writing, all while collecting unemployment.
In the past I’ve been made to feel that as a Black woman I can’t take up too much space. We’re told that we can’t be too loud, too assertive, too outspoken, too overdressed, too underdressed, our nails can’t be too long, our hair can’t draw too much attention, we can only fit into the box that makes everyone else around us comfortable. I no longer have to live in fear that I am a liability to my place of employment for simply just existing. I can work with people who want to work with me, and this is a freedom many people don’t get a chance to experience so it’s something I never take for granted. This was the place I always wanted to be in, I just didn’t know God would put me on such an unpredictable journey to get here. I am now so thankful for that journey because it taught me things and tested me in ways that I needed to be the therapist, author, and speaker I am today.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Brittany Rogers aka your favorite millennial therapist lol. I am a licensed clinical professional counselor, a certified alcohol and drug counselor, a life coach, and author. I graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2010 where I got my bachelor’s degree in psychology and completed my masters in counseling psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. I’ve been working in the mental health field since 2014 and have provided individual, couples, and family counseling as well as group therapy and facilitated workshops. I’ve worked with non-for-profit organizations in the Chicagoland area and spoken on panels and podcasts focused on mental health and relationship dynamics. The beauty in my experience is that I’ve been able to reach a place where I can occupy different spaces as my authentic self. I love when people tell me they want to work with me not only because of my credentials but because I feel like a homegirl to them. I’m not the girl next door, I’m the girl around the corner up the street who’s relatable, educated, and happens to have a couple letters behind her name. Black excellence doesn’t just look one way, so I don’t want to be just one thing, I want to be a representation of all the things and give others permission to do the same. I’m a professional, and a hot girl, and a homegirl, and I take pride in allowing those parts of myself to coexist.
I currently work for a Black owned private practice, and I also have my own business, Be The Change Therapeutic Services, provides psychoeducation on emotional and mental wellness through life coaching, couples mediation, workshops, consultations, interventions, and speaking engagements. I am also a self-published author of a book entitled “The Things I Wish I Knew: A Millennial’s Guide To Learning The Mental And Emotional Concepts The School System And Our Parents Didn’t Teach Us” which focuses on healing, breaking generational cycles, and overall wellbeing. It includes psychoeducation on topics such as attachment styles, boundaries, codependency, self care, coping skills, family dynamics, educational influences, etc and I wrote it in a way that would be digestible and relatable to where we are today. This is one of the things I’m most proud of because even when I’m gone from this world, that book will exist, it is my legacy and I hope and pray it helps generations to come.
My desire of becoming a therapist started in high school because I always had an interest in human behavior and how we as people come to be who we are. At that time there weren’t many public depictions of therapists let alone Black therapists which I believe was due to the long-standing stigma that existed about therapy and mental health especially in the African American community. During high school is when I actually started to struggle with what I now know was anxiety. Knowing how long it took me to become educated on the language that described what I had been struggling with for some time is something that still drives me today. It wasn’t until I was in my master’s program that I started my own therapy journey after experiencing depression following a dramatic breakup at the time. I’ve been in therapy now for 8 years and I think this is apart of what separates me from other therapists. I know what it’s like to sit on the other side of that couch, I know what it’s like to have skeletons in your closet you’ve never disclosed to anyone, I know what it’s like to confront the ugliest parts of yourself, I know what it’s like to try and lift yourself out dark places. I am able to relate to my clients on a different level, and while I may not have personal experience with everything they’ve dealt with, I do have personal experience with the emotions that exist beneath it all.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
So, I recently stepped into completely new territory for me which is real estate. For the last 3 years I’ve had a goal of buying an investment multi-unit property as a way to create generational wealth within my family and create an opportunity for passive income. I have many friends and peers who’ve done this, so I knew as intimidating as it seemed, it wasn’t unrealistic for me to accomplish. Over the last two years I’ve saved more than I’ve ever have in life and had countless conversations with other investment property owners so I could be as prepared as possible. But what most homeowners or property owners will tell you is that there are only things you learn by going through it, and now being 4 months post closing, that is the God to honest truth.
The previous owner of my property was operating it as an Airbnb, and he basically sold me a dream that I too would be able to continue that business with his guidance. The building had three furnished units and he was selling the property with everything included. I felt like I hit the jackpot, like not only do I get to own an investment property, but I also get to learn a new business. At first glance everything inside looked great, and I had planned to live in one unit and Airbnb the other two, but after closing and moving in I started having a lot of buyer’s remorse. I lived in my previous apartment for 7 years so not only was living in a new neighborhood an adjustment, but now having this big project in front of me that wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, was super overwhelming.
I came to see that me and the previous owner had two different approaches to business. He was all about the money, and I was about providing a quality experience. As I lived in the property, I started to see how much of the work was done poorly when you looked at it closely. The place was actually filthy, me and my family spent the first 4 weeks cleaning because he had subpar people coming into clean in between the bookings. The carpet was stained, the mattresses were terrible, the utensils were greasy, I had a bug problem in the unit I was living in, it was a mess. I’d spent most of my savings on closing costs, so I was in no position to basically fully refurnish, pay for professional cleanings, pay all the utilities, and still pay for things that needed to be fixed in all three units. I was embarrassed because I felt like this space was a representation of me now and it was in no way up to my standards.
After a few tears and conversations with my parents, I decided I would leave the Airbnb dream behind for now and focus on improving the building and securing quality tenants. A big lesson I’ve learned is that apart of being a good business owner is knowing when to pivot and doing it before you dig yourself into a hole you can’t get out of. I also decided to pivot by making the decision to move out of the building and move back in with my parents. I haven’t lived with my parents in 9 years so the idea of moving back in with them was jarring, but I also had to come to understand my privilege that I had the option to do so at no expense. Living in the building was a struggle because I was viewing it as my home versus an investment. This was never meant to be my forever home. I didn’t understand at first why a few of my property owner friends discouraged me from living in the property, especially since other people in the industry romanticize this idea that you basically get to live for free by purchasing a multi-unit versus a home, but I came to realize it’s never a good idea to be too close to a project. I was literally overanalyzing everything about the space, things that other people paid no attention to. I had to relinquish control and surrender myself to the path God was laying in front of me which was constructed to allow me to do this in an easier way.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing your clientele as a therapist and in many other fields, is to be resourceful and know your audience. As a therapist, one of the most important attributes to have is an understanding of your specific scope of practice. It’s completely unrealistic to think that you are meant to work with every type of client. The foundation of therapy is a relationship and just like in romantic relationships or friendships, you won’t mesh with everyone, and that’s ok. I’ve had an experience where a client fired me during the first session because I was 3 minutes late, and as off guard as it caught me, it was ultimately for the best because I personally don’t want to work with anyone who holds me to such strict guidelines. A big part of being successful in any business is to know when to not take things personally. In order to grow your clientele, you have to learn how to find your people. This may involve networking in spaces with the type of clientele you want to attract or building your social media presence. I’ve received so many clients from someone who follows me sending my page to someone or being tagged in the comment section of someone asking about Black therapists. If your field has directories, get on a couple, even if you have to pay for it. If it doesn’t bring you clients, you can always discontinue it. You can’t be shy in how you approach growing your clientele, you have to put yourself out there, and what will eventually happen is word of mouth will be your best friend. When you do good work with people, they are likely to tell someone else about it. Connecting with other people in your industry doesn’t have to be a competition, it can actually be a great tool because we all only have the capacity for so much, so what naturally happens is people look for other people who they can refer clients to and trust that they’re going to be in good hands. This means taking good care of your reputation, even when clients get on your nerves. Everyone may not always like you personally, but when you do good business with people, it has the strength to overshadow a few bad reviews.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bethechangets.org
- Instagram: @bringitbrat_ @bethechangets
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCnxOvwan4pWpqhASIHFoLGw
Image Credits
Arts of Royalty