We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Jazlynn Paige recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Jazlynn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

I created my business due to the number of educational injustices I was encountering while working in the schools. In years past, at educational meetings I found myself comforting the parents due to the amount of injustices their child was encountering. Parents started thanking me for my support and asking if I could assist them more in the future. This really pushed me to branch off on my own. I not only started to notice a gap of black psychologists in my community but a gap of advocacy resources and programs for families of color in education.

I would say one of my biggest challenges in starting my business was literally just starting it. I was so afraid of being on my own that I did not want to let my traditional job go. So in 2018 I started cutting my hours at the school I was working at to get an idea of how entrepreneurship would work for me. I started off with 1 school and then in 2019 I had 3 schools and by the spring of 2020 I quit my job and became full time.

My advice for anyone interested in starting their own practice would be to just go for it! In hindsight I wish I didn’t wait as long as I did. It was honestly much easier than I had made it up to be in my mind. Make a plan and just do it, you’ll thank yourself later!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Dr. Jazlynn Paige, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist from St. Paul, MN. I started my own business, Paige Psychological Consulting in 2019 but I honestly have been working with children all of my life. Through my business I independently contract with schools and businesses to provide psychology services, professional development, training and more.

As a school psychologist I provide a range of services to children including; counseling, social skills, life skills, intellectual and academic assessments. In addition to services to children I also provide special education resources and emotional support to parents and families. Through my business I not only offer school psychology services but I also offer parent advocacy for families struggling to navigate through the education system. More specifically, I can assist families with children in special education that have been systematically mistreated. Black and brown children are being overly diagnosed, given harsher disciplinary consequences and being placed in special education at higher rates compared to their peers.

My areas of expertise include mental health, trauma, family support, homelessness, suicide prevention, equity, counseling and relationship building. My dissertation focused on the effects homelessness has on students academically, behaviorally and socially. My research provided me with a range of experiences working with diverse families, that actually started when I was an undergrad student all the way through graduate school.

One of my favorite services is youth coaching and mentoring to young women, which I am also very proud of. I started mentoring outside of school settings in 2017 and one of my first girls is currently a junior at Spelman College. Through my youth coaching and mentoring I provide a safe haven to my girls that gives them the opportunity to express themselves freely, receive emotional support, share ways to heal from past and current traumas all while building a positive relationship.

Through my work I noticed the lack of confidence and positivity of many of the black and brown students that I worked with so I created a product. I created affirmation card decks for children and adults as well as reflective notepads. The affirmation card decks are titled, “Master Your Mindset” aimed to instill confidence and positivity for everyone.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

When reflecting on my career path, I always knew that I would work with children since I was 8 years old but I was not sure in what capacity. I grew up in a home that always welcomed families; my mother had an in-home childcare and did foster care for over 20 years. As the oldest child I took care of my siblings and the children that my mother was nurturing as well. Over the summers I would work for my mother and babysit all of her daycare families. My mother always tells me that I have been caring for others my entire life and even started diagnosing children as young as 10; by recognizing different symptoms in children that actually later led to medical diagnoses.

Once I took a psychology course in college I instantly knew that I wanted to learn more because it intrigued me, and the rest is history. I ended up receiving my bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology and went straight to graduate school where I enrolled into a doctorate program. I received my masters degree in Education and then my PhD in School Psychology.

With that being said, if I could go back, I would definitely choose the same profession. I love the intersection that school psychology brings; education, mental health and behavior.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When you find your true calling, I honestly believe that everything else will just fall into place. When you are truly doing what you are called to do, people and money will naturally flow to you. I whole heartedly believe this because, that is what happened to me. Once I took the leap into entrepreneurship doing what I love everything just fell into place. Out of all of the contracts that I have gotten over the past 5 years, I did not have to interview for any of them. All of my contracts were based on referral and word of mouth of my business/brand. I believe that my reputation was successfully built because of authenticity in the work that I do and being true to who I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paigepsychconsulting.com
• Instagram: @paigepsychconsulting