Establishing your own firm or practice is an incredibly daunting task. From myriad of legal and regulatory hurdles to the financial and career related risks, professionals who choose to start their own firm have to overcome so much and so we wanted to reach out to those who’ve done it successfully for advice, insight and stories.

Ilona Anderson

My journey to starting Carpe Diem Law Firm wasn’t exactly traditional. After a decade as a founding partner in another firm, I found myself starting completely fresh – a situation I hadn’t planned for when the partnership buyout didn’t materialize as expected. The main steps were both practical and psychological. Practical Steps: – Setting up business infrastructure – Establishing a virtual office presence Read more>>

Tonette Whitted

I knew from the beginning of graduate school that I would open my own practice and do things on my own terms. I never wanted to be beholden to traditional organizational systems. I often would feel stagnant and as if there was more I could be doing on a creative level. I also knew being a Christian in secular spaces I needed the freedom to share my faith and how it informs the work that I do. I didn’t want to just promote wellness and mental awareness without being able to share the actual tools for true healing and wholeness. On my journey to getting here I learned a lot from the institutions and practices I had joined. Read more>>

Clarion Therapy & Wellness

We had always discussed opening a practice when we would meet up for lunch or coffee. One day, we were out for coffee and when it came up, we suddenly felt it was time. That day, things shifted from just dreaming about it and talking about “maybe” to putting a plan into action. We leaned on respected professionals in the community who shared their wisdom and we networked with so many of our friends who had backgrounds in other helpful areas such as marketing and design. Our husbands are experts in so many areas so it really helped to create a power team. Read more>>

Erica Thibodeaux

As a clinical therapist, I specialize in intersectional mental health, ecology, and somatic technologies. The decision to open my own therapy practice was a life changing pivot that took courage. I am grateful every day that I made that choice. As a new clinician, I initially worked long hours in a community mental health agency. The pay was terrible and the agency atmosphere felt like a contradiction to what I was teaching my clients to do to stay healthy. Agency jobs are often the norm for new therapy providers who still require supervision aren’t yet able to credential with insurance companies. Many new therapists feel like agency work is their only option. Read more>>

Kristin Schwartz

Prior to opening my practice, I spent almost an entire year taking courses, researching how to open a medical practice, talking to successful colleagues across the country, and researching different models of care (i.e. direct care vs insurance) to decide how I would build my practice. At the time I was pregnant and as I entered into the last stage of pregnancy, I knew how much growth for midwifery care in the US is needed and it drove me to focus a lot of my postpartum energy on developing a business plan, networking and getting the ball rolling. I had multiple colleagues, friends and family members encourage me along the way as well as, my wonderful husband helping me with his business knowledge and marketing. This created a good merriment of talent for us to create a business plan. Read more>>

Ann-marie Miglionico

The decision to start my own practice didn’t come overnight. I spent time working, gaining hands-on experience, and building confidence in my skills as a therapist. But eventually, I started to feel a pull—a sense that I could offer something unique in my own space. I wanted to set my own schedule, build deep connections with clients, and create an environment where people felt safe, supported, and truly seen without the requirements of quotas that often take over the experience of patient care in other settings. Read more>>

Katy Caslav

After 2 years of being independently licensed and working for a couple of virtual group practices, I felt like I was finally ready to branch out on my own and form my own business with private practice. I basically knew nothing about business or being a entrepreneur in this field (none of this was ever talked about in grad school) I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of other therapist about their process. Figuring out payroll, taxes, marketing, advertising, social media, forming a corporation, business licenses, write offs, creating my own consent forms, etc and so much more that comes with being a business owner that I had no idea about was such a challenge! Read more>>

Kirsten Whitehouse

I was made redundant from my job as an Exhibition Director in 2019, so initially set up my own events company, which was doing really well. I had decided to use the time and financial settlement though to follow my passion and qualify as a fitness professional alongside my event work. It was really hard, especially for those first two years where I would fulfil events contracts during the day and study at night, all whilst being a single parent and suffering from long Covid, too. My top advice would be to make sure you look after your own wellbeing during tough times, so that you have the mental and physical capacity to realise your dreams. Read more>>

Jennifer Varley

I have been a licensed psychotherapist for the last ten years. Even during graduate school, I knew I wanted to work for myself. My goal was to be my own boss by the age of 30, and I achieved that when I left my full-time job to start my private practice. There were many personal and professional reasons behind this decision. I wanted the freedom to set my own schedule, focus on areas of study that I found valuable, and handle clinical situations with full autonomy. Starting my own practice also addressed the burnout I experienced working in clinics where I was overworked and underpaid. Read more>>

Adriana Thomas

Throughout my professional career, I always dreamed of having my own business. Of creating something that was personal to my own values, mission, and vision. I have spent my career working in education and during the pandemic I was able to start exploring new areas of interest. I gained several certifications, including becoming a Reiki Master, Spiritual Life Coach, Crystal Healer, and Certified Career Services Professional. This laid the foundation for the spiritual business I was dreaming of. Honestly, I had no idea of how to start a business! The first step for me was acquiring a business license and coming up with a business name, Lunar Northwest. Read more>>