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.

Rebecca Ogle

Before opening my own solo private practice, I had worked in community mental health for five years – seven if you include my unpaid internships. My privilege and cultural capital were integral to my ability to open my own practice. Due to my dual income marriage, my husband and I were able to make ends meet without me having to have more than one full-time job. Many social workers, including those with Master’s level degrees, have to work two or three jobs – especially here in Chicago where the cost of living was high. Read more>>

Megan Rader

I decided to open Kula after living here in Grand Rapids for about three years. I taught at a studio in town and practiced all over the city, but I never found a spot that I was excited about going to every day. I decided to open Kula while I was still a classroom teacher. We started small, and grew from there. Read more>>

Adam Lien

I kind of got into this career through non-traditional means. My background was in entertainment and I had been working at an Event Center at the time I made the decision to completely change career paths. Now, I’m not one to make hasty decisions and it’s something I’d been looking into and researching for several years leading up to this point. I wanted to make sure I received the best training and education I could to not only set myself up for success but also to be able to really help people and make a difference. Read more>>

Alexis Boyd.

Women are multifaceted gems and we wear several hats, each one becoming more and more decorated as we get older. We are mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, wives, career women, and most importantly, nurturers and providers for the next generation we usher in. However, as we get older, we go through several transitions that can sometimes be very uncomfortable and difficult to manage. We are faced with many cultural and political dilemmas that we are often unprepared to deal with. Read more>>

Allie Potter

I never planned to start a business. I never even planned to have a career in nutrition. I first became certified in the field for my own knowledge and growth, not as a way to generate revenue; but I soon discovered that I could use the passion and the knowledge I had to help others. My husband is an active duty service member, and we move frequently; so transition and change are a regular part of our everyday life. The flexibility of entrepreneurship was appealing to me because it provided an opportunity be both a supportive wife/partner AND a career-focused woman building my own professional legacy. Read more>>

Gisela Di Fabio

After managing different family businesses for more than ten years, I decided to follow my purpose. One day there was one event that made me think “How do I want to live my life?”, “How do I want to be remembered?” I realized that I didn’t even know myself enough to be remembered in any particular way. So I sold my part of the business and started my coaching practice. Through exploration and capitalizing on my degree, experience, and passion, I decided to help other people follow their dreams and build businesses from those dreams, passions, and purposes. Read more>>

Elesha Jacobs

I fell in love with technology and computers at the age of 11 years and my passion to learn how the computer works were the driving force behind my success as a corporate IT professional. I left high school with the sole intention to acquire as many certifications in the technology field, and I did so passionately. Read more>>

Cora Christian .

Definitely was not easy. Social media sometimes makes things appear to be what they are not. I definitely had growing pains but I didn’t stop I kept my eyes on my own paper and got it done. That’s always the advice I give keep your eyes on your own business. Read more>>

Tracy / Kaiming Kwong / Wu

May 2022 was when we first seriously discussed owning our own practice together. We started looking at potential clinic locations in June 2022 and went every weekend to speak with various real estate agents. After about 1.5 months of going back and forth with lease negotiations, we finally signed our lease! We took a week long vacation during the first week of August 2022 while the office was having minor renovations done. Once we came back, we got straight to ordering furniture/equipment, creating our website/social media platforms, etc. Read more>>

Shantel Seraaj

I started Escape To Paradise LLC in 2017 With the help/ encouragement of my good friend Dr. Chad Ahmed and my husband at the time pushing me to believe in myself and start my LLC. I started by renting a room from dr. Chad in his chiropractor office in uptown I then ran a Groupon and started advertising on social media Within the first month escape to Paradise took off and I haven’t looked back since. I then opened my own office suite in spring lake park MN there I was working only on weekends and in uptown on weekdays Read more>>

Victoria Clark

When I began my practice in 2019, I already had over 10 years of experience within the mental health field and corporate America. I decided to start my own practice after I realized that I was not living a life that I loved, finding myself weighed down by the things in my life and mind that didn’t make me happy. From working long hours, being inactive, and not finding time or the ability to do the things that I enjoyed. Read more>>

Alyssa Kuhn

After feeling burnt out in traditional healthcare only 3 years out of school, driving 1000 miles per week and doing hours of documentation when I got home- I knew it was time for a change. I decided to go all in on my own practice, all while moving to a state where my husband and I didn’t know anyone. Read more>>

Barbara Steppe

My doula practice began 25 years ago in Madisonville during a routine prenatal visit at the local freestanding birth center. I’d recently graduated nursing school and the director of midwifery offered me a job as we chatted about my prenatal care! It took years of observing, learning, holding space for and being present to women who were birthing in ways that empowered them and safely brought babies into the world, predominantly without medical intervention. Read more>>