We were lucky to catch up with Omolola Taiwo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Omolola, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

In establishing my own mental health practice, it took mental stamina to strategize a blueprint for the practice at least 6 months in advance. To assist my plan, I researched how to start the business formation, the requirements for a business bank account, and the blueprint of a therapy practice. What I established as a bonus, was setting a financial goal for my first year. As a result, I was able to tally the amount of clients and income I needed to meet my first year goal. Once my business plan was complete, I decided to launch and market my services on January 1st. It’s been a success ever since!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a first generation Nigerian-American with roots deep into culture. I enjoy quality time with my family, making traditional recipes, and experiencing different cultures. With this level of awareness, I believe it adds to my personality when working with my clients. I am the CEO and LPC at Omi Wellness & Counseling, PLLC. I got into mental health counseling, ever since being exposed to psychology and medical terminology in high school. Further along my journey, I believed providing safe spaces for individuals was a societal need that I wanted to be a part of. Fast forward to today, I help clients who are struggling with depressive symptoms find joy in their life with the support of integrative mental health, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and trauma-informed care. I believe my love of learning, and furthering my education through certifications sets me apart from my counterparts. I am most proud of pursuing my certifications in integrative mental health, as well as maintaining my national certification and training requirements; I find pride in being able to assure credibility with these accolades to potential clients.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Although I’ve always been a mindful and present person, it was during graduate school, as the demands of school, work, and life grew larger, that I experienced high levels of anxiety. I recall experiencing moments of fear that impacted my ability to show up and work that was challenging. To overcome these moments, I started to take note of my window of tolerance. In working to increase this, I decided to start take breaks more often, and reset as often as needed. This allowed me to feel better in control and to build resiliency during a stressful period in my life.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?

I had a corporate job prior to leaping into my practice, which allowed me to save money for my vision. Once I invested in the initial startup, and received a COVID loan from SBA, I was able to sustain a healthy business savings. I now know rather than spending those savings, I could’ve used the business credit to leverage my savings longer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.omiwellnessandco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/lothecounselor
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lothecounselor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omolola-taiwo-lpc-ncc-cimhp-emdr-trained-985bb7b2/