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.

Tyanna Evans

“Some people are leaders and others are followers. I’m okay being a follower, my contributions are just as significant.” This was my response when my husband suggested I open my own business at the age of 27. Business ownership was never a dream of mine. I liked the work did and my clients felt they were being helped. Why change? Well, we all heard the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But after taking a closer look at where I was, I realized that the system was failing not only me but most importantly, the clients that I served. I wanted to be able to work with a diverse group of people, couples, and families. Read more>>

Marla Diakonis

After many years of creating products for myself, friends and family, I decided to take a leap of faith and start my own business. Aura Organics came to fruition in the winter of 2021. Read more>>

Matthew Cote

Let me start off with a little information about the company, AMSCO Medical. Alpha Medthrift Scientific Company (AMSCO) is a family-owned full line distributor of medical, surgical, and laboratory equipment & supplies. Founded in 1985, AMSCO Medical has been serving physician offices, laboratories, surgical centers, hospitals, veterinarians, and home healthcare facilities for over 25 years. Read more>>

Candace Purifoy

Even while I was in graduate school I knew I wanted to go into private practice. From the time that I began envisioning my future as a therapist I always saw it as an entrepreneurial effort. Which was actually somewhat confusing to me, because previously, I had never planned on owning a business. In fact, I had planned a very comfortable and cushy life for myself as a senior executive in an entirely different field. Read more>>

Kathleen Goldberg

I have been a practicing physical therapist since 2014. During my first year, I was seeing mainly orthopedic patients, so those people with aches and pains, strains, sports injuries, and various surgeries. In 2015, I initiated the pelvic health program of our company, with a new interest in addressing pelvic floor dysfunction in men and women. It was at this time that I began imagining opening my own clinic. Read more>>

Tunisia Buise

When I decided to embark on the social work field in 2012, I had no plans on owning my own practice. After becoming licensed in 2015, being a business owner was still not an interest. I began to work in the field and would notice that my interests and passion best aligned with a specific population; teenage girls and women. However, I did not have complete control over the clients that I was assigned. In 2020, I became fully licensed as a clinical social worker, and then it hit me. Read more>>

Caroline Klebl

I began teaching yoga in 1997, in Breckenridge, CO. I taught at a community college, a mountain spa resort and in a church’s event space. I taught drop in classes as well as 8 week courses. When I moved to Maui, HI after my first trip to Mysore, India to practice with renowned Ashtanga guru, Sri K Pattabhi Jois for the first time, I continued to teach drop in Ashtanga classes in Maui, HI. In 2002, I taught my first international workshops in Vienna, Austria and Prague. Read more>>

Alexandra Gonsor

From 2017-2022, I was a solopreneur birth worker supporting almost 40 birth clients a year. I made the decision to expand into an agency in 2022 and now have a wonderful team of two additional doulas and a sister company comprised of therapists and mental health interns. Transitioning to an agency model allowed me to broaden my impact, reach more clients, and create a network of colleagues who share my vision and values. Read more>>

LaKendra Smalley

Absolutely! When I ventured into the world of life coaching as a certified professional, the concept was relatively unknown. At that time, I was prepared to leave my career in education behind and fully immerse myself in this new path. However, the term “life coach” wasn’t taken seriously, which compelled me to educate others about its potential and the ways I could assist them. Read more>>

Tanisha Massenberg

When it comes to establishing your own firm/practice, I would say more than anything is you have to be a doer. Research and plan, but then get to work. Don’t try to research and learn everything. And know that you can’t plan everything. But as long as you keep doing, you’ll build what you desire. Make it yours! Remember everything you learned from every previous job that was good. Then add to it with your special and unique touches. Read more>>

Dr. Shiopei Low

When I decided to open up my own clinic straight out of school, I knew it was a big risk. The conventional advice was to start small — work for someone else as an associate to gain experience, or rent a single room from another, more established practitioner in order to begin building a client base slowly over time. Read more>>

Crysta Whitehurst

I can not stress this one enough. Establishing your own practice, or space within your business is all about how you show up and serve your community. Majority of my learning came from observation of those who had been doing the work well before me. Become the student and never stop learning. If you truly want to show up in service, no matter what that may be in, you have tony set stand your community and their needs. Read more>>

Daniel Nicely

Great questions. When I was first thinking about getting back into architecture, I was looking for a Mr. Miyagi type of person who could hold my hand and walk me through the process in an orderly fashion. I remembered my experiences in firms from years ago, and knew the order of events, but was (and possibly still am) more than a little bit rusty on some of the techniques. Read more>>

Mary (MJ) McConner

Inclusive Excellence Consulting, LLC is a full-service diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consulting firm headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee that I founded in December 2021. I have had the pleasure of working in the DEI and international education sectors for over 14 years and decided to take the entrepreneurial leap of starting my own consulting firm to follow my dream of helping individuals and organization maximize the power that equity and inclusive diversity brings. Read more>>

Latoya Stewart

Finding my niche as a Private Practice Owner and Clinician while helping students with disabilities. Read more>>

Polita Hartley

I opened The ONE Strong Foundation to help students, college students, young adults, and adults to encourage people to live a healthier lifestyle. I am an author of a book called, Stronger You in Christ, published by Trilogy Christian Publisher, a subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network. Read more>>

Rebecca Leslie

I started Best Within You Therapy & Wellness in November 2021. I took a big leap of faith and left the security of working at a medical center and two private practices to peruse my dream of starting my own group practice. Read more>>

Kaitlin Hartley

After graduating PT school and starting my first job in a large outpatient orthopedic clinic, I quickly realized I wasn’t able to provide the quality of care that I desired as a new physical therapist. I also became increasingly interested in the process of trying to conceive, pregnancy, and postpartum recovery as my husband and I began to think about starting a family. This led me to seek out more training in helping the pregnant and postpartum population. Read more>>

William Schroeder

Starting your own business is always a bit of a scary thing to do. When I started out, it felt like a huge risk as there were a lot of unknowns. I tried to isolate the variables that would help my business. I officed with a psychiatrist, matched copays till I could take insurance, and did a ton of old school marketing. It was a lot of hustling but it paid off as my practice grew to be more than what I could handle and I hired a couple of friends to work with me. Read more>>

Nadia McKoy

I am proud to say that since our last feature, I have grown incredibly, personally and business wise! To get straight to it, I now have my own Holistic Practice, a store front in Gavi Mall. Though I have had to start over in my personal life, one thing that I promised myself is that I would stay consistent with Qveeng Bee’s Luxury Care. She’s my baby, she has blessed others, myself as well, and even though I’m not always sure where the path may lead, I know at least pushing forward is always the right move. Read more>>

Jessica Diaz

Starting my own barre fitness business over 10 years ago was an exhilarating and nerve-wracking experience, to say the least. At that time, there were no barre studios in my neighborhood, but I recognized the need and had a deep passion for this transformative fitness method. Looking back, I feel a great sense of pride for taking the leap and pursuing my entrepreneurial dream. Read more>>

Michelle Kershaw

My business began organically. It was the beginning of COVID in March of 2020. Many businesses were trying to figure out what to do with their staff, proper regulations and how to manage a remote workforce. I had several companies reach out to me on LinkedIn to inquire about next steps. It took me about two weeks to realize I was constantly responded to these types of inquiries. It was at that point that I decided to parlay my years of industry experience into my own consulting firm. Read more>>