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.

Andrew Mcgee

I began my professional journey as a teacher in a Title I school, working with underserved students eager for an opportunity to learn. My passion for education and desire to make a difference led me to realize a significant gap in support for these students and their schools. It became clear what could be done to help Title I schools better serve their students, and that’s when I decided to start my own business. Read more>>

Manju Kolli

My journey into Ayurveda has been one of courage, vision, and an unwavering commitment to holistic healing. Five years ago, I took a bold leap of faith, leaving behind a 15-year career as a clinical pharmacist—a field in which I excelled as a pharmacy supervisor. My decision to transition from a stable, well-established career in the western medical system to opening my own Ayurvedic clinic came from a deep realization of the gaps in modern healthcare. Read more>>

Ebony & Kysha Marks

Our journey with EAHS has had some bumps along the way, but at the same time, it’s also been a forgiving and humbling experience. In the beginning, we thought that owning a business was as simple as just getting an LLC and an EIN. We quickly realized, just how wrong we were (LOL). Something that we can look back on and laugh about now, is finding out that we had to reinstate our business, which we foolishly had no idea it was temporarily terminated. Even though we had no idea where to start, we leaned on each other, asked for help, and got it done. It was stressful then, but we’ve managed to effectively improve our task management skills because of that situation. Read more>>

Julian Richards

I started my Physical Therapy Practice one year ago after serving as an Outpatient Physical Therapy Clinic Manager for 8 years. I remember very clearly feeling overwhelmed with the thought of going out on my own and establishing a Physical Therapy Practice independently. The main steps I took in those first few weeks and months were to establish relationships; relationships with other business owners in my field and outside of my field. I was looking to glean experience from anyone that had once stood where I now stood. Some of the key challenges in setting up my own practice were determining where I would treat patients, I was very unclear of what it would take to obtain a business license, permits and satisfy all of the necessary requirements to operate in good standing. Read more>>

Ann Everhart

I’ve always wanted to open up my own business for many years now. Especially one that represents the ocean, which is what inspired Ocean Serenity. All of my services have ocean-inspired themes. All of my decor, music and lighting makes you feel like that your actually under the water.

Within the past year or so, I felt that I was ready to take the leap. I started brainstorming ideas about how I would reach my ideal clients, what items I would need for the spa, where my suite would be located, and what legal documents I would need and any requirements I needed to follow. Read more>>

Kayla Reeve

I realized I wanted to start my own therapy practice during my senior year of undergrad, though I often questioned whether I could turn that dream into reality. After graduating grad school, I had the opportunity to complete a pre-doctoral position working in an in-patient rehabilitation center with folks who had experienced major traumas including spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and amputations. Working on an interdisciplinary team allowed me first hand experience at providing holistic care, further deepening my systemic understanding of our health care system. Read more>>

Amanda Valenti

Opening my practice was both an exciting milestone and an immediate test of my strength and perseverance. Just two months after I started, my mother fell into a comatose state due to West Nile Encephalitis. She went from being an active competitor in equestrian sports to 100% incapacitated in a matter of days. I had to cancel my busiest week yet, calling 13 new patients to explain that I didn’t know when I’d return. Over the next seven months, I traveled to care for her, taking 1-2 weeks off each month. Less than a year into my practice, my mother passed away. After taking several weeks to grieve, I returned to Utah and rebuilt my full-time practice. It’s a testament to the loyalty of my patients and the foundation I had laid that my business survived. I still treat some of the patients I had to cancel during that difficult time. Read more>>

Michelle Henderson

When I first decided to become a therapist, I never thought I would go into private practice. The idea of being 100% responsible for my own income was too overwhelming! I didn’t believe I had it in me to be an entrepreneur. I changed my mind when my long-term relationship ended and I found myself functioning on one income instead of two. The reality was that I was not making enough money to survive working at a mental health agency and so I decided to take a risk and open my own practice. I started taking steps to establish my business in August 2017 and by February 2018 I was ready to see my first client. From there, I spent all of 2018 working part-time in my private practice two days a week while still working 40 hours a week at my full-time job. Read more>>

Alexis Skopos

Establishing our practice was quite the decision. At the time we (my partner) were both working at a residential facility. The conditions were not ideal and my partner approached me and she’s like hey I think we should do this thing. At the time I had really low confidence. I was actually in the process of going back to school for cyber security. It’s funny because during that time I did a tarot reading with someone and asked what my career path should be. First she pulled counselor and I said no no no I had her pull it again and it came back counselor again. A few weeks after telling Ellen no I came back and said let’s do this. I had had a bad day at work and it was just unreasonable of what they were asking us to do so I decided it would be best to work for myself. The first year I worked two jobs. Read more>>