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.

Phindile Chowa

The early days of starting my own medical practice were shaped by a mix of passion, necessity, and the desire to redefine how I practiced medicine. It was during COVID—a time of immense uncertainty and personal growth—that I found myself at a crossroads. The pandemic forced me to grapple with the stress of being on the frontlines and reflect deeply on my passion for medicine. I realized that, despite my love for patient care, the traditional system was no longer serving me or allowing me to thrive. I knew I needed an exit plan. Read more>>

Carrie Gensler And Kristen Faircloth

Kristen and Carrie were both working at a mental health hospital in an outpatient setting. We became fully licensed and decided that we wanted to pursue our dreams of opening up a holistic mental health private practice. The first steps were figuring out how to establish a business in Georgia, how to rent office space, how to get individual liability insurance, and all the things needed to start a small business. Figuring taxes and pay, managing a business checking account, that was all something we had to figure out. The first year, we tried to handle all the taxes on our own, and I would very much say that was something I would not do again. I think going from a W-2 to paying taxes as a self-employed person was the biggest shock for us. Read more>>

Christie Wood

We use the word practice alot in yoga. It’s funny because we are always practicing. In everything we do. On our mats, off our mats. And yoga certainly doesn’t begin when you step on your mat. Nor does it end when you step off it.

I have been practicing yoga from a very young age. It was, and is intrinsic in my upbringing, my family life as a daughter and now as a mother. It was never just about the physical practice (known as asana in yoga). It was meditation, philosophy and trips to retreat centres; a very alternative, bohemian upbringing. Read more>>

Christine Guerrero

Starting my own practice was and has been quite an interesting process. How you view your field really expands when you are playing all parts of the role, hiring, developing processes, payroll, billing, marketing and more. I thought I was just going to provide therapy for people, but under myself! I think understanding that I am now an entrepreneur and not simply a therapist has helped me shift to understanding the tasks at hand to start and run a business. Read more>>

Rn Health Advocates Maureen Calderwood & Laura Nero

With both of us being registered nurses, starting a business was something neither of us had done before. Business courses are not a part of the nursing school curriculum. We quickly realized that we needed to find a trustworthy attorney, accountant, and insurance agent to guide us through the start up phase. We decided to form a partnership PLLC together and drafted an operating agreement with the assistance of our attorney. We relied heavily on the experts in their fields to guide us through each step. We often said that we needed a business advocate to advise us! Even though the start up process was not easy, it was so worth it to be able to do what we are doing now. Read more>>

Kristie Mulder

I decided to start my own practice when I got to a point in an insurance based practice where I felt I wasn’t able to provide the type of care I felt each person deserved. Most of the limitations to the quality of care provided come from insurance reimbursement rates so I decided to look at different options. Many physical therapists around the country are turning to a cash-based model for care so I decided to look into it more. To work in healthcare and be free from the constraints of insurance sounded amazing. No more business person telling me what treatments my patient needs, no limitations on number of visits for patients who really need more treatment, and no more shaping my treatment plans to appease insurance requirements. Read more>>

Widlyne Desir

I started in 2015 with bodywork and from the start I wanted to run my own business. My vision was to work on professional athletes and be a well known body worker in my city. When I told this dream to one of my professors at the Shiatsu school I was attending, he told me that I needed to dim down my dream to be more realistic. My very first job I had in this field I was working on and high level professionals and professional athletes. I had to contact the school because I wanted to further my education in sports medicine/massage. I needed my transcripts to continue and so I told the school about the job I had just Ianded with the athletes. Read more>>