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.
Paul Salter
When I first starting growing our business to 15 people, we started with 3. At the time I did not intend to see how I could grow our business to 15 people. I focused on our service and product. We refinished cabinets. I wanted to ensure that there was no better company than ours at refinishing cabinets. From customer service, to the finished product, and everything in between. I kept in mind that we live for other people, and making them happy would in turn come back full circle to us. I spent 3-4 years focusing on having our full experience from start to finish was unmatched by any competitor. I wanted us to set the standard, not us try to live to a standard. Read more>>
Alix Day
I came to a pivotal point in my career where I realized I had outgrown working for others. I had worked for various Architecture firms for ten years and was always designing under other’s visions. I felt that I was ready to take the risk and start my own Architecture firm, letting my creativity take the lead on projects. I leapt in without overthinking it too much, I should have taken more time to develop brand goals for my business. After a few missteps of taking projects that weren’t the right direction for my business, I realized the power of saying ‘no, this isn’t the right fit.’ Read more>>
Veronique BOGLIOLO FRIEDMAN
My story is the story of a personal reinvention and going from being a highly paid and high-power marketing executive having a global role in an international corporation based in Europe to establishing my Leadership and Executive Coaching firm <span style=”font-family: "Times New Roman", sans-serif;”>Bogliolo Coaching and Consulting </span>out of New York, NY (www.bogliolo.net). And seven years later, here I am, launching my second firm OpenField Solutions (www.openfieldsolutions.net), with a wonderful business partner, Molly Flanagan, and our aim is to support leaders and their teams in shaping and designing the organizational culture they need to achieve their business goals or challenges. Read more>>
Michelle White
When I opened my pediatric speech therapy clinic twenty years ago, I was one of the only private clinics between downtown and Galveston area. People thought I was crazy opening a clinic on the south side of town as opposed to the more affluent areas where more people could ‘afford” therapy. It was important to me to establish a practice within the community I lived in and I vowed to never let the idea that someone couldn’t afford therapy keep them from getting help for their kids. I wanted to build a community where families could feel at home and comfortable in a setting that allowed their child to thrive. Read more>>
Dr. Amy Day, ND
Straight out of school, I was hired as the women’s health specialist at a general naturopathic medical practice. It was a great experience but my entrepreneurial spirit eventually led me to wanting to create unique offerings and group programs and do things “my own way”. I also moved further away and rather than continue commuting, I decided to start my own practice. Read more>>
TyShawn Douglas
Black Arizona began as a simple Facebook group but quickly evolved into something much greater—a powerful LLC dedicated to becoming the central hub for Black-owned businesses, communities, and families across Arizona. From the start, the mission was clear: to create a space where Black excellence could thrive, connections could flourish, and resources could be shared to empower our people. Read more>>
Christy Clark
I actually had a private practice for many years, but at that time, my referrals were largely driven by insurance. Because I had a steady flow of referrals, I didn’t have to do much marketing at all. But, insurance unfortunately doesn’t pay as well as it should for therapy, so in order to generate the income I needed to support my goals, I had to see so many clients. Especially after the pandemic, I was really overworked and burned out. I decided to leave that practice and I went to work for larger company for the last three years. At this large group practice, I rediscovered how much I enjoy teaching, supervising and consultation. Ultimately, it wasn’t a good fit and I left that company just recently. Read more>>