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.

Etinosa Agbonlahor

At Decision Alpha, we help businesses know what to price and how to package their pricing in a way that will convert, we also offer solutions to improve the overall financial health of a business. I decided to start Decision Alpha because I have a background in behavioral economics, and I’ve always understood how people make financial decisions. Over time, I kept hearing the same thing from founders, operators, and team leads: “We’re not sure if our pricing makes sense. Can you take a look?” It wasn’t a one-off. It was a pattern. And I realized there was a real need for a guide, someone who could bring clarity to pricing, not just from a finance lens, but from a behavioral one. Read more>>

Julie Auman

2 years before I decided to leave the orthopedic physical therapy clinic I worked at, I knew I wanted to start my own practice. It took me two years to make the leap. In those two years I took a few different side jobs to explore my options and learn how to be an independent practitioner. I took a fitness trainer course to teach high intensity fitness classes at a boutique studio where I learned how to get out of my comfort zone, speak in front of a large class, and command attention. I also began treating as a concierge physical therapist as an independent contractor where I was able to see the ins and outs of running a cash based physical therapy practice. Read more>>

Lisa Colosi

I started my massage practice in September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The spa I was employed at shut down in March, much like everything else. In those early moments, I knew I couldn’t go back to that boss and that type of spa setting. My massage background had always leaned more towards a medical approach, with a practical focus on bodywork. Being unemployed allowed me the space to wonder what a practice of my own could look like. I thought of my aunt and cousin back home, both of whom are hairdressers and work from their homes. My first step was to determine whether the state of Tennessee would permit a home massage practice and if the room I had in mind would be large enough for a massage table. Read more>>

Kim Bell

For younger professionals considering starting their own private practice, my advice is to figure out what you are exceptionally good at doing or which specific patient population you feel motivated to help. It is ideal to be known for doing one specific thing really well and solving that problem in a very specific way. Then you can attract all the people who need help with that one specific issue and stand out from among your peers. Read more>>

Vanessa Ferlaino

1. Tell us the story of the early days from when you decided to start your own practice to establishing the practice. What were the main steps you had to take, what were some of the key challenges in setting up your own office/practice and would you have done anything differently knowing what you know now? Any advice for a young professional who might be considering starting their own practice? Read more>>

Trey Williams

I started my own business just months after starting a new job. Weird, right?

I moved away from corporate medicine to work for a startup. I missed, MISSED my relationships with families deeply. What did I miss? The common questions, the expectant questions about what their child was going to start doing, and most of the anticipatory guidance on things the parents hadn’t even thought about. Oh boy, that was my jam. And I didn’t have it. Read more>>

Leambrea High

As an intern in college, I dreamed of starting my own practice. My goal was to wait a few years after graduate school, get comfortable, and then start the journey. But of course, nothing went as planned. I started my practice sooner than planned, and it has been a great decision for my career. The main step for me to take was to actually take the step! I had so many “first steps” to take in my head, but I needed to take an actionable step. Once I made that decision to take action, it made everything real! The biggest challenges for me were filing paperwork to establish my PLLC and learning how to market effectively. Read more>>

Hannah Pollok

I suppose you could say I am still in the “early days” of my private practice, but because the steps were so gradual, it feels like I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve always kind of known that I would take this step, branch off on my own, and pursue private practice, starting my own business. But for a while, in grad school especially, I was really scared. This job can come with a lot of pressure. I told someone recently, that there’s a lot of ways therapists can make mistakes. I was scared of being on my own, with no boss, no coworkers. And I was scared of the business side of things. As far as my first steps, I spent a lot of time deciding what my therapy “niche” would be, how I would stand out from the many other practices in the Nashville area. I decided on the types of clients I would work with, a business name that I could stand to be referred to for the forseeable future, and I started on my website. Read more>> 

Jessica Aleman

Starting my own speech therapy private practice in Hoboken wasn’t something I always planned—but once the idea planted itself, it grew quickly. I launched in January 2025, after nearly five years in the field, and what really pushed me to make the leap was burnout. I found myself craving more balance—balance in time, energy, travel, and income. I didn’t want to just survive the workweek; I wanted to build a career that gave me what I call full-spectrum wealth: time wealth, social wealth, mental and physical wellness, and of course, financial freedom. A lot of that thinking came from reading The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom—it gave me language for the kind of life I wanted to design. Read more>>

Lacey Combs

Throughout my experience as a Social Worker, I have worked as a Mentor for incoming Freshman college students, a Direct Support Professional for both children and adults with special needs, was a Court Appointed Special Advocate Administrative Assistant in Black Hawk County, Iowa, worked as a social worker at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa, and have been a case worker for the Department of Human Services in Polk County, Iowa. Social work positions came very naturally to me. I realized I knew how to assist and motivate others and had been doing so from a very young age within my own family of origin. Read more>>

Jackie Carlino

In 2023, after getting my LPC-Associate from the state of Texas, I decided against others advice to start my own practice. Not only did I want to start my own counseling center, I did it in a small town, with no start up capital. I mean zero. I felt like God was telling me to help others so I just did. I opened the doors to Joyful Ranch Counseling in Aug 2023. I was financially struggling in my personal life due to leaving an 80k a year job for a 1 year low pay internship. It was hard but I continued to follow what God put on my heart. I started advertising by posting on Facebook. I went into a few local groups in the area and told people I was starting an equine assisted therapy group for teen girls. By Dec 2023 that group was full. Read more>>