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.

Marian Cooper

I worked in community mental health for 8 years in New York City. I enjoyed the people I got to meet and work with but the nature of the job was putting me on a fast track to burning out. Several of my coworkers were leaving the job and starting their own practices and this pushed me into researching this as an opportunity for myself. Once I made the decision that I wanted to start my own practice, the main steps were figuring out what I needed to do legally to set my business up with professional best practices. Read more>>

Michelle Griffin

The firm grew quickly by market needs; I initially set out to be an independent contractor, but in almost 3 years grew the firm to 20 employees and 50 clients. In 2019 I was an HR Director with about 8 years of HR experience, and I had started the second year of my PhD program at Grand Canyon University. It was then that I decided to take the steps to become an independent contractor to work on my doctorate and the next phase of my career.  Read more>>

Juan Mejia

Taking the leap into entrepreneurship is never an easy task. I also do not think there is a right or wrong way about doing it. It becomes part of the entrepreneurship journey. I was fortunate to have been surrounded by individuals that had started their businesses before me and through their wisdom skipped some hurdles along the way. I often see how people pay hundreds of dollars for third party companies to file with the Secretary of State’s Office when it only costs a fraction of that. Additionally, Read more>>

Chris Estrada

Starting from beginning, I’ve always had a dream to own my own company one day, big or small. I would work full time at jobs that i just didn’t feel like i was fully there both mentally and physically, i always had this voice in the back of my mind telling me that i should be doing something more with the time I’ve been given, i would be pointing things out that i would be doing different if it were my company. When it came time to take my leap of faith i knew first thing that i had to get my name out before i even opened for business, Read more>>

Mary-Catherine Riner

As a post-doctoral fellow at The University of Georgia, I debated whether to continue as a staff psychologist or begin my own professional psychology practice. After several consultations, I knew I wanted to take a leap of faith. It was the best decision I could have made and I have zero regrets. In the beginning, I felt reservations from others (e.g., are you sure you don’t want to wait a few years), the fears of being seen as “too young,” and the understanding that the income would not be as consistent in the beginning represented initial challenges. Read more>>

Dr. Dionne Bates

By the time I reached my third year of doctoral school, I knew that I wanted to pursue private practice. I had trained and started working as a psychometrist in a private practice, a job that I had eight years. I loved the flexibility of the hours. I loved how my boss had the option of choosing what cases he wanted to take on, and I loved the variety and diversity of the clientele. What I observed was that. in private practice I would have free reign to make my own decisions about how I wanted to operate. Read more>>

Jameelah Nelson

I started my own practice shortly after graduating from medical school. I knew how to be a doctor but what I didn’t know was how to run a business. One of the biggest challenges most new doctors make is thinking that once they open their practice, patients will start calling and signing up for their services. I learned very soon that it doesn’t always work like that. Because… just because you open your doors doesn’t mean people know that you exist. It was important to promote yourself on social media, in local groups, or anytime someone asks you what you do. Read more>>

MATTHEW ESTEY

I have worked in the helping professions since 2003 including: therapeutic wilderness programs, residential treatment centers, inpatient hospitals, community integration programs, and PACT teams (Program of Assertive Community Treatment). While I had thoughts on and off about starting a program of my own, I had the good fortune to be part of organizations with strong cultures and advancement opportunities. Both my husband and I were in great professional spots until January of 2021. Read more>>

KathyDan Moore

Set your therapy practice up the way you would like it to look in five years! That was the key piece of advice that I used to navigate moving into owning my own marriage and family therapy practice. One of the things I looked forward to moving away from in community mental health was the copious amount of required paperwork. When I began my practice, I knew that if I opted for a private pay model I would avoid getting bogged down in insurance provider paperwork. It also freed me from having to provide a mandatory diagnosis in order to receive reimbursement, which aligned with me ethically. Read more>>

Melanie Wattles

My background is in Pediatric Nursing and Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing. I worked for many years in Neonatal Case Management and really enjoyed the travel and management experience. However I had my son later in life and so decided to leave my full time job to become a stay at home mom. I loved it but as my son grew older I missed the connection with parents and babies. I had completed Infant Massage Instructor training as part of my continuing education for my RN license. I loved what I learned. Read more>>

3 – Dalton

I completed my periodontist degree after 11 years schooling and training. I worked for several years for a few corporate dental practices in Houston and Tampa. It was frustrating sometimes bouncing through 13 offices over a month. I always believed there was a different way to practice dentistry. I wanted to create a relaxing fun environment that is painless, happy and fun. Southwest Airlines mottos always inspired my imagination to create an office around their theme of LOVE. In 2011, it was time to start my own office. It was PINK colors, relaxed ambience, and fun! Read more>>

KishaLynn Elliott

Tell us the story of the early days from when you decided to start your own firm/practice to establishing the practice. In Nov 2015, my father died. Eight months later, my wife gave birth to our son. As a new mom, there was no time to grieve. I stopped running my businesses. I stopped writing. I stopped working on myself. The change was blamed on new motherhood fatigue. But that was a lie. The truth was that I was in a silent depression that lasted two years. Read more>>