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.

Amanda Fultineer

I had been practicing as a physical therapist for about 7 years before I decided to open my own practice. I had worked at two very different outpatient orthopedic clinics. One was large and corporate where I saw a high volume of patients and the other was a smaller, family run business with a smaller caseload. Soon after I started at my second job, I learned that I was positive for the BRCA2 mutation (the gene mutation associated with a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer). Read more>>

Wanda Rogers

I had a dream and two other ladies were in it. However, when I spoke to them about the dream they were just worker bees. However, I saw the bigger picture and utilized all three of our initials to start the business however, what I thought was what the dream signified wasn’t. It turns out that those initials let toCSW Funding LLC the parent company same initial led to the name of the staffing agency in 2009 Construction Service Workers. You never know the intend of a dream until you continue moving forward. Read more>>

Jennifer Benoit

I actually fought the idea of starting a practice for a long time. After years of experiencing burnout as a therapist, I was looking for a way out of the clinical world. It wasn’t until I had a baby and faced a myriad of personal challenges that I realized how much help new moms need. It was an isolating experience riddled with feelings of shame because I did not hear other moms talk about their struggles or have a professional to talk to about my concerns. Read more>>

Morgan Berliner.

When I decided to start Eat Talk Grow I talked about it and my goals over and over with my friends and family. I like to analyze details and organize every thought before initiating an idea, which I have since learned isn’t always the best strategy. The biggest steps I needed to take was just to put my thoughts into action and just START! I hired a photographer to take pictures, a created an instagram, and chose a name. Read more>>

Sharice Burnett

From a young age, I knew that I wanted to build my own legacy. I wanted to continue to pave the way for other young people that looked like me just as my ancestors had done for me. When I began my journey in the social work field at 20 years old, I instantly knew that I would have a life long journey of serving my community and advocating for radical change. I also knew that I wanted to do it my own way and on my own terms. While working for several well-intentioned mental health agencies in various capacities, Read more>>

Maggie Bell.

I started my career as a Registered Dietitian in 2012. After working closely with people to improve their nutrition, I realized that I had a desire to help even more people and make a bigger impact. Read more>>

Amanda Shorter.

I have always loved helping people and making them feel better. I believe this stems from watching my mother go through cancer several times since I was 12 years old. In high school I had planned on going to medical school for general surgery, as that was how I knew I could help people. During a school trip to Germany I stepped wrong and had some bad knee pain. Read more>>

Rupal Mathur

I’ve known since elementary school that I wanted to be a doctor to help people. I was pre-med at Rice University, graduated from Baylor College of Medicine with Honors, and completed my residency at Harvard Medical School focusing on primary care. Upon graduation from residency in 2015, I took a job as a primary care physician at a busy practice in the Texas Medical Center. While there, I was able to help a lot of people, but I felt like I was practicing “sick” care instead of health care. Read more>>