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.
Dr. Courtney Brandenburg
No one told me that opening a business from the ground up and immersing myself fully as an entrepreneur would be anything short of easy, but they did say it would be damn gratifying when you put in the work. Read more>>
Jessica Sandhu
When I decided to become a yoga teacher, I had already been practicing yoga for about 11 years. At the time at around 2011 I felt as though there were enough yoga teachers based on what I could see from where I was. But I felt really called to continue and pursue becoming a yoga teacher and a health coach. Read more>>
Traci Lowenthal
Even in my doctoral program, I knew that I would pursue private practice. So many people said it was too difficult, but I really thought I could do it. Looking back, my drive coupled with being super naive is really what helped me start. Once I was licensed, I reached out to all therapists in my city and asked if they knew of space for rent. Read more>>
Mary Beth Somich
I took a big leap in starting my own private practice in a new city I had just moved to (Raleigh). In graduate school at Columbia, they taught me how to be a great therapist, but I learned nothing about starting a business or being an entrepreneur. It was actually discouraged or viewed as a goal to have when you were in the field for 20+ years. While awaiting my North Carolina licensure approval from the Board, I dove into teaching myself everything I needed to know about establishing a private practice. Read more>>
Cerene Prince
My ‘journey to private practice’ dates back to 2001 when I entered the social service field as a foster care caseworker followed by being a casemanager for NYC families caring for children with chronic medical conditions to being a medical social worker, a psychotherapist and lastly, a program director. But my father will tell you that my journey began from a young age where you would find me attending to younger children in distress, wiping their tears or bringing them to their parents for some “TLC”. Read more>>
Dawn Heiderscheidt
When starting my own practice it was important to have the right people around me. People who not only would hype me up, up also act as confidants, and coaches. I work in an important and growing niche within Occupational Therapy that helps to bridge the gap between the construction/design world, and healthcare. This meant that starting my business required months of research and knowledge building to follow a plethora of laws and ethics related not only to business, but also healthcare. Read more>>
Ariel Harrison
I would like to say that my decision to establish my business was planned, but it was not. I decided to legally create my practice 12 years ago and did not move forward. At the time, I created a DBA business account, but became pregnant with my oldest son and didn’t entertain it anymore. Read more>>
Dr Stephanie Zgraggen, DC, MS, CNS, CCN
My thought process in starting Lime and Lotus was to be able to have a wellness center that provided services from multiple providers who were all like-minded and under one roof – Kind of like a one stop shop for wellness. Read more>>
Dr. Betty DeLass, PT, DPT
Reborn started as just an idea. It was after the birth of my second child in the beginning of 2020 during the global pandemic of Covid. I was looking for something to fulfill a deep desire in me that I was made for more. So what better thing to do than start a company with two kids under two, a full time job, a husband who travels for work, and having no family to help living in state, and a global pandemic?!? Call me crazy, but thats what we did. Read more>>
Marci Delaney
Hmmmm…..I had no idea where my path would lead when I retired from a 20+ year career in the corporate world – certainly starting my own business was not on my radar. I wasn’t “wired” to just stay at home or be the volunteer go-to person in my community. Read more>>
Ashlea Clark
Running a business can feel like terrifying endeavor. There are so many ins and outs that it can easily feel overwhelming. Then throw in a little bit of familial business trauma from your childhood, the scarcity complex, imposter syndrome with a sprinkle of social anxiety and you have the perfect recipe for stress. My practice has been open a year now and I am just starting to feel like I kind-of know what I am doing somedays. Despite all of the cringy things I feel daily about running a business, I would not turn back. Read more>>
Juan Michelle Martin
Starting my practice was driven by grit and a passion to help those suffering with pelvic floor issues, specifically those in pain and those who were pregnant or postpartum. It was definitely challenging early on, figuring out the systems that worked best for my business and client flow, getting my name out into the community and most importantly finding a balance at home. Read more>>
Brianna Hall
Before starting Mango Macros, I was determined to teach myself these strategies. Self-awareness to know the truth. Self-care to diminish self-loathing. Confidence to trust in me. Nutritional values so I can reach my optimum wellness goals. To seek the direction of my future. Self-awareness gives us power; this is something I had to teach myself before starting my practice. I spent many years of my life studying Health and Wellness. Finding what works for me. While focusing on the holistic approach. Read more>>
Kate Morrissey Stahl, PhD, LCSW, CST, E-RYT.
During the early days of COVID, we had to decide how to use the space after one of the businesses in it–a hilarious comedy theater that provoked much laughter and thus projection of germs into the air–closed. There was a huge need for therapy and people who wanted to offer it, and yet to make that change required carving the large main room into several spaces, including a waiting room. This renovation offered a new life for the space and demanded an expensive leap of faith. Read more>>