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.

Jennifer Shyu

Starting your own business will always be a challenge. There are a lot of mixed feelings, a lot of fear, insecurity, voices in your head that say something is going to go wrong, and maybe those around you will say the same too. Read more>>

Alicia Brown

I have been a therapist now for the last 9 years. I am originally from New York City and have been in South Florida for the last 4.5 years. I have been in private practice for the last 3 years. Read more>>

Zeynep Tuzcu

Coming from a retail management background, I had no idea I wanted to be a chiropractor initially. As a yoga teacher by trade, I knew I wanted to be in the field of helping people, but it wasn’t until I left my retail job and started teaching yoga at a chiropractic clinic that I realized it would be a perfectly aligned pathway for me. Read more>>

Sharlie Peterson

I created my own company, Shockwave Aqua Fitness, after observing a constant need in my state and in the aquatic world for effective aquatic fitness. Most aqua classes were not even requiring the instructors to hold certifications and the instructors were just reading off of a list of exercises to teach their classes. I created Shockwave in 2019 with the goal of introducing aquatic fitness to every age, mobility and skill level. Read more>>

Lavelda Naylor

I started my private practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist Associate right out of graduate school. While this is permitted by the governing board, it is unusual. In fact, I was the only one in my cohort to do so. What motivated me was 2 fold: First, I had done agency work in my internships and felt hamstrung by organizational oversite (I spent more time doing paperwork than seeing clients) and Second, Read more>>

Shayla Dunlap

My business partner, Lauren Payne, and I started this venture after doing Concierge COVID Testing. During our visits, everyone kept asking for more services! The company organically grew from COVID testing to offering a numerous amount of services performed in the home. Some of these visits are such as Adult/Pediatric sick visits, strep/flu/RSV/COVID testing, IV hydration and even cosmetic injections. Read more>>

Jennifer Pope

As a young social worker, I always knew I wanted to have my own private practice. After working for several organizations I believed that I could provide services to clients with my own unique approach. I began to speak with other colleagues that have opened practices and researched the necessary steps to do so. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any how to or manual that shows you the steps of how to start a private practice so I learned a lot along the way with many mistakes. Read more>>

 Joshua Haag

Health and wellness were always my passion and a part of my life. When i first came to Los Angeles i was incredibly lost. I ironically stumbled into being a trainer at the gym one day while training my brother. From there, the rest is history. An incredible series of events happened where i pursued and almost made a professional NFL career, and was given the opportunity to shadow some of the best coaches in the world! This allowed me the knowledge and skill sets to create the businesses that i have today! Read more>>

Myisha Jones

I decided to start Myisha Marie’s Counseling & Consulting LLC after working very hard at failed systems at the end of 2021. Before starting my own practice, I was frustrated as I worked really hard at satisfying jobs. Specifically, I was overworked. I made mistakes and doubted my talents and capabilities. I cried and questioned the social work profession. Deep down I knew that the only “perfect” job would be the one I create. Read more>>

Michelle Wallweber

After serving my community for over 20 years as an RN, I founded The Drip Factor LLC in October 2021 after 8 months of research and planning. I obtained an IV Therapy certification which covered the basics in IV vitamins and entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Aaron Fletcher

I started working in a couple of groups before I went solo. Read more>>

Nicole Johnson

I started my first private practice in Atlanta, Georgia in 2008 with the desire to incorporate expressive arts and non-traditional therapeutic interventions when working with families, young adults, children, and adolescents. Starting a private practice was challenging. It involved identifying a strong supportive team and collaborating strategically with those who had been practicing in the area for some time. Read more>>

Christina Finkel

Right before COVID hit, I was feeling burnt out as a high school teacher. I had been feeling very strongly about my values as a vegan and decided that I wanted to try establishing myself as a vegan professional. I signed up for a consultant certification course immediately and started putting myself out there. While my ultimate goal has been to establish myself as a vegan hospitality consultant that helps restaurants to add vegan options to their menus, Read more>>