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.

Alison Stine

One of the biggest reasons I decided to start my own firm was to amplify my client experience, and create balance for myself. I wanted to be able to provide a very thorough and customized onboarding experience for my clients, so that I could focus on quality vs quantity. I also wanted to have control of my day to day, so that I could add in more Community Involvement and make sure I had time for myself (working out, making it home for dinner, time off, etc.). Read more>>

Lauren Gonzales

How I Started: I like to say, my firm is was a happy accident of the COVID-19 Pandemic. April 2020 I was laid off from the architectural design firm I worked at, while this was quite heartbreaking at the time, the end result was just what I needed. During my time away from work, I dove into renovating our home that had not been updated since we purchased it 10 years prior. And after sharing my renovation chronicles on social media, I decided that running my own firm by my own rules might be the best way to enter back into the workforce. When there’s no door to knock on, you build a window to hop through! Read more>>

Michael Cyrino

For over a decade now I have had the pleasure of working in the health insurance and hospital industry. Beginning in New Mexico, I worked in the non -profit healthcare system and helped develop a concierge level donor/patient relations program. From a there I moved into a role working with the Regional Behavioral Health Authority contracted with AHCCCS and eventually into Corporate Giving for another carrier. Read more>>

Cynthia Clark

I have always been intuitive, although I never really thought about it before I had a profound deja vu experience. I had recently sold my own restaurant and was officially “retired” in my early 30s. After about a year of traveling the United States, my soul was getting restless and I knew there was more for me to do. I love the library and reading. One day I was visiting the library and just walking up and down the aisles, not really knowing what I was looking for. Read more>>

Ryan House

I had multiple moments from when I started my clinical training to starting my own practice where I seriously questioned my life choices… Why am I doing this ? Is this going to be worth it? What if “IT” fails? and What if “I” fail? I would often find myself stuck in this negative thought circle that was almost paralyzing. During those periods in life where you are investing so many of your personal resources (time, energy, emotional / mental bandwidth, money) for your future, it is important to practice mindfulness in order to keep your energy focused on the present. Read more>>

Andrea Vargas

My dream was always to have my own practice. I imagined having a beautiful office with a playroom for play therapy that had all the things a play therapist could ever want. At the time, I was working for a community mental health agency and would provide therapy in homes and in schools. I kept all my supplies (toys and arts and crafts) in the trunk of my car. During those 6 years, I did a lot of driving around and although I learned my way around the city, the driving got tiring. Read more>>

Dr. Yoav Suprun

When I moved to Miami Beach from NYC in 2008, I knew I would like to own my Physical Therapy practice one day. What I have done right was to connect with Canyon Ranch who then opened an integrative wellness center in Miami Beach at the Carillon Hotel and I joined them as their physical therapist. I was treating both residents as well as guests of the hotel. It was a super exciting period. THe medical director was a brilliant integrative doctor named Karen Koffler MD, who masterfully built an integrative medical team. we CHANGED people’s life for the better. Read more>>

Obdulio Piloto

Being able to develop my own ideas and bring them into reality always had a strong pull on me. But how? When is the best time? With whom? What if it fails and I waste time, social capital, motivation, money, etc.? Can I really do this? I still don’t have great answers to many of these questions, but the key is simply getting started and ignoring the many (rational) reasons not to. So that’s what I did. Read more>>

Lisa Pugliese

Starting my own practice was not something I had planned in advance. Instead, I was very happy working for my mentor in an established practice. I loved the ease of coming to the office to practice acupuncture without any of the responsibilities of running a busy clinic. That all changed when my mentor retired and the other practitioners went their separate ways. I quickly needed to find office space and start my own clinic! It was a bit overwhelming because my daughters were ages 1 and 5 at the time! Read more>>

Charity Smith

In 2013 I opened up my very first business, PureFitMom, a stroller-based fitness program in Frisco, Texas. I’ve always had the “everything can be figured out” kind of mentality. So I dove headfirst into books, articles, and podcasts on “how to start a business”. I figured it all out for the most part and got the business up and running pretty quickly, However, what I hadn’t learned in life yet was that “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” Read more>>

Ebony Evans

In 2016 I was working for a mental health agency who’s values and fundamental ideas about mental health differed from my own. During that time I started establishing a plan to create an environment that will reflect my principles and the importance of seeking therapy for mental illness. In March 2017, I opened Blossoming Minds Health Center to increase awareness and accessibility of therapy in the community. I needed to show my face and encourage others to seek professional help when needed. Read more>>

Melissa Hailemelekot

I moved to Denver from New York City in September 2019. I wanted to open up a practice in Denver that offered Prenatal Massage, Acupressure, Cupping, Gua Sha, Infant Massage and a Korean Intuitive Lineage based massage called Amma Therapy. After devising my plan and concept, in March 2020 a week before quarantine I had signed my lease in the Denver Highlands area which was located within a wellness marketplace called Nurture that housed over sixty wellness practitioners. Read more>>

Litza Bodden

The main reason I started my practice was that I saw the great need for counseling services in the Black and Latinx community. At that, time there was a shortage of Black and Latinx Therapist and I wanted my clients to have someone that can literally and figuratively speak their language. Some of the challenges I faced was not having the knowledge of the business side of opening a private practice. During graduate school, they taught us different modalities to do therapy, how to establish a professional rapport with our clients and how to address different issues from addiction, trauma, and relational issues. Read more>>

Armand King

When I first got started with my organization it was not something that I chose myself. I had no plans of being a community leader or voice for marginalized communities youth. This is something that I believe God had ordained for me and a mission that was written before I was even born. Once I recognized that I was being called to lunch and organization and even more so a movement I just began to work. Read more>>