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.

Cheryl Reeley

Establishing my own practice was something that I never thought I could do or would do. However, as I was really allowing myself to dream big about what I wanted to do with my time, energy, education, and experience, I realized starting my own practice was a dream that I might be capable of. The more research I did, the more confident I became. Read more>>

Kat Dison Nechlebova

I studied sculpture at Kansas City Art Institute and after that, I earned master’s degrees in both counseling and art therapy with emphasis in transpersonal psychology at Southwestern College in Santa Fe. While accumulating these degrees and the necessary hours of practice experience, I had to sit back and really think about how I could combine my interests into a brand that would not just be appealing to me as an individual, but something that others could latch onto as a form of wellness. Read more>>

Tiera Cross, LPCC-S, LCDCIII, ECMH, CFMHE

Establishing a private practice has been one of the most rewarding things, but also one of the most stressful! When you become an entrepreneur you wear so many hats. Initially getting started I was the provider, admin assistant, marketing team, customer service, and website designer. I had to adjust to using systems that I had No previous experience with, I spent a lot of late nights creating an efficient and profitable practice, and there is still work to be done! Read more>>

Tomekia Latoya

Creating a space for individuals who are seeking products, knowledge, and information about herbal medicine has been an amazing journey. Read more>>

Jessica Parker

When I started Root & Stem, I had just graduated with a ton of student loan debt. I wasn’t about to go back to being a barista, so I was determined to make acupuncture my career. Getting paid acupuncture jobs can be hard when you have no reputation or experience outside of school, so I decided to go for it and start my own clinic. I was lucky to have a great mentor who taught me a lot about the business side of things. Read more>>

Cesar Visurraga

As any small business company, leading Visurraga Enterprises LLC has its successes and challenges. Cesar remembers the initial three years of starting his company as a trial and error period. Initially, this company was no more than contracting Cesar to healthcare facilities as a side job. One day, Cesar hand-delivered a Starbucks gift card to a new ambulatory surgery center in his neighborhood. Read more>>

Omar Akhter

I established my own practice for years ago and it’s been a beautiful journey for me to see all the lives. I’ve been able to touch and to witness my own personal growth during this time. No other experience in medicine compares to what it’s like to start and run your own practice. It’s almost like raising your own child. You, and only you have full responsibility and can watch it grow and see yourself grow as a result. I can’t wait to see how many more potential patients that are frustrated with our current medical system I can help. Read more>>

Beatriz De La Espriella

When my son was born (September 2021), I took the biggest risk of my life. I left my job as a school social worker and decided to open up my private practice, Bea Mindful Counseling. I wanted the flexibility that having my own private practice could offer and I wanted the opportunity to be home with my son and experience everything motherhood has to offer. Read more>>

Jillian Diwan

I had no intention of starting my own practice by entering massage school. I really just wanted to learn more about how to help the body, on a physical and energetic level- through bodywork. Building my own practice kinda happened naturally. Read more>>

Kelli Smith

Hello! My name is Kelli Smith. So, funny story…. I got into this industry on a whim. When I was in high school, we had a trade program. Offering everything from nursing, welding, automotive… and, cosmetology. I already had plans to go to college for… get this, criminal profiling and/or forensic pathology. Turned out the plan I had of having a backup career in the beauty industry became my passion and my full time career- now I just get my crime fix via shows, lol. Read more>>

Gita Kunce

I have always been interested in skin care, even from a young age. I I was born and raised in Latvia. At that time, Latvia had just become an independent country and we did not have a lot of money. While my parents were busy working, my sisters and I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. Read more>>

Atou Diarra

My name is Atou Diarra, and I am a board-certified nurse practitioner. I have always had a passion for healthcare and making a positive impact on people’s lives. My journey in the medical field began when I moved to the United States from Marseille, France, and enrolled in the Duquesne University School of Nursing. After completing my nursing degree, I worked as a registered nurse in the Emergency Department in Silver Springs, Read more>>

Daniel Kraus

After working for three separate chiropractors around Maryland in less than 18 months I decided to start my own business as a coverage doctor. I traveled all Maryland covering for other Chiros when they went on vacation or just needed extra help. I did that for two years and saw a whole lot of stuff I didn’t like and some stuff that I did. Read more>>

Tess Seipp, MAE

Thank you, Gabriel. It’s a joy to be here and share a part of my story. For years I wanted to own my own business but I did not imagine that it would unfold into the practice that I have now serving women, mothers and families with CPTSD, intergenerational, historical trauma and chronic illness. I had no idea I would become a bridge between the medical and mental health systems with some medical practitioners actually referring patients to me for trauma integration and CPTSD support. Read more>>

Estela Mota

I opened Wave Medical in January 2021 with the intention of fulfilling my vision of being truly available for my patients and for patients to have an emotional and physical transformational space where they felt acknowledged and empowered to take control of their own health. Read more>>

Dr. Jeffery August

I established my own 501c3 J. L. August Bridge Builders Foundation. I didnt know the correct steps to create a 501c3. I made it a private organization. Microsoft wanted to donate are $25,000 but I had to change the organization from a private organization to a public charity. This process would allow me to give a higher dollar amount to each mentee and give more scholarships to help students on the East Side of San Antonio. Read more>>

Kyle and Tabitha Garbart

Going to school prepares you for a lot of things but it does not prepare you with all the steps needed to open your own business. Preparation is key. We started planning as soon as Kyle started his 3.5 year journey in grad school. In his second quarter, we started purchasing equipment and storing it. 2 years into the program we purchased a building and started renovations. This allowed us to take our time planning out the flow and design of the office as we knew we wanted to bring a different experience when patients walked in the office. Read more>>

Andrea Buckley

Andrea Buckley is a social worker, therapist, wellness coach, and CEO of Drea Inspires. Drea Inspires is a virtual mental health private practice and wellness agency that helps humans heal individually and in community. Drea Inspires offers individual mental health therapy, courage circles (aka “group therapy), educational products, and inspirational content byway of social media and public speaking. Drea Inspires views mental health through a strengths based, Read more>>

Fatima Hassan

My personal journey in becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) wasn’t ordinary. I was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe and at the age of 19, moved to the United States for university. I was very interested in media and communication with the academic path of becoming a journalist on the front lines. There was one particular phone call with my mom where she shared what the field of speech-language pathology was and it seemed interesting and aligned with my focus on communication. Read more>>

Morgan Rico

Hi! I’m Morgan Rico (she/her). I am a life and leadership coach specializing in cultivating authenticity and having the audacity to live a fulfilled life. I work with the rebels and rule makers of the world. I come to coaching after over a decade in nursing, with a focus on somatic work and wellness. Educated in the health and wellness space and a strong advocate of eastern medicine, I continuously strive to consume and learn new practices and useful tools within an industry I truly believe in.  Read more>>

Angelea Iafornaro

Thank you for allowing me to share a piece of my story with you. I have been a licensed esthetician for almost 4 years, but my journey with holistic skincare & wellness, energy work, & healing modalities, started long before I took the leap to become an esthetician. Read more>>

Christina P. Kantzavelos

.I established my practice more so based on the pivot, talked about down below! Read more>>

Samantha Magpi

I started my own practice as a homebirth midwife in the Philly area in 2019. Read more>>

Kristen Quintana

We founded The United Women’s Fastpitch Coalition (The UWFC) because we wanted a say in how our women’s fastpitch league functioned. The easy part was agreeing on operational guidelines focused on running a cost and safety conscious fastpitch league, and providing an inclusive space that focuses on athletes as whole people. Read more>>

Kathryn Monson

My journey in energy work began when I was introduced to Healing Touch as a teenager. After experiencing its transformative effects, I continued to study and practice on my own. I eventually completed the Healing Touch program through Healing Beyond Borders and also received training in Reiki. While pursuing my degree in public health sciences, I continued to hone my skills and work with friends and family. After taking some time to learn more and gain confidence as a practitioner, Read more>>

Jennifer Kavanagh

After spending 10 years in corporate America, I decided I no longer wanted the stress, pressure and long hours. For many years I was a chronic yo-yo dieter and binge eater. After leaving my corporate job and many years of fad diets and being overweight, I began to study nutrition and got certified as a Personal Trainer. Read more>>

DeJuana “COACH DEE” Price

After years of having an occupation, I took a leap and pursued PURPOSE! There has been nothing more fulfilling than assisting others on their healing journey to overcome trauma. Read more>>