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.

Pamela Webster

After almost 26 years of being the in the title real estate industry, I have always worked under someone else. At the ripe old age of 53, I am opening my own title agency. After working in the industry so many years. Believe it or not the hardest part for me was finding office space. The one thing I would have done differently is opened up sooner. But, I also think everything is done in God’s perfect timing. So, I am grateful for this time. And to anyone looking to start a title agency. I would say know the roles of each department. Make sure you are knowledgable of the business you are operating. Read more>>

Gary Gene Olp

My early career was sort of magical. I have been interested in Sustainable Green Design since I was a young Architectural student. The work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Alto influenced me deeply. They both understood materials, siting, how daylight plays with a space, how to integrate nature into the building. Additionally, they seemed to have an intuitive understanding of ecological stewardship. I was fortunate in working for a marvelous professional John E. Harris III. Not only was he an incredibly marvelous man but he also let me design projects for his clients that expressed my budding ethos. John offered me a partnership but I declined. I simply didn’t see a future for me in Ohio. I left to join a firm in Dallas, Texas. They had a fine reputation but unfortunately ran out of work. From there I moved on to a firm that was not regarded well in professional circles in terms of quality design. They were an established firm with a solid reputation for producing buildings well. I chose to that because I was offered to be the Director of Design. As a result I completely transformed their reputation and soon built a client base that desired good design. Ultimately, I became the Director of Marketing in addition to Design and was made a principle of the firm. But then, it was decision time. To continue on with the firm was untenable. Read more>>

RENITA FORREST

I started my own firm straight out of law school. I had zero start up cash and worked out of the basement of my home. I always believed that my business would progress because of my work ethic so I stepped out on faith. Read more>>

Danielle Jimenez

When I made the decision to create my hypnotherapy practice, it felt like I was moving in the direction I was always meant to go. What started as a few classes that I wanted to take for regression therapy quickly expanded into a whole new industry that I felt instantly connected to. It was a big decision to go to school while working full time and having a family. I knew it would be hard, but I was ready to follow the path that my heart was already calling for. My family was all on board for me going for it, so with their graciousness, I went to school for a year to begin my practice. While I was in school, I was so glad that part of the curriculum was building a successful business that was meant for virtual care. The pandemic had not only evolved the school towards virtual classes, therefore allowing me the privilege to attend from home, it also gave them the knowledge to teach us how to be effective in online sessions. Read more>>

Jennelle Gordon

I started my practice back in 2011, by renting a small space in a yoga studio to do health coaching. I felt it challenging to get people into the office who were serious about getting results and paying for the service. At that time I was living in San Antonio Texas, still working as an exotic dancer at night and teaching yoga in the day. The money was so little I couldn’t imagine how anyone could do this work full time. Fast forward to a year later when I began my tantric journey training at an ashram in Thailand. My trajectory was forever changed as I voiced to bring this message to the masses, particularly those not involved in yoga. After birthing my son in 2015 I started doing mini workshops in the community and getting the media to cover the events. But what the real turning point was in my practice was COVID and getting on large social media audiences. This is how I continually book out my retreats and practice. I recommend networking with influencers not in your field because they’re more prone to co create and the exposure is immense for your business. Read more>>

Sarah Fraggis

When I started my own business, I took out the last paycheck from my previous job that I worked for, and I found a manufacturer and purchased gua shas in bulk. My plan was to sell them. I started listening to different audio books on starting a business. I then decided to start a TikTok aimed at selling the gua shas that I had purchased. I then made a video of me demonstrating how to use a gua sha for anti-aging purposes. I went to bed that night, and the next morning my video had 80,000 views and my homegrown website had sold my first orders of gua sha from the people who saw my videos. Read more>>

LaNaeFawn Jones

I love to think back on the early start of Mommy Me Please Maternity. I’ve always worked in healthcare, and early in my career I started working at a Women’s Medicine Center, also a personal NICU Nurse Advocate, and I worked in urgent care too! BUSY, BUSY! The Woman’s Center made me develop a love for Maternal Care. I received a broad range of hands on training there, assisting Residents and Attendings with Office Visits and Procedure clinics. I then started to dream of my own facility or practice and the care and services I wanted to provide. Fast Forward to the actual start of Mommy Me Please…. Every single service I dreamed of and more, ITS IN THE PRACTICE! Developing the services and providing the exceptional care was a given… IT’S IN ME! I don’t know anything else. If not from the Provider/Nursing point, I’ve been the Patient. So I see things from both sides. that’s how I’m able to always be progressive with the practice and be sure our care always is in the best interest of Patients. So, deciding the services was the main step, it wasn’t so bad. The two hardest steps for me was developing a team that I found to be suitable, and learning alllll the rules of business… scaling my business…and a whole lot of other things in between. What I wish I would have done is hire someone to work with me that had experience with Practice development. I would have had less stress and more time for Patient care. My Advice… GET HELP. HELP IS OKAY. Read more>>

Tara Rodriguez

With over ten years of nursing experience spanning hospitals, in-home care, and administrative roles, I’ve amassed a wealth of knowledge. About seven years ago, I came across an article in our TBON newsletters about nurses administering “cosmetic injections,” and the prospect of becoming an injector occasionally crossed my mind. Read more>>

Olivia Deane

Since the birth of my 7 children I have been passionate about birth. I followed my dream of becoming a midwife and did my training in the U.S. Back to my country, Argentina, I wanted to give back the opportunity for the many women that were seeking this kind of training where there it is not. Home-birth training is not available in South America. Starting a school of midwives in a country where there is a lack of midwives was my calling. My goal was to bring options for women to birth at home safely and to provide comprehensive and personalized care during the childbirth process. Looking back I can see we were guided into this work. From curriculum development to recruiting experienced midwives and gathering materials and resources to start operating, everything started coming without any difficulty. Read more>>

Erin Schemenski

I originally started my practice in the basement of my rental home in south Denver. We had an extra room in the house and I thought, why not buy a massage table from craigslist and start telling people I am offering Reiki and Energy Healing sessions. In 2019, I started my rate at $30 and hour, and quite frankly, I am glad I did. Sessions were running about an hour or so long because in Reiki and Energy Healing, there’s a conversation component to support the client and I really wanted to develop an understanding of my worth from the ground up; sacrificial to say the least. Read more>>

Tiffany Kimball

I had been working as a school based occupational therapist, which I really loved. The issue I had was I never felt as though I was making a big of enough impact with the students and their families. School based practice is quite limited in that if the weakness is not impacting their school performance, then it is not considered something we are allowed to address. I did not like this and really wanted to get into the homes of these children to make an significant impact in their lives. Bit by bit I did! It started with getting one private student who I worked with on Sundays. This led to the next client and the next. I would get referrals from other families and I finally felt as though I had found my place within a home based setting. I loved the intimacy of working with the family as a unit while working with the child. Eventually, my schedule became so full that it allowed me to work in homes exclusively. From there I wanted to impact even more kids since there were only so many hours in a day that I could provide treatment. This is when my Skill Set Reset Membership/subscription was born. I want to have the ability to reach more kids, not just in Los Angeles, but across the country. I want to be that supplemental piece that so many kids need to thrive. I want to inform and educate parents and practitioners alike and provide fun and engaging activities online that can be provide the extra support needed while building crucial skills. Read more>>

Alexis Mitchell

I started my own practice almost one year ago. It was a challenging time, as I completely started from scratch with few resources and no experience having my own business. The biggest step that I had to take was overcoming my fear of failure and embracing the unknown. A major challenge that I experienced was dealing with myself and pushing past limiting beliefs. I had to see myself being successful and have faith that no matter what, God would supply all of the resources I needed. My greatest advice would be to get a mentor! Surround yourself with people that have been where you are trying to go. Read more>>

Latasha Bailey

The early days of establishing Speech and Language Launchpad PLLC were both exciting and challenging. It all began when I decided to pursue my passion for helping individuals with speech and language difficulties in a more personalized and impactful way. I gained valuable experience working in various clinical settings, but I wanted to create a space where I could implement my own vision for providing top-notch speech pathology services. The journey started with a clear vision of what I wanted my practice to be and the kind of services I wanted to offer. Finding the right location was a significant challenge. I needed a space accessible to clients, preferably in a convenient and safe neighborhood. I also had to consider the layout and design of the office to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for both children and adults. Read more>>

LaTara Hart, LOTR, MOT, ISTM-1

As a young teen, I had always dreamed of owning my own healthcare facility. I could remember my friends and I creating this imaginary hospital and each of us planning out our future roles. I can remember thinking “ this would be so great and we definitely need a place like this here (as in my hometown of Jena, La)” . Fast forward 15 years, totally different mindset, location, same industry but different role, and even a different set of friends. Instead of nursing I found my passion in the field of Occupational Therapy, a profession that continues to require major advocacy to save our identity. 12 years in, I decided to go ahead and partner up with a good friend and start my own private practice. Trusting in myself, knowing my worth, understanding my purpose, manifestation, and planning made the process much easier than most may say. I knew what was for me and I ran with it. My friends say I run off impulse but honestly I run off faith. My biggest challenge was more so leaving former employers and their clients because I felt like I was letting one down knowing that there may not be a continuum of care once I transitioned. If I could do one thing differently, it would be to have taking that leap of faith sooner than later and educating myself more on the business management side of private practice. For anyone waiting for a sign or the right time, understand that it’ll never feel like the perfect time. Trust in yourself and have a plan that best for your desired goals. Read more>>

Kevin Martin

My path to starting my own counseling/coaching practice was serendipitous and unexpected. The product of happenstance, hard work, adventure, and luck, I’m extremely grateful for the nature of how my story unfolded to present me with the opportunity to start my own practice. Read more>>

Etoshia McFarland

My early days when I decided to start my own spa business began with my experience as a makeup artist. As a makeup artist, I worked with many women who had skin concerns which makeup only concealed for a limited time. To further help women address their skin concerns and feel confident in the skin they were in, I enrolled in Esthetics school. This was the first milestone step that opened the door for me to establish my business and still be in business 6 years later as an esthetician, spa owner, and educator. As a business owner, there are many ongoing steps I had to take in order to establish my business. Some of those steps were establishing business logistics such as licensing, permits, brand development, finances, team building, establishing clientele, ongoing education, and more. Some challenges I experienced with my business were establishing access to business funding along with knowing what resources were available to me as a business owner and the overall short-term and long-term vision plan for business growth. I overcame all of these challenges once I sought out a mentor. Having a mentor is key to helping you propel yourself in your business endeavors. An established mentor will help you identify your business goals, help you with strategy, provide effective advice, and help you make connections. My advice for young professionals is to be tenacious and follow through on their goals. Read more>>

Lindsey Nelson

I originally decided to start my own practice when my husband and I decided to move back home to Montana to be closer to family as we were starting to grow our family. It can be a very overwhelming t0-do list when starting your own business. For months, I had to remind myself it was a successful day if I could just mark one item completed on the list every day. The hardest part is finding ways to differentiate ourselves in the online world. Learning search engine optimization so we pop-up first when people in our area are searching for speech therapy was challenging. Read more>>

Hannah Sawitsky Ristorcelli

I was working in a residential treatment center for eating disorders through my first pregnancy and returned to work after my baby was born. I struggled with postpartum anxiety but didn’t recognize it until after the fog had lifted. I remember looking for postpartum support groups and feeling like the care provided to mothers in the postpartum period was severely lacking to the attention and support provided during pregnancy. I became interested in becoming a doula and completed a training that was recommended to me by another birth worker. As I started to work on my business plan to be a doula, I realized that if I was putting in all the work to create a company that I should go all-in and start my private therapy practice. I completed a training in perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and perinatal loss and grief so that I could serve moms as a doula but also as a therapist to navigate the emotional changes through pregnancy and postpartum. Read more>>