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.

The Honorable Jacquie Baly

In the early days when I decided to start my consulting practice, it was a mix of excitement and trepidation. The journey began with a vision and a clear sense of purpose, but I soon realized that establishing a presence in the Houston region’s market would require a series of strategic steps. One of the initial vital steps was thoroughly researching the industry of public affairs and governmental relations and markets to identify a niche or specialization that would set my practice apart. This involved market analysis, competitor research, and identifying potential clients. Read more>>

Dr. Ayala Winer

Once I completed my studies in mental health counseling, I decided to pursue a doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy. My goal was to become a faculty member, as well as establish a private practice in the future. In 2016, my daughter graduated with her masters in marriage and family therapy, and once she became a licensed clinician we worked on making that dream a reality. In 2019, as a mother and daughter duo, we opened the doors to Systemic Solutions Counseling Center, where we have an amazing team of therapists and counselors with different specialities to accommodate clients of different ages, cultures and languages, Since then, we’ve expanded the practice to include two clinical psychologists that specialize in providing comprehensive and diagnostic testing. Read more>>

Netiya Owens

Over a decade ago, I began incorporating yoga into my fitness regimen to alleviate everyday aliments caused by working long hours as a Registered Nurse and dealing with plantar fasciitis. Instead of just treating the symptoms, yoga provided me with tools to address the root cause of my discomfort. After my son passed away in 2018, my yoga practice became even more important to me. It helped me navigate my grief and find strength so I could face the challenges life throws our way. That’s why I’m so excited to share the benefits of yoga and introduce new self-care options at RMYL.. Read more>>

Dr. Phylicia Harris, DNP, APRN, FNP-C

I am still in the early days of starting, but a major step I took when first deciding to start my own practice was investing in myself by enrolling in business coaching and a private practice consulting program. As a nursing professional, I was not taught about business in school. I had a lot to learn about starting my own practice, especially starting a practice as an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). This included everything from the steps to get a business registered, to business legalities and requirements for APRNs, business financials, formulating policies and procedures, and even branding and marketing strategies. Starting and establishing your own practice or business properly can be a major challenge to take on alone. Enrolling in these courses and seeking out other APRNs and like-minded individuals who already built their own successful practices helped greatly in providing me resourceful information I needed to start my own practice. Read more>>

Varsha Khatri

I started my business, Illuminated Health, when I moved to London from California. When I moved, I found it quite difficult to find a job and after 6 weeks of searching, my husband encouraged me to start my own business. So here I was, in a new country, newly married, new home, and I dove straight into establishing my business. At the time, I was teaching yoga, so I began by starting yoga classes. I found a local venue to host yoga classes. I made my website, did door-to-door leaflet distribution, and putting up local flyers about my classes. However, I was often met with crickets. I tried a variety of different venues and it would be a good day if I had 1 person show up to my class. Occasionally, I had 3 or 4 people show up on an inconsistent basis. Read more>>

Jessica MacNair

I was inspired to start a wellness center because I would often refer my clients to chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and nutrition professionals all around the Northern Virginia/Washington DC metropolitan area. Thinking that it would be easier for clients to stay within one location to get their care, I embarked on a journey to do that and, in 2013, Falls Church Wellness Center opened its doors. Read more>>

Devan Gardner

I knew that I wanted my own therapy practice very early on, however, I thought it would happen much later in life. I thought starting a new practice as a solo-practitioner seemed like a convoluted process. At the time, I didn’t know anyone that was a practice owner and thought it be much easier to join a group practice instead. It wasn’t until I was scrolling Indeed for a part-time gig (needed in this economy!) that I found a private practice in my area that was hiring. Again, still thinking that my only goal here is to be a part of a group practice, I applied and interviewed a few days later. The interview, which went fairly well, was with the owner and solo-practitioner of her very own thriving practice. Turns out, she was having a baby later in the year and wanted someone on the ground to run her practice while she took leave. This was equally exciting and terrifying for me. Even though I was taking on something completely new that I had never done, I wasn’t left to figure it out alone. I had a lot of support and more importantly, trust. I learned the ins and outs of how to successfully run a private practice and I couldn’t have done without the trust of my supervisor at the time and trusting myself. I’m deeply grateful for that opportunity and it has led me to create my own practice, Good Energy Therapy, where I continue to provide excellent mental health support for women of color. Read more>>

Mireille Sine

Although my office is digital, setting up a business is still quite a bit of work! It started with an idea and a thought exercise: how could I grow as a runner and what would the future of running look like for me? The answer was: coaching. Becoming a coach felt like the right next step for my athletic and professional career. Read more>>

Katie Shelffo

I had been contemplating what it would look like to start my own practice after my second child was born, and was faced with returning to work full time as a school based therapist. I was grateful to have a job and supportive bosses, but the idea of putting my baby in daycare 5 days a week didn’t feel like the right fit for me. After many tears, my husband and I decided I would go back and reevaluate as I went along. And, although it wasn’t AS hard as I had imagined it to be, I began to more closely consider if the work I was doing was the legacy I wanted to leave as a therapist. I had clinical based skills that were begging to be used, but were not congruent with the school based therapy model. If I was going to be away from my children for 40 hours a week, it had better be something that was worth it. I listened to many podcast episodes from Jena Castro-Casbon about private practice success stories. The more I listened and prayed, the more I began to believe I COULD do it. One day driving my youngest to daycare, we were listening to Mr. Rogers songs and his song, “You’ve Got to Do It” came on. Read more>>

Thomas Dunleavy, LCSW

The road to becoming a psychotherapist is certainly a rigorous and thorough one! From attaining a Master’s degree, to completing thousands of supervised clinical hours, to sitting for the licensing exam, to deciding which area of therapy to specialize in (and then receiving even more specialized training), to then deciding which population to serve and through what setting (whether community mental health, private practice, in a medical facility, etc.)…it’s a lot! And similar to other professions, the decisions don’t stop once you have your advanced degrees and licenses! Read more>>

Linda Y Hernandez Arias

Growing in the beauty industry 16 years ago as a small business without any loans or investors was a very difficult time for myself as a new business owner trying to figure out what route I was taking my Day Spa. Growing from scratch with no business experience led me to having days where no money was coming in and my investments were more than the profits. It was hard to grow but definitely not impossible. The challenges we’re still present but after the 3rd year in business with a goal and perseverance I was able to establish Jasmine Day Spa in Dallas,Tx. Hard work and amazing people that guided me and helped me open doors were my blessings in disguised and forever will be one of the biggest motivations in continuing staying in business. Today with the experience I’ve gained from making previous mistakes I would highly advice the young professionals to educate themselves on the government help there is to help begin a small business. I would also advice to be patient and not give up! All good things take time but it’s all worth it at the end. Read more>>

Jennifer Jones

I pursued a career in Speech-Language Pathology and worked at a local hospital, providing services to both children and adults in various settings. When the hospital discontinued home visits for children as part of early intervention, I recognized the importance of such services and decided to establish my own practice after a decade of hospital service. My focus was on pediatric therapy, witnessing children’s progress and successful discharges. Read more>>

Alisha Bowker

I had been in the Social Work profession for many years before I finally decided to branch out on my own and start my own practice. In fact, I never had dreams of owning my own business but it ended up becoming the best decision I ever made. I have lived in 5 states, and with the constant moving it was becoming problematic to keep starting and quitting jobs. So Private Practice just made the most sense for my career trajectory. However, the biggest flaw of Social Work School is that they do not teach you anything related to business. I knew how to be a good therapist, I had years of experience and training, but I had no idea how to start and run a company. So, my first step was to join a group practice and learn from a model that was already in place. While I was in charge of all my own billing, caseload and EHR, I had the comfort of someone else doing the marketing, providing a space for me to see clients and helping me get on insurance panels. I am thankful for all that I learned in this setting, but ultimately I think I stayed a little too long. I was giving away a large percentage of what I was earning each month and ultimately I was actually bringing in more clients on my own, and COVID had just ramped up so I was no longer using the group practice office space. I would highly recommend that new clinicians looking to start out either skip group practice all together, or be sure you are asking for a fair split and ensure the group is putting in the work you are paying them for. I also will say you CAN do it on your own! It might feel a bit intimidating but there are so many supportive FB groups, your accountant or financial advisor, a lawyer and books you can use to help navigate the business side and it only gets easier the longer you do it! Read more>>