Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aaron Turpeau. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Aaron , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I have always valued my freedom. I also believe that time equals life. So an hour is a unit of time but for me an hour is a unit of life as well. So it is very valuable. It also means that if someone else controls my time. That also means that that entity controls my life as well. And if someone is controlling my life, then I am not free.

This is why self employment has always been a goal of mine. So when I was working a full time job, my major goal was to start my own practice. I started my counseling practice part time as a side hustle. I worked forty hours a week at my job and twenty hours a week at my practice. I gradually built my practice and I was successful.

Despite my growing success as a private practitioner I was still afraid to go full time in my practice because as a husband and father I wanted the “security” of a steady paycheck. For about five years I was working very hard full time and part time for a total of 60 hrs. My not receiving a promotion at my job was the final wake up call to me. I finally took the leap and went full time in my practice. Knowing what I know now, I think I would have made the leap much sooner. But I’m glad I eventually did leap. Because now, I work less, I am not as stressed, I make more money, and most importantly I control my time, I control my life. I am free.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Aaron Turpeau, Ph.D is an ESSENCE magazine best-selling author and nationally recognized marriage and relationship expert. He has been featured on internet, television, radio and print media around the country. Dr. Turpeau has been working with individuals, couples and companies nationwide for 25+ years, customizing and providing relationship programs and trainings to improve interpersonal relationships. He has spoken to audiences across the United States and the Caribbean. You can watch Dr. Turpeau on The Turpeau Channel via YouTube: The Black Love Doctor Videos (https://drturpeau.com/youtube/). Clients travel from all around the nation to attend his counseling sessions. His first book, The Harmonious Way, became an ESSENCE magazine best-seller. Dr. Turpeau has also proven himself off the stage, in the real world of marriage and relationships. Dr. Turpeau knows what it is like to have a marriage and lose it. By age twenty-five he had already been married and divorced. He has since rebuilt his love life, and teaches thousands of people how to successfully manage their relationships. Dr. Turpeau’s mission is to inspire people to find their “true note” in love and life and to play that note to the fullest. He is recognized as the number-one marriage counselor in Atlanta, Georgia by ThreeBestRated.com. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and his M.Ed in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Georgia, his M.Div. degree from the School of Theology at Claremont, and his B.A in business from Morehouse College. Dr. Turpeau resides in Atlanta with wife, voice actress Michelle Wallace Turpeau.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In March 2020 I had to pivot to transforming my practice to being 100% virtual. This was due to COVID 19. It was very rough. The first two months especially. The learning curve had to be fast. Business went down. But I had to stay at it. Seeing clients and learning and changing everything over to digital.

Even though it was rough and clients were not feeling it at first, clients came around and now my clients and myself both prefer tele-counseling to face to face counseling.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first started my practice, I spent a great deal of time trying to get on insurance panels. Doing what everyone else was doing. However, I ran into some problems with one insurance company which resulted in my not getting pad. This infuriated me. I resolved at that time that I would get so good at my craft of counseling that I would not need insurance companies. I stopped taking insurance, so my automatic referral source dried up and I had to focus on marketing and promoting my services. This was another rough time starting out in my practice but my persistence and resilience prevailed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DrTurpeau.com
• Instagram: black_love_doctor
• Facebook: Blacklovedoctor.com
• Linkedin: Aaron Turpeau, Ph.D.
• Twitter: @Dr_Turpeau
• Youtube: The Turpeau Channel