Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Singer and Jennifer Segura. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Amanda Singer and Jennifer Segura, appreciate you joining us today. How has Covid changed your business model?
Before covid as family mediators we pretty much always met with our clients in person and although we offered online mediation very few clients took us up on that. Then in March of 2020 we switched everything to online and conducted all of our mediations virtually as most industries had to. While we are offering limited in person meetings we find that clients are still primarily wanting to meet virtually for many reasons and plan to incorporate in person, virtual and even hybrid mediation meetings moving forward, which is not something we had intended to do prior to Covid. We’ve found that clients prefer to meet virtually for many reasons some of which are, for clients going through a divorce it can be very emotional and often difficult to sit in the same room as their soon to be ex-spouse and meeting virtually allows them to be in the safety and comfort of their own home and not have to be in the same physical space as the other person. We had a client who had done their first meeting in person pre-covid and then did their second meeting virtually and told us that it was much less stressful to be on zoom and only have to “see” her spouse on screen when he was speaking and the rest of the time only saw the mediator. Additionally, living in a place like San Diego where traffic seems to have come back in force clients find it more convenient that they don’t have to drive to our office and take more time out of their day and even hire a babysitter for the kids. Lastly, as family mediators in California we can work with clients all throughout the state and while we’ve always been able to covid allowed us to expand our business quicker than we may have originally anticipated and work with clients in all areas of the state.
Amanda Singer and Jennifer Segura, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Jen began San Diego Family Mediation Center (SDFMC) in 2008 and then in 2012 Amanda and Jen met when Amanda interned with Jen. We both worked for another family mediation firm in San Diego for a few years and then in March 2015 we decided to go out completely on our own and grow SDFMC as partners in the way we wanted to see a business run. In January 2021 we rebranded to West Coast Family Mediation Center (WCFMC) to better encompass working with clients all through the state. At the beginning SDFMC started by using conference room space in other offices then to sharing a space with a dog groomer then to sharing a small office with both of us in it to our current office with four mediators and working with clients all through California. For the first few years it was just us doing everything for the business including answering phones, filing documents and meeting with the clients. In 2017 we started to grow and hired our first employee and now we have four full time employees and one contractor. Since the beginning we’ve always only done family mediation and no representation or litigation work. Over the years we’ve also expanded our services to offer pre-marital and marital mediation in addition to divorce mediation to take care of relationships before the get to the point of divorce. Over the years we’ve always allowed our business to grow at the rate that we were able to without pushing it too quickly, knowing that we would succeed as giving up was never an option. We work with clients in all areas of family law through mediation only, although the majority of our clients are still going through a divorce. None of our mediators are also litigating. All of our mediators have their law degrees, most are certified divorce financial analysts and have extensive training in conflict resolution. We help facilitate the discussion and provide information so the clients can make sound and lasting agreements on both legal and non-legal issues. While litigation destroys relationships, mediation is utilized to help them re-build and maintain their relationships, by getting to the heart of the issues that are causing conflict. We have learned that rather than force a pre-determined one size fits all solution onto our families, it is far more beneficial to clear away the debris, reframe the problems, raise the right questions and help guide them in their own thinking. We strongly believe in our clients and their power to engage in self-determination. One of the things that sets up apart from others is that we truly value the familial relationships and understand the impact of strain on those relationships. We are all passionate about helping our clients families find their new normal. We also work to offer resources for our clients to educate and support them before, during and after their divorce. We offer flat fees for most of our services so that the clients know what the process will cost upfront.
How’d you both meet and become business partners?
Jen and Amanda first met in 2012 when Amanda was in her second year of law school and knew that she wanted to go into family mediation so was looking for a place to intern during her summer. Amanda sent out cold emails to all of the mediation places she could find in San Diego asking if she could work for free. Jen was working full time as a family mediator both for herself as well as someone else and was one of the few people who responded at all. Amanda had interviewed with Jen and another larger mediation firm in San Diego, both of which offered her the opportunity for the summer but Amanda felt that she had connected better with Jen and would have the opportunity to learn and do more at a smaller practice. Little did she know what that would mean. Amanda also started working for the other firm that Jen worked with in 2013 and also worked with Jen as well. In March of 2015 they decided that it was time to go out on their own and became partners of San Diego Family Mediation Center to grow the business that Jen had started. Then in 2021 Jen and Amanda co-founded West Coast Family Mediation Center to reflect the business expanding throughout the state.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
People often joke with us that divorce isn’t an areas of reoccurring revenue and where clients would want to keep in touch with us, however we’ve found that is just not true for us. We work hard at keeping in touch with clients with our monthly newsletter, new content on the website and social media and we find that many of clients stay on our mailing list long after their divorce is final because they find the information that we provide relevant. Our monthly newsletters focus on some topic related to family mediation, whether that’s on divorce, co-parenting or marriage and we include articles and videos with additional information for readers. In addition to providing them with educational information we find that clients often come back to us when they need help with someone in the future such as a modification or a premarital agreement for their next marriage (or even their second divorce). Because the majority of our clients leave mediation happy with the process, outcome and their mediator they keep us in mind and want to come back if they need to. This is very different from divorce law firms where clients often leave unhappy with the process and even the outcome. Clients will come back to us if they need anything in the future as well as referring family, colleagues and friends who may be going through a similar situation.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.westcoastfamilymediation.com
- Instagram: divorce_mediators
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WestCoastFamilyMediationCenter
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-coast-family-mediation-center
- Twitter: @Divorce_CA
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6V_SZbWzN21ZBZPviZJgzQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-coast-family-mediation-center-del-mar-2?osq=west+coast+family+mediation+center
Image Credits
Marcy Browe Photography