We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cameron Burris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cameron below.
Alright, Cameron thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
From a young age my parents, and especially my mom, instilled the importance of service. She used to say things like “service is the rent we pay for being on this Earth”, and that really stuck with me. As humans, we consume SO MUCH! And a lot of the things we regularly consume do not serve ourselves or our community. Having learned the value of service at such a young age gave me a sense of grounded confidence. I learned that not only were the skills and talents I would learn during my life would be valuable, but that they would be needed to build community. The idea of cultivating a community that is committed to service is at the backbone of the work that I do.
My dad taught me the importance of balance and rest and play. As a kid I was really committed to my studies–I had a strong desire to achieve from a young age. But my dad would often counter my statements of achievement by reminding me to take care of myself, making sure I ate a good breakfast before a big test and got enough sleep at night. He taught me that rest and play should go hand in hand with achievement and progress. And I think the combination of values I learned from my parents led me to a career where I counsel others on how to find harmony while also elevating their lives.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Cameron Imani and I am the CEO of Quiet Contemplation LLC based out of Florida. I started my business in the middle of the pandemic because I wanted a space to invest in my own talents, skills, and services without needing confirmation or validation from someone else. I think a lot of us can relate to that–the feeling of wanting our freedom but also being confined by the school, work, family, social systems that we live in. So much of life is about understanding the interplay between the systems we live in and our agency to be authentic, powerful beings. I like guiding clients to see the full power and potential of themselves in the same way folks in my life have done for me.
Prior to starting my own private practice and virtual yoga studio I was working three jobs with a masters degree and still struggling to make ends meet. My main motivation for starting my practice was, and still is, to enhance my own quality of life while providing quality, holistic services to the community. It makes me very proud to say that since starting Quiet Contemplation I have counseling hundreds of individuals, couples, and families in addition to facilitating workshops, yoga instruction, and motivational speaking opportunities. It’s also rewarding to see the types of clients I work with. Most of them identify as the change makers in their families, the ones that aren’t afraid to do things differently. As a licensed clinical social worker I do more than just validate the people who share their stories with me–I also like that I’m comfortable challenging people’s narratives and offering refreshing takes on an otherwise played-out situation. I believe that the best “clinical” work aims to look at the entire functioning of a person. My holistic skills as a 500hr yoga instructor help guide this process with clients in an affirming and nonjudgmental way.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson I’m currently in the process of unlearning is tied to the relationship I have with money. I grew up in a household where being thrifty was a value, and I currently serve in the social work field which is characterized as being overworked and underpaid. In the beginning of my career, fresh out of grad school, I paid less attention to the compensation I was making and was more focused on the quality of my work. But as my skills grew quickly and wages stayed the same, I started longing for ways where I truly felt compensated for the quality of services I provide.
Because of the assumptions people make about the social work and mental health field, even among clinicians there is an underlying assumption that social workers who want to make six figures are greedy or are in it for the wrong reasons. I had so much of those values internalized that I struggled to charge clients even market-rate prices for my services. I had to take a step back to unlearn and realize a couple of truths: 1) “market-rate” prices speak to the average clinician and I believe myself to be above average in my skills and abilities 2) I have to charge what I believe my skills and talents are worth, not necessarily what the industry says I should charge. More importantly, I realized to have the quality of life where I feel motivated to continue operating at the level I do requires compensation that supports a lifestyle of joy, ease, and rest.
Despite these lessons I’ve learned I’m still determined to find innovative ways to serve that doesn’t break the bank for consumers. Especially in today’s economy many of us are being asked to stretch our dollars further than before. Rest and ease do not feel like sustainable values to the average working American. So how can I continue to provide support to the community without depleting my resources? If I can be transparent with you I’m still in the process of figuring that out! The journey of being a business owner involves many periods of self-discovery along the way. I’m grateful to have the support of my community and my clients along the way.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Absolutely! I’ve learned so much about myself and the community I live in through this empowering work. There is something about working in the social services field that shows you the underbelly of the community–the violence, addiction, trauma, dysfunction we witness scares a lot of folks away! I appreciated the honesty and vulnerability that comes from supporting people through some of their darkest moments. For me, witnessing the darkness that plagues some of our population only emboldened me to find and be the light for others. It opened up a window for me to work through my own darkness and led me into complementary fields like mindfulness and yoga. The only thing I would do differently is challenging the idea of what success looks like in social work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.quietcontemplationllc.com/
- Instagram: @therapywithcam
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quietcontemplationllc/?show_switched_toast=0&show_invite_to_follow=0&show_switched_tooltip=0&show_podcast_settings=0&show_community_transition=0&show_community_review_changes=0&show_follower_visibility_disclosure=0
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-burris-526538192/
Image Credits
revhealedphotography.com On instagram @revhealed_photography_vinnie