We recently connected with Dr. Nola Veazie and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dr. Nola thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

V-Solutions Consulting is significantly larger than when I first conceived the idea and started with my first client. I spent 20+ years in the US Air Force and the last 10 years of my military career in the mental health field. following my retirement, I went into private practice like many licensed therapists do. I wanted to make a greater impact and started a training/consulting business to share my knowledge and experience with other therapists. Like other professionals, I was good at my job but had little experience as a business owner. I went back to school and got a doctorate in management and learned as much as possible about organizational and leadership management and organizational psychology. My first client was the organization I worked for as a regional director, but I did not know how to get new clients nor how I would maintain the one I had. Before going back to school, I did not know how to structure my business or pay quarterly taxes, However, the most difficult part of scaling my business was ensuring I had the right structure, trained personnel, and how to deal with the environmental threats that threaten to shut down many small businesses.

Dr. Nola, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a retired Air Force veteran who loves listening to people and helping them figure out how to move forward; therefore, I was instinctively drawn to the mental health field. The merger of mental health and addiction fields during my tenure in the Air Force allowed me to become certified as a drug and alcohol counselor, in addition to having a mental health practitioner’s license. I knew I could use my experience and expertise to help my clients but wanted to have a greater reach. The best way to expand my reach was to train and develop mental health and addiction counselors (especially those who were new to the field). This desire for a greater reach led me to establish a training, staff development, and consulting business in 2005. Starting a mental health/addiction business that focused on training was not popular in 2005; thus, creating content and a platform to provide training that went beyond the continuing education training counselors receive was challenging.

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

The pandemic provided an opportunity for V-Solutions to pivot from in-person to virtual training. Like many small business owners, I had to reevaluate how we did business and figure out how to present our content in a way that engaged trainees. Moreover, I wanted to share peer-reviewed information that helped practitioners with best-practice interventions for their clients. Before Zoom apps were developed, I used PowerPoint presentations to develop educational games for adult learners, using peer-reviewed mental health and addiction research to keep trainees engaged, curious about topics like co-occurring disorders, and willing to participate and ask questions.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency and the willingness to pivot to meet customer needs! When my clients hear V-Solutions Consulting, LLC I want them to think about the word excellence. I provide satisfaction surveys to garner feedback that helps me improve our processes.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vsolutionsconsulting.com