We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gretchen Winterkorn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gretchen below.
Gretchen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear stories from your time in school/training/etc.
I still remember the first time I sat in a room waiting for my first client as a baby therapist in graduate school. At the time, clinical internships started at the same time as classes so I knew almost nothing about how to show up and help. I felt like an imposter and hoped I wouldn’t be discovered by the client to be lacking wisdom and experience. I now recognize this feeling every time I start something new. Selling my first flowers as a flower farmer, renting out therapist offices to therapists, renting out a big time suite in NYC, starting to see clients as a private practice therapist, becoming a Mom. There’s always a first day and it always feels a little like sitting in that room waiting to begin. I know it will pass and soon it will become a tender memory about the beginning of my journey.
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?
I’m Gretchen Winterkorn, a Real Live Human Therapist and Flower Farmer living in the Hudson Valley of New York. I see patients and grow flowers locally and share my thinking and ideas with the world on TikTok, Instagram and Substack. I am passionate about changing how therapists talk to the public. I think more of us need to share our own human stories that led us to this role and how we work with our challenges in life outside sessions with patients. I am leading the charge by sharing what I’m struggling with and how I work with and sit with my own pain, discomfort and difficulties in life. I want all humans to feel less ashamed and like they belong.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I moved to New York City to become a professional artist after undergraduate school in my early twenties. It was one of the hardest times in my life because I was struggling just to work and pay rent and bills and found being creative and carving out time and community for that almost impossible. I worked for several years before I decided to switch paths and go to graduate school to become a Psychotherapist. I wanted to do something creative that would be financially supportive as well. At the time I thought I was giving up on myself with this pivot and like I “failed” at being an artist. Now that I work with flowers and write and create content that feeds my artist self while running a successful private practice, I realize I wanted a good and balanced life for myself. I had a lot more wisdom in my twenties around self-care and balance than I ever knew. I’m grateful to my younger self.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
I was shocked when I started sharing my thinking and self on Tiktok last year that that would be the biggest growth for my clientele I’d ever experienced. Previously I used strategies of networking, online profiles and those all worked fine. But doing what felt best for me (going on stage, sharing passionately) actually led to the biggest referral source of all. The wildest part is that I wasn’t trying to get clients at all, really just share myself with the world as that’s a dream of mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gretchenwinterkorn.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchenwinterkorn/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@reallivehumantherapist https://realtherapist.substack.com/