We were lucky to catch up with Hailey Hughes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hailey, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I took a risk when I started my private practice right out of grad school. Most new therapists build up a safety net and put in time working at an agency before branching off to start their own business. I knew it would be a risk to take an alternate route and jump straight in to running my own therapy practice full time, but I hoped that it would be rewarding in the end. I knew exactly where I wanted to go with my practice and couldn’t find any other practitioner or agency around Austin that fit my vision, so I started out on my own. I am currently the only therapist in Austin who integrates deep trauma work with rhythmic walking and somatic techniques. It was very important to me to have all of these pieces as they all work together to bring out nervous system regulation and trauma healing during my sessions. I also care so much about being able to call the shots on behalf of my clients, rather than being beholden to higher ups at an agency. I experienced that as an intern and did not want to go back there. I love having the flexibility as my own boss to implement new techniques and experiment with changing policies to better serve my clients’ needs. In the end, I’m so happy that I took the risk and went for what I feel most passionate about and fulfilled by than trying to “pay my dues” in an environment where I could not do my best work or work with clients in a way that best suits their needs.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

If you’ve never heard of me around the Austin mental health scene before, I’m a trauma therapist by day and content creator by night. I love spending my days with my clients, helping them find healing and meet their therapeutic goals. I use somatic, attachment and existential approaches to do deep trauma work. It’s also important to me to use nature and rhythmic integration as a source of coregulation, so all of my in-person sessions are “walk and talks” around Mueller Lake Park. If you or someone you know is looking for a therapist and my approach resonates with you, please don’t hesitate to email [email protected] to set up a consultation.

After my therapy practice closes for the day, I begin my second full time job as a bookish content creator. I have loved reading as long as I can remember (I was always the winner of my local library’s summer reading challenge growing up, hahaha), and when I discovered the booktube community during quarantine, it gave me an outlet to share about my love for books and connect to others who love the same books as me. Now, my quarantine hobby has grown into a viable business and my Youtube following recently surpassed 10K subscribers. I absolutely love having this online community to decompress and read with at the end of the day.

Within both of my “jobs” as therapist and as bookish content creator, neither of them really feel like work to me. I am beyond grateful to love what I do and feel joy for an overwhelming number of hours in each day.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience by showing my genuine self: the good, the bad and the ugly. I have always been very upfront with my Youtube audience, whether it’s about a bad mental health day or a popular book I hated, my subscribers know I will be straight up with them. I think many people were attracted to the authenticity that I bring to my videos. I never script my videos or try to act like a robot YouTuber that says “the right things”. People have definitely responded to that more than I ever thought. I went in to Youtube thinking only my mom and my fiancé would be watching my reviews, lol.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source for referrals that I have found is word of mouth from the wonderful mental health community we have here in Austin. We are truly blessed with some amazing therapists in the area, and my referral network is something I’m grateful for everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://haileyhughestherapy.clientsecure.me/
• Instagram: instagram.com/haaileyaann
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/haileyhughes
• Other: Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/hailey-hughes-austin-tx/941489