We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Seidner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Life is too short and you never know when it will change… so why not be the one making the change? I never wanted to move to california, it was actually my mom’s dying wish. We learned, as she was a patient at the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Goodyear, Arizona, that most patients that “graduate” their treatment are able to live in San Diego and take a short and affordable flight over once a month for treatment or checkups. Once my mother learned that was possible, there was no stopping her dream. She wanted to live by the ocean and no matter what news a doctor shared with her, she wasn’t going to consider the possibility of dying. Living and fulfilling her dreams was her only goal and almost 15 years later- I can see what a gift that truly was to fight together, to live fully every moment and never stop dreaming. So California did happen but not exactly as she planned. I flew out to look at apartments and do interviews while she did her treatment but I wasn’t able to get the plan together in time and her health wasn’t ever stable enough to fulfill that dream. Once she passed away and I was faced with…. how in the world to continue living and then that dream a hold of me too. I left all of my things inside the car in Arizona and rented a car port for it to be stored then flew back to NJ to create a plan to finally move to California. Flying home and leaving my things behind was my personal insurance policy that I would actually go through with it… and I did. I morphed it into my own dream and I could never imagine leaving 15 years later. Make the plan. Research your dreams. Find the courage. Take the leap.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hi! I’m Jennifer Seidner, formerly known as Jennifer Kuchler and I’m the owner of BayRidge Effective Therapy which is a Private Practice that focuses on Individual Therapy throughout the state and based in Los Angeles, California. We connect with a broad spectrum of clients working through mental health issues specializing in Trauma, Anxiety and Depression. We work mainly through telehealth and are able to support the entire state of California through out-of-network mental health benefits. I have worked in many Fortune 500 Companies focusing on Organizational Psychology helping employees and leadership change for the best of the company. For years, I worked with Sony, Staples, Hyundai, Red Bull North America, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf as well as Emergency Medicine Startups and then.. one day came to the realization that I might be great at this job, but this job isn’t great for me. I took a bold move, one that scared me to the core and could have ruined everything that I worked for. I went back to school and shifted from Organizational Psychology over to Clinical Psychology focusing on helping people choose in the direction that THEY choose for themselves. The growth and change that I experience through my clients is invigorating. Together, we make the impossible…. possible. We pull from their core being of who they really are inside and then determine their habits and actions and how they got to the place they are in. We eradicate what is truly holding them back from their dreams and from who they want to be. We find ways to allow their habit changes to be effective and grow their courage while shedding the myths that might they believe in themselves. Being a therapist is the best decision that I have ever made in my life.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Never make yourself smaller for anyone. Be true to yourself and when in a situation where others make you feel like you are “extra” or “sensitive” or “bold” or maybe even “opinionated”…. it’s not about you, it’s about how your presence makes them feel about themselves. Unless you are 12-17 years old, in which case it might be hormones :) All joking aside, sometimes it’s important to change the situation or perspective or approach versus changing who you are. Many times, people have an expectation of who they think you are or how you “should” interact and that’s not fair of that person. I was once hired into a role in corporate america where there was considerable turnover for those who had attempted the position beforehand and the existing team was confused, resentful and left disorganized and overworked because of the situation. I was brought in to basically work magic and knew the task ahead of me would be difficult but the work itself and the challenge was something I knew I could do. To be honest, now that I look back I can see that I never had a chance. Not 1%. The person that hired me had “set the stage” for my start in the role but had decided who I was before actually getting to know me. When I didn’t fit that exact mold, I was told many times to change. Heck, when bonuses came around and I hit all of the milestones by a landslide, I was even told that I would not receive $1 of a bonus because a female coworker decided that she didn’t like me and provided no reason at all. I know what you are thinking… that’s illegal, and you are right. There are a few of these stories where I tried to do the right thing and play by their rules… even making myself vulnerable to truly try to build a relationship and be the person they wanted me to be. Until one day I became so incredibly sick that it had all caught up with me. My body shut down and I was physically unable to please others. In hindsight, my body was right, and instead of helping people change to a role the company decided….. I chose to change my career and help people change in a direction that they decided upon. I left behind the notion of being someone that other people choose for me, never again.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?
BayRidge Effective Therapy was something that was born inside of me and grew before it launched for some time. Build your dream like a fire and let it grow inside of you way before it’s time to launch. I knew that I wanted to name my company something that was not my name but a representation of what I can offer combined with my roots and culture. Bay Ridge is actually an area of Brooklyn, NY where my family came from Ellis Island and lived together building culture while pursuing the American Dream. My personal home is in the area of South Bay, California near Los Angeles where I migrated to over 15 years ago and created my own home and mixed culture. As a professional and also personally, I’m a bit of an overachiever where I thought it was very important to add the word “effective” to the company to honor growth and movement in therapy versus old perspectives that it’s “paying someone to talk to” (you know we have all heard that). It connects with the essence of a client where they really want something or someone to change…. but aren’t sure how to get there. We create goals and consistently check in together to make sure we are progressing but on their speed. When you create the company inside of you and fully flush out in your dreams how it should be laid out, the type of clientele you want, your goals and company culture…. you have time to realize what capital you might need in order to get there. If 1099 taxes might be 35% at a high level, then start saving each paycheck for that amount of money to save for marketing. Research your business startup costs for filing for a license and all of the small nuances to make a list of the money needed. I created a budget to save for these things just like I would a vacation and then created some padding on what else might be needed just in case. Then talked to a lot of others in the industry to see if there were any hidden charges or costs that I may not have thought of and began the journey of planning with soaking in as much knowledge as possible. Dream Big. Strategize in your Heart. Save the money before it’s needed and plan for it to SOAR!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.BayRidgeEffectiveTherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bayridge_effective_therapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BayRidgeEffectiveTherapy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferkuchler/
