We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly McKenna a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

After getting my Masters of Social Work and Masters of Business Administration, I started working in nonprofit management. After six years, I started to miss the clinical side of counseling. I started doing therapy part-time, working in the evenings at a group practice. Because of the Covid pandemic, I switched to a virtual practice and have never looked back. I quit my full-time job and transitioned to being full-time in my own business, Sit With Kelly, Inc.

One of the biggest challenges that most therapists face when starting their own practice is imposter syndrome. I find that it’s difficult for many therapists to find the courage to network and set a rate that does not compromise their own financial wellbeing to be more affordable.

If I had to start over, I would’ve started an Instagram page sooner. For a while, I wasn’t doing any marketing at all. I was on insurance panels (getting paid less than half of what I do now). Once I found the courage to really put myself out their online, my business really took off.

More and more people are struggling with their mental health than ever. And more people are seeking help than ever too. Make sure that your potential clients know you exist and that they can find you. There are plenty of people seeking therapy that can keep your caseload full.

Most therapists weren’t taught a thing about marketing in grad school, so you need to invest in learning this skill if you want to run a successful business. Marketing your practice on Instagram is such a great way to help potential clients find you and get really excited about working with you.

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

I’m Kelly McKenna, licensed therapist in NY, NJ, and FL and content creator @sitwithkelly and @businessoftherapy.

As a therapist, I help millennial women overcome anxiety. I also offer courses and business coaching to help therapists who want to grow their practice.

For my @sitwithkelly page, I create relatable anxiety content to help millennial women overcome their anxiety and feel less alone. I originally started this page to market my business. Even though my caseload is now full, I still love creating content and resources for this community!

For my @businessoftherapy page, I create content for therapists. Some therapists are ready to leave their group practice and go out on their own. Others are looking to switch to private pay clients, and some have a full caseload and want to learn how to incorporate other income streams into their business.

My signature course for therapists, Private Practice Academy, provides a step-by-step framework for therapists who want to learn to start their own private practice and/or use Instagram marketing to fill their caseload. I also have a Reels Membership, which helps therapists come up with trending reels ideas each week.

For therapists who want more support, I offer 1:1 and group business coaching.
I am proudest of my ability to maintain consistency, setting boundaries with work, and continuing to scale my business. Most therapists are taught in grad school that they’ll never make good money. I’m proud to share my income to provide hope to other therapists that they can also earn six figures, and beyond.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for building my caseload has been marketing on Instagram.

Each therapist has their own unique skills and perspective that they bring to the table.I always recommend therapists practice narrowing this down and defining their niche.

When marketing yourself on IG, it’s important to share relatable topics that will bring in the types of clients that you want to work with. As the therapist shares content that their specific clientele relates to, they will start getting conversions from IG to their caseload.

When marketing on any social media platform, consistency is the goal. I encourage the therapists that I mentor to post daily or as consistently as possible (maybe that’s on the same 3 days of the week). By posting consistently, you are showing the algorithm that it can trust you, and the algorithm will learn what people it needs to share your content with.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Something that I think helped me build my reputation is showing up authentically. I show up with my face on my page which allows my followers to get to know me. I share Reels that are relatable to those struggling with similar difficulties as I have. For someone new who is looking at my page, they can clearly see what I am about. People scroll on social media to find others they can relate to. I do that by creating reels, posts, and stories to normalize mental health, and specifically, anxiety struggles.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sitwithkelly.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sitwithkelly/ AND https://www.instagram.com/businessoftherapy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sitwithkelly/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellycosullivan/
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@sitwithkelly

Image Credits
Gianna Stern @giannacarlyphotos