We were lucky to catch up with Liz Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Liz, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit since I was a little girl. It started with lemonade stands and selling crayon drawings to my family, and later morphed into a private psychotherapy practice in 2 states (IL and CT), an online consulting business to help therapists streamline their systems, and most recently, a multi-state LLC with my business partner, Olivia Verhulst, LMHC, PMH-C, called Maternal Trauma Support.

When I first opened up my private practice in 2016, I spent so much time researching the big decisions (i.e. what type of business entity to create and where to rent office space) as well as the tiny details (i.e. the logo, name of my business, and website host), that I ended up in information overload. When I started to see my computer screen as a blurry blob of information, I knew I needed to start making decisions. So I met with an attorney who guided me to create an S-Corporation, which is something I would’ve done differently knowing what I know now. At the time, I did not realize how much more expensive, time-consuming, and complicated an S-Corp is than an LLC (at least in Illinois), especially as someone just starting out who barely made enough money to cover my business expenses.

For anyone who is interested in starting their own practice, I would recommend having a very clear idea of their ideal client so they can communicate that on their website, social media, and at networking events. I would also recommend offering complimentary consultation calls to prospective clients to determine if it’s a good fit to work together. It’s also very important to have systems in place for tracking income and expenses, onboarding clients, keeping records, staying up-to-date on deadlines (i.e. renewing your licenses, liability insurance, etc.) and maintaining an organized inbox and desktop. I’ve worked with so many therapists who are months- sometimes years- behind on their documentation, and it’s really hard to catch up once you’re that far behind. If you can create a system from the beginning, it will save a lot of heartache in the future.

Finally, I would hire an attorney and accountant who are experienced in your field to help you with the business set-up. Interview a few people first to make sure you feel comfortable with them. If finances are tight, search for your local SCORE office (or a similar program that offers free business mentorship). In addition, you may consider hiring a business coach in your field who can help with the nuances of your business. Ask for recommendations from colleagues and then follow a few potential business coaches on social media for a while to see if you connect with their personality, business values, the structure of their coaching program, and the marketing tactics they use and teach.

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?

My name is Liz Gray, LCSW, RPT. I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois, Registered Play Therapist, Certified EMDR Therapist, Clinical Supervisor, Infertility Warrior & Advocate, and Trauma Survivor. I am a goldendoodle and (very new human) momma, and the proud co-creator of the Trauma-Informed Maternal Health Network.

I was born in St. Louis, MO and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with a BA in psychology and earned a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis (Washu) in 2011. Washu was actually my first choice school for undergrad- it was my parents’ alma mater- but I was rejected. In a funny turn of events, I ended up living in St. Louis after college and decided to apply for my MSW while I was there and was accepted! I ended up living in St. Louis for 4 years (the middle two years as a grad student) and then moved back to Chicago.

I’ve worked in multiple settings as an overnight crisis worker, community-based social worker, Early Intervention provider, and a School Social Worker in private and public schools. I also had a part-time private practice first in IL, then in CT, that I ended up closing to work for a group practice when I moved back to Chicago. I often do things unconventionally (like owning a house and then going back to renting), so following my own wacky trend, I closed my private practice and then worked for a group. I know it’s not the move that most people make, but it worked for me!

Currently, I exclusively work with older adolescents and young adults, something I never thought I would do- but I can’t imagine NOT working with this population! I’m very happy working virtually part-time at a thriving group therapy practice in Chicago, growing my business, and being a new momma to my baby boy.

I first had the idea to create a trauma-informed directory after my own traumatizing experience as an infertility patient. Not only did I become a stronger advocate for myself (i.e. asking every new provider, “how are you trauma-informed?” before deciding whether to work with them), but I became an advocate for others. My purpose is to provide safety, connection, and community to others.

Enter Maternal Trauma Support, LLC. My business partner Olivia Verhulst and I are the proud co-founders of the Trauma-Informed Maternal Health Network, which includes an online directory to connect women in all stages of early parenthood (trying to conceive, infertility, pregnancy, and postpartum) to trauma-informed providers. The directory is free to search for a provider and a low monthly cost for practitioners to be listed (i.e. therapists, psychiatrists, doctors, doulas, etc.). We have exciting plans to expand our services in the future (i.e. selling merch and trainings).

Olivia and I work so well as a team and we are each other’s biggest cheerleaders. At the same time as I was growing a human inside of me, I was also creating this business and directory. It’s wild to look back on how I “birthed” both just weeks apart from each other!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

In October 2022, I had recently begun fertility treatments and was devastated by the way I was treated by my Reproductive Endocrinologist. My anger fueled the fire to actually do something. I decided that I wanted to connect with fertility clinics to offer trauma-informed training and consultations to their doctors, nurses, and staff so that other women didn’t have to experience what I went through.

Since I didn’t know anyone who had done these trainings, I created a post in a maternal mental health FB group to connect with other clinicians who had facilitated these types of services. A therapist in NY named Olivia Verhulst commented that she was interested in connecting.

Within a few days, we started chatting on Instagram, then took it to a zoom call. Right away, we both felt a connection. We are both Highly Sensitive Therapists who specialize in trauma and have a shared interest in maternal mental health and trauma-informed care. We are also obsessed with our fur babies and love Schitt’s Creek! On the initial call, I told Olivia about my idea of creating a directory and asked if she had any interest in joining forces. My initial vision was a directory for infertility patients to find trauma-informed doctors and therapists, but Olivia’s background as a PMH-C helped us expand the vision to ALL dimensions of maternal health and mental health. Our nationwide directory connects women navigating infertility, trying to conceive, pregnancy, and postpartum to safe and highly qualified trauma-informed therapists, psychiatrists, OB-GYNs, midwives, doulas, acupuncturists, pelvic floor physical therapists, lactation consultants, etc.

For the first few years I was a business owner, I never quite felt the “spark.” In fact, I knew the first few businesses didn’t feel right, but it was so hard to let go of them when I had invested so much time, energy, and money. However, opening up this business with Olivia has never felt like work. I was 9 months pregnant when we launched the directory, and even though it was one of the most hectic times of my life, I don’t regret it for an instant. Olivia and I are a great team and we each pick up the slack when the other one is sick, overbooked in other areas of our life, on vacation, or on maternity leave (in my case, Olivia was a lifesaver when I took extra time off due to a traumatic birth and PPD). She is the best business partner and I couldn’t be prouder of either of us.

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

One of the best decisions I’ve made was to create a multi-state LLC with my colleague and friend Olivia Verhulst. Olivia and I have a shared interest in maternal mental health and trauma-informed care but we come at it from different perspectives, which has been helpful in making business decisions and expanding our network.

I am an Infertility Warrior, Trauma Survivor, Certified EMDR Therapist, and brand new mom in the postpartum period. I am starting the process to become a PMH-C; however, my interest in perinatal health and mental health is more personal at the moment. Olivia is a licensed psychotherapist and PMH-C, Forbes Health Advisor, Media and News Contributor, Adjunct Professor at NYU, Wellness Consultant and Parental Leave Coach. Together, our various personal and professional experiences inform many pieces of our business.

Olivia and I knew that creating and growing a directory would be a long process, with a delicate balance of recruiting providers to join and making sure they feel supported in our community, along with sharing the directory with patients who would use the directory to search for a provider. Rather than putting out ads at this point or trying to cater to the masses, we have spent time marketing in ways that feel more aligned such as building 1:1 connections virtually and in-person and sharing our stories on platforms such as this one and podcasts.

We also began hosting a series of free workshops in May 2024 during National Mental Health Awareness Week. One to two times per month, we host a maternal health or mental health expert on a different topic (i.e. pillars of trauma-informed care, the multifaceted world of birth trauma, maternal mortality and mental health, and the black maternal health crisis). This has been a special way to honor experts in our field, offer something free to our community, and connect with other providers who are engaging in this amazing work.

Another way that we are building our reputation is by embodying trauma-informed care by collaborating with others, being transparent with our own stories, and forming genuine connections. We are dedicated to involving others in our mission and plan to start an advisory board to bring different perspectives and voices together. We also have scholarship opportunities for providers who would like to be listed on our directory but cost is a barrier.

The ways that we are building our reputation is by forming deep connections with other providers, being vulnerable with our stories, and never losing sight of our mission to create a safe and trauma-informed space for patients and providers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.maternaltraumasupport.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maternaltraumasupport/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/groups/maternaltraumasupport
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizgray429

Image Credits

Maria Peterson Photography

Bozena Voytko Photography