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

Melinda, appreciate you joining us today. 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.

In my world (the world of the entrepreneur), in my little pocket of the world (Silicon Valley), taking risks with your business is the status quo. There’s a joke here in the valley that you’re never really taken seriously as a business owner until you’ve shuttered at least one along the way. The story of risk is usually something akin to “go big or go home” or “work your ass off when no one believes in you”. My story of risk taking is a bit different.

I officially started my private practice in 2018, which in and of itself was a huge step. And the first couple of years of business I kept feeling as if I was hitting walls left and right. I was spinning my wheels, trying to navigate being a mom, wife, and business owner. There never seemed to be a time where I was coasting. Finally, towards the last quarter of 2019, I started gaining some business momentum. I found a team of people to help with my marketing, I found a therapy niche that I loved and I was gaining a really steady client load and good reputation. I finally got over the hump! In the beginning of 2020 things were going really great until, well, COVID. Offices closed down, schools shuttered, and therapists were in incredibly high demand. I had a choice to make. I had spent 2ish years busting my you-know-what to build a business that I loved, and in the Silicon Valley, this should be the part of the story where I pull up my “big girl panties”, and take the risk to push harder during the downfall to make my business thrive.

The risk I took instead? I pulled my business back. I scaled to bi-weekly sessions with my clients and made half the income I did the year prior.

When I think of taking risks in my business, this was a doozy. Because instead of working for my business, I realized I needed to design my business to worked for ME. I was (am) a business owner, a parent, and a human trying to function during a collective trauma event. Realistically, I did not have the emotional resources, energy, or time to scale up or even keep things status quo. I think for any business owner, the idea of deliberately choosing to work less, make less money, or shrink your business, is counterintuitive. It’s scary. I was worried that I was actually going to lose my business.

What happened instead? I realized that I had the agency to structure a business that was flexible and that worked on my behalf. Because I niched correctly, I didn’t have clients that required weekly care. Because I had good relationships with them and and had served them well up to this point, they were willing to be flexible while continuing on with my business. And a year later, when my kid was finally back in school, I actually had the energy to ramp up my marketing and go all out growing my business again. Currently, I have a full practice with a waiting list, and I’m proud to say that taking the risk of scaling back has made me a better (and less burned out) therapist, mom, and human.

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 a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and founder of Inviterra Counseling and Havenly Counseling Collective. I love working with young professional Gen Zers and Millennials who identify as helpers, healers, and feelers, and who find themselves undergoing huge transitions. Ultimately I want to help these individuals take up more space and fall in love with themselves. I adore using tools like brainspotting and the Enneagram in order to help achieve this.

I got into my industry like many of my peers; after undergoing a traumatic childhood and figuring out that moving away from home doesn’t always resolve that trauma, I set out on a journey of healing that eventually led to my wanting to help others find their own healing.

The main thing that I think sets me apart, and that makes me, well, ME, is the way I relate and work with my clients. In session, my clients and I laugh as much as cry, and I have a deep belief that watching TikToks in session can be incredibly therapeutic. As I mentioned before, I am an Enneagram therapist, and use this tool to help my clients become more aware of themselves and their unconscious patterns, and to challenge them to grow and become their more authentic selves. I want my brand to feel cozy and comfy, dynamic, AND grounding, and I want therapy with me to feel like you’ve sat down in your best friend’s super cozy, beautiful living room with coffee and a blanket.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

For the private practice therapy field, I think it’s so essential and difficult to remember that you are both a) trying to help people while b) running a business and trying to make a living. It can be so difficult navigating the ethical minefield of making a living as a result of other people’s pain (so to speak). Success in my field as an entrepreneur means taking care of yourself as much as you take care of your clients, and understanding that charging a fair fee for your services is a part of making that self care happen. Therapists have a hard time saying no, setting boundaries, and combating negative money messages that they have internalized. Success in my field means creating a sustainable business that works for you (not a business with clients that you are “enslaved” to).

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy by far to grow my clientele has been niching. I’m not a therapist for everyone, and not everyone is my ideal client. Niching (and effective communication of that niche via my online presence, branding, marketing etc) has meant that I’m able to match with clients that I can do my most effective work with. Working with my ideal client gives me energy, and because we work so well together, I get many of my new clients via current client referrals. It’s a really generative system for client growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inviterracounseling.com
• Instagram: @inviterracounseling
• Facebook: @melindarolsen
• Youtube: Inviterra Counseling
• Other: TikTok: @inviterracounseling

Image Credits
Hillary Jeanne Photography and Carly Wise with i see wise (hair, makeup, and “client” in one image).