We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sara Walls a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started my private therapy practice in 2021. From the beginning, I have really enjoyed the business side of owning a practice, learning more, and talking with folks about these things. That is rare in the therapy world, and so I quickly became a go to among friends and colleagues for business questions. I’d had it in the back of my mind that I should consider offering this as a paid service, and had folks tell me that as well. In March of this year, I got an opportunity to run a workshop on business finances for my fellow members of the PractiSage Therapist Collective. I was so nervous, dreaded it, but knew it would be a good opportunity to practice putting myself out there. I am an anxiety therapist, so I decided to practice what I preach and go toward the things that scared me. Well, as it turned out, I loved every minute of it! I felt so energized after the call, and that’s how I really knew I needed to pursue this. I invested in a bookkeeping course and pursued some certifications. I really enjoyed learning more about accounting, kept going deeper, and started offering services to colleagues.
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?
I’ve been offering therapy since 2016. I’m an anxiety therapist, and I work well with professional women who find that rigidity and perfectionism are getting in the way of their goals and relationships. I also offer Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia.
I’ve been supporting therapists and other small business owners with bookkeeping since summer 2024. Folks that I work with have really loved that I am a therapist, and they feel comfortable asking questions and talking about their emotional experience with money. I offer regular 1:1 meetings with all of my bookkeeping packages to provide support, answer questions, and connect with clients on their business finances. My goal is to help therapists and other small business owners feel more comfortable talking about their money and more clear about what is happening in their businesses.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I’ve always been open to sharing my knowledge and experience with folks to help them out, and I think that has really helped to build my reputation within the therapist community. We don’t learn any of this information in grad school, and a lot of folks are really lost when it comes to starting and building a business. Whether it’s in Facebook groups, in text conversations, or lunch chats, I love explaining business finance concepts to colleagues. It’s incredibly gratifying to see folks leave our conversations feeling more clear and comfortable with what’s going on in their businesses. I think that folks can see my genuine love for helping others with these things, and they end up sharing more about me with others in their network.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
My best source of new clients has been through my personal relationships and networking. I’m a member of the PractiSage Therapist Collective, and the founder of that community, Dr. Laura Spiller, has graciously given me opportunities to share my knowledge with the community. I’ve been able to make some great connections in that community that have led to clients choosing to work with me. I’m so grateful.
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Image Credits
Ally from Ally’s Photography