We were lucky to catch up with Willie Bell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Willie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.

It wasn’t my boss, but I supervised a psychiatrist as a mental health supervisor who was the best person that I worked with. He had a wealth of knowledge and served as my father figure at the time. He imparted his knowledge on to me as well as asked for my input and knowledge from me dealing with the population that we served. He taught me, encouraged me and it ultimately led to me becoming licensed in counseling. He did so in a manner that truly helped me to realize that he was on my team not just as a supervisee but as a mentor and parent figure as well. I fell ill at work and he drove me to the hospital, met with the medical staff and put me at ease as I would have to have surgery the very next day after he drove me to the hospital. He stayed with me until my family arrived, prayed for me with my family and made everything all right. I continue to carry his teachings with me and impart my knowledge on to others as he did me. His bedside manner was on display daily as he cared for his patients as well as in daily conversation with the staff, matter of fact it was truly a mission statement to display a gentle bedside manner for him in providing quality of care in spite of the population that we served which was for the incarcerated.

Willie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a licensed professional counselor supervisor. I got into counseling because I was ready to graduate college and was on the waiting list for nursing school. Not wanting to prolong my college stay, I looked at my current classes and reviewed the catalog to see what major I could switch to from nursing in effort to graduate in a timely manner. It was a great decision as it is truly a calling, my calling and it has been satisfying for me. I am proud that I switched as I consider myself to be an introvert as it has helped me help others which I love to do, aid my clients in solving everyday stressors and/or provide peace of mind in day to day rigors. I am licensed in the state of Alabama and can be found on Psychology Today if one is from AL in the need of services.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back, I would choose the same profession again as it has afforded me the opportunity to give others what I did not get growing up relative to the importance of mental health and being balance mentally, physically, spiritually and financially.

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

Continuing to provide quality care/services would aid in continuing to build my reputation within my market. Not being afraid to take on challenges to include completing this interview also will aid in building my reputation. Not shying away from challenges promotes growth, resiliency as well as a platform to put my knowledge and talents on display.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: Willie Bell
• Other: Psychology Today-Willie Bell

Image Credits

Dr. Yulanda King