Business Coach Journey
STORY OF HOW I BECAME A BUSINESS COACH AND CONSULTANT FOR MENTAL HEALTH ENTREPRENEURS
In 2019 I was employed full time as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. With overtime I was making 6-figures. My income was able to cover my family's cost of living, and we were paying down debt. My beautiful wife was able to stay home with our lovely daughter. It was all good. Of course there were some challenges at work, but nothing out of the ordinary. I was confident because I knew I was doing everything I could humanly possibly do.
Then one day I received a phone call from Human Resources (HR) and was informed that I was let go. This was unexpected. I felt like a complete failure because I knew I let my family down. I told my wife what happened feeling humiliated and ashamed. My wife gave me a hug and told me “honey, it's going to be ok. But I knew I had to do something about it.
Denis Wately says, “there are two primary choices in life, to accept conditions as they exist, or to accept responsibility for changing them” So I asked myself, ``How do I take responsibility for how I contributed to getting fired? I made a point to do something about it so that this would never happen again. That’s when I decided to start my own private practice.
Immediately I joined insurance panels. My practice had a steady flow of referrals. I did not have to worry about marketing, and billing was streamlined. But the reimbursement rates were not sufficient to cover all of my company and family expenses, without once again seeing a high volume of clients. I tried negotiating higher reimbursement rates and was unsuccessful. I participated in two back-to-back 6-month masterminds with the intent to expand into a group practice. But, Cash flow in my company continued to be a problem. Until, I finally decided to leave insurance panels and fully embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship.
Now I am more effective, and I am having a greater impact in the lives of my clients. My work-life balance has never been better. My clients receive a higher standard of care. And, I now have more time, space and energy to focus on other aspects of my life and business.
And so here's what I say to you. You may be burned out just like I was, because you have too many clients, paper work, and you're part of a toxic work culture and environment. Well, as Denis Waitley was right , “there are two primary choices in life, to accept conditions as they exist, or to accept responsibility for changing them” Go out there and change it.