← Private Practice Startup Podcast
Private Practice Startup Podcast
Episode 187: Helping Your Business Survive & Thrive Through Crisis: The Light at the MIDDLE of the Tunnel
00:27:37
Jane Carter, LPC
Loading summary
Transcript76 lines
- [00:02]
Podcast Host Intro
Welcome to the Private Practice Startup Podcast where we help ambitious private practitioners across the globe to brand themselves and grow their dream practices. We chat with successful private practitioners, business coaches and marketing experts, bringing you tons of practice building Ninja tips. Visit privatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, attorney approved private practice paperwork, and our signature marketing E course. Here are your co hosts, Dr. Kate Campbell and Katie Lemieux.
- [00:31]
Katie Lemieux
Hey there, Start. Hey Startup Nation. Welcome back to another episode of the Private Practice Startup podcast. We are so glad that you guys are joining us and you know, times are different and trying and a little odd and weird and so we have obviously abandoned our regularly scheduled podcast to bring you topics that are related to where you are now in business during the COVID crisis. So our guest Jane Carter today, she has been on our podcast previously, episode 126, talking about three fears holding you back. We'll make sure that we pop that in the show notes. But before we dive into today's topic, we had Marissa Lawton with us last week and Marissa was really passionate about helping therapists pivot and identify other non clinical ways to gain income during this time. So I'm sure that a lot of you have been feeling that and wondering and what should I do now? So we go ahead and talk about that. So you want to make sure that you listen to that podcast previously. So a little bit about Jane. Jane believes that a thriving business is life giving, both for the client and the business owner. She's a business coach. Super funny. That's my add in. Who helps therapists and other helpers have more fun, money and freedom in their practices. But before we do get to the topic today which is helping your business survive and thrive through a crisis. The light at the middle of the tunnel. You're probably like, what is that? Well, we're going to get to that shortly, but before we do that, if you are brand new to us, we wanted to say welcome for coming and landing on our podcast and we hope that you stay part of our Startup Nation family. We're honored that you're here and if you are a loyal Startup Nation tribe, we so appreciate you coming back. For our new listeners, we have a gift for you. That's our A to Z cheat sheet, the essentials for building and growing your dream practice. Head over to private practicestartup.com head on over to the resources tab and there you will see the A to Z cheat sheet. And that does come with five days of practice building emails. I almost said four, but it is five days. So that will really help jump start your practice. And before we dive in, let's just take a quick moment for our sponsor. When you're in private practice, it can be tough to find the time to review your marketing efforts and make improvements where needed. Whether you're a seasoned clinician whose current website needs to be revamped or a new therapist building a website for the first time, BrighterVision is here to help. By first understanding your practice and what makes it unique, Brighter Vision's team of developers will create you a custom website catered to your specific marketing goals. Better yet, they provide unlimited tech support to make sure it stays updated and professional search engine optimization to to make sure you rank high in online searches, all at no additional cost. To get started for $100 off, head to brightervision.compps Again, that's brightervision.compps There are.
- [03:14]
Dr. Kate Campbell
So many ways to keep your practice organized, but TherapyNotes is by far the best. Their easy to use, secure platform lets you not only do billing, scheduling and progress notes, but also create a client portal to share documents and request signatures. Plus they offer amazing unlimited phone support. So when you have a question, they're there so you can get help fast. Get started with TherapyNotes today, trusted by over 60,000 professionals. Go to therapynotes.com and enter promo code PPS as in Private Practice Startup and you'll get two months for free. Also, you can listen to episode 54 where we interviewed Brad Pliner and took an in depth view into their ehr.
- [03:56]
Katie Lemieux
Welcome Jane.
- [03:58]
Jane Carter
Hey, I'm so glad to be back. Thanks for having me.
- [04:01]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Welcome back.
- [04:03]
Katie Lemieux
Thanks for reaching out and putting your hand up and saying, hey, I got a topic.
- [04:07]
Jane Carter
Oh yeah, Well, I mean, what a strange time we're in. And yeah, I was ready to share what I could. I'm full of metaphors. So I know you were really excited.
- [04:20]
Katie Lemieux
As you were creating the title and you're like oh, and this and that and so. So I'm excited about that.
- [04:25]
Jane Carter
I always start getting this flood of metaphors, you know, hashtag, I'm a therapist. So yeah.
- [04:33]
Dr. Kate Campbell
So where should. Go ahead. You're the queen of metaphors. The queen of puns. All sorts of fun things up your sleeve.
- [04:39]
Jane Carter
Who knows what I'll come up with the next time I'm on. So yeah.
- [04:44]
Katie Lemieux
So what inspired the topic for today's title? Besides what's happening? Besides Yama?
- [04:50]
Jane Carter
Yeah. Yeah.
- [04:51]
Katie Lemieux
Well.
- [04:54]
Jane Carter
As you all know, I live in the mountains of North Carolina and we have these beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and there's the Blue Ridge Parkway which is this gorgeous road that kind of goes along the mountain ridge line from like Georgia through Virginia. And as you're driving along there in awe of these beautiful views, periodically there are these tunnels that you go through. And suddenly it goes from glorious view to just total darkness. And it's such a contrast. And I heard someone use the phrase the light at the middle of the tunnel. It's an author I like, Priya Parker. And I went, ooh, that's where we are right now. We are going through this tunnel. It's kind of. Everything suddenly changed. We don't know what's on the other side. We're in one of those long tunnels where there might be that little pin prick of light. We're not sure, you know, we're hoping it's not a train coming at us. And it just got me to thinking about where we are and how the middle of the tunnel matters. It's so easy right now to focus on when are we going to get through it, when is this going to be over, when are we going to get through this? But what we do now really matters. And even when we get through this particular challenge, there's always going to be another challenge because we're business owners and that's what we do, right? We get through challenges. So I just, I just kept thinking about, you know, how when you're in a tunnel, a dark tunnel, and you don't know what's going to happen next, you turn on the lights, you know, so how can we bring some meaning into this particular moment?
- [06:29]
Dr. Kate Campbell
I got goosebumps as you were talking. Yeah, I got goosebumps as you were talking. And I feel like. I know our listeners are really going to be interested in this topic, but I feel like it's especially for me today. I was joking with Katie earlier when we were on our meeting. I. I feel like I've been in a quarantine funk for the past week. We've been quarantining for six weeks and for me in particular, I just had a baby and so I'm coming off of maternity leave. So I've really been quarantining you guys since December. And here we are at the end of April and it's been a long road. I don't know where the end of the tunnel is. I'm definitely in the dark middle of the tunnel. So I'm excited for you to shed some light on the topic.
- [07:10]
Jane Carter
Yeah, absolutely. And, yeah, this is. I think we're really been coming into the time where this is starting to get really Hard for people. One of the first things I thought about. I talk to people a lot about their mindset, and when you go into one of these tunnels, you want to get your mindset straight. So we're in this tunnel. We really need to dig into our mindset, work as private practitioners. So if I go into a tunnel and suddenly I turn on the lights, but I also do the windshield wipers, and I turn on the blinker, and I crank up the radio and turn on the inside light, that wouldn't be great.
- [07:50]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Right.
- [07:51]
Jane Carter
That's just distraction. And what a lot of people have done is they're panicking because we have all these uncertainties, and they're like, just give me tactics. Give me marketing tactics. How do I keep my practice full? And that's the equivalent of, like, flipping on all the gadgets in your car. Right. But that's not what you need to do. The first thing we need to do is slow down and get super clear. And, you know, that might be, you know, sort of to keep the metaphor going, I'm gonna just turn on my headlights and maybe turn down the radio. As a private practitioner, this is a really important time to get clear on who do you want to be while we're in this tunnel? You know, when we do come through on the other side, how do you want to have conducted yourself? Do you want to be the person who freaked out and started honking the horn and freaking everyone else out? No. Or who started tailgating the car in front of you? So decide who you want to be. This is a really good time to get super clear on your purpose and just to remember, oh, yeah, why do we do this work? What do we love about this work? How can we actually very much enjoy being a source of support for our clients right now and digging into the work in a really meaningful way? And also in terms of mindset, it's actually a time to figure out what distractions and tolerations we need to let go of.
- [09:13]
Katie Lemieux
Nice.
- [09:15]
Jane Carter
I've talked to clients who realize with the way they're at home, they're doing telehealth, and they've realized, I don't want to do evening appointments anymore. I like this thing where I'm only working three days a week instead of four or five. So in the same way that I'm, like, turning off the gadgets when I'm in a dark tunnel, what do you need to let go of? Let this be a time to sort of clear some of that away.
- [09:43]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Yeah.
- [09:44]
Katie Lemieux
And I think that's so important. And it's very interesting. Like, you know, we can go through crisis on our own personally, but we're all in this in the same moment. And, you know, I kind of think of it, like, as, like a pressure cooker. When we had Carrie Nola on, she talked about it, like, being the orange and just, like, everything being squeezed out. So what's not working already really illuminates itself. And it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity for us saying, like, this is not working. This is not who I want to be like, I love that you say that.
- [10:14]
Jane Carter
Thank you. And the counterintuitive piece is that actually doing that part, doing the mindset piece, I think, makes it much more likely that the marketing we do is going to be more effective.
- [10:28]
Katie Lemieux
I feel like I need to say amen to that. That was just like. I was like, let me stand up and say amen to that. Because the reality. And it's funny. So Kate and I, we just put on a live masterclass that I held on Friday, and it was really interesting. We're kind of polling the audience of some of the things that they would like to see during this time. And, like, mindset stuff was the last.
- [10:47]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Right.
- [10:48]
Katie Lemieux
And what we know, though, is mindset is about 80% of our business success. Right. And it's just more essential. And I think, you know, one of the things that people do, especially early in business or when things aren't working. Right, is we do all the things that you're saying is flip on the lights, turn the radio up, yell at our passenger or our copilot.
- [11:08]
Jane Carter
Just tell.
- [11:08]
Katie Lemieux
Me what to do.
- [11:09]
Jane Carter
Go. Right.
- [11:10]
Katie Lemieux
No, you know what I mean? And it's like you're just trying to do all the things, and what they do is really just exhaust us and make us more in, like, a panic and a tizzy. Yeah, you know.
- [11:21]
Jane Carter
Exactly. Yeah. Well, so the next thing that I was thinking about, you know, when I'm going through a tunnel, a dark tunnel, where it's feeling a little scary. And the other piece is when you're in these tunnels, you realize, oh, I'm underneath mountain. Like, this could fall on me. It feels a little scary.
- [11:39]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Right.
- [11:39]
Jane Carter
And so the temptation to sort of panic or just stop the car or slow way down or to drive way too fast is there. But anyway, now I'm overdoing the metaphor. No matter what happens, keep moving. Keep moving forward. So even if you've lost some clients or for the clients you do have, do excellent work, really focus on doing the best that you can for them in the time that you aren't seeing clients, find ways to serve people, find ways to give away your expertise for free, and that is your marketing. So whether you're getting on Instagram and doing little videos, sharing information or doing YouTube videos or writing, keep moving and it keeps your confidence up. That's the secret, is that the more we're actually doing the work, the more we're actually keeping our own confidence up and feeling less fearful because we're coming from a place of service. And it also, again, this mindset piece keeps our heads clear to be able to shift things. I'm trying not to use the word pivot as much because I used it about a thousand times the first week of all this. But, you know, you may need to use that space to think about, all right, do I need to reach out to more people in my state now that I'm doing telehealth and the entire state has just opened up to me, you know? Or do I need to work on doubling down on my marketing and doing a little more than I normally would to get the same results? Or do I just need to niche down a little bit more? Again, don't go into frenetic activity, but just keep moving forward even if you've slowed down. Because I think we've all slowed down. I don't know. I know I've slowed down. I realize my energy level is just not what it normally is. And I suspect y' all have experienced some of that as well.
- [13:36]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Absolutely. I mean, this whole situation, we're dealing with our own emotional responses and reactions to the climate of everything that's happened and all of the fears and the unknowns. And I know Katie and I both have multiple businesses too, and so it's really hard to figure out how to navigate that, how to navigate working from home with school aged kids, how to be the teacher, how to be the housekeeper, how to be the, you know, the chef, how to be the wife, the partner, the mom, the dad. It's just so overwhelming for all of that. And so it takes a lot of energy emotionally on top of all of the ways that we need to be there to show up for the people in our life and clients and coaches and all of that. It's a lot of energy expending stuff.
- [14:29]
Jane Carter
Yeah, yeah, it's a lot. I've been with clients, I've been hearing myself say, B minus is the new A lot or even like C is the new A. I love it. Again, if you're just moving forward, even just a little bit, Just keep the forward movement, but don't have those hugely high expectations of yourself because you're in a limited situation right now. We're in a tunnel under a mountain right now, and we don't know how long it's going to be. And the other piece. So this is my third point. I wrote tunnel vision, and then I wrote tunnel comma, vision, like the vision that comes with the tunnel. And what I mean by that. So when you're driving, and by the way, you'll have to come up to Asheville sometime and we'll go drive through these tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
- [15:23]
Katie Lemieux
And video them as we're driving through.
- [15:25]
Jane Carter
Yes, yes. So what happens is, especially with the long ones, when you've been in there for a while and you suddenly you kind of turn around the curve and you come out and suddenly everything is so bright and everything is so much more vivid than it was when you'd been sort of on the road for half an hour. Okay, yeah, they're. The mountains, they're beautiful. But now that you've been in the dark, the mountains are just stunning. You're just like, whoa. And everything's really bright and you're putting on your sunglasses and you're just kind of blown away. So the way I'm going to connect that to what we're dealing with now is we're in this kind of unknown place. We're in the middle of this tunnel. The things you do now can mean that later on, when your business is coming back to somewhat normal, your business really could just go gangbusters. It could be so much better and on such a better track once, you know, later on. And so again, this time really matters. And again, I don't mean frenetic activity. What I mean is, you know, spending this time to reflect on your purpose, but also spending time deepening your relationships. So whether that's with your family, but also with your colleagues, with your referral sources, practicing what one coach called extreme client care. I loved that, you know, just really reaching out to your clients, how are you doing? You know, making sure that if they need to hear from you, they just. They're just getting that extra care from you. It can mean using this time to create some content, but again, no pressure. But also, it's a really good time to deepen your skills. You know, whether that's going back and reading books or watching webinars to become a better clinician, or whether it's using this time to really work on your practice and work on being a really good Business person, it's a really rich time to go deep. And again, later on when you come out of the proverbial tunnel, you're going to be blown away by the richness that you've just created.
- [17:42]
Katie Lemieux
You know, one thing that I think of Jane, as you talk about, really the tunnel metaphor is when we go through a tunnel, we know that the only thing to do is to keep driving, right? And whether, whether we see the end of the tunnel or not, we just keep, we don't question it, right? Like, so we keep moving one step forward and then the light begins to seep in and we know exactly where we're going in the direction and it gets brighter and brighter and brighter, right? And so, you know, in this time I think there is a lot of uncertainty. But what we do know and you know, and I don't know what you guys believe, but really just like having faith that obviously we will get through this, like that's a reality that's going to happen, you know what I mean? On some level. And the possibility of it being like you said, bigger, brighter is totally possible. And I think, you know, the implication importance of connecting with our own beingness, you know what I mean? I know that there's been a place like, you know, there's the franticness of like, what do I do? I gotta keep clients. But I know, so there's a franticness of like finances and stuff like that, you know, and it's like, well, I'm working and I am seeing clients and my practice is full, but this is not what I want to be doing, right? This is too much. So how are you being in that place as well? And what is your self care? And I think that's just so important. I know for me, early on in all of this, know when everything happened, we were in the place of frantic, right? Because there's fear and we don't know what to expect and we want to really serve startup nation. So we were, you know, doing podcasts and webinars and like I was on the computer on video something or other, telehealth or webinar podcast, like nine hours, two days in a row. And like it like affected me, like it affected my neck so much that I had to go to the doctor and I literally at some point, you know, because then the doctor's like, well, I suggest you stop doing what you're doing. What? No, I gotta work, right? Like that's impossible. But it kept getting worse and then I just took a three day step back of like no computer and began to, like, reset myself. And I noticed what's happened since, like, last week is, you know, my conversations with Kate, and she's been going through her own thing as she shares over there, but coming from a place of inspired action.
- [19:41]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Right.
- [19:41]
Katie Lemieux
And taking those actions and that they're easy. Right. They're effortless. And so when you talk about, like, those. The marketing, that really just kind of oozes out of you because it's just a joy. Like, that's a beautiful place to be. Right. I think about as we go through the tunnel and enter, you know, out of the tunnel, like that feeling of the magnificence. Right. And I think it's important is to remind ourselves, like, where we are. Right. And not fall pattern. And I'm speaking to myself right now.
- [20:13]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Because by default, speaking to me too.
- [20:18]
Katie Lemieux
And really just being aware of what it is that we're doing now that we enjoy and that we love. And how can we make that the reality of our life, you know?
- [20:26]
Jane Carter
Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, you gave me chills as you were saying that this really. This really could be a precious time like this. This is, if anything, it's training for all the future crises we're going to go through as business owners.
- [20:46]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Right.
- [20:46]
Jane Carter
Or just as humans.
- [20:48]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Right.
- [20:49]
Jane Carter
And so if we're. If we're really learning how to just be present with it, you know, there's this one tunnel in particular that I actually kind of love it. It's really long, but I'll really hear the music that I'm hearing in my car. And I really kind of just go into this Zen place when I'm going through it. Right. And if we're able to just get better at. Okay, there's some chaos out there. There's some unknown, but can I just be present in this moment and maybe even enjoy where I am in here? There's such richness on the other side of that. I found myself reading more poetry recently, and it's coming from this place of joy. But then I'm like, oh, this is gonna make me such a better therapist. You know, it's giving me this beautiful. Like the. Just the language and the naming of those feelings and the naming of that experience. This is a time, and I'm not a poet. So this is gonna try to figure.
- [21:56]
Katie Lemieux
Out you're a pun master.
- [21:59]
Jane Carter
Okay. Yeah. As an actual mystic, he was a monk I knew in college, but he said he would talk about penetrating the inner suchness of things.
- [22:12]
Katie Lemieux
Interesting.
- [22:13]
Jane Carter
Yeah. Like, this is the time to really, like, go in there really contemplate things.
- [22:20]
Katie Lemieux
Sounds like gooey honey or nectar.
- [22:22]
Jane Carter
Yeah.
- [22:22]
Katie Lemieux
Penetrating the inner suchness.
- [22:24]
Jane Carter
Is that the inner suchness of things? Like really just being in it and really contemplating things instead of always Again, we're so addicted to activity, especially when a crisis first hits. And now that the adrenaline is wearing off and we're all tired, this could be a real gift this time.
- [22:46]
Katie Lemieux
It's interesting as you're talking about the Blue Ridge Parkway. So when we did come to Asheville, you were actually on a different trip, so we didn't get to meet you face to face. But Kate and I did take a ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway. And Kate had lived in North Carolina, and it was beautiful. I don't think we went through any.
- [22:59]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Tunnels at that point, did we? We did. We went through tunnels. And I think we took. We have a picture that you had taken as we were coming up to the tunnel.
- [23:09]
Jane Carter
Yes.
- [23:09]
Dr. Kate Campbell
It's a really cool picture. I had that in my mind as Jane was walking us through the vision of the tunnel vision. Right. And actually, when we came up to visit Asheville, Jane was actually out of town, but she was our virtual tour guide because she gave us the ins and outs and all of these recommendations for an amazing Asheville experience. And I'm actually from North Carolina. I lived there for 14 years, and I've been to Asheville. Gosh, probably at least 12, maybe 15 times. I love it. It's such a beautiful, beautiful place. So many different seasons of the year and time we make it up there, we are definitely gonna hang out in person.
- [23:46]
Jane Carter
Yeah. So it will absolutely have to happen.
- [23:49]
Katie Lemieux
Yeah. And when we were driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway is we would stop and take pictures and just admire the sunset. And we were in that beingness, you know, and how important that is. So I know that we have. I think we saved our pictures, Kate. It's probably in the drive somewhere. Maybe we'll put together a little, like, photo collage and put it on the show notes page. And maybe Jane will send us some pictures from the Blue Ridge Parkway, too.
- [24:10]
Jane Carter
Yeah. Love to. I'd love to see your picture.
- [24:14]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Yeah, we'll share it with you for sure.
- [24:16]
Katie Lemieux
Jan, what do you hope that people take away from your message today?
- [24:22]
Jane Carter
I really hope that it's a good guiding image. You know, I really. I want people to use this time to be present. I always say that as a business coach, I don't just want people to, you know, get more clients and money. I really want them to love who they are, their business. And I think that this could be a time for that to really get clear on who you are and to really enjoy who you are and really figure out how do I want to bring that into my business moving forward. So just be in the tunnel.
- [24:59]
Katie Lemieux
We're here.
- [25:00]
Jane Carter
We're all here together. Let's just be in this and we will be. Okay, Nice.
- [25:07]
Katie Lemieux
And I know that you actually have.
- [25:09]
Dr. Kate Campbell
A giveaway for our audience.
- [25:10]
Jane Carter
What is that? I do. It is called the Business Survive and Thrive Checklist. It was something when my adrenaline was pumping, I was like, I've got to create something to help people. But basically I just wanted to make a very simple list of things that people could be doing to use this time well, including the mindset side. So including how do you use this time to also be kind to yourself, to not overwork yourself, that kind of thing. So I wanted to include a little strategy and a little mindset. So, yeah, I'm happy to give that away to people so they can put it up on their wall somewhere and keep moving through that tunnel.
- [25:50]
Katie Lemieux
Awesome. And we'll put that on the show notes page so you guys could grab that. And Startup Nation, thanks so much for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed Jane's metaphor of where we are at in our crisis, and really, it's really about life. So we hope that you guys join us next time. And like I've shared before, if you've been listening to our podcast the last few weeks, we're not really sure what's going to happen next week because we don't know where we'll be at and what topic will be most important to you guys. So again, just really looking to serve what is the most important. And Startup Nation, if you like this podcast and it's been really helpful to you, you might want to share it with a friend and let them know that maybe, hey, you're in the car next to them, driving through the tunnel, six feet away, or maybe you're on the roof. I don't know. Social distancing, you're in the metaphoric tunnel. So we would love that you share that with a friend or colleague. And if you're really loving our podcast, you know, always the best way just to let us know is you can drop us an email, you can do a review. It always inspires us and really makes us smile when you guys send us your love. So, Startup Nation, we hope you have an awesome, inspired day. Take care, everybody, and we will see you next time. Thank you.
- [26:56]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Bye.
- [26:56]
Jane Carter
Bye.
- [26:57]
Dr. Kate Campbell
Bye. Thanks for joining us on the private practice startup. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, courses, free trainings, attorney approved private practice paperwork, and so much more.