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Private Practice Startup Podcast
Episode 96: Building a Group Online Counseling Practice
00:36:12
Dr. Lisa Herman
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- [00:03]
A
Welcome to the Private Practice Startup, where we inspire you from startup to mastery. We chat with entrepreneurs, experts in the mental health and business arenas, and successful private practitioners to give you the tools needed to make your dream practice a reality. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, free trainings, and so much more. Here are your hosts, Dr. Kate Campbell and Katie Lemieux.
- [00:28]
B
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Private Practice Startup podcast. I am one of your hosts, Katie Lemieux, and I am remote today. I am not next to my bp. She's actually online, but she is here.
- [00:42]
A
You're actually next to me on the screen, on the zoom screen where we're recording. So it seems like we're together, but we're not. And that's one of the great aspects of having an online business, because you can do work from anywhere. You can podcast from anywhere, which is super cool. So I'm in our typical podcast studio at our private practice here. And by the way, this is Dr. Kate Campbell. Nice to be back for another episode. So, hey there, startup nation superheroes.
- [01:05]
B
So we are excited about this topic and so excited that Kate was actually going to do this one solo because of scheduling issues. And I actually rearranged my schedule to be on this podcast episode today because I was so curious to learn about Dr. Lisa Herman's synergy E Therapy and her online counseling group practice. So welcome, Lisa.
- [01:25]
C
Thank you so much for having me, you guys. I'm excited to be here talking with you.
- [01:29]
B
We are excited, too.
- [01:31]
A
Yeah. I'm so excited to see you again. It's so funny because when you and I connected, I guess it had to have been, what, like maybe six weeks, two months ago at this point. We were. We were chatting, and we got so into our conversation that it was like an hour and 15 minutes later. And this is on a Friday evening, and we were just like, oh, my gosh. We, you know, we could talk for hours.
- [01:51]
C
It was so nice. It was so nice to talk that long.
- [01:54]
A
So it's great to have you here, and I know you're going to share a ton of value about building an online group counseling practice, which is something that's so unique. I have a brick and mortar group private practice, and that's why it was so fascinating to hear about someone being creative enough to create something like this online. Super cool.
- [02:12]
C
Thank you. Thank you so much.
- [02:14]
B
And so before we do that, we want to make sure that you guys listened to last week's episode. We actually got to interview both John Clark and Alison Puryear, Alison of Abundance Practice and John Clark from Unconditional Media, many other places. And they talked to us about moving private practices and really how to re establish yourself. And they actually came from two totally different perspectives, but also offered a bunch of ninja tips in regards to things that you should know and things you should do and things you should prepare. So you definitely want to check that out. And it's just always a pleasure hanging out with John and Alison and the ability to have them together is amazing. So even if you're not moving, you might want to listen to that because they do talk about how to market and build your practice.
- [02:54]
A
Yeah, that was a fun episode. They're two of our faves for sure.
- [02:58]
B
Yes. So but before we do that, if you are a brand new listener to the Private Practice podcast, we want to say welcome, we are extending our arms, giving you guys a virtual hug and we have a special gift for you. We would love for you to go to our website, private practicestartup.com head over to the resources tab and download your A to Z cheat sheet, the essentials for building and growing your dream practice. And Kate and I actually and Jessica are marketing extraordinaire. Twitter completely revamped the whole A to Z. So what that means is once you download that, you'll have all these great things from A to Z to help you build a practice, but you're going to get five emails on free information and free ways to actually build your practice. So super valuable and really helpful. And also if you're in private practice already, that's cool too, right? Because you might be struggling or having difficulty and this stuff might actually help and support you along the way. So that's yours. And of course we hang out on Facebook. So find us at the private practice startup, join the group and we will see you there. Before we get into our topic though, today we want to take a quick moment to thank our awesome sponsor.
- [04:04]
A
As therapists, we really want to make a difference in the world and we want to be effective in what we're doing and a big part of that is being able to have a resource to help clients complete the tasks that they that you assign them in between sessions. Therachat makes it easy for you to engage with your clients in between sessions and clients love using it as well. Assign pre made assignments or customize assignments between sessions. Transfer documents, send unlimited messages to your clients. And the best thing is that it's fully secure. It's HIPAA compliant for both the website and the mobile apps. Therapists describe it as revolutionary and an essential companion. Try Therachat now and experience it using the coupon code TPPS. As in the private practice startup. You'll get one month for free, which is a total value of $40. And make sure you visit our show notes to click the to get started.
- [04:55]
B
And Kate and I actually been playing around with it and it's actually fun and super easy to use. So you guys will want to check that out because, you know, when our clients have better outcomes, they think we're better therapists, which means more referrals and more business. Just saying.
- [05:11]
A
Exactly.
- [05:11]
B
So, Lisa, welcome.
- [05:14]
C
Hello. Hey.
- [05:16]
B
Hi.
- [05:16]
C
Thank you.
- [05:18]
B
So I am curious, and I know Kate is, because we kind of asked you already before we hit record is like, how did you have a brick and mortar practice? Did you just go straight into online? How did that all develop?
- [05:30]
C
Yeah. Start from the beginning, right?
- [05:33]
B
Yeah.
- [05:34]
C
So I was in New York practicing for my internship fellowship. I was running a, you know, program there for a substance abuse program. It was all brick and mortar at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. And then I moved back to Minnesota and I was doing some work for a big medical clinic and. And I thought, how can I use my license that I still had in New York when I was living here? And this was six years ago, I guess it feels like forever ago in the online world because so much has happened and we've learned so much about privacy and hipaa and all these different apps have come out that make online work a lot easier. And so I was like, what can I do? How can I see clients in New York? And I'm living here. So I did a little research. I got myself a little website, and I just kind of jumped. I just was learning a little bit along the way, and I jumped in and I was doing that for about five years, and I learned a lot along the way and had a lot of great resources and a lot of good help. And then my colleague Andrea came to me. I worked with her when I was here at the University of Minnesota, and she said, I'm going to get my license and I want to do what you're doing. And I'm like, well, how about I just, like, expand what I'm doing and we can work together because I loved working with her. Anyways, instead of competing, really, for that online business here in Minnesota, I'll just expand. And that was when Synergy was born. It was only a year and a half ago, really, that I expanded. Yeah. And so I was really doing this online by myself in Minnesota. And New York. I'm now licensed in Wisconsin as well. So it's great to kind of get a lot of different areas that can access the online therapy world. And so when Andrea came on board, I reached out to their colleagues, and then through that, other people started finding us and reaching out, and it just. I mean, in the past year and a half, it really is just grown. And we have. There's six of us now that are on board, four of us in Minnesota, one is in New York, one is in South Carolina. I have a couple people I'm kind of interviewing with, and that's how it was born, and we are having a blast. It is amazing. I guess I didn't expect it to go so well. I know that sounds terrible. You're starting something. You want to give it your all. And we did, and we just thought it would be kind of a nice, slow progression. And people are eating it up, both on the therapist side and even on the client side. We just didn't realize this need was so great, and people love it, and that is really kind of the essence of how it all came about.
- [08:18]
B
Very cool.
- [08:18]
A
I'm curious, how do you decide who to bring onto your team? And how do you also create the culture, the company culture, when you're an online business?
- [08:29]
B
Yeah.
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C
Well, that's a great question. Two questions there. So how do we decide who comes on? Right. If I don't know you, people will typically apply. They'll send a resume through their website, or I'm on a lot of Facebook groups, and they'll see synergy pop up. If we're talking about referrals or ideas, we're trying to help people kind of with their own online stuff. And people will just say, this is so cool. I've never heard of an actual group practice that is 100% online. You know, they've heard of the other bigger hubs that, you know, people supply a bunch of patients to, and the pay is not super great, but it's okay for some people who want to start off that way. This, though, is like their own private practice. And so people are really caught by it, and. And they're like, what is this? I want to learn more. So I end up talking a lot just for free to a lot of people who really want to find out more about it. And some people like, yes, I want to keep going, and I want to apply. And other people are like, that's great information. They maybe want to try it on their own. I even had one person say, I want to start a Group practice, using insurance, and we're all private pay. But you know, I was talking with her a little bit. She doesn't know anybody else who's done this either. And so it's a big vetting process because the culture kind of going into that second part is one where I want to refer my family member, my husband, my child, my mother, my mother in law, to whoever is working for me. And that really requires the person to be, you know, just really eager to do the work. Really down to earth, relatable, kind. And then professionally speaking, obviously has a great resume, great references. Just clinically, their experience is really well rounded. A lot of us have been doing this for decades in a brick and mortar kind of atmosphere, whether it's a clinic, a hospital, private practice. And then to bring it online brings such a different element to it. So that's a little bit of how it goes. It's a lot of talking, a lot of like seeing people face to face, checking references and just getting a sense of whether this is a good fit for them. Then it's not for everybody.
- [10:43]
B
So how do you determine, like if it's a fit for them? What are some of the questions you ask or things that you want to know?
- [10:49]
C
Yeah, I think a lot of the questions are geared towards, you know, whether you're having a brick and mortar or an online practice. This takes work. You have to start from the ground up, so you need to have the time and you don't have to have a ton of time, but you just have to know it's going to take time. We all have day jobs and families and so our time is valuable and so we're putting in a lot of extra time to build our own practice. Financially, there's a little bit of a financial responsibility because we do have a base reimbursement that happens monthly. And then there's a little bit of a split that happens. It's not too big, but all of that stuff covers costs. I help people and I get all of the apps they need for their email. They join into our synergy email and for the calendar system, for the phone and texting system we use. So I purchase everything for each therapist. So I need some reimbursement. I don't have like a ton of capital just waiting here to be used and just waiting for people to have clients. And so then a lot of the other split goes towards social media. We have monthly consultation groups. I do a bunch of advertising through Facebook and other means that are reasonable. So all of that goes into kind of this is a group effort. Even if you're not in the same state, I'm here to help you. We have a team of people that have been doing this with me a little bit longer than whoever is coming on board. So we have a really good network of people helping the next person who's coming into the group. And so that's really. Yeah, I think that's the cool thing about it. You're not alone when you're doing online group.
- [12:35]
A
And I was gonna say, anytime you're starting up a business, there's gonna be an investment. And that's a great way, I'm sure, to weed out people who aren't really gonna be committed and aren't gonna be willing to do the work to grow their practice and, you know, just want to have that quick fix, snap their fingers, and overnight they have a full practice. That's not how it works in person or online. So to have that level of commitment from your team, I'm sure that's, you know, that's actually a really, really great thing.
- [13:03]
C
Yeah, yeah, it is a commitment. And, you know, there are other online hubs out there that you don't really need a commitment. You can get some clients coming to you and you can do some online work, but it's not the same as having your own practice. And you can charge what you like and actually get paid for what you're worth. The other ones are really great to start off, and some people don't like them. So this is just taking private practice and just applying it online, but I am basically handing it to you. I've done the legal work, I've done the ethical work, I've done the privacy and policies and IT stuff with a great company that I wouldn't have a clue as, you know, having those policies in place. What if there's a hurricane? Maybe not in Minnesota, but maybe in South Carolina? So, you know, we have to have so much in place that people don't necessarily realize. And even though we're not a HIPAA covered entity, we function completely as we would be just because we're private pay. We do everything we can ethically, by the book. And so there's so much that goes into it. So if I say, here's the practice now, I'm gonna help you from the ground up, try to learn how to market and learn how to get clients. And what do you say during a consult and really having, I guess, a coach, in a way that's kind of what people are paying for, is to have that comfort to not just feel like they do it alone, but plenty of people love to do it alone. And so I'm kind of distinguishing between those people, people who are like, I want this, but I cannot do all this to set it up versus people who are like, I really want to set it up on my own and do my own thing. And that's very different.
- [14:43]
B
One thing that you had said, Lisa, in regards that we're not a hip, recovered entity. And so this was a big, like, light bulb moment for me when we had, and I know that you reference Roy Huggins in person, Centered Tech. We had Ro Lyeth on one of our podcasts, HIPAA Peace of Mind. And I didn't realize that, you know. Well, I know Health Insurance Portability Accountability act, right? But you're like, well, everyone says hipaa, you gotta be covered by hipaa, right? But in fact, if you don't take insurance, you're not technically a HIPAA covered entity.
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C
Right?
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B
And I love that you say, well, we. We operate that way anyways, right? Because one of our rules is always go to the highest standard. Right? So the highest standard is this. Then we just. Everything just levels up to that. So for those of you who might be listening and saying, what? Not a covered HIPAA entity. What. That's what Lisa's talking about. We'll also actually include our podcast with Roy part one and part two so you guys can learn more about hipaa so you're feeling more comfortable. I'm curious to know, like, what has been some of the best marketing strategies for an online company? Like, I've thought about that and like, I know how to like, pinpoint SEO and local stuff and AdWords and things like that, but I don't have a clue about, like, how would that look like to then to online? Is it, you know, share about that?
- [15:53]
C
Yeah, it's a great question. Honestly, it's not that different than if you had a brick and mortar private practice, which I think is, you know, hard to kind of imagine because we're all online, but it's really not that different. We're out there doing presentations for schools. I'm doing webinars on anxiety or depression and adolescence for a local youth advocacy program here. And it reaches and it just gets blasted out. So I'm still doing a lot of extra things on the side. We'll have a booth at a festival or at a, at a training conference. We are the other day here locally in Minnesota, I was on like, the NBC local news talking about, yeah, talking about synergy, having a Lot of access for mental health. And they were doing a segment on all the suicides that were happening in the news. And they. I had called the other day just to kind of market our business, and they called and said, we'll be there at 11. And I'm at Target, you know, like in my scrubs. And I'm like, okay. And I run home and I do the whole, you know, shebang, where you just pretend like you showered and. And, you know, they came and in this office, you know, I was on the news. So that little bit where they showed my website and Synergy Etherapy is getting people to have access in all sorts of areas that maybe we couldn't reach. So everything that I normally would do is probably still very similar. The only thing, you know, word of mouth is great when we get clients and they tell their family or their friends or their colleagues. We've gotten a lot that way. I do a lot on social media. That's really great. Just, we do videos. They're just super casual, nothing fancy. But in Mental Health Awareness Month in May, we all did a little video and I would upload them. Just kind of get that sense that we're real people because you can't come to see us. And so the more we can kind of show our face in presentations, in person and talking to people, having like a coffee, chat by video with other providers or other clinics, we have a lot of swag, I call it. I know it's probably not the right word, but like little notepads and pens and folders and our business cards. And so when we go somewhere, we'll bring in, just drop a bunch of that off and people will see it. And so really, I don't think it's that different from what you might be doing for in person. It just takes a village. Which is why we, like, kind of everybody has the logo, everyone's using the Synergy name. So the more people we have in the practice, the brand gets out there and the brand is starting to be created and people are being aware of it.
- [18:41]
B
And so what do you. What do you find in regards to, like, if someone says, oh, yeah, I'd like to do online, but can I see you in person? Like, that's not your model. So what. How do you answer that question?
- [18:50]
C
Just like that? Yeah, we just say, this is. This is an only telemental health group practice. If you would prefer to see somebody in person, then we can refer you. We have great referrals.
- [19:02]
B
And how many. How many clients are still kind of like, because I, I do with my clients, I, you know, most of them face to face, but many of them I do online either for convenience or on vacation. They're traveling for work and things like that. And it's just really helpful. But I do have a lot of them continue to say, no, I want to see you face to face, or I'd rather see you face to face. Do you find you lose a lot of clients that way? Or they're like, well, I'm open to it. Like, what is.
- [19:27]
C
Yeah, I think it's a little different because when they're approaching us, they know it's telemental health versus, like, if you had your own brick and mortar and then you're starting to transfer people. I have heard a lot of people having like, people who are like, I don't want to do that because the comfort and that attachment that happens face to face, they already have that feeling, but they don't know is like, what this is going to be like. And once people do actually get online and they see that it's not that different. You can still see body language, you can still have a good conversation, then they kind of get hooked because it's so convenient. So we haven't yet had that too much issue had people contact us and say, I don't know about this. And what we'll say is, do you want your free consult to be by video? We could do that. And we give them our link and they can log in at our free consult time. And then before they purchase and schedule, they can see, is this a really good fit. So we have that option too, for people might be a little more shy or a little more skeptical about how this kind of mode of therapy could work.
- [20:33]
B
That's great.
- [20:34]
A
What HIPAA compliant video conferencing platform do you use that you have found great success with?
- [20:41]
C
Well, for us, we're just using doxy me right now. Everybody can sign up for that. That is free. You know, when I was creating like this package. Right. You know how it is. You have to really understand everything that's out there and like all the different options, all the different pricing. And so I wanted to put something together that was HIPAA compliant or, you know, we use it to be HIPAA compliant.
- [21:09]
B
Right.
- [21:09]
C
But that the apps themselves were marketed that way. And we get a business associate agreement to make sure. But to have it as cheap as possible because I'm asking people for reimbursement to join so that it can cover their costs. So our monthly reimbursement for a Private practice is not very much. And so whatever we can do that's cheap or free even, I will put it together and have that be the package that I have for like email and the calendar and this and that. So I kind of grab a bunch of different things that are really good but really functional. And that helps because if I said you're going to pay me $200 a month to start your own practice, that's too much. People aren't going to do it. And so I wanted to make it easy for them because I've already paid and still pay my lawyers for different things and all the different forms I'm using. And so the money that comes in is reimbursed for so many things that they get the website that I created and the hosting. And there's so many things that people don't realize go into making a practice, even a very kind of cheap, easy one. And so for the, you know, 100 and a quarter or whatever it is that they're paying a month, that's nothing to have a private practice. And so I also don't say you have to have 10 clients a week or 10 clients a month, or it's not like that. There's no restriction. This is your practice. And so you can go as slow or as fast as you want. If you want three or four clients, and that means you're full, if you want 20 and you want to work to that, then that's great too. So there's not a lot of rules about what has to happen. And I have it as cheap as I can possibly have it to make sure that people actually would want to do this and to say, yes, here's my monthly whether I have clients that month and income or not. And so the way I also have it set up is each month there's like a tier, so their monthly reimbursement will go down and their net revenue goes up. And so that offsets some of that little split. Right now, it's just an 8020 split, which is unheard of in group practice, too. So we're not talking a lot of output. You can easily make up within two monthly therapy sessions, your monthly fee. And so I want it to be affordable for people. I want them to feel comfortable knowing that, you know, we do everything ethically as we can and we get a lot of guidance. And so it's appealing to somebody else to say, yeah, I want to do this, I get support, not that much output. And what they can earn is so much more per session than if they did some of the other bigger hubs, I guess you call them.
- [23:54]
A
I'm sure people who are listening are really fascinated by what you've built. It's just, it's such a cool concept and we love hearing about it. And then I also want to pop in some additional resources because we had interviewed Clay Cockrell about online counseling, and he talked about a lot of different aspects there. So we'll put the link for that in our show notes and then also for some of the laws and rules and ethics from state by state. I know we're talking about different stuff here today, so I just wanted to share that as a resource. We also interviewed Stephanie Cooks, so we'll put that link in the podcast as well. If you guys are listening, you definitely want to listen to those episodes to ensure that you're adhering to all the laws and rules and all of that. Good stuff.
- [24:34]
C
Yes. I mean, each state is very different. And, you know, you really have to be cognizant of what each state requires. And it's also sometimes different by licensure type. So an LMFT or a PhD or an LPC or, you know, there's so many LCSW, there's so many of us. And all of our boards may be a little different. Some places are like, there's no telehealth last. And others are like, you have to be here and you have to do this. And it's very rigid. And so we have like a main informed consent privacy. But I make sure that each person who's coming on board, if they're in a different state or having a different licensure, that they are really calling their board, seeing what else needs to be in the informed consent if we don't cover it. So that they might send out a little bit of an addendum if needed or, you know, every quarter I'll just update the big one to fit it. So, yeah, I mean, there's great resources out there. Another one that's really good. I don't know if you'll be talking to her soon. Amber Lyda, she's with the Facebook group or online therapist group. So there's like 2,000 and some people already in there who are interested in learning about online therapy. And she has a different. We do very different. I have this group and people come on and that's where I teach them everything and talk about all the different apps and help them with it. She's doing it more to help people personally build their own. And so she has different courses. She's creating and stuff. So it's kind of nice to have a couple people like Robin, Roy and Clay and Amber, and we're kind of all up there doing our own thing a little bit differently. But we've all communicated or learned from each other. We advocate for each other. So I feel like it's a really great community where we're not trying to step on anyone's toes or just take over the online world. There's a lot of room for everybody to kind of join.
- [26:28]
A
Yes, definitely. That's one of the things that we appreciate so much with our fellow practice builders. We experience that a lot of times. And it's just, you know, there's plenty of clients to go around, plenty of therapists to go around, and it's so great to be able to connect and collaborate and support each other and not be in that competitive scarcity space.
- [26:46]
C
Right, right.
- [26:48]
B
So I just have some other questions too. And one of the things, Kate, you hadn't mentioned, actually, we also. So for those of you who don't know, Kate and I have our hands very much in the laws and ethics and we provide paperwork. So we do provide a technology assisted counseling consent always, you know, reading and updating as, you know, ethics rules and stuff change for sure. So we'll also pop that into the show notes where you can get that for yourself. But I'm just curious for you, Lisa, what are. Well, let me ask this question first. So are the people that work under Synergy, are they like completely independent and they use a name? Are they a 1099? How does that work?
- [27:23]
C
Well, that's been an interesting part right now, the way it is. And just last year, I mean, I work with my own accountants and they were talking to the people who in their practice, in their accountant practice, know. And I always thought it would be 1099, but because they're completely independent, they're just kind of using the umbrella. It's more of like a marketing service in some ways. That was kind of shocked. He's like, we don't need to give it, you know, because the money kind of goes directly to them and it kind of splits off. Yeah. And so it is their own practice. Each of us are independent. We're all licensed. We all have our own malpractice. I have a business one as well, and I can add each person onto it for a little bit. But, you know, and I have my own personal one and the business one. And each person has their own. And so it really, at least last year, I don't know Each year when I talk to him, I don't think it'll change. But we didn't have to supply a 1099. I thought that was so interesting. Yeah, I thought I was gonna have to and I was like, ready to do it. My accountant came back and said no, because this, this and this. We didn't have to. The way it's structured is a little bit different than.
- [28:32]
B
So they pay you for like a marketing expense or fee or whatever.
- [28:36]
C
Yeah, yeah, they're paying. Well, they're paying into the company. Yep. For all the different expenses. And then when the patient pays, there's that split that happens kind of automatically. Electro. Everything that I'm getting is more like a fee for all the advertising, the administrative, all their apps. So. Yeah.
- [28:59]
B
Cool. And tell us some of your favorite just kind of technology supported apps and things that you guys use.
- [29:07]
C
So a lot of time. Well, this is part of it. And I know I was talking to Kay before we were talking. Do I say like, what I'm using? Because should I not say everything that I'm using? Remember? Because I'm like, this is what I work so hard to do now. Everything is free. Everything is free. But I pulled together everything after like years of research. And so I always am like, well, this is part of what people are paying into because so they don't have to do it.
- [29:34]
B
Gotcha.
- [29:35]
C
So it's not like a secret, but it's kind of, oh, you know, I created this and you know, then if I just give it away, like, what's the point?
- [29:42]
B
Well, it sounds like there's some secret ingredients in the special sauce. Like, we know that if it's a dressing, there's oil and vinegar and some spices.
- [29:50]
C
But.
- [29:50]
B
No, that's cool. I'm actually curious. Well, would you share with us? It sounds like you guys use a calendar that has multiple folks on it. Is that what happens? You're saying the scheduler or is it.
- [30:00]
C
No, each person has their own. I have access. Like, I'm like the administrator. And then each person has their own calendar link that goes into. So my web guy, his name's Gabe Valdez, he's from San Diego and he is like the nicest guy ever. He owns Nerd Alert Solutions. That's cute. Such a great name, Nerd Alert. But anyways, I've been working with him since the beginning. Like six years ago. He helped create my first website. And then he really rehashed and did this new website. And what he has done is he's created my website to be Scalable so I can add more therapists, more products, I can go in. And I've learned how to do so much on WordPress, it's not even funny, it's just ridiculous. But he has created it so it's integrated. So when a patient becomes a patient and they can log in, their dashboard is inside our website and we don't keep any information in order to ensure that hipaa, but there's an email address and that's in our informed consent letting them know this is the only thing we keep and they can purchase with a credit card. In our website, the calendar is integrated and it pops up and like everything is done through the Synergy website. So it's really professional, it's smooth. Our therapists don't really have to do too much outside of just setting up all the different apps that they have. And so he created that for us to be able to just have it all in one stop shop. So I know there's other programs out there now that are really like medical records and video and calendars. There's so much more now, but sometimes they're pretty expensive. And so what I've pieced together is not as expensive, but it is a little bit of a piecemeal. So we're trading maybe the convenience of some of those bigger kind of, you know what I'm talking about, the ones that have come up and they have it all in one as medical records and all that to have the financially be a lot less, so we can do a lot more with a lot less.
- [31:59]
B
Gotcha. Cool. So what do you want everyone to take away from your message today?
- [32:04]
C
I guess the biggest thing to take away that when you feel like there's an idea, you just, somebody comes to you or you think of something. I'm not a business major. I have no idea. You know, this is not something I went to school for, but I got an idea, somebody gave me the idea and I just dove in, I really did. And you learn along the way and you kind of learn what went well, revised what was a little bit of a hiccup.
- [32:34]
B
And then you keep revising and you keep revising.
- [32:37]
C
You keep paying your lawyer and you, you know, but, but you do, and you can make something really, really amazing. It's been a year and a half. We've had great success with therapists, great success with clients. People are enjoying it. I just think, don't, don't get stuck by the fear. I never knew anybody to have a group online practice. And as far as I know, nationwide, we're the first and that's kind of cool. I don't know of any other hundred percent group practice and I'm sure we're going to see them more and more start popping up just as we are. Individual practitioners just moving to online. But whether you're an individual practitioner, you want to do your own group, just don't get stuck by the fear and know that there's resources out there. I've learned on my own and now as of late, really collaborating with a lot of other people. So don't be afraid to ask for help, don't be afraid to reach out. Just take chances. Obviously not super big ethical ones. Do your research. But you know, when it's about starting something, just dive in and see what happens. I know it's not the style for a lot of people, but we can get kind of that paralysis by analysis if we just sit there. And I know we're all kind of like some of us type A and we need to kind of have our structure and know what we're doing. But if we just dive in and use our resources, it can be really amazing.
- [33:58]
B
Cool. Well, we so appreciate having you here today and sharing about your unique group practice. And I'm sure you've inspired lots of people and I'm sure there are still lots of questions that people are wondering. So you definitely want to reach out to Lisa Herman at Synergy Etherapy and we'll obviously put all this information on the show notes. And next time we want you to join us. A podcast with Melissa, formerly Cornhouse and new to be when this podcast is actually released is Buffington. She is getting married actually in a week from today. So we are on the 15th of June. So. Well, not, I don't know, maybe it's on the 23rd she's getting married, but she's actually going to be talking to us and you about how to make more money and have more time. And it's a great podcast, a lot about mindset. So you want to definitely join us for that one. So Startup Nation, thank you so much for hanging out with us today. Thank you for allowing us to inspire you from startup to mastery. Please let us know you know how you're liking these podcasts and information. I can say our biggest, one of our biggest joys, even though we get floods of emails, is to read the constant love that you guys send us. So letting us know how the podcast impacted you or something that was said in the Facebook group or this is really helpful, that allows us to continue it motivates us to continue to do our work to support you guys. So drop us a review on itunes or Facebook or Google. We greatly appreciate it. So thank you guys. I hope you have an amazing day and thanks for allowing us to inspire you from startup to mastery. Take care everybody.
- [35:27]
A
Bye everybody. See you next time. Thanks for joining us on the Private practice startup. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, free trainings, attorney approved private practice paperwork, and so much more.
- [35:52]
B
Sam.