Celebrating 100 Episodes: A Deep Dive into our Most Popular Topic - Growth on Purpose

Hey guys! Today is kind of special…!!

It’s our 100th episode of the Ideal Practice© podcast, y’all!!

Woot!! 🥳🎉

And I so want to thank all of you all for hanging right with me all along - because together we are building a community, and that is also really special.

Through the course of producing a full 100 episodes, we’ve covered alot of ground. We've talked about everything from how to create better systems, how to have more impact on the world, how to increase your income, and so, SO much more!

So, in honor of this milestone, I wanted to take a look back at some of our most popular episodes. And - as it turns out, our top ten episodes all share a common theme…. growth on purpose.

Each of our most popular episodes tackled different aspects of growing with intention, and growing a practice by getting clear on your desired outcome.

And folks, today’s episode has turned out to be a goldmine, packed with valuable insights and actionable steps.

It's like a mini-masterclass on growing your very own ideal practice!

So let's take a look back at the key lessons and takeaways from our top 10 episodes of the podcast so far. 👇

In this special episode, you’ll hear…

• How to define what an ideal practice looks like to you (and only you).
• Why the law of attraction works, but visualization alone never will.
• The roles that a VA can play in your business (and the one role they can never fill).
• The questions that you need to answer before you hire a VA.
• Why the thing that you’re most afraid of could be the key to your biggest breakthrough yet.
• Why your marketing needs to attract and repel (honestly!).
• And finally - the key to breaking your limiting beliefs (and the tool that can help you do it).

Goodness - I can’t believe we’ve made it this far. And what a treat it has been to go back and revisit these fantastic conversations with these awesome guests!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. 🥰

I want to thank you, once again, for being here with me on this journey. I’m so happy to have you here as part of this community because I have seen personally what a difference it makes when you step into your value, when you own your authority, and when you get clear about the incredible difference that you make in the world.

Here’s to continuing our journey together.

I can’t wait to share many more conversations with you, as you evolve and grow (with intention!) toward your own Ideal Practice(c)!

~Wendy
   xoxo

P.S. If you’re enjoying the podcast as much as I hope you are, could you help me spread the word? Who are two friends or colleagues you know who could really use a boost of encouragement each week? Who else needs this kind of teaching? Please share this episode with them because it’s such a great overview of what it takes to run a successful practice.

And thank you!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You're listening to Ideal Practice, episode number 100. I feel like I need to have a chime or a bell or something exciting going on in the background, but I'm not good on side effects. So here we are. Hey everybody, we got a special episode for you today. We are going to go back and look at the top 10 episodes that we have had so far on Ideal Practice. So many juicy little good things on tap for you today.

Speaker 1: 0:30

So, stay tuned. Hi, I'm Wendy Pitts-Reeves and, with over two decades of experience in the private practice world, I've built my six-figure business while learning a lot of lessons the hard way. This is the first podcast that shows you how to apply the principles of energy alignment and strategy to build a practice that is profit-centered but people-forward. This is the Ideal Practice Podcast. Hey guys, and welcome back. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Ideal Practice Podcast. This is Wendy. Wendy Pitts Reeves, your host, and I am really excited to be hanging out with you today Because, guys, today's kind of special Today we are celebrating episode 100.

Speaker 1: 1:37

100, my friends, 100. And if you've ever committed to a major project like this, then you're going to get what I mean by this. But it is no small deal to produce a program every single week or almost every single week. I have allowed myself a week off here and there, but almost every single week for 100 weeks in a row, give or take right. And there's a very real concept or a very real problem in podcasts in the podcast world called pod fade, where lots of people start off with big ideas and good intentions and just a few episodes in fade out. That's very, very common. So we are actually in the top something like 10 or 20% of podcasts in the world just because because we stuck with it. So there is that. But it's also just a really special day because it means that we as a team, and you and I together as a community, are making this real. We're making it happen and we are growing this baby and I'm just really, really, really happy about that. There's been a lot of growth in this short time. I am constantly learning better ways to do this, better systems, better processes. It is really, really, really been quite the journey. So, in honor of all the work, all the growth, all the messy behind the scenes, messing up, all the stuff that it takes to make this work for you guys, we decided as a team to look at the most popular episodes that we have done so far to date 99, 100.

Speaker 1: 3:18

It seems like there was a common theme. We went back to look at this. A common theme. We went back to look at this yes, we're all about growth here on this program. Yes, but we're about growth with intention, growth on purpose. We are all about moving through your practice and your practice development with a lot of thought about your desired outcome. We've talked about everything from how to hire a virtual assistant so that you have better systems. We've talked about the challenges and benefits of growing a group practice so that you have a bigger impact on the world. We've talked about how to raise your rates so that you have better income for yourself. All of those things are about doing something on purpose on purpose, to make things better better for you, better for your clients, better for the world around you. Well, you know what all that really comes down to. Perhaps, overall, it's about allowing yourself to just dream bigger from the inside out and to believe that you have what you need to make that happen.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Well, if this seems like an important topic to you, I'm glad you're here. Let's take a look back at the top 10 episodes for the podcast so far. Let's look at the key takeaways and the lessons from each of these. Are you game? Are you in? I hope so, and maybe this will jog your memory. For some of these that you heard, you might want to go back and give them another listen. Maybe some of these you're like I missed that one completely. I want to go hear the rest of that conversation, all right? Well, let's dive in and let's start with our very first one. As it turns out, our first episode was actually one of your favorites. So let's go all the way back to the start, my friends, and revisit why I created this podcast at all and why this topic matters so much. Give it a listen. So here's the deal.

Speaker 1: 5:27

I have been running a private practice for a very, very long time. I want to start this because I am so aware of how much we need to have the conversation that I intend to have here. I've been running a group private practice for 22, 24, I think we're coming up on 25 years. I did I let that go about a year ago. I sold it to a colleague, but I started that place from the ground up and ran it for a very long time. So I've been in the field running a private practice, for longer than I want to admit.

Speaker 1: 6:02

At the same time, I have been coaching unofficially, sort of unofficially. I've done it for years. The truth is, I didn't know it for a long time, but even when I started that practice, I have always been coaching, because every time a new practitioner would join my practice, I would take her off to lunch somewhere and spend a few hours talking about how to get her practice off the ground, and then I would check in with her regularly and I did all kinds of things to teach people how to build a practice. I didn't know that was called coaching. I didn't know that was a thing. But when I finally kind of got a handle on that and I began to officially coach well, I've been doing that now as part of my work, part of my business now for six or seven years and I already knew this.

Speaker 1: 6:49

But I am still seeing like up close and personal what a mess we healers tend to be when it comes to the way we manage the business side of our practice and, in particular, the way we think about the role that money plays in our work. And just in case you have any worries about this, trust me, there is no judgment here at all, because whatever kind of mistake you're making, I've made it with lots of zeros on the end, as Dave Ramsey would say, and I'm not super proud of that. But I've made so many mistakes I learned a lot over time and you will hear my story over time. I'm not going to tell you that today, but I want you to know that, the mess that I see so many of my colleagues and clients have around, how they think about the business side of their practice and the role of money in their relationship with their clients. I understand it because I have been there personally and you'll learn more about that over time.

Speaker 1: 7:48

I also am starting this podcast because I have seen personally what a difference it makes when you step into your value, when you own your authority, when you get clear about the incredible difference that you make in the world. It clear about the incredible difference that you make in the world. And you know you do so many ways. Sometimes it's one person at a time, sometimes it's a group or a classroom at a time, sometimes it's an organization or a community at a time, but there are all kinds of ways that you guys are uplifting other human beings and I know what happens when you kind of get that and you begin to understand the value of that and you get clear about that and makes the changes in your business that that requires. I see what a difference that makes. Your income goes up, your sense of self gets stronger, you feel more confident. You have better clients. People love you and are happy to work with you, confident, you have better clients, people love you and are happy to work with you and happily willing to pay you. I've seen that. I see what a difference it makes.

Speaker 1: 8:51

And I'm also here not just because I want to encourage and inspire and teach each of you, but also because I honestly want to change our industry.

Speaker 1: 9:03

And when I say industry, I am a licensed clinical social worker.

Speaker 1: 9:06

So of course I'm going to talk about social work, but and I you know my background is in mental health, so I'm going to talk about that side of things. But I also mean those of you who provide yoga classes, midwives, energy healers, reiki practitioners, life coaches all of you who find your own unique way to uplift other humans, to help other people live happier, healthier lives, who help increase the well-being of your clients. You deserve to be treated well, to be treated with respect, to be seen with the same level of I'm going to say it prestige and credibility as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. So I want to change the way we think and talk to and about healers in general. So I got kind of a big mission here, y'all. That's what I'm all about. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, and if you've been following me for a while, you know that is true. That is what I'm all about. Well before you can create your own version of an ideal practice, you got to understand first what that looks like.

Speaker 1: 10:24

For you because you know it's different for everybody. So let's look back at episode two, where we answered that question. Hey there everybody. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for coming back. I'm excited about that. I cannot wait for us to get to know each other. I'm really excited about some of the conversations that I know we're going to be having here on the show, and I couldn't think of a better way to get started than by talking about the concept of what it means to create an ideal private practice.

Speaker 1: 11:01

The word ideal is a bit loaded right. In fact, those of us who tend to be drawn to healing arts, to this kind of work, are often accused of being idealists, as if somehow that was a bad thing. I don't really get that. To me, what that means is that we believe that things can get better, that our clients can get better, that the world can get better If we didn't believe that, we wouldn't last very long in the kind of work that we do. Right, that's for sure. But here's the thing as entrepreneurs who are at cause in our businesses and that's a phrase you will hear me say from time to time when I say that we are at cause, what I mean is that we own our responsibility for our own success, our response ability, our ability to respond to what happens in front of us, to what unfolds in front of us. We own it all y'all when we own our practice right. Well, as entrepreneurs who are at calls, we have the freedom and, I would say, the responsibility to design a practice that really fits who we are, that works for us, works for us as well as it does for our clients. Because here's the thing when we do that, when our practice makes us really happy, we're going to show up as our best selves and we're going to do our best work.

Speaker 1: 12:38

The problem is, way too often we tend to assume that we have to do things the way everyone around us does things, the way things that are sort of commonly accepted or expected among our peers, what everybody else is doing, that if you're a therapist, you tend to do what you see other therapists are doing. If you're an energy healer, you tend to do what you see other energy healers doing. But if you run your practice the way everybody else is running theirs, and if it doesn't really quite work for you, if you're not careful, that can get you to a dark place. It can take you to a place where you end up feeling exhausted, underappreciated and broke. And I don't know about you, but that's not why I went into business, right? So I want to.

Speaker 1: 13:27

I want to give you a couple of quick tips for just where to go with this. The first thing I want you to do I want you to give yourself permission to do things your way. That doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you happy.

Speaker 1: 13:42

Just yesterday, I was coaching someone who has a really big idea about what she wants to develop in her own practice, and as we were talking it through, she was instantly getting caught up in a fair amount of kind of worry and guilt about what if my clients don't like this, what if other people don't like this, whatever. And I told her there are five words, the five most important words that you can use, that are part of your business and you will hear me say this a lot too. They are this is how I work. This is how I work. Give yourself permission to do things your way. It will make you happy.

Speaker 1: 14:29

And the second step, or the second thing I want to say about that, is I want you to take time to get clear on what your way is and if you've got a vision or you've got a preference about something you want to do in a certain way, in your practice and for the life of you you have no idea how to do it. That's okay, y'all. The how is never the problem. The how will come. The problem is giving yourself permission to do what you really wanted to do anyway. So I just want to say to you you'll figure out the how, you will. I know it. You always do, haven't you always in the past?

Speaker 1: 15:07

Yeah of course you have. So give yourself permission to do things your way and take the time to figure out what that is Now, once you've defined your ideal practice, and always remember this is a moving target, my friends. It's going to change over time, and always remember this is a moving target, my friends. It's going to change over time, but for who you are now, for where you are now, once you've defined your ideal practice, it's time to make it happen, right. Well, back in episode 35, I spoke with Christy Miller. Do you remember her? She was so, so much fun to talk to and we talked about the law of attraction and how you need to be so specific and intentional about your desires, about what you want for yourself and your business and y'all. The basic idea of the law of attraction is that your desire itself is the energy, the juice that brings something into being. On some energetic level, your desire is powerful and good. It's not something to be apologized for or to be embarrassed about. It is something to be fully embraced.

Speaker 1: 16:19

So in this episode we talked about how visualization alone is not enough. There's a lot more to it. You gotta follow the next step. Let's go back and take a look at that.

Speaker 2: 16:34

So I came into this very much as a skeptic. However, as I started diving in, I realized that I had been practicing the law of attraction not knowing it was even a thing or had a name, since I was very young, and so for me, my definition of law of attraction is basically getting very clear on what you want, putting the idea out there, visualizing the success and then taking massive action. And that's kind of a summary for me, and 99% of the time when I've done the law of attraction, I've either gotten what I wanted or gotten something better.

Speaker 1: 17:21

Oh, I love that yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:22

And I say 99% of the time because it may even be 100%, but I didn't realize that the something better was related to what I was asking for, Because maybe I was moping around saying it doesn't work. But I give it about a 99% success rate, okay.

Speaker 1: 17:39

So, and what you added there that I don't think I hear most of the time when I hear people talk about this is take massive action.

Speaker 2: 17:46

Yes, right, so yeah, yes, we can't. I mean, let's just talk about weight loss, because I was a weight loss coach in the beginning. You can't just declare that you want to lose weight and write an affirmation and visualize it and do nothing. You can say your affirmations while you're eating ice cream, and that's not going to work. You can visualize yourself at your healthy and happy weight eating ice cream, and that's not going to work if you don't change your environment, what you're putting into your body, and actually take that massive action. And with weight loss it doesn't even have to be massive action. It's little itty, baby steps that add up, just like everything in life. But you can't just go and meditate and have things magically appear.

Speaker 1: 18:39

I don't believe. Do you use this as a coach with your clients? Do you use this or do you teach this in some way to your clients?

Speaker 2: 18:47

I do. We weave personal development into all of my courses and all of my coaching, and something that I have seen so often with healers and health coaches is I will ask them what is your revenue goal? Or, for the people that are very adverse to thinking of it in terms of money, what is your impact goal? And I would say, when I ask that question, 75% of the people say I don't know. And my response is always if you don't know where you're going, how are you going to know when you get there? Right, we don't get into our car and program our GPS to say restaurant, right, I mean, it may work, but you're unless you're super lucky, you may end up at Chinese food when you hate it.

Speaker 1: 19:41

And this is so hard for people. I see this also a lot. I see this especially with women more than I do with the guys that we, I think we're just not used to allowing ourself to entertain the question what do I want? Right At all. So I also see that. So what do I want? I don't know. I just, I just, I just want to help people.

Speaker 2: 20:02

I just want to help people.

Speaker 5: 20:03

What does that mean? Yeah, so how?

Speaker 1: 20:04

many people, right? Yeah, so how many people That'll get you thinking. Well, once you know what your ideal practice would look like, and once you start to visualize it, see it in your mind, feel it in your body, take genuine, massive action towards it. Massive action, that's what Christie was all about. Right, you should start building your practice with you know your end point in mind. That's certainly helpful, right? So in this interview with Amanda Landry in episode 42, we talked about thinking big from the beginning, y'all, and how she structured her business in a way that allowed significant growth. Wow, this was, this was nothing short of inspiring. Let's check it out.

Speaker 6: 20:58

So I've always had support. That's one thing for anybody listening. A lot of people when I do coaching initially seem very hesitant to hire help. And I have had help from the beginning. I've had somebody answering my phones. I've had somebody doing billing. I've had somebody doing administrative work from the beginning.

Speaker 1: 21:18

Even when it was just you, even when you were all by yourself, even when it was just me. Yes, wow, that's great Okay.

Speaker 6: 21:23

And I think again, that was another preemptive strike, because when I grew I already had somebody who knew my business. I already, you know, it was already all set in place. So when we grew it was just natural to continue to do what we were doing on a much larger scale.

Speaker 1: 21:38

Yeah, let me put a pin in that for a second, because Amanda's right, our tendency is to think we can't afford to hire help or that we can't do that until we reach a certain point, etc. But most of us we are clinicians. We are not necessarily administrators. That's not really our strength. And when you bring someone on board who can support the infrastructure of your business as it grows, you are positioned to grow so much better. I actually did not know that in the beginning. I wish I had. By the time I brought help on, there was a lot of cleanup to be done, so I love that. Amanda, that is a great point, yeah.

Speaker 6: 22:11

And I think that's what happens for a lot of people and I totally get it. It's the cleanup for when you hire help whatever administrative help that looks like, or even when you hire clinicians or bring on clinicians, and so I've always had it to where I want I. I'm a person who needs support and I am very supportive of other people in my life and I know that about myself, and so I have been able to structure my business that way, in the sense that I have always been able to kind of see that today was not what it was always going to look like, that this might expand, something might shift, and to have some of the things in position.

Speaker 1: 22:53

Okay, so that's important. So from the beginning you were thinking future oriented, you were always thinking about growth. So you were kind of putting your systems in place today with the idea that we're not staying here, we're going somewhere here, and so this office manager that you had from the beginning has grown with you right along the way, and then I'm yes, yeah, so OK.

Speaker 6: 23:13

I laugh sometimes Like I think you know, for the first two years I paid her, like you know, $100 a month or so. You know it's a very, you know, minimal amount. She was not doing much work, but it was even a little work she was doing was helping me build my practice Right, and so that was so helpful. And now she's full time with us and we have two other admin full time staff. So it's just interesting to see where, where you go. But I think having all of that initially was very helpful, and then it wasn't. When I had to hire or expand people's hours. It didn't create so many shifts and what was already happening.

Speaker 1: 23:55

Wow, wasn't that? Something like that was amazing to me when I spoke with Amanda and heard that whole idea about thinking that way from the very, very start. I really do wish I had that back in the day for myself. I think it would have made some things easier. For sure, it does take a certain amount of courage to think that way. But golly y'all, if you're going to do some good in the world, why not do it in a big way, right?

Speaker 1: 24:23

So some of our most popular episodes have been on this topic, which is how to get support, how to hire help and, in particular, how to hire a VA, a virtual assistant. So back in episode 75, my assistant, queenie, who is my right hand, she and I talked at some depth about what a virtual assistant is and how they can help you to grow your practice. Let's give that a listen. So yesterday, just yesterday, I did a training on the sixth pillar of my seven pillar framework. Y'all know that I have a seven. I have something I called the seven pillars of an ideal practice, and the sixth one of those is about promotion, which is about the marketing side of your practice, and I did a whole training yesterday with the people in my mastermind about that and by the time we were done with that, like it was a comprehensive training and we were talking about all the different parts of a client's journey, from where they first even become aware that you exist to when they're a little curious about you, to when they want to know more, to when they're ready to hire you in some way for even a small thing, to when they become a loyal fan and an ambassador for you in a way. And we went through all those different steps of that process and what has to happen at each one of those.

Speaker 1: 25:41

And there were all kinds of ways where you create content, connect with your clients in some way, deliver a service or a value in some way, and there's a lot to that. As you're creating it, once it's up and running, it's not so bad, but as you're developing it, it can be a lot, or tweaking it. And what Queenie, what a VA, can do is help you. And they were asking me this yesterday. They were like how do I do this? How do I plan content? How do I put this stuff out there? How do I develop a tool, a worksheet, a quiz, a mini course on parenting for my clients? How do I do all that? And every time I'm like you figure out the content, what the meat of it is, and then hire a VA to help you put it together.

Speaker 4: 26:25

Don't worry about that part.

Speaker 1: 26:26

Right, yeah, so it's not. You're not. I think one other thing I want to say about this is you're not outsourcing your brain. Like you're the, you're the soul of your business. You're the one who knows what you care about, what, what, what matters to you. You know who your clients are. You the messaging that you use, that, that that drives your business. That's you. You cannot, you cannot, outsource that, but what it takes to implement it you can. So, like you're the visionary, like there's the what's the book. Is it the book? Is it Rocket Fuel? Is the book that talks about this, or Traction? I think it's Rocket Fuel. One of those two books is either Rocket Fuel or Traction. We'll link to both of them, but one of those talks about that. There's a visionary and there is an implementer. In most businesses, the person who gets things off the ground is the one with the big idea, but there's always a number two who knows how to make that real. That's what a really good VA can be for you. That was such a juicy conversation.

Speaker 1: 27:31

So let's say that I've got you convinced and you're ready to hire your first assistant. Well, now what? How do you find them? How do you choose somebody who's right for you. How do you actually go through this whole process of finding, hiring, onboarding, training. You know all the things. So many questions. Well, we went there y'all. We talked about that in episode 76.

Speaker 1: 27:59

Let's give that one a listen. Let's nail this, let's capture this. I want you guys who are listening to write it down. The first thing you got to figure out is what's your budget? How much can you allocate to this? Have you got $50 a month? Got $100 a month? Can you do $250 a month? How much can you allocate?

Speaker 1: 28:17

Do you need somebody who, at a certain time every week, I want someone to answer the phones for me between 10 and two, three days a week, or is it just? No, I don't need. I don't care what time, I just need certain things done by a certain time. Which one is that? Flex or fixed? I like that Specific skills or a general, so do you? So this is great because I just I am in the middle right now, as we speak, of training and onboarding a new podcast editor, and when I was hiring for this position, I needed someone who understood the podcast editing tool that I use or maybe had something better, but I needed to make sure they understood how to edit audio and video, and that was a very specific skill that I was looking for. Do you want that or do you need something that's more general? I just want someone to help, and I love what you said about.

Speaker 1: 29:07

Do you want someone on the short term sort of project-based, temporarily, or just going to help you out for a while, or are you looking to add someone for the for for? Did I already say for the longterm? Short term versus longterm, I'm going to tell you, guys, I hope you think for the longterm, because consistency is what's going to help your business grow. And then, do you want to train them or not? So you started off by going. Do you want to hire an expert who already knows how to do this so you don't have to teach them, or would you rather have someone who maybe they don't know all those skills yet, but they've got the right personality, the right energy, the right attitude? That's really good advice, and this recent hire of mine is a great example of all of those.

Speaker 1: 29:50

I thought about it in the beginning. What's the one thing I need to get off my plate? I love podcast editing, which is kind of a weird thing to say, but it's actually fun. I really genuinely editing which is kind of a weird thing to say but it's actually fun, I really genuinely enjoy it, and it takes me hours, so it's not a good use of my time. So that's what I need to get off my plate. It's ongoing, it's not short term.

Speaker 1: 30:11

I want someone who already had that skill Got it. I want someone who's going to stay with me long term skill Got it. I want someone who's going to stay with me long-term. So I was looking for someone who is also wanting to be long-term. And now that I've got somebody, I'm learning that she has that skill.

Speaker 1: 30:27

She also has an eagerness to learn, a willingness to try something new. She's smart, she's professional, she's organized, but she's relatively young and relatively inexperienced. So she knows how to do the one thing I hired her for. But I think she has real potential to learn more. So I've already got a list of things I intend to teach her and I will grow her into my little mini Queenie. That's what I'm doing here. I'm going to grow a mini Queenie. That's great Queenie.

Speaker 1: 30:56

So do your homework first. Make some decisions first before you're ready to hire, and then, once you've got that figured out, I would say, write a job description and then start to look. I love hearing that now because the person I was talking about there in that segment, she is the one helping me edit this episode and she is all the things I said. She has just been a tremendous asset to the team and I added someone else since then. So we are just we're growing over here and it's just been delightful.

Speaker 1: 31:28

It really y'all. It just makes such a freaking difference when you get not just any help but the right help. It just makes such a difference in the quality of your business and the quality of your life. I just can't emphasize that enough. But let's keep going, because even when you've got good help, even when all the things are falling into place, or at least sort of falling into place, you're still going to run into a few roadblocks from time to time.

Speaker 1: 31:55

It's completely normal to experience internal blocks and external when you start to grow your business. Even if you're really clear on what your ideal practice looks like to you and you know what you need to do to build it, lots of stuff gets in the way along the way because, as you have heard me say so many times, how you do anything is how you do everything, and our business our business is basically one giant mirror that reflects us back to us, and we often stumble into our own issues along the way. Well, back in episode 54, we talked about one of the biggest blocks many of us have, and that is fear. Well, here's an interesting story about how one of my favorite therapists in the whole wide world overcame hearse. Let's go back and check that one out. Tell everybody about how and when you left your job job and made the leap into private practice for real, you remember?

Speaker 3: 32:58

Yeah, you know, this is one of those things I've been really thinking about and reflecting on. And, wendy, I know we've talked about this before in some different ways, but I think it was like a real sense of irony when I got to that place because, while, yes, I think I had, you know, maybe checked the right number of boxes that I needed to check to feel like it was time, and built up steady enough that I felt like, okay, we're not going to starve.

Speaker 1: 33:29

I'm not hurting my family, I can still go to after school.

Speaker 3: 33:31

Like you know, the very practical things that I was very worried about, things that I was very worried about, I think that part of what happened in my personal life that really gave me that almost like a okay, you have to do this, it is time is that our son got sick.

Speaker 3: 33:55

He got really sick and he was sick for quite a while and it was a really rough road and I think that all the things that that that very steady, secure job had been providing me that sense of security and that I could fear it could care adequately for all the people, became not enough, because I needed, I needed more of myself to be able to dedicate to him and his care. And so I I just find it ironic as I reflect back on that, because I think there's that thing that I was so scared about of letting go ended up ultimately being the thing that I really needed and I had to let go.

Speaker 1: 34:46

I'd forgotten all about that. I remember that it was a really hard thing and you needed the emotional energy to deal with it. You needed the time and the freedom to be able to be there, because it took a lot and you still needed the income right and you had to take care of all that at one time and the job suddenly became a barrier to all of those things yeah, I needed.

Speaker 3: 35:08

I needed some sense of um authority and control in our schedule and and our capacity and our life. And while, like, like, I really was thankful for that, you know that six months or so of building, it took its toll too right, working two positions and trying to be all the things at home and I got to a place where I was like more scared not to do it. I guess I'll just jump.

Speaker 1: 35:42

Enough of this already, y'all, I'm doing it Enough. And you ended up. I'm remembering I think you turned in your notice, like in November, and left at the end of December, but you were there faster than you actually expected to be. I think is the way I'm remembering that. Yeah, that is such a great lesson that oftentimes, the very thing that we are most afraid of doing ends up being the thing that we need the most and that adds to our lives the most and that helps us expand in all the greatest ways.

Speaker 1: 36:12

And it's also interesting to me I hadn't thought about this till. We probably did talk about this back then but the concept of the breakdown before the breakthrough, like. It's also interesting to me that, right as you were, becoming more committed to this path is when something really hard happens, and for a lot of and this is not unusual, I hear stories like this all the time the minute I decided to start my business is when I have an illness or I go through a divorce, or we have a flood or crazy stuff happens in the world, and yet your courage, your absolute courage and clarity and conviction that this was what was best for your family and what was best for you pulled you through that and you've never regretted. You have not looked back, I know, since that moment, yeah.

Speaker 3: 37:06

No.

Speaker 1: 37:08

Yeah, isn't she something I love, sarah? I love her story and it is such a treat to watch her grow and continue to watch her grow. But blocks can show up in other ways too. Way back in episode 12, I spoke with Bonnie Barclay about how she tripled her rates and built a thriving practice with greater impact. Yeah, tripled her rates, but one of the most interesting parts of that conversation was around actually giving yourself permission to grow. Giving yourself permission to get help with the tasks that aren't in your zone of genius, aren't even the best use of your time. It was a whole new way of thinking about this idea.

Speaker 5: 37:55

You know, what I think is important about that as a business owner is when you look at your time and the value of that time, how do you want to be spending it? And I want to be spending it creating, growing, building, being with my clients, being inspired, being that creative side and visionary of my practice and allowing my team to do other pieces of that frees me up to do the things I enjoy and love to do.

Speaker 1: 38:25

Absolutely, and that is a much better use of your time. There's a lot of ways to think about that, but you're right. You're right about that. So did you hire? So you process a lot of your things directly through your EHR, your electronic health system right but then you hired like a billing clerk or a bookkeeper.

Speaker 5: 38:44

Yes, so she has a billing business and that is who I hired to do that. She will also well, back in the day when I was on panels, she would do the credentialing and keep up with those files for me and make sure I was on top of all of that stuff and it just it was worth the money that I invested in that. It really was not a large amount and you know, by not spending that time on the phone or doing the other things, I'm generating more income. Or you know, doing consultation and other things that I enjoy for that time, and so that's value to me. Or you know, doing consultation and other things that I enjoy Yep, or that time, and so that's value to me.

Speaker 1: 39:29

She was right about that. And if you want to grow, you've also got to get the word out there about the good work that you do, and that, too, is not always so easy for us, right? Well, back in episode 51, you guys loved this conversation, and when I talked with Barbara Govednik, a good friend of mine who lives up in Washington State, we talked about how to find your authentic message and how to get in front of the right people. Being real is important to us. There's no reason why marketing has to be anything else. Remember this one it can be something. No, I bet it's not. You'll have to straighten me out on this. It's not as simple as announcing that you've got an office and when you're open for business and whether or not you take insurance. That's not what messaging is right. Messaging is more than that. Tell me how. It's more than just announcing that I have a business and that I've got openings.

Speaker 4: 40:26

Yeah, I want you to think about it. Almost, as you know, it's like almost like Lego blocks, right, like when you build a Lego structure and I've seen looking at my nieces and nephews you know there's the little pad at the bottom right and everything gets built up on top of that. That's what your message is, it's that foundation and so the elements that you brought up. Here's where I am, here's my hours. All of that is pieces and parts of your message, but none of that differentiates you. Those are kind of the facts about you. Um, this is what you need to know. You know a good message is going to convey who you are, what your philosophy is. Um, and when people hear me say that, they kind of get a little freaked out sometimes.

Speaker 4: 41:15

Um, I was doing a webinar the other day and you know it was. It was very vulnerable for someone to say this is what I do and this is why I do it, because she just felt like I'm a little bit of an outlier. I do this. You know energy work in a different way and you know it's. You know it was difficult for her to just say it, even in a small group, and ultimately you kind of have to lean into that right, Because that's the thing that differentiates you. None of us are the only person who does what we do Right. Well, people think I am.

Speaker 1: 41:53

Except for unless you're Barbara right, unless you're me right, the ultimate.

Speaker 4: 41:58

You know, special snowflake here.

Speaker 1: 42:04

Well, you are kind of unusual actually in what you do.

Speaker 4: 42:05

You are yeah yeah, um, and but you know that's, that's the thing, right, it's like, and we get to pick who we want to attract, um, you know it's, it's, we probably can do work for anybody anywhere, but is that going to? You know, are we showing up in our highest being? If we're doing that, are we really doing the work to the level that we can? If we're doing that, are we feeling satisfied with it? Are are people getting as much out of it If we're just anybody and anyone?

Speaker 1: 42:37

right.

Speaker 4: 42:38

That sort of thing, and that's where your message starts to help you weed out as well as pull in. You know, like one of the most successful things that you can do in any kind of any piece of message is really let people see themselves in what you're talking about. So, and that's you know, in any format. So if you think of you know message again, this is sort of this big capital M message, what feeds, that is, whatever's going out, so it's your web page. Or if you have emails, if you're doing ads, whatever it is, you know in those you should be able to invoke who you are, why you do what you do, what makes you different, who that person is, and that person should really be able to see themselves in that copy and that's what draws you in. I mean, that's what drew me into the mastermind that you and I were in and that's where we met a few years ago.

Speaker 4: 43:36

Because I felt like few years ago, because I felt like, oh, this is someone who will take my business and make it you know, not make it into some sort of cookie cutter marketing agency, blah, blah, blah that I didn't want.

Speaker 1: 43:55

She was someone that you could relate to and who who's all messaging rang true for you. Yeah, that whole concept of messaging is. There's just so much more to it than we realize, and really part of what I see happening with my clients over time is they deepen their connection to their practice and their clients and, as that happens, the way they want to talk about what they do and the way they want to share their awesome skills with the world, that changes too and that deepens too. It's about so much more than strategy, isn't it? It really is about showing up who we are in our best, most true way, so that we can connect with the very same thing in our clients and their best, most true way. Yeah, I love that. I love that, and you know what this personal growth, this deepening process, that being the CEO of your own show requires. Well, y'all, it's an ongoing journey. You don't ever really finish this, and there are lots of different ways that we can challenge ourselves and improve the way we show up to the world, the way we show up in our work, the way we can understand ourselves. All of that is just so powerful, and for me personally, one of the ways that one of the things that has made a huge difference for me has been learning more about the Enneagram. Understanding the Enneagram really has been a game changer for me personally. It happens it's like it impacts all of my relationships, both personal and professional.

Speaker 1: 45:40

We talk about it all the time. Just this past weekend I spent some my wife and I spent the weekend with some friends and we talked about the Enneagram all weekend long. Because it's just once you begin to understand it and you see how those patterns are playing themselves out, you kind of can't help but talk about it because it's like oh, there we go again. Yeah, but it's really cool too, because it gives you such an understanding that you can work with and then be empowered because you have choices.

Speaker 1: 46:12

Now You're not acting unconsciously, you know what you're doing, you know why you're doing it, and that's always a good thing, right? So in the last of our top 10 episodes that I want to talk about today, I want to go back to a conversation that I had with one of my earlier coaches, elaine Bailey. We talked way back in episode 33, and we talked about why understanding the Enneagram will make you a better therapist, a better energy healer, a better practitioner. I just think it will help you in all kinds of ways. Let's go back and listen to that one more time.

Speaker 7: 46:50

I mean, I can tell you what the Enneagram is, if that's.

Speaker 1: 46:53

Yeah, I would love to do an introduction to it, right, if you want to just kind of give us an overview? Yeah, so you?

Speaker 7: 46:57

know and people ask me this all the time you know what is the Enneagram? Well, as I've said already, we all have a different worldview, that we learn to adapt to our environment in early life and when we're born. We're born free of any unconscious patterns or conditions or conditioning and we're pure love, if you like. I see it very much that we are so connected to source. We are pure love, even on a spiritual level. But then life happens right.

Speaker 7: 47:27

So life gets in the way and as we experience life, we become constricted as our personality tries to defend us from emotional pain and fear. And what happens is we develop unconscious habits and patterns and these hold us back and they form our limiting beliefs and perceptions and ultimately impact our behavior, how we show up, what is it like being on the receiving end of us, and then it limits our results, it limits what we can do, and you might find, here I am again. Here I am again because the same things happen, because we're conditioned. In fact, it's surprising how much we function mechanically according to our habits and patterns, and I'm sure you guys who are listening to this and Wendy, I know you know this very much is that we respond in predictable repetitive ways.

Speaker 1: 48:21

According to this early programming, and what I love about this is that anybody who's in the mental health world especially it's a common thing with clients that clients will say I've worked on this. Why does this keep happening to me? I've already dealt with this. Why am I still in? My last relationship was like this. Why is this one like this? And we, I think as practice owners, run into the same thing. Why does this keep happening to me? Why do I keep having the same problem? So it's interesting because I can see that from both sides of you and what you're saying is like there's a pattern here that has a deeper explanation and once you understand that, you can do something with it.

Speaker 7: 48:58

And these patterns are predictable. So there are nine, if you like, core dominant personality types. And what the Enneagram does is it gives us a map, it's like an owner's manual of how you work, how you operate, if you like, and it identifies those predictable patterns for you. And it's like having your own set of instructions helping you to create conscious choices and do something different to ultimately create a healthier, a happier and a more balanced life. And it reminds me of the quote that I'm sure many of your, if not all of your, listeners know about from Viktor Frankl, and I kind of wrote it down so I didn't goof and mess it up but between stimulus and response there's a space and in the space there is a power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth, and freedom.

Speaker 1: 49:58

I love that, and what a perfect place to bring this episode to a close. So, guys, whether whether we're talking about coping with our own internal stuff, whether we're talking about improving the externals in our business, whether we're talking about going after big dreams, implementing major processes, making a big impact and changing the world in a really big way, whatever it is, I hope that you will constantly come back to center, come back home, come back to your heart, to that space between stimulus and response, and just give yourself permission to make the choices that are right for you. And just give yourself permission to make the choices that are right for you, to learn what you need to do, what you want to do and ask for help when you need it. Mess up, because that's part of it too and, over time, keep growing, keep learning, keep building your ideal practice. Thanks so much for being here. Let's keep going, shall we? And let's start working on the next 100 episodes.

Speaker 1: 51:09

Have a great week, everybody. I hope you enjoyed this. This was really a lot of fun. It was a lot of work for my team and you know to put all this together, but, gosh, what a treat it has been to go back and revisit these fantastic conversations with these awesome people. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. But gosh, what a treat it has been to go back and revisit these fantastic conversations with these awesome people. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Have a great week, y'all, and I will see you again real soon right here on the Ideal Practice Podcast. Bye now, hey y'all.

Speaker 1: 51:37

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Speaker 1: 52:41

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