1. Tell us a little bit about your business and what you do.

I am a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), offering online mental health therapy to Colorado and Wyoming residents with Safe Haven Family Therapy, LLC. I offer therapy to individuals, couples, and families, which helps to improve their mood, relationships, and overall quality of life. Meeting online allows busy individuals, couples, and families to meet wherever is most convenient for them, whether it is at home under a comfy blanket or at work during a lunch break. With online therapy, you do not have to worry about taking extra time to commute to and from an appointment, hiring a babysitter, arranging transportation, or stress about physical mobility. It truly does revolutionize how we once thought about therapy!

2. What made you aspire to be an entrepreneur? 

I absolutely love what I do! I earned my master’s degree and doctorate of philosophy in marriage and family therapy, which helped me become a successful and well-trained therapist. I have worked in the therapy field for many years and regularly noticed that therapists could not reach a part of the population that needed therapy, but they simply did not have the time or ability to follow through. As a busy mom and wife myself, I know the many challenges that can come with scheduling in some much-needed mental health support. By creating Safe Haven Family Therapy which focuses solely on reaching people online, I have helped many individuals, couples, and families access support and achieve their goals that they otherwise would not have been able to. By owning my own therapy practice, I can set my own hours, which allows me to work intermittently throughout the day and remain as a stay-at-home mom to my three-year-old daughter. I would not trade the extra time with her for anything!

3. What is the one thing you wish you had known before starting your own business?

I wish I had equipped myself with greater marketing knowledge and skills. Marketing has been an area of great challenge for me as I do not have any formal business training, which created a steep learning curve at the beginning as I gained my footing.

4. What has been the most successful avenue for building and growing your brand/business (social media, ads, word of mouth, referrals, etc.)?

The most successful avenue for growing my business has been referrals and word of mouth. Therapy is an incredibly intimate process, requiring great levels of trust and vulnerability from new clients. As humans, we innately trust those we know more than we do strangers. Referrals and word of mouth suggestions from loved ones, professionals, or friends of potential clients helps to build that trust before they even meet me, simply by taking me from being a complete stranger to a possible source of trust.

5. What are the aspects of your business that you enjoy the most?

Here is what I most enjoy about my business: assisting people in significantly improving their lives, granting people access to therapy that otherwise could not seek therapeutic support, remaining as a stay-at-home mom while also providing financial support for my family, flexible hours, and growing myself individually each and every day.

6. What do you love doing in your free time to refuel and have fun?

I enjoy spending time with my family, being outdoors, pilates, riding ATVs, going to our family cabin, seeking additional training for my therapy practice, time with close friends, and exploring all that Colorado has to offer.