[LATOYA SMITH] The Grow A Group Practice Podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice Network, a network of podcast seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like the Practice of the Practice podcast, go to www.practiceofthepractice.com/network. You are listening to the Grow A Group Practice Podcast, a podcast focused on helping people start, grow, and scale a group practice. Each week you’ll hear topics that are relevant to group practice owners. I’m LaToya Smith, a practice owner, and I love hearing about people’s stories and real-life experiences. So let’s get started. Welcome back to the Grow A Group Practice Podcast. I am your host, LaToya Smith. You know that we speak all things private practice, especially how to grow, scale, start a group practice. I’d like to bring on, well, I’ve mentioned it before that I love to bring on just various topics, so anything from starting a business to scaling it, to growing it, whether it be money mindset, developing your niche systems. We’ve talked about a lot, like I said, finances, even tips that have helped other therapists build. But I think this guest is going to be really special and important. Nicole is somebody I’ve known for a little bit of time now, and I think she’s a wonderful person and she’s going to talk about developing the vision and the mission for your practice. I’m going to get into a little bit of myself, like I want her to help me too, how to write these things down and how to make them really clear. A lot of times these seem like huge tasks and really tedious, but I know that I asked the right person to come on and to help us out. So Nicole, welcome to the Grow a Group Practice Podcast. [NICHOLE HENRY] Hello, thank you so much for having me. [LATOYA] Yes, see, I normally tell people, I find people through social media and I’m like, “Hey, come be on this podcast,” but you, I just had to text and I said, “Hey, could you please.” [NICOLE] Easy. [LATOYA] Yes, so I appreciate you agreeing to come on. I know that you have a lot of wisdom and knowledge in this area. But before we jump into the conversation tell our audience a little bit about who you are. [NICOLE] Well, my name is Nicole Henry, and I am a Fort Worth native. I’ve been in nonprofit for over 20 years. I currently serve as a chief executive for a nonprofit that’s in Tarrant County, pretty decent sized nonprofit. Prior to that I worked in homeless services and now I’m in gender-based violence. Like I said, I’ve been in nonprofit for a while. In addition to that, I have a passion for helping people develop their purpose and find their purpose and not just identify what their purpose is, but really helping them establish a roadmap for accomplishing purpose. So on the side I call myself a speaker, so I’m trying to be in these speaker streets and empower women but I also have started two nonprofits. Actually, I’ve started three nonprofits, one was a nonprofit that my church took over for our arms ministry, our giving ministry. That was, ooh, 17 years ago, maybe about 17 years ago. But most recently I’ve started Giving Circle in 2016. It was the first, formally formed Giving Circle in our metroplex for African American women. It’s called Women in Power Empowering. Then I started in 2019, that fall, shared housing agency. So that nonprofit is called Shared Worth. The pandemic hit that following spring, so that one’s been a challenge to get off the ground, but we’re still moving forward. That’s it. That’s me in a nutshell. [LATOYA] Yes, that’s a pretty packed nutshell. That’s awesome though. Nicole, I think that’s like, what a blessing. I’m listening to what, you started, three nonprofits. Well, the first ones 17 years old. The Giving Circle is just dope. Every time I see a post about that or anything, I think that’s a beautiful thing when people come together just to give, to help somebody else and their shared worth, like shared housing experience. But I love what you said about you help people find their purpose, and a lot of times writing and developing this mission and vision statement goes along with the purpose, but I’ll be honest, like maybe everybody else listening has this down pat, I don’t know. But that seems so over, every time somebody says write a vision and a mission, it’s the most overwhelming, it’s so much like, I feel like it has to be perfect. So first things first, can you just tell us the difference between the two? [NICOLE] Well, a vision statement is a brief statement that defines your desired future state. So it’s that dream, that big, big, big dream. I want to see healthy children in the community. I want to see a 100% graduation rate from the high school in my neighborhood. It’s a big overarching dream. I want to see a violence-free community. It’s that big vision that you have what you want to see for the world, whereas a mission statement is what you’re going to do to get there to that vision. A lot of times even with larger nonprofits the vision isn’t always as clear or even really formulated. We focus so much on the mission statement, what we’re doing but I think a vision statement is important because that vision statement is your destination on what you’re trying to get to. So if you don’t have that and know what your big goal is, then how do you know what you need to do? How do you know when you accomplish it? How do you know when you’ve gotten off task or off journey? How do you know? So they’re both very important, vision and a mission statement. [LATOYA] Yes, I think so. I mean, I like how you simplify it. In my mind, it was like, there’s two big mountains, but you simplify it and make it sound good. But then, okay, so how do I, how do you work with somebody? Even myself, obviously private practice owner, I know a lot of private practice owners are going to be listening to the podcast, how do you help somebody develop the two? Like, oh man, I have my purpose. I have this huge idea and they’re like, okay, what’s your vision? What’s your mission? Like, I don’t know, I just want to help people. Or you want to set up shop. But a lot of times you hear if you don’t know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, or if you have an end destination, you got to have a plan. This seems like part of the plan, but how do you help somebody even formulate it on paper? [NICOLE] It’s hard. [LATOYA] Thank you for saying that. See, it’s hard. [NICOLE] Don’t tell me to write a mission statement. What? It’s hard to sometimes put our dream into words. That’s what’s hard. Creating the statements are not difficult. But sometimes we have these big dreams, things that we’ve been wanting to do and accomplish, but we really haven’t taken the time to sit down and really think it through and what those dreams mean and what it really looks like. So when writing your vision and mission statement, and this is why I think that’s important to do that, because then it helps you to really make it make sense and then not just be this thought that’s out there in the universe, but it’s tangible. You write it down. This is what my dream, my vision is. This is what I want to see happen. So it’s important to write it down and no matter how big it seems, no matter how ridiculous it seems, how audacious it seems write it down. What is your vision? What is your big dream? So I think the first thing is just write it down. Write it down as it is. I want to see all young girls in my community go to college. That’s big. That’s a dream and that’s ok that it’s not too big. That’s what your dream is, going to write that down. So I think we have to not tell ourselves, not limit ourselves and say that’s too big, I can’t do this. Sometimes it’s also fear that keeps us from writing it down because once you write it down, oh, so now I got to really do this thing? [LATOYA] Yes, yes. That’s a mouthful right there. Now I’m laughing because I’m like, dang, write that, so I write stuff down like. Okay, so the fear, but let’s talk about that part, what holds you back from putting it on paper. Because even when we do in the consulting groups, or working with people with building practices, that’s one thing we mention. Like, okay, have a vision statement, have a mission statement, hey, have your values together. So you understand the culture. But yes, that’s so much of a block. Okay, when you put it on paper, it becomes real. Now it seems like, you got to do it. So address the paper. What you’re saying is, hey, just put it on paper, first things first. [NICOLE] Put it on paper, do it. Take the first step, write it down. Accomplishing our dreams is a big deal. It’s not easy. It’s not something that’s done overnight. It takes time but I think people get afraid because their dream is too big or they don’t think they’re equipped, how can, I won’t see this big thing happen? How am I going to help young girls go to college? I don’t, I’m not rich. I don’t have money to just pay for college? So we talk ourselves out of it because we think we are inferior, don’t deserve to see our dreams happen. That’s a big thing as well. We think our past has something to do with how our future is going to play out. Not always the case. We think because of the family we come from, maybe how dare we want to do this thing? So fear can come from many different sources, but I think that is the biggest thing that keeps us from writing it down. Then also, like we said once you write it down, it’s like, ooh. [LATOYA] Write it down, cover it up real quick. Nobody else has to see [NICOLE] But it’s something about putting it down on paper and putting real thought to it and not just keeping it as a dream, as something that you just daydream about. No, this is something that can really happen. So write it down and get past that fear. Do it afraid. [LATOYA] Yes, do it afraid. So once I write down the vision, once I write down the dream, that direction I’m going to go in, that statement, it’s okay, boom, it’s written. Now the mission statement, how I’m going to get there, which again, can be another stumbling block because there’s so many ways you can get to that point. What’s the right way? [NICOLE] People don’t always know, and that’s okay. You don’t have to have these things perfectly formulated before you even get started because you may not even know how you’re going to do it. Because your mission statement is what you’re doing to reach that goal and, or that vision. So you may not even know exactly how you’re going to do that. So mission statements can start at one place, and then by the time you’re ready to kick off, or two years into it, three years into it may change a little bit because what you thought you were going to do that didn’t work and something else came and you went with that. With your mission statement, it’s what you’re doing. Say your vision is to see all teenage girls in the stop six or Eastwood, I say the Eastwood community, that’s where I’m from in the Eastwood community graduate and go to college. Your mission that gets you there, is you provide tutoring and educational support and mentoring to young girls in the Eastwood community. Your mission statement is what you’re doing. What are you doing? I provide quality groups at an affordable rate, affordable price to low income families. Your mission statement is simply what you’re going to do to get the vision there. I’m glad you said earlier about also having your values in order because I don’t talk about this often, but I do help nonprofits establish company values, because your values is what’s going to keep you on path, your values keeps you on path. I see it as your vision is your ultimate destination, your mission is the driver and your value is the vehicle. So you’re going along your path and your mission driven, that’s what keeps you going, is you’re focusing on this mission and your values are those parameters. They keep you in the car then, and they’re going to get you to where you’re going and your values are the statements about what you believe about who you serve and how you’re going to serve. That’s just as important. [LATOYA] That’s good. The vision is the destination, the mission is the driver, but the values keep you on path [NICOLE] The value is the car [LATOYA] The vehicle. Oh, that’s good talk. That’s good talk. I like how you mapped it out. So the mission with the understanding, okay, I have my dream, this is my big dream, and I got to understand, there’s so many ways to get there but if I’m going to do good work, whether it be nonprofit work, good work in my private practice, I can’t take all the ways to get there. So the mission is going to be, okay, where is my skillset? What can I manage and what can I handle if I’m the driver? It’s about me. How can I see us getting there with the skillset that I have? Now, just because something else looks appealing okay, I got it now. Woo, not see you helping me. It could be overwhelming if I’m taking on somebody else’s skillset, thinking that’s the only way to get to my destination. [NICOLE] Where it can also be overwhelming thinking you have to do it alone. Because something is not your skillset, but it may be something that’s needed so you go find the skillset it is and bring them along with you. [LATOYA] Okay, teamwork. [NICOLE] Teamwork. [LATOYA] Teamwork is a dreamer. You touched on this too, and this is another thing that I think about. This stuff is not set in stone, so I may do it, build my practice up, build the nonprofit up, sit down five years later, and maybe my whole, the clients that I serve has changed, maybe the areas changed. Maybe I picked up another skill that I really, really love or a population that I love and I want to begin to work with. It’s okay to restructure my mission. [NICOLE] Yes [LATOYA] Okay. So it can always be touched. This can’t be touched every day. I can’t be going back in every day. [NICOLE] Be changing it every day. But there are times in the life of your company or your organization that your mission may need to change. Again, it could be that the population changes. This pandemic we just went through, people have change and people’s needs have changed and so how our work in social service industry, so how we serve people has changed. So now we’re having to seriously consider how we’re going to deliver services and how has this new landscape that’s before us affected how people receive our services, affected what they need from us and what we mean to the community. Because things change and so it’s okay for that mission statement to evolve as you grow, especially for private practice and smaller companies. Because as you evolve as a person, again, your passion may change. It’s also okay to know when it’s not your passion anymore and it’s time to move on. [BRIGHTER VISION] It’s Brighter Vision’s biggest sale of the season. With the holiday season in full swing and the new year right around the corner, now is the perfect opportunity to think critically about your future marketing initiatives and consider what improvements can be made to ensure you’re attracting the right clients you need to grow your practice. 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How often should companies check their mission and their vision to revamp it? [NICOLE] Again, not too often, but maybe every again, decade or so but it just depends on if something major has happened. Like again, for the company agency I work for right now we just released our strategic plan. Our strategic plan is pretty big. We’ve discussed do we need to make some alterations to our mission statement because is our mission statement too specific? It was established maybe 15, nearly 20 years ago. The agency’s been here 40 years, so do we need to make some changes to it to make it broader because of where we’re about to go? So not too often, but you should also always be at it. [LATOYA] That’s a good point. You just made me think about something too, like every business, practice, business, whatever that means that each year it’s good to sit down and check in with your team to say, hey, is what we’re doing in line with our mission and our vision? Are we doing work that’s not even within our culture, not even what we say. If we love that so much, either we revamp it or we say what this doesn’t fit where we’re going. [NICOLE] Yes, often what happens, especially in nonprofits is what we call mission creep. So what happens is you’re trying to get funding, you need funding, so you start applying for grants They’re related to what you do, but you need some funds so you say, I’ll do this thing over here. And so you apply for those funds and like you say, a year or two in, you’re like, we’ve gotten away from the mission and now we’re doing this thing. Well, do you want to keep doing that? You doing great, but if you don’t you need to take a step back and make changes and get back to where you’re supposed to be. But that’s what mission creep, is where you creep out of your mission and you do other things? And sometimes it is necessary because you may be a respected entity in the community and a need arises and the community trusts you. So they say, hey, can you help us with this thing? Sometimes it does happen for genuine legitimate reasons, but that is something to be careful for. But listen, we were going to talk about mission and vision, but you got me all [LATOYA] No, you’re good, keep flowing, keep flowing. [NICOLE] Because you also have to be mindful. That’s why it’s important to have a strategic plan and that’s also why it’s important to every year to, at the end of your year, you should have outcomes and impact statements and a way of measuring the impact that you’ve had over the year. Did we accomplish the goals we set out at the beginning? You should always be evaluating yourself. Then also at times, bringing in an independent evaluator to come in and look and see are you being effective? Did you do what you were supposed to do and if not, give you the guidance to get back on track. [LATOYA] Yes, that’s good. Because even, again, this is showing me that even these statements are always working and should be working for us. So you’re not just writing it to say you wrote it. You don’t get a trophy just for finishing it. This is something that you have to keep looking at and evaluating. I love what you said, the outcomes, impact statements, all that stuff of how you’re moving and flowing. So how do you work with, like, say somebody called you up, practice owner, business owner, nonprofit, whatever, “Hey, Nicole, I need some help. I need to write vision, mission statement. Or I have my purpose. I want to start a business. Where do I go from here?” How do you help them even begin to formulate? Are you asking certain questions? Are you saying just write it and get back to me? How are you working with that person so they can put this stuff together on paper? [NICOLE] I usually have a strategy session and where we talk through it and just tell them, just spill it all out. Tell me what you want to see. What’s your goal? What have you been doing already to make it happen? What do you see the obstacles that may be presented? What are some successes you’ve already had? So I just have them just sit and talk to me. Then from there we just brainstorm and pull out one of those, I’m a sticky note person. I have small sticky notes all over my desk and then I have a little big large post-it notes. So I pull those out and we just going to brainstorm. Tell me how we used to do in college and when we write it, you just write it and when you go back and you edit it and you fine-tune it to get to what you want. Your board or your governing body assists you with the process and is a part of it as well. I don’t think anyone should just do it alone because you need your stakeholders to be a part of it, I believe to make sure that it makes sense because something could sound good to you. [LATOYA] And it don’t make any sense to anybody else. [NICOLE] Don’t make any sense to anybody else. Like Taco Bell selling breakfast [LATOYA] There’s egg in there, I think in the — I ain’t going ever, but I like what you said, I like the brains. Just get it out on paper. It doesn’t have to make sense right away. It doesn’t have to be a perfectly formulated sentence as much as you are just brain dump, spill it all out and then you evaluate, chop up what doesn’t need to be there. [NICOLE] Yes [LATOYA] Awesome. [NICOLE] It doesn’t need to be long, just two to three sentences. Mission statement doesn’t need to be super long, or too specific. [LATOYA] Are there any key words that have to go in anything? Because sometimes people will be like, that’s not, that’s too long, that’s not good enough, this is vague. Or once I spill it out, I’m good? It’s only keyword if you want to get some money or some grants or something like that. Is that right? [NICOLE] Well, I think it really just depends. I don’t know if there’s keyword that a mission statement should have. I think as long as it clearly articulates what you’re doing and it moves the heart of people, so your vision and your mission statement, which are together, your vision and your mission statement will do that or should do that. [LATOYA] Awesome. Nicole, thank you so much. I know you helped me just, you definitely have a way of simplifying things where it seems overwhelming when you say it and you break it down real smooth. I love the vision destination, the mission is the driver, the value is the car. Keep you in the car, keep you on path. So just the simplicity of it makes the things that seem huge and overwhelming easy to do. Nicole, say somebody listening wants to get in touch with you just to say, “Hey, I need some help and starting and evaluating and getting my thoughts together on paper. I even have a hard time finding my purpose.” How can they reach out to you to be able to connect? [NICOLE] So they can just email me, [email protected] and email me and I’ll follow up and we can get an appointment set and go from there. [LATOYA] Awesome. Well, Nicole, thank you so much. I’m encouraged. I’m about to sit and write something as soon as we get done, but yes, I’m encouraged and I thank you so much for your time today. [NICOLE] All right. Thank you for having me. [LATOYA] Thank you once again to Brighter Vision for sponsoring this episode. Remember to head on over to brightervision.com/joe to get your first three months of website service completely free. If you love this podcast, please be sure to rate and review. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.