[WHITNEY]:
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Welcome to the Faith in Practice podcast. I’m your host, Whitney Owens, recording live from Savannah, Georgia. I’m a licensed professional counselor, group practice owner and private practice consultant. In each week, through a personal story or amazing interviews, I will help you learn how to start, grow, and scale your private practice from a faith-based perspective. I’m going to show you how to have an awesome, faith-based practice without being cheesy or fake. You too can have a successful practice, make lots of money, and be true to yourself.

Today, I’m doing a bonus episode to specifically talk about the Faith in Practice mastermind. If you’ve been following this podcast for any time, you’ve probably heard me talk about the mastermind group. And so, I want to talk a little bit more though about the details of it, and my experience in a mastermind group, and what the current group is going to be like. Mastermind groups can be a real range of different focuses, different types of people, where they are in their practices. And so, I want to talk about this actual mastermind that I’m going to be doing starting in June, and how that could be beneficial for you and where you’re at in your practice.

So first, let’s talk about a mastermind. What a crazy word. I remember the first time I heard mastermind, I was like, what’s that? It sounds like some big-time business term that I don’t understand. Well, it’s really just a group of like-minded professionals getting together to kind of problem solve things going on in their business. Typically, there’s a consultant that leads the group that can kind of direct them in conversation, provide tips and advice, information, resources. But honestly, it’s a group of people in a like-minded place, helping one another grow in their businesses. And so, masterminds can be really effective, especially if you’re the type of person that grows well with other people. I know some people do better one on one. I love one on ones as well. But I think group consulting has a lot of benefits over the individual consulting in the respect of being able to have other people that you’re doing it with and gaining information from them. Having those extra people really can provide a lot of accountability, at least I found that for myself. And when we do our masterminds with Practice of the Practice, every person is assigned an accountability partner outside of the group. And so, you meet in a mastermind group over Zoom every other week. And when you’re not meeting with your group, a lot of times you’re meeting with your accountability partner, or maybe you’re just texting throughout the week, growing your practices together. It is such a special experience to be able to grow your practice with other like-minded people.

So, I want to share with you about my experience in a mastermind group, and then share some more about what this group is going to be like that’s coming up. So, I remember it was about three years ago, I was a solo practitioner here in Savannah, Georgia. My practice was doing pretty well. I always wanted to work part time, I never wanted to be in the office all the time. So, I was kind of looking to work three days a week was my ideal. I think actually, at the time, I was working four days a week. But I was finding that I was having a hard time getting calls returned. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with the administrative responsibilities. I was finding that I was starting to turn people away from the practice and having to send them elsewhere. And I found that disheartening in a sense that these people were wanting to come to me; there was a reason they were wanting to come to me. Sometimes it was because I had a faith-based practice. Sometimes it was just the reputation I had in town, and other things, and then I was having to turn them away somewhere else. And I also was finding that I wondered if I could make more money. Like, I wondered if all the work was worth it and maybe I could put in less work and make more money because at this point, I felt stuck. And I know that so many of us as practice owners feel this way; we start our practice, we put so much energy. I mean, honestly, it’s our baby, right? I mean, we have our babies at home, but this is our work, baby. We don’t want anything to mess it up and we want to do it right. And that’s where I was, like, I had grown this this thing, this child of mine, I guess you’d say. And I loved it, and I loved the work that I did there. I loved my clients, but I also was finding a little bit of dread going to work. I felt like I didn’t have a lot of direction in what to do. And so, I prayed as we all do when we feel confused, okay, like, is there a next step? Or should I just keep doing what I’m doing? Do I want to be a solo practice owner for the long haul? I actually never went into private practice thinking that I was going to own a group practice, or that I would ever be a consultant. God has a way of stepping one step at a time, and then leading us into the next thing. And so, I was in this place of feeling stuck as a solo practitioner.

And then, in an amazing way… it’s kind of a long story, but through Facebook group that I was a part of that Joe Sanok was leading – that’s the owner of Practice of the Practice – I made a connection with him and got a free consulting call. And through that call, he said three things to me. He said, you need to hire an assistant, you need to raise your rates, and you need to join my mastermind group. And all those things were, whoo, that sounds like what the bigwigs do, not me. I’m just this little solo practitioner over here doing my thing. But the idea that this person who has helped so many people in their private practices thought that this was my next step, like, I think he knew what he was talking about. I’d been following the podcast for a while and so I was like, okay, am I ready for this? And I was scared out of my mind to do any of those things. I mean, first of all, an assistant’s not going to help me make money. You know, she’s not bringing it in, right? Oh, how can I possibly raise my self-pay rate? I think at the time I must have been sitting at $80 or $90 a session. And I remember Joe saying to me, oh, you need to go up to $125 – he actually asked me, what’s a rate that would be so high you’d be embarrassed asking for it? And that’s what I said. And the next person that called I actually did that rate and they scheduled. That was very confirming for me.

But the mastermind part, no way, no way. Like, I didn’t think that my practice was at a place for that. I didn’t think I had it in me, but someone believed in me. I probably needed to believe in myself more. But what’s so crazy about all this is even though I was so nervous, I knew within my gut that I was supposed to do this mastermind group. In fact, the night before this whole consulting call got scheduled, I said to my husband, I think God might want me to start a group practice. I’m so scared to ever do that. And if I win this free consulting call, that’ll be my sign. We like to put fleeces out and see what happens and I put my fleece out, and it worked. So after I had my pre consulting call with Joe about his mastermind group and why I’d be a good fit, I came home, I talked it over with my husband, the rate for the mastermind group in my mind was so high. As I look back on it, it was totally worth it. But I was so worried that I’d put this money into this group, and it wasn’t going to work. Or I wouldn’t get out of the mastermind what I needed, or my practice wouldn’t grow. Or what if somehow I faked Joe out and I really didn’t have what I needed to be a group leader? And then through prayer, through conversation, I knew I needed to take this leap of faith. And I remember getting on my phone, making that payment for the group, and feeling this sense of relief that I had joined this group and I had taken my step of faith in doing something big – doing something big in my town, in my life, for my family. And through that mastermind that was the beginning of something great in my life.

I actually was in the mastermind for two full years. I joined… let’s see, that group started in October, I think that was 2017. I made my first hire in January 2018. I made my second hire in March that year. So within the first six months of the group, I’d hired my first two independent contractors and I don’t think I ever would have done that if I hadn’t had a mastermind group kind of walking me through the process and helping me lead the way. I had encouragement, I was able to be in touch with my consultant, Joe, and ask him questions in between, making sure that I was following the right steps because for me, there’s no way I was going to start a group practice without having someone kind of help me through the process. I didn’t want to make mistakes. I wanted to do things the right way the first time.

So, I continued to grow my group and really, within two years, I was making about three and a half times the income I was making two years prior, which just blew me away. But even beyond the money, I was able to help so many more people in my community. By hiring these therapists who weren’t finding jobs elsewhere, or maybe they were associate level, people who were looking to work in private practice, I was able to do something really great in my community. And a lot more people have gotten a lot more treatment because of it. And it has been an amazing experience. And as I look back on the cost of the mastermind, the energy I had to put into it, it was totally worth it, hands down, tenfold. In fact, I can say with confidence, I’ve gotten some of my best friends out of that mastermind group; it is so hard to be a private practice owner. It can get really lonely. I mean, you know what I’m talking about, you’re making all these decisions for your practice, and you don’t have anyone to throw them off with, you know, bounce them off to. And then having this mastermind group, there were other people who had the same vision for their practice, who also had about the same number of clinicians, ran their practices a similar way. So, when a crisis came up – and let me tell you, crisis’s are going to come up – you’re going to be glad you’ve got someone to text and call that gets it. And I got those out of my mastermind group. And I have made those relationships through the Practice of the Practice community. And so, in the same way, I’m creating a Faith in Practice community, and you’re a part of that; you take the time to listen to the podcast, maybe you’re a part of the Facebook group, which if you’re not, you should be, so look for that. You’re a part of that community.

So, I want to speak to those that are listening right now that are thinking, I really feel stuck. Like, I’m not sure how to move forward in my practice. I’ve been doing this for a while. Or maybe you’re a group practice owner and you’re feeling, like, why do I not bring home more income? Or why can’t we get more clients to the practice? Or why do I have to work so much? Like, shouldn’t I have systems in place that keep me from having to work so hard? If you’re asking those kind of questions, this mastermind group I’m about to do is perfect for you. So, as I was saying earlier, there are mastermind groups that are kind of at different levels. Some groups are for people that are just starting a practice. Some are people who specifically want to hire their first clinician – that’s the one I actually ran recently. And then there are some that are for more like this, like, I was finding that there are experienced group practice owners, or solo practitioners, who’ve been doing this for a while, that are feeling stuck in what they’re doing. And so, this group is specifically for those clinicians. We’re going to talk about how to monetize your practice in a way that works for you. We’re going to talk about how to manage employees and how to create a culture that they want to stay at your practice and not leave. And to be able to set your rates in such a way that you help your clinicians and you help yourself in your practice because your practice has got to survive, and you’ve got to feel good about it. You can’t be going home as a practice owner burnt out, overwhelmed, and then not even making money. And then you feel stressed about providing for your family or for yourself. We’re gonna talk about how to create systems so that you can work less, and your practice can make more and being able to step away and being able to delegate.

So, let me tell you what the mastermind actually looks like if you’re in the mastermind group. So, you would come once every other week, starting in June. The group’s gonna start June 11. I’m taking applications through June 4. So, it’s gonna be on Thursdays at 12:30, Eastern, through Zoom, and there’ll be somewhere between six and twelve clinicians in the group, and that really is going to depend on size fit for the group. So, I do a pre consulting call with every single person that’s interested in the group because I want to make sure that you are a good fit for this group. I don’t want anyone coming in that’s going to not benefit from the group or not be beneficial to the other group members or feel like they’re wasting their own time and money. You being successful is what it’s all about because you being successful is going to make your calling come true. It’s going to help get the word out in your community where the faith-based clinicians are and then more clients are going to get help. And the world is going to be a better place, right? So, I want this group to be successful for you. So, we will meet every other week through Zoom and then that’ll go for six months. You’ll have an accountability partner who’s at a similar phase in their practice, that you’ll get to decide how often you’ll meet and talk.

Some other things within the Zoom calls that we’re going to be doing is doing five minutes of wins at the very beginning, so you’re going to let everybody know all the awesome things going on in your practice. We’re going to do 10 to 15 minutes of teaching depending on what topics you’re wanting; I don’t necessarily do a strict curriculum. I base the curriculum on the needs of the group and what’s going on at that time and I provide resources, worksheets, that meet those needs of where you’re at. And then we’ll have two hot seats, and a hot seat is when someone in the group shares a dilemma or a concern in their practice and gets feedback from the group on that. And that’ll be other group members and myself. And then at the very end, if there’s time left, I’ll do a quick QA or provide some neat resource I’ve heard of or talk about something going on within the mental health community. So that’s kind of the layout of the actual time that we have together.

But other things that are included if you’re part of this mastermind, is you’re automatically in Next Level Practice which is the Practice of the Practice online community, called NLP for short. It’s for people starting private practices or in private practices with tons of resources. Like, y’all, I can’t even tell you how many resources are in there. Most people that are a part of NLP are like, I can never get through them all. So, there’s tons of courses created by… most of them are created by Joe, and it’s just information about building a practice. It could be something like SEO tips or marketing tips, blogging, checklists, all sorts of stuff. So, you have access to that and that’s all another Facebook group, you can ask questions, and there’s about 450 to 500 people in that group. But alongside that there will be a private Faith in Practice mastermind group. So, if you have concerns you want to bring to our smaller group, you can do that and not feel like a lot of people are reading what you’re saying. And the other thing I love about a mastermind is we’re all really invested in one another; we’re all working hard together. And so, we’re really committed to one another, so people really respond to each other and help one another. You also get a 45-minute consulting call with me, one on one, when you start the group because I want to get you going in the right direction. And so, we’ll do that within the first two to three weeks of the group and have a real plan for you moving forward. And if you decide as part of the mastermind, you want more consulting sessions with me, I offer those at a discount for those that are in the group. But even alongside that you also have quick email tech support with me so that I can make sure you’re not getting stuck in your practice and that you’re moving forward.

So, I think this group’s awesome. I’m excited. I’ve already interviewed several people who are starting to join the group that I think are really great fits. I’m excited about working with this next level of practice owners and really taking it up a notch. If you have questions, concerns, please send me an email. Let me know you heard about it on the podcast. It’s [email protected]. And then we can get you scheduled for a pre consulting call to talk about this group. Remember, I’m taking applications through June 4, so if you’re thinking about it, go ahead and sign up and let’s chat about if this would be a good fit for where you’re at in your practice. Like I said, it honestly changed my life. And I know it sounds kind of intense and crazy, but it changed my practice, it gave me more time at home, gave me more income, it allowed me to help more people, and it’s allowed me to do my big idea, which is consulting and this podcast. And if I didn’t join that mastermind group, I never would have taken it to this level. And so, I don’t want you to miss out on that. I look forward to the group members and working with you. I love that you’re listening to the podcast. Thank you so much for taking the time to gather this information and to listen to this episode and I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for listening to the Faith in Practice podcast. If you love this podcast, please rate and review on iTunes or your favorite podcast player. If you liked this episode and want to know more, check out the Practice of the Practice website. Also, there you can learn more about me, options for working together such as individual and group consulting, or just shoot me an e-mail [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. This is given with the understanding that neither the host, the Practice of the Practice, or the guests, are providing legal, mental health, or other professional information. If you need a professional, you should find one.