Therapist Clubhouse A Podcast For Private Practice Entrepreneurs With Annie Schuessler

It’s really fucking hard to be a mother entrepreneur with young kids, especially if you’re the default or primary parent. My guest this week has a robust business and she makes good money. She realized last year that she was afraid to take on big projects in her business because as the primary parent of 2 young kids, she didn’t consistently have the capacity she’d need to carry them through. She and her husband decided to switch roles. In this conversation she talks about what’s changed since they made that switch. We also talk about how we each navigate the complicated and ever changing terrain of co-parenting and doing life with our spouses. Claire Pelletreau is a Facebook and Instagram ads expert and conversion optimization expert. Her mission is to actually help people see a return on the money they’re putting into the Zuckerberg machine without the expensive help of an outside ad consultant. Claire is also the host of The Get Paid Podcast where she asks her guests everything about their businesses, inclu

  I used to ask every podcast guest: “What productivity or time management hacks do you use as an entrepreneur?” I’ve stopped asking that. I’m no longer lit up by trying to make my habits atomic or maximize my time. The work of Tricia Hersey, Ebony Janice Moore, Tara McMullin and others has helped me (along with everyone I know) to question whether productivity is the measure to focus on and strive for. We’re here to heal, play, love and rest and BE, and when we do more of those things, we make it more possible to create the world we want. When we’re talking about running a small business, which is my lane, I find that to create something new like a new business or a new program, we need something different than productivity or time management. We need to nurture our creative energy. How do I know time management and productivity alone are not the answer? When suddenly given a huge amount of time, we don’t usually make as much progress as we had hoped to. We might use that time scrolling or spinning our wheel

Show Notes: I love to help you make more money. AND…For some of you, the biggest reasons you have for creating your own signature programs are not financial. You want to create programs to tap into your purpose, to express your love for your communities, to experience and share joy, to resist oppressive forces, and on and on. Our guest created a program for his community because he loves his community. Dr. Damon Constantinides is a trans and queer sex coach, trainer, and writer offering services nationally. He is trained as a clinical social worker, sex therapist, and sexuality educator. He created The Trans Masc Sexual Pleasure Group Coaching Program and he’s recently launched the second cohort. In this conversation he shares how he created the program, how he brings in participants, and how he’s finding the energy and time to make it all happen in addition to running his private practice. Here's some of what we talked about: Why creating this program was a reaction to attacks on trans folks Unhooking his e

Everyone is scared to launch their first program. Someone asked recently: what if I’m REALLY scared to launch my program. Like…what if there are powerful individuals and structures out there who might want to do me harm? What if putting myself out there associated with this work might actually be dangerous to me or my family? GREAT question. Let’s agree NOT to give it the usual online marketing answer: “Just do the mindset work.” This visibility stuff comes up for ALL of us. I have it. Everyone I’ve ever worked with has had work come up around their childhood, their upper limits, self esteem, or imposter syndrome. We all need and deserve to do some important work around getting visible, using our voices, and taking up space. AND…it’s gaslighting to say it’s the same for everyone. When you are deciding to get more visible and you’ve got a marginalized identity or you’re sharing messages that oppose our power structures, your visibility work is not just about getting out of your own way. For example, if you’re

You ever wonder what's going on with the personal finances of entrepreneurs? Like are they all just born wealthy? How are they taking these risks and making these investments to grow these businesses? My guest today is going to tell you how in a one year period she was able to clear $25,000 of credit card debt and save $55,000 for a house. She’s gonna really get into the nitty gritty of it. And no, she didn't grow up wealthy. Meet Podge Thomas, a Notion Consultant and People Ops Specialist. She works with small business owners to build operational infrastructure through the lens of liberation and justice. One of the businesses she has helped a ton is Rebel Therapist and I am proud to call Podge a friend. Here's some of what we talked about: Podge’s history of spending money as soon as she had it Identifying the ways she was getting in the way of her goals Finding a path forward financially with her wife Investing in working with a financial coach Growing up without money Unhooking her ability to spend money

I mentioned in episode 196: 332K Of Revenue With Over 2 Months Off that I’ve been engaging in some profound trauma healing, and that’s changed the way I experience my business. I’ve heard from many of you that you’d like to hear more. This episode is all about how trauma healing has been changing just about everything about how I experience my work. Although I avoid binaries, I talk about the difference between the old Annie (less healed) and the new Annie (more healed). A few highlights: I’ve stopped trying to manage/control my participants’ experiences as a way to feel safe. I still get anxious in moments, but I no longer identify myself as a constantly anxious person. I’m more straightforward with my participants and tell them the truth about what I see in their businesses right away. (And they can handle it!) I’m more patient with the process my participants go through as they build their businesses. I embrace the beautiful nuance you each bring to your work. I’m asking for help when I’m struggling, rath

You want to run a group program? One common question from my participants is: “What skills do I need to learn in order to facilitate a group really well?” I’ve got someone here on the pod to share her unique process of leading large groups in an expansive, liberated and trauma informed way. Introducing Tracy Gantlin-Monroy. Tracy Gantlin Monroy is a licensed professional counselor and resident therapist at Grace Community Counseling & Social Services in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a brain-wise, body therapist passionate about trauma healing. Tracy is the first Black female Brainspotting trainer in the world having been mentored by Dr. David Grand, founder & Developer of Brainspotting. Tracy also runs healing retreats for Black women. Her attendees call Tracy engaging, loving and caring, and they talk about feeling safe in her groups even when they don’t USUALLY feel safe in groups. You’re about to hear how she does it. You’ll hear how she prepares for trainings, holds people as an empath, and teaches at

I got a message from one of the grads of Create Your Program recently saying that she was in the middle of launching her program. She said that launching was both a soul expanding and soul draining experience. I want to talk about some ways to protect and take care of your soul while you’re launching your program. First I’ll define “launch”: The time when registration is open for a time limited with a deadline, and the things you do to promote your program during that time. When we’re launching, we’re opening ourselves up to a lot of different feelings and voices, both internal and external. Some of these feelings and voices can be really painful. Scarcity, shame, and fear can come in. We might have thoughts like : ”Who am I to offer this?” “What if no one signs up?” “I’m annoying people.” Some of these feelings and voices are exciting. You might feel joy that you’re offering a wonderful program, and excitement that people are asking questions and signing up. You might have fun talking about your program and

Heidi Savell is a therapist and polyamory coach. She helps those newish to polyamory find more steadiness and fulfillment in their relationships. You’re about to hear about the business she’s created beyond her therapy practice, how she built it and why she loves running her program. Heidi’s giving us a masterclass on using Tiktok and Instagram to move the needle on your business. She gets 40-80 people per month from Tiktok and IG over to her email list. 10 out of 12 of her last participants came from those platforms. You’ll hear exactly how she’s created those referrals. As Heidi points out, she is not working to become an influencer, and her main goal is NOT to grow her Tiktok or IG following. Rather, she’s an educator, and she uses these social media platforms to help people and to grow her business. Her primary work happens in her program, not on social media. You’ll hear Heidi and I talk about why I use social media very little and she uses it quite a lot but how we are running similar businesses in a fu

This episode is all about my 2022 year in review in my business. I needed a minute to reflect and prepare this for you, hence the March release date. Listen right here if you like, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Some highlights. My gross revenue for 2022 was just shy of 332,000 That’s my biggest year yet, 78,000 over 2021. I took a 2 month sabbatical as well as several other weeks off throughout the year. And my biggest highlight: WAY less hypervigilance thanks to trauma healing! It turns out I was living in hypervigilance while doing a decent impression of a calm person. I didn’t know this because I didn’t have anything to compare my feeling state to. I just thought that was how I was. I might talk more in upcoming episodes about the way trauma had been impacting my work and my business and how healing is changing my work and my business. For now I’ll say, I’m in a really different spot! Work feels easier and more joyful. I’m less worried about how everyone is doing every moment. And whether I’m di

Want to start a membership community? Have you thought about creating a paid community about a topic you care deeply about? I’m glad you’re here. My guest this week founded and runs a membership for Trauma Therapists called Trauma Therapist Network. You’ll hear an honest break down of exactly how she created it, how the membership works, how she brings in new members, and what you need to have in place before you consider starting a membership community of your own. Laura Reagan, LCSW-C is an integrative trauma therapist, group practice owner, podcaster, consultant and coach. In 2021 she founded Trauma Therapist Network, a membership community where trauma therapists can gather for support while building their therapy skills. She hosts Therapy Chat and Trauma Chat podcasts and lives in Maryland with her husband, 2 dogs and a cat. Here's some of what we talked about: How the Trauma Therapist Network was born Hiring people to set up the website Changing the primary focus from therapist directory to supportive

You hear me talk a lot about metrics like gross revenue, hours, number of participants, audience size, and other measurable things. These metrics matter because I want you to make great money and help even more people. Another metric we need to pay attention to is your joy metric.  On our pod in episode 148 , Thea Monyee talked about making business decisions based on what brings joy to her and her team. One way to bring joy to your business is to set up your signature program in a way that delights you. As you create an amazing program in which you serve the people you most want to serve and use the methods you really want to use, you’ve got an opportunity to create something that delights and liberates you. You can lean into your superpowers and step away from doing things that drain you. You can ask yourself: What would delight me? And yet it’s too easy to create a program we think people are expecting, based on what we’ve seen before. It’s WAY too easy to create something we don’t really love. We’re so us

Some of us fit right into the middle of our own niches. We have created the programs we really needed ourselves. That would definitely describe me, and it describes this week’s guest. My guest this week is someone who created a totally unique and expansive program for women with ADHD. Liz Adams is a neuropsychologist specializing in ADHD. She is also a woman with ADHD. Liz has a huge passion for empowering women with ADHD, and she's excited to bring her novel approach out into the world! Here's some of what we talked about: Providing over 28 neuropsychological evaluations each month Discovering that she wanted to create a program for women with ADHD to truly fall in love with their brains and their particular strengths Working through fears and getting more and more vocal about being a person with ADHD Reframing ADHD as a mismatch between a person’s gifts and their environment Creating her 6-week small-group program for women with ADHD Why she mails a paper copy of the guidebook to each participant rather th

Here’s the question I answered from a listener I’ll call Susan: I pretty much constantly have a full caseload. I know that staying full and seeing this many people is burning me out. How do I find time to build a program with a full caseload? I'm really struggling on how to shift slowly out of private practice and into something more sustainable for my own mental health, while also being financially stable. I love my clients but it's exhausting. I hate telling people no, but I'm maxed out and turning multiple people away every week. I've spent the last couple weeks setting schedule boundaries of when I am and am not seeing clients. Here's some of what I talked about in my answer: Get clear on why you want to create a signature program. If you love your reason, it’s time to take action sooner rather than later. Evaluate your capacity to do this including money, time, energy, health, support and other areas. If you don’t have the capacity to start your program, look at some ways to build your capacity. Break t

Many of us get stuck. We wait to create a program beyond private practice because we want it to be perfect before we launch it. And that can leave us waiting forever. My guest today is going to help you let go of that idea. She’s letting us in on the many iterations her programs have gone through. The business she has now is thanks to being willing to get started imperfectly. Meet Reverend Maureen Cotton, an Interspiritual minister, serving the spiritual-but-not-religious. She’s a spiritual wedding coach and officiant with her business The Soulful Wedding, which helps couples experience their wedding as a transformative rite of passage. Here's some of what we talked about: Starting her pilot with just one couple Realizing she tried to cover too much material too quickly in the first round and making adjustments to simplify it Creating a 2 hour group workshop on vow writing Embracing her role and identity as a spiritual guide Creating The Soulful Wedding Roadmap, her 1:1 offer for engaged couples Using the Ma

I thought this episode was going to be titled “A Little Dose Of Healthy Narcissism.” One of my brilliant past clients pointed out that a little dose of healthy narcissism seems to be necessary in order to grow a program beyond private practice and step into the world of marketing. Their idea was that perhaps you’ve got to step into a tiny bit of narcissism to have the courage to grow your audience and sell your offer. Disclaimer: We’re not talking about narcissism like what we see in Elon Musk or Donald Trump. We’re not talking about a diagnosis either. We’re really talking about a bit of bold inner confidence. I mentioned this concept to a coach I was working with and she said “That’s a great podcast episode!” So I put “A Little Dose Of Healthy Narcissism” in my list of future podcast episodes. And it sat there…and sat there… for a year. Then I realized that a little dose of healthy narcissism isn’t really what I focus on or where my clients, friends or colleagues who are making great money with simple busin

How do you create and fill a group program? How do you navigate a full therapy practice at the same time? We’re about to go behind the scenes and find out exactly how my guest has done it. Meet Sonya Brewer, a trauma specialist and relationship expert who specializes in creative life and relationship design for overachieving trauma survivors and their partners. She created Badass Boundaries, a 12-week group mentorship program for overachieving trauma survivors. Here's some of what we talked about: Sonya’s framework to help trauma survivors transform their relationship to boundaries Creating Badass Boundaries, her 12-week group mentorship program for overachieving trauma survivors How Sonya helps people befriend their bodies as they do boundary work The benefits of offering 1:1 asynchronous coaching in the program How she filled her program Sonya’s advice about running valuable and joyful free workshops (engage with your participants!) How and why Sonya runs her discovery calls Navigating building this progra

People ask me all the time “What should I do now to grow my business?” Often they say: “I heard….is a good idea. Should l do that?” Every online business expert is selling their thing to us. (Including me!) Our friends and colleagues tell us that what they are doing now is THE thing that works. It’s confusing to figure out what to invest our time and money in and what to try. What should YOU focus on next? People ask me whether they should: Figure out their visual Branding. Uplevel their Website design. Learn Copywriting skills Learn email marketing skills Dive into Social media strategy Get on Tiktok Buy legal templates Redesign their curriculum Join a high priced mastermind Buy another business course Learn how to run paid ads Start a podcast Start being a guest on podcasts Create a self-led course Hire a virtual assistant or an online business manager Invest in a new tech platform to get organized Create a monthly membership How do you figure out what you should do? I’ve gotten really clear that before w

My approach to goal setting and productivity have changed in a big way based on what you’re about to hear. Listener favorite Tara McMullin is back on Rebel Therapist Podcast, talking about a huge pivot she’s made in her work life. She's also sharing her new book, What Works, A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting. A bit more about her: Tara McMullin is a podcast host, writer, and speaker who’s been making business make sense for small business owners for over 12 years. She’s the host of What Works, a podcast about entrepreneurship for humans that’s been downloaded over 4 million times. She’s also the co-founder of YellowHouse.Media, a podcast production agency. Tara brings a unique perspective to business thinking informed by her background in theology, interests in endurance training and critical theory, and strengths as an autistic creator. Also, Tara was my business coach/strategist for as long as she WAS a business coach/strategist. Here's some of what we talked about: Makin

People ask me all the time: How can I compete with the big names? My short answer: Don’t. Your program has the potential to be better than those of the big names, if you lean into providing a high touch, highly intimate experience. In this episode I share how and why you can ignore what the big names are doing and instead be a valuable disruptor in your field. “We spend a lot of time and energy trying to mimic the big names and their current programs when really we should be leaning into what is not so easy to scale.” Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/186