April 30, 2025 • 27 mins
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Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast.
I'm Allison from Abundance Practice Building.
I have a nearly diagnosable obsession with helping
therapists build sustainable, joy-filled private practices, just
like I've done for tens of thousands of
therapists across the world.
I'm excited to help you too.
If you want to fill your practice with
(00:26):
ideal clients, we have loads of free resources
and paid support.
Go to abundancepracticebuilding.com slash links.
All right, on to the show.
So I've talked about therapy notes on here
for years.
I could talk about the features and the
benefits in my sleep, but there are a
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(00:47):
into an ad script.
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They also take member suggestions and implement those
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Like therapy search, an included listing service that
helps clients find you, internal and external secure
messaging, clinical outcome measures to keep an eye
(01:09):
on how your clients are progressing, a super
smooth super bill process, real-time eligibility to
check on your client's insurance.
In my conversations with the employees there at
all levels, they all really believe in their
product and they want you to love it
too.
Second, they are proudly independently owned.
Why should you care about that?
Because as soon as venture capital becomes involved,
(01:30):
the focus shifts from making customers happy to
making investors happy.
Prices go way up, innovation plateaus, making more
money with as little output as possible becomes
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With over a hundred thousand therapists using their
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and they don't have to sacrifice your experience
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You can try two months free at therapynotes
(01:53):
.com with the coupon code abundant.
Some of y'all aren't sending HIPAA compliant
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Even if you're paying for a business Google
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That's where Powerbox comes in.
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(02:16):
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(02:37):
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(03:00):
Hey, Rachel.
Hey, Allison.
How are you?
I'm good.
How are you doing?
Good.
Good to see you again.
It's been a minute.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's what it feels like.
I was like, oh, Rachel when I saw
your name.
It's so sweet that you like remember me.
Of course.
We worked together a lot for a while,
but it's like you work with so many
therapists, but at least you're a therapist.
(03:22):
You don't forget people.
You know, they get stuck, right?
I'd be helpful.
Where are you?
Maybe why you haven't seen me for a
while is I'm seven months pregnant.
Congratulations.
Yeah.
This is my second child.
(03:44):
Last time we talked, I could not get
the idea of starting a second business out
of my head and tried that.
Okay.
I have a lot of maternity leave questions,
but also want to kind of lay out
the journey I've been on.
Yeah.
(04:04):
Started this online business, mostly through Instagram, trying
to sell digital products, eBooks.
I really neglected marketing for my therapy business.
My therapy practice was in a great place,
but then I just kind of neglected it.
At the end of the summer, I had
(04:27):
a lot of kids graduate from my caseload
and I found out I was pregnant.
I felt sick and miserable and just like
didn't bring in more clients.
So in some ways it was nice to
like have time to rest and not have
to be seeing a lot of people when
I felt horrible.
But then I never really got my caseload
(04:48):
back up to where I wanted it.
And honestly, like, it's not like I felt
amazing through my second trimester, but I brought
on a few new people, but basically like
my finances aren't where I want them to
be.
I didn't save enough to really be able
to pay myself during maternity leave, which is
a bummer.
And I feel some like shame about that
(05:10):
of like, I really wanted to be like
this amazing business owner who could do it
all.
And my family is in a financial situation
like that's not going to break us, but
it would be nice to be getting paid.
Like it'll be a little bit of a
strain.
So my other business is like not profitable.
(05:33):
I really enjoy it and would like for
it to be profitable, but it's not there
yet.
So I think kind of what I'm wanting
support with is thinking through, are there any
ways I'm missing on like really reducing business
expenses for my therapy practice, like during maternity
leave and how to come back strong and
(05:57):
be able to kind of get full quickly.
Cause I feel like I haven't been in
a place to like really go for that
since I felt horrible.
And then it's like, I'm about to go
on maternity leave, so I can't like take
on a ton of new clients.
Yeah.
So that's where I'm at.
Yeah.
How long are you planning on taking for
mat leave?
I'm planning to take four months.
(06:18):
Okay.
So one thing you could do is you
could message your, send a message to your
EHR and ask if there's an option to
pause.
Okay.
I will.
I like did their little chat bot to
ask about that.
They're like, no, but you can drop down
to the lower level.
I'm with simple practice, but I'll email them.
(06:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would drop down to that lower level
and you know, they've just pissed everybody off
again.
So, um, I was like, great.
$29 a month.
And I'm like 49.
Yeah.
So they've just hiked up their prices without
making it clear what people were getting in
return.
Yeah.
(07:02):
Which, you know, they're allowed to raise their
prices.
I think their messaging could just be better.
So they might be in a position where
they're like, if it means you don't leave,
sure.
Who knows?
It's worth an ask.
It's worth it.
Yeah.
Okay, cool.
That's a good idea.
Can you sublease your office space?
(07:22):
Yeah.
So I am planning to sublease my office
space and it's been interesting because, you know,
ideally I'd have someone who wants to use
it five days a week, pay my full
rent.
But also when I return from maternity leave,
I'm reducing my hours.
I currently work four days a week, but
(07:43):
I'm planning to work two and a half
days a week.
And so I want someone who would like
to stay on through after my maternity leave.
So I'm trying to find someone who's interested
in two days or one day.
And the person that I found wants to
start really part-time, but I feel really
good about her.
(08:04):
And I've met with some other people who
I didn't feel as good about.
So I did want to ask about pricing
for a subleaser.
I know it's probably different where folks are,
but I'm wondering what's reasonable because my rent
is $800 and I broke that down into
(08:26):
five days and then was like, this is
how much it would be.
Per day, like it'd be like 160 for
a day.
But the person who's subleasing plans to use
it for like two hours a day.
So she was like, could I get like
kind of a reduced rate for that?
And I was curious your thoughts on that.
Yeah.
Well, one thing is you're forgetting that there
(08:47):
are people out there who have agency jobs
who would love to work on the weekends.
So I think while you and I don't
want to work on the weekends, it's not
that you're working two and a half days
and they're only like two and a half
days left.
There are four and a half days left
that people could use.
So I don't know how you feel about
(09:07):
multiple subleasers, if maybe like she could take
on one day and then somebody could take
on the others.
It sounds like more to juggle to me,
but I think I might hold out for
a better fit because if it's somebody you
want in there for the long term and
maybe you tell them like you've got access
four and a half days a week, just
(09:29):
not this day in this day or this
in this half day, even if they're only
working during the week, they should still be
paying at least half your rent.
So I would look at it like days
per week of that's what I've usually done.
Not like hours.
Yeah.
I mean, I totally understand where this person's
coming from, like 160 per month when you're
(09:49):
doing like two, four, six, eight sessions.
It's a pretty big chunk.
Yeah.
And she might just need to find a
place that rents hourly.
Yeah.
Because if she's paying less than that, it's
really not benefiting you.
Yeah, that's true.
I feel so, I feel bad because I
feel like I'm a bad negotiator because when
(10:09):
she said she's only interested in a couple
hours at first, I was like, oh, like
maybe my rent is kind of high for
that.
I like was like processing out loud.
And so then she's like, oh, could I
pay less?
And I'm like, oh, wait, I can't really
afford that.
Yeah.
I mean, in some cities, $20 per hour
(10:32):
is really great.
Like it's very reasonable.
And you said 160, right?
Yeah.
It would be like one day a week.
Oh, so that would be like 20, over
the month, it would be like $20 per
hour.
I mean, I think that's reasonable.
And the other thing is I'm a play
(10:53):
therapist, as is she.
So she's looking for a fully stocked playroom,
which I have.
I don't know if that's hard to find,
to just be able to rent a fully
stocked playroom for a couple hours a week.
I don't know.
Yeah.
If you're offering that up, I would say
if you could find somebody for the days
(11:14):
you're not there for $500 a month, if
your total is eight, because there's wear and
tear, things are going to get broken, things
are going to get lost.
Yeah.
I think it financially makes a lot of
sense to find someone who wants to use
a fully stocked playroom more days a week.
And I feel like I've already kind of
(11:34):
committed to this scale.
We don't have any sort of agreement, but
I was like, I'm really interested, like move
forward.
Could she take that other half day?
You're the opposite time of you.
Could you arrange that with her so that
then the other days could be sub-lease
to someone else?
Oh, yeah, maybe.
(11:54):
Yeah.
That's a good idea.
And then Thursday through Sunday could potentially be
someone else.
Okay.
That's an interesting idea.
And the thing is I'm sub-leasing from
someone else.
I'm in a suite, so I would kind
of need to run past her of how
would you feel about two people?
And she's kind of mentioned like, oh, I'd
(12:16):
really like to have someone sub-lease my
space on the days I'm not here.
So maybe she'd be open to like multiple
people.
But yeah, I think maybe that's one of
the only ways I'll like reduce my expenses
when I'm on the tour.
Yeah.
And maybe those people who didn't feel like
a great fit for you that you talked
to might be a good fit for her.
Maybe.
Well, not one person because this one person
(12:38):
is also a play therapist and wanted to
bring in a lot of her own stuff.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, that's definitely something to think on.
Yeah.
Thanks for that.
Yeah.
I'm like trying to reduce the EHR costs
(12:59):
and then I dropped like Canva Pro.
I don't need that.
But I don't have a ton of other
expenses.
It's just that my rent feels pretty high.
I mean, it depends on where you live.
But for me, it's fine.
Yeah.
And I mean, you know, if you could
drop it by half, it'd be pretty significant.
(13:20):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because I like in my savings, I just
have enough to pay for all the expenses,
including things like, like this summer, I'm having
to renew my license and my registered play
therapy credential and my website.
Anyway, those things are like, I have to
pay for those.
Yeah.
(13:40):
Yeah.
I also want to say you're feeling some
shame because you're not, you haven't socked away
enough to be able to pay yourself during
this time, but you have enough in business
savings to cover the expenses.
And not everybody has that.
And I guarantee you that if you weren't
in a financial situation in your family where
it wasn't that big a deal, you would
(14:02):
have hustled sick and all and gotten what
you needed to, to be able to pay
yourself.
So ultimately you were doing the thing that
made the most sense for you given your
circumstances, which is to not push it when
you're pregnant.
Cause I don't want any of us to
have to push it.
Some of us have to, but I don't
want any of us to have to.
Right.
And I guess I do have the privilege
(14:23):
of not having to push myself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I've definitely been talking in my personal
therapy about like the shame around that and
like, what does it mean to be successful
as a business owner?
And what do I want my business to
be like?
And one thing that I've reflected on is
at the start of my pregnancy, I like
used a chunk of my savings.
(14:45):
It was like $500 to do this.
I don't know how to, what to call
it, but it was like a career focused
session with brain spotting and like human design
all mixed in.
So I did a session like that with,
she's a therapist who does it, just someone
here local in St. Louis, because I was
(15:06):
feeling a lot of just angst about my
job and my family and like how to
balance those things, like wanting to be with
my daughter, but also wanting to work.
So it was really helpful, but also I'm
like that, should I have spent money on
and there's kind of this part of me
that's like, am I spending my money in
(15:28):
the right ways in my business?
So I have kind of some like doubt
in myself, I guess.
So I just did an intensive on Tuesday
as a client that was like very human
design based.
So I'm like, I'm like, it was worth
it.
But I'm not the one to tell you
that you decide.
(15:49):
And you know, I learned so much about
myself.
So anyway, but I don't mean to interrupt.
Yeah.
Well, just, I think that there are insights
that you can have in any kind of
self-exploration.
If you had spent that money on therapy,
like not every therapy session is like, right.
And if you had spent that money over
a few therapy sessions, however much your therapy
usually costs, you would probably be like, well,
(16:12):
yeah, that was money well spent.
I got some insights out of that.
And some of the insights probably hit you
later and whatever came up in the session
probably slapped you in the face is like
within 24 hours and all the ways.
So I think if it's self-development and
it's actually developing yourself, then I think it's
good because it helps ground you and center
(16:33):
you and understand yourself better and provide better
care to your clients.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it did contribute positively in
all those ways.
And I think maybe reframing things of like,
I could get by with really kind of
minimal income for the past seven months because
of my family savings.
(16:55):
But then I'm like, but my partner is
stressed about money, even though we'll be like
fine enough.
And I don't want him to be stressed.
And so I almost feel like I need
to like prove to him that my business
is a good decision.
And he's told me many times, like, I
really believe in your therapy business.
I know it's good.
Like it's good for you and better for
(17:17):
our family because you are less stressed.
Like you actually because I saw less clients,
I actually had some energy to like take
care of our toddler in the evenings.
Whereas during my first pregnancy, I worked at
an agency job and was basically comatose every
evening after, you know, four or five p
.m. So he was like super lonely during
(17:40):
my first pregnancy.
So I know he believes in it, but
I still feel this need to like prove
that I can be a financial provider in
a similar way that he is.
But also I take care of our three
-year-old one day a week.
He doesn't do that.
Yeah.
And I'll be taking care of our baby
(18:01):
two and a half days a week.
So it's like, I don't know why I'm
trying to compare apples and oranges.
Yeah.
And you've been creating life inside your body.
Yeah.
That takes a lot.
It takes a lot of energy.
It's not something he can do in the
same way that like right now you can't
contribute the same amount financially.
(18:21):
Both of you have things you can't do
and things you can.
And that can be great.
Yeah.
But I guess I'm just struggling to like
accept that that's how it is.
Yeah.
Well, here's the thing.
It was a choice.
You could blow his income out of the
water if you wanted to grind, right?
(18:42):
If you wanted to just like work your
ass off and spend time with your family
and, you know, raise your rates to whatever
would make that necessary to, you know, for
the math, you could do that, but it's
not the choice you've made.
And that was intentional.
It's not the choice that you guys made
for your future and for your life right
(19:03):
now.
That's true.
And I think part of why I wanted
to start my online business, my second business
is because I realized I like seeing a
smaller amount of people during the week.
Like I, I like having a smaller caseload,
which kind of segues into like returning from
maternity leave because I'm like, I actually, I
(19:26):
like want to be intentional about getting the
amount of clients I want.
And I'm like, am I being realistic here
that I'm, I would be working two and
a half days a week and I, I'd
like to have eight clients.
I mean, that's totally doable.
Like I think in terms of hours, even
(19:47):
if I'm like pumping and stuff, I think
it's possible.
And I know you're going to say like,
it's still possible, but one of the challenges
is just like working with kids, the like
4pm slot is really popular.
So I like work four days a week.
And right now, some days I only have
one or two kids a day and they're
in that like 4pm slot.
(20:08):
So I'm like, yeah, how am I going
to fill those daytime slots?
Are you in with the homeschool community at
all?
Not really.
I've tried a little bit.
I have one homeschool kid, but they are
not in any kind of co-op.
And I also am like, I don't know
if it's appropriate to be like, can I
(20:29):
connect with your people?
So my homeschool kid comes in the daytime,
which is amazing.
And I think she'll return.
I think that's the other thing.
I think I have like four to maybe
six kids who will return.
Yeah.
So you're in a great position because you
also don't have to be full immediately.
(20:51):
Okay.
Yeah.
If you could reach out to the co
-ops, like maybe do some research at the
latter end of your maternity leave, if you're
just bored and scrolling on your phone, find
out what the co-ops are and think
about what you could teach them.
It would be helpful.
And offer to do like a workshop type
(21:13):
thing?
Yeah.
Okay.
And like teach the kids a skill they
need, like an emotion regulation workshop.
Yeah.
Something like that.
Send them home with some papers that are
fun and explain what you did and make
sure it's letterhead and all that.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's a cool idea.
(21:34):
Yeah.
I was listening to one of your podcasts
with someone planning for maternity leave.
And I think you said like two weeks
before you return, also like send out emails
to be like, Hey, I'll be back.
And so I'll be returning in August.
And I tend to send all of my
like school contact folks, like school counselors, a
(21:57):
letter at the start of the year.
Sometimes I include like a Starbucks gift card.
Just being like, Hey, I'm like, thanks for
having me on your referral list.
Hope you have a great start to the
year.
Is there like a more effective way to
do that, that you've heard of?
I think if you have relationships with them,
then that's good.
(22:17):
If it's a cold letter or cold email,
then it's less effective, but it doesn't mean
it's not effective.
And you could say like, I'm back from
maternity leave.
I timed it like a teacher, you know,
and you know, do the whole, like, I
hope you have a great school year.
If you have any kiddos that are struggling
with X, Y, and Z, that would be
a good fit.
(22:38):
I have a couple spots available as I
come back.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
And some of them I do have a
bit of a relationship with and they have
referred to me, but I don't, I'm not
like friends with any of them.
And I don't like get coffee with them
once a year.
It's like, I, you know, met them once
(23:00):
and then just kind of stay in contact
via email or.
Yeah.
Okay.
Are there other things I can do to
set myself up for success when I get
back?
I think making sure that the parents are
really informed about what your plan is.
I'm sure you've told them, of course, but
being more explicit than you think you need
(23:21):
to be just because, I mean, you know
what it's like as a parent, like we've
got a million things going on all the
time.
You know, the interesting thing about my caseload
is that three of the people in my
caseload I've seen for like one to two
years.
So I have a good relationship with their
parents and I think all of them have
(23:41):
mentioned they like want to come back.
So that feels good, but it is kind
of some of the newer people that I'm
like, will it kind of be like, Oh,
just Rachel's gone.
We'll just kind of fade out.
And like, if they don't need it, that's
fine.
But I guess that makes sense to be
pretty clear.
So like informing them would be like, I'm
going on maternity leave between April 1st and
(24:04):
end of July.
I'll email you two weeks before I return
to check in and see if you want
to.
I wouldn't even say to see if you
want to, let's not plant that seed, but
like I'll reach out two weeks before.
Okay.
So that we can get you in the
time that works best for your family.
Okay.
(24:26):
Another aspect of all of this is that,
I don't know if I'm delusional, but I'm
like thinking I'll still have time to run
my online business as well, which is like
posting on Instagram daily, which you know, is
a lot of work.
And I'm like, is that going to be
possible?
(24:47):
Because currently I'm seeing like six clients a
week.
So I have like tons of time to
work on the online business.
And so I'm like, is this going to
work?
I want to reframe the Instagram as a
ton of work.
Okay.
The scrolling takes a ton of time when
we get sucked into it.
But the creating the content, I want you
(25:07):
to like, maybe we, oh, we don't have
time to, but like, I want you to
consider like, what is the easiest version that's
also impactful.
And you've been creating content for a while
too.
So like all my friends who are big
content creators, like hundreds of thousands of followers,
they rotate the same content, like 90%
(25:29):
of the same content every 90 days.
Yeah.
And that's a good point.
I have gotten a lot faster at it
and have like a clearer vision of what
I want to share and how to share
it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a helpful reframe.
Rotate stuff as well.
Yeah.
And you can schedule those using one of
those online schedulers, or you can schedule right
(25:50):
in Instagram.
Just doing what you can to look at
it as easy and then let it be
easy.
Yeah.
Gotcha.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, time will tell if it's
the online business.
I'm giving myself to the end of 2025
(26:11):
to see if it's profitable and worth investing
in this, you know, in this, the way
I am now.
So we'll see.
But that helps me definitely have a idea
of how to keep at it when I'm
like, have two kids and I'm still seeing
therapy clients.
(26:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Of course.
It's so good to see you.
And please like keep us updated in the
Facebook group about how things are going.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And maybe I'll pop into the like office
hours one of these times.
Do miss that.
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, it's such a great, um, atmosphere.
Yeah.
And have fun with all this little good
(26:53):
smelling baby snuggles.
I know I'm excited.
Thanks Alison.
Absolutely.
I'll see you later.
Bye.
Bye.
If you're ready for a much easier practice,
therapy notes is the way to go.
Go to therapy notes.com and use the
promo code abundant for two months free.
(27:15):
Make sure your email is actually HIPAA compliant
with powerbox.
Use code abundant to get powerbox for less
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Your first year at P a U B
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If you're listening, you probably need some support
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(27:36):
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Let's help all our colleagues build what they
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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast.
I'm Allison from Abundance Practice Building.
I have a nearly diagnosable obsession with helping
therapists build sustainable, joy-filled private practices, just
like I've done for tens of thousands of
therapists across the world.
I'm excited to help you too.
If you want to fill your practice with
(00:26):
ideal clients, we have loads of free resources
and paid support.
Go to abundancepracticebuilding.com slash links.
All right, on to the show.
So I've talked about therapy notes on here
for years.
I could talk about the features and the
benefits in my sleep, but there are a
couple of things I want you to know
about therapy notes that doesn't typically make it
(00:47):
into an ad script.
First is that they actually care if you
like their platform.
They don't only make themselves available on the
phone to troubleshoot so you don't pull your
hair out when you get stuck.
They also take member suggestions and implement those
that there's client demand for.
Like therapy search, an included listing service that
helps clients find you, internal and external secure
messaging, clinical outcome measures to keep an eye
(01:09):
on how your clients are progressing, a super
smooth super bill process, real-time eligibility to
check on your client's insurance.
In my conversations with the employees there at
all levels, they all really believe in their
product and they want you to love it
too.
Second, they are proudly independently owned.
Why should you care about that?
Because as soon as venture capital becomes involved,
(01:30):
the focus shifts from making customers happy to
making investors happy.
Prices go way up, innovation plateaus, making more
money with as little output as possible becomes
the number one focus.
With over a hundred thousand therapists using their
platform, they've been able to stay incredibly successful
and they don't have to sacrifice your experience
to stay there.
You can try two months free at therapynotes
(01:53):
.com with the coupon code abundant.
Some of y'all aren't sending HIPAA compliant
email and it's a problem.
Even if you're paying for a business Google
workspace account and have a signed BAA, your
emails still aren't 100% compliant.
That's where Powerbox comes in.
You can connect Powerbox to your Google workspace
or Microsoft 365 email one time and you're
(02:16):
completely covered.
No one has to sign into portals.
It sends and it shows up like any
other email.
Behind the scenes, Powerbox software checks the security
settings of the recipient and ensures that the
email is sent properly so you're not violating
HIPAA in the ways you may accidentally be
now.
I know HIPAA isn't sexy, but we don't
avoid compliance in an abundant practice.
We check the boxes we need to check
(02:37):
and this is the easiest way to do
that with email.
Check out my friends at powerbox.com.
That's P-A-U-B-O-X.
Use code abundant to get $250 off your
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That makes it less than $100 for your
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Again, that's P-A-U-B-O-X
.com.
Use code abundant.
(03:00):
Hey, Rachel.
Hey, Allison.
How are you?
I'm good.
How are you doing?
Good.
Good to see you again.
It's been a minute.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's what it feels like.
I was like, oh, Rachel when I saw
your name.
It's so sweet that you like remember me.
Of course.
We worked together a lot for a while,
but it's like you work with so many
therapists, but at least you're a therapist.
(03:22):
You don't forget people.
You know, they get stuck, right?
I'd be helpful.
Where are you?
Maybe why you haven't seen me for a
while is I'm seven months pregnant.
Congratulations.
Yeah.
This is my second child.
(03:44):
Last time we talked, I could not get
the idea of starting a second business out
of my head and tried that.
Okay.
I have a lot of maternity leave questions,
but also want to kind of lay out
the journey I've been on.
Yeah.
(04:04):
Started this online business, mostly through Instagram, trying
to sell digital products, eBooks.
I really neglected marketing for my therapy business.
My therapy practice was in a great place,
but then I just kind of neglected it.
At the end of the summer, I had
(04:27):
a lot of kids graduate from my caseload
and I found out I was pregnant.
I felt sick and miserable and just like
didn't bring in more clients.
So in some ways it was nice to
like have time to rest and not have
to be seeing a lot of people when
I felt horrible.
But then I never really got my caseload
(04:48):
back up to where I wanted it.
And honestly, like, it's not like I felt
amazing through my second trimester, but I brought
on a few new people, but basically like
my finances aren't where I want them to
be.
I didn't save enough to really be able
to pay myself during maternity leave, which is
a bummer.
And I feel some like shame about that
(05:10):
of like, I really wanted to be like
this amazing business owner who could do it
all.
And my family is in a financial situation
like that's not going to break us, but
it would be nice to be getting paid.
Like it'll be a little bit of a
strain.
So my other business is like not profitable.
(05:33):
I really enjoy it and would like for
it to be profitable, but it's not there
yet.
So I think kind of what I'm wanting
support with is thinking through, are there any
ways I'm missing on like really reducing business
expenses for my therapy practice, like during maternity
leave and how to come back strong and
(05:57):
be able to kind of get full quickly.
Cause I feel like I haven't been in
a place to like really go for that
since I felt horrible.
And then it's like, I'm about to go
on maternity leave, so I can't like take
on a ton of new clients.
Yeah.
So that's where I'm at.
Yeah.
How long are you planning on taking for
mat leave?
I'm planning to take four months.
(06:18):
Okay.
So one thing you could do is you
could message your, send a message to your
EHR and ask if there's an option to
pause.
Okay.
I will.
I like did their little chat bot to
ask about that.
They're like, no, but you can drop down
to the lower level.
I'm with simple practice, but I'll email them.
(06:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would drop down to that lower level
and you know, they've just pissed everybody off
again.
So, um, I was like, great.
$29 a month.
And I'm like 49.
Yeah.
So they've just hiked up their prices without
making it clear what people were getting in
return.
Yeah.
(07:02):
Which, you know, they're allowed to raise their
prices.
I think their messaging could just be better.
So they might be in a position where
they're like, if it means you don't leave,
sure.
Who knows?
It's worth an ask.
It's worth it.
Yeah.
Okay, cool.
That's a good idea.
Can you sublease your office space?
(07:22):
Yeah.
So I am planning to sublease my office
space and it's been interesting because, you know,
ideally I'd have someone who wants to use
it five days a week, pay my full
rent.
But also when I return from maternity leave,
I'm reducing my hours.
I currently work four days a week, but
(07:43):
I'm planning to work two and a half
days a week.
And so I want someone who would like
to stay on through after my maternity leave.
So I'm trying to find someone who's interested
in two days or one day.
And the person that I found wants to
start really part-time, but I feel really
good about her.
(08:04):
And I've met with some other people who
I didn't feel as good about.
So I did want to ask about pricing
for a subleaser.
I know it's probably different where folks are,
but I'm wondering what's reasonable because my rent
is $800 and I broke that down into
(08:26):
five days and then was like, this is
how much it would be.
Per day, like it'd be like 160 for
a day.
But the person who's subleasing plans to use
it for like two hours a day.
So she was like, could I get like
kind of a reduced rate for that?
And I was curious your thoughts on that.
Yeah.
Well, one thing is you're forgetting that there
(08:47):
are people out there who have agency jobs
who would love to work on the weekends.
So I think while you and I don't
want to work on the weekends, it's not
that you're working two and a half days
and they're only like two and a half
days left.
There are four and a half days left
that people could use.
So I don't know how you feel about
(09:07):
multiple subleasers, if maybe like she could take
on one day and then somebody could take
on the others.
It sounds like more to juggle to me,
but I think I might hold out for
a better fit because if it's somebody you
want in there for the long term and
maybe you tell them like you've got access
four and a half days a week, just
(09:29):
not this day in this day or this
in this half day, even if they're only
working during the week, they should still be
paying at least half your rent.
So I would look at it like days
per week of that's what I've usually done.
Not like hours.
Yeah.
I mean, I totally understand where this person's
coming from, like 160 per month when you're
(09:49):
doing like two, four, six, eight sessions.
It's a pretty big chunk.
Yeah.
And she might just need to find a
place that rents hourly.
Yeah.
Because if she's paying less than that, it's
really not benefiting you.
Yeah, that's true.
I feel so, I feel bad because I
feel like I'm a bad negotiator because when
(10:09):
she said she's only interested in a couple
hours at first, I was like, oh, like
maybe my rent is kind of high for
that.
I like was like processing out loud.
And so then she's like, oh, could I
pay less?
And I'm like, oh, wait, I can't really
afford that.
Yeah.
I mean, in some cities, $20 per hour
(10:32):
is really great.
Like it's very reasonable.
And you said 160, right?
Yeah.
It would be like one day a week.
Oh, so that would be like 20, over
the month, it would be like $20 per
hour.
I mean, I think that's reasonable.
And the other thing is I'm a play
(10:53):
therapist, as is she.
So she's looking for a fully stocked playroom,
which I have.
I don't know if that's hard to find,
to just be able to rent a fully
stocked playroom for a couple hours a week.
I don't know.
Yeah.
If you're offering that up, I would say
if you could find somebody for the days
(11:14):
you're not there for $500 a month, if
your total is eight, because there's wear and
tear, things are going to get broken, things
are going to get lost.
Yeah.
I think it financially makes a lot of
sense to find someone who wants to use
a fully stocked playroom more days a week.
And I feel like I've already kind of
(11:34):
committed to this scale.
We don't have any sort of agreement, but
I was like, I'm really interested, like move
forward.
Could she take that other half day?
You're the opposite time of you.
Could you arrange that with her so that
then the other days could be sub-lease
to someone else?
Oh, yeah, maybe.
(11:54):
Yeah.
That's a good idea.
And then Thursday through Sunday could potentially be
someone else.
Okay.
That's an interesting idea.
And the thing is I'm sub-leasing from
someone else.
I'm in a suite, so I would kind
of need to run past her of how
would you feel about two people?
And she's kind of mentioned like, oh, I'd
(12:16):
really like to have someone sub-lease my
space on the days I'm not here.
So maybe she'd be open to like multiple
people.
But yeah, I think maybe that's one of
the only ways I'll like reduce my expenses
when I'm on the tour.
Yeah.
And maybe those people who didn't feel like
a great fit for you that you talked
to might be a good fit for her.
Maybe.
Well, not one person because this one person
(12:38):
is also a play therapist and wanted to
bring in a lot of her own stuff.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, that's definitely something to think on.
Yeah.
Thanks for that.
Yeah.
I'm like trying to reduce the EHR costs
(12:59):
and then I dropped like Canva Pro.
I don't need that.
But I don't have a ton of other
expenses.
It's just that my rent feels pretty high.
I mean, it depends on where you live.
But for me, it's fine.
Yeah.
And I mean, you know, if you could
drop it by half, it'd be pretty significant.
(13:20):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because I like in my savings, I just
have enough to pay for all the expenses,
including things like, like this summer, I'm having
to renew my license and my registered play
therapy credential and my website.
Anyway, those things are like, I have to
pay for those.
Yeah.
(13:40):
Yeah.
I also want to say you're feeling some
shame because you're not, you haven't socked away
enough to be able to pay yourself during
this time, but you have enough in business
savings to cover the expenses.
And not everybody has that.
And I guarantee you that if you weren't
in a financial situation in your family where
it wasn't that big a deal, you would
(14:02):
have hustled sick and all and gotten what
you needed to, to be able to pay
yourself.
So ultimately you were doing the thing that
made the most sense for you given your
circumstances, which is to not push it when
you're pregnant.
Cause I don't want any of us to
have to push it.
Some of us have to, but I don't
want any of us to have to.
Right.
And I guess I do have the privilege
(14:23):
of not having to push myself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I've definitely been talking in my personal
therapy about like the shame around that and
like, what does it mean to be successful
as a business owner?
And what do I want my business to
be like?
And one thing that I've reflected on is
at the start of my pregnancy, I like
used a chunk of my savings.
(14:45):
It was like $500 to do this.
I don't know how to, what to call
it, but it was like a career focused
session with brain spotting and like human design
all mixed in.
So I did a session like that with,
she's a therapist who does it, just someone
here local in St. Louis, because I was
(15:06):
feeling a lot of just angst about my
job and my family and like how to
balance those things, like wanting to be with
my daughter, but also wanting to work.
So it was really helpful, but also I'm
like that, should I have spent money on
and there's kind of this part of me
that's like, am I spending my money in
(15:28):
the right ways in my business?
So I have kind of some like doubt
in myself, I guess.
So I just did an intensive on Tuesday
as a client that was like very human
design based.
So I'm like, I'm like, it was worth
it.
But I'm not the one to tell you
that you decide.
(15:49):
And you know, I learned so much about
myself.
So anyway, but I don't mean to interrupt.
Yeah.
Well, just, I think that there are insights
that you can have in any kind of
self-exploration.
If you had spent that money on therapy,
like not every therapy session is like, right.
And if you had spent that money over
a few therapy sessions, however much your therapy
usually costs, you would probably be like, well,
(16:12):
yeah, that was money well spent.
I got some insights out of that.
And some of the insights probably hit you
later and whatever came up in the session
probably slapped you in the face is like
within 24 hours and all the ways.
So I think if it's self-development and
it's actually developing yourself, then I think it's
good because it helps ground you and center
(16:33):
you and understand yourself better and provide better
care to your clients.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it did contribute positively in
all those ways.
And I think maybe reframing things of like,
I could get by with really kind of
minimal income for the past seven months because
of my family savings.
(16:55):
But then I'm like, but my partner is
stressed about money, even though we'll be like
fine enough.
And I don't want him to be stressed.
And so I almost feel like I need
to like prove to him that my business
is a good decision.
And he's told me many times, like, I
really believe in your therapy business.
I know it's good.
Like it's good for you and better for
(17:17):
our family because you are less stressed.
Like you actually because I saw less clients,
I actually had some energy to like take
care of our toddler in the evenings.
Whereas during my first pregnancy, I worked at
an agency job and was basically comatose every
evening after, you know, four or five p
.m. So he was like super lonely during
(17:40):
my first pregnancy.
So I know he believes in it, but
I still feel this need to like prove
that I can be a financial provider in
a similar way that he is.
But also I take care of our three
-year-old one day a week.
He doesn't do that.
Yeah.
And I'll be taking care of our baby
(18:01):
two and a half days a week.
So it's like, I don't know why I'm
trying to compare apples and oranges.
Yeah.
And you've been creating life inside your body.
Yeah.
That takes a lot.
It takes a lot of energy.
It's not something he can do in the
same way that like right now you can't
contribute the same amount financially.
(18:21):
Both of you have things you can't do
and things you can.
And that can be great.
Yeah.
But I guess I'm just struggling to like
accept that that's how it is.
Yeah.
Well, here's the thing.
It was a choice.
You could blow his income out of the
water if you wanted to grind, right?
(18:42):
If you wanted to just like work your
ass off and spend time with your family
and, you know, raise your rates to whatever
would make that necessary to, you know, for
the math, you could do that, but it's
not the choice you've made.
And that was intentional.
It's not the choice that you guys made
for your future and for your life right
(19:03):
now.
That's true.
And I think part of why I wanted
to start my online business, my second business
is because I realized I like seeing a
smaller amount of people during the week.
Like I, I like having a smaller caseload,
which kind of segues into like returning from
maternity leave because I'm like, I actually, I
(19:26):
like want to be intentional about getting the
amount of clients I want.
And I'm like, am I being realistic here
that I'm, I would be working two and
a half days a week and I, I'd
like to have eight clients.
I mean, that's totally doable.
Like I think in terms of hours, even
(19:47):
if I'm like pumping and stuff, I think
it's possible.
And I know you're going to say like,
it's still possible, but one of the challenges
is just like working with kids, the like
4pm slot is really popular.
So I like work four days a week.
And right now, some days I only have
one or two kids a day and they're
in that like 4pm slot.
(20:08):
So I'm like, yeah, how am I going
to fill those daytime slots?
Are you in with the homeschool community at
all?
Not really.
I've tried a little bit.
I have one homeschool kid, but they are
not in any kind of co-op.
And I also am like, I don't know
if it's appropriate to be like, can I
(20:29):
connect with your people?
So my homeschool kid comes in the daytime,
which is amazing.
And I think she'll return.
I think that's the other thing.
I think I have like four to maybe
six kids who will return.
Yeah.
So you're in a great position because you
also don't have to be full immediately.
(20:51):
Okay.
Yeah.
If you could reach out to the co
-ops, like maybe do some research at the
latter end of your maternity leave, if you're
just bored and scrolling on your phone, find
out what the co-ops are and think
about what you could teach them.
It would be helpful.
And offer to do like a workshop type
(21:13):
thing?
Yeah.
Okay.
And like teach the kids a skill they
need, like an emotion regulation workshop.
Yeah.
Something like that.
Send them home with some papers that are
fun and explain what you did and make
sure it's letterhead and all that.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's a cool idea.
(21:34):
Yeah.
I was listening to one of your podcasts
with someone planning for maternity leave.
And I think you said like two weeks
before you return, also like send out emails
to be like, Hey, I'll be back.
And so I'll be returning in August.
And I tend to send all of my
like school contact folks, like school counselors, a
(21:57):
letter at the start of the year.
Sometimes I include like a Starbucks gift card.
Just being like, Hey, I'm like, thanks for
having me on your referral list.
Hope you have a great start to the
year.
Is there like a more effective way to
do that, that you've heard of?
I think if you have relationships with them,
then that's good.
(22:17):
If it's a cold letter or cold email,
then it's less effective, but it doesn't mean
it's not effective.
And you could say like, I'm back from
maternity leave.
I timed it like a teacher, you know,
and you know, do the whole, like, I
hope you have a great school year.
If you have any kiddos that are struggling
with X, Y, and Z, that would be
a good fit.
(22:38):
I have a couple spots available as I
come back.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
And some of them I do have a
bit of a relationship with and they have
referred to me, but I don't, I'm not
like friends with any of them.
And I don't like get coffee with them
once a year.
It's like, I, you know, met them once
(23:00):
and then just kind of stay in contact
via email or.
Yeah.
Okay.
Are there other things I can do to
set myself up for success when I get
back?
I think making sure that the parents are
really informed about what your plan is.
I'm sure you've told them, of course, but
being more explicit than you think you need
(23:21):
to be just because, I mean, you know
what it's like as a parent, like we've
got a million things going on all the
time.
You know, the interesting thing about my caseload
is that three of the people in my
caseload I've seen for like one to two
years.
So I have a good relationship with their
parents and I think all of them have
(23:41):
mentioned they like want to come back.
So that feels good, but it is kind
of some of the newer people that I'm
like, will it kind of be like, Oh,
just Rachel's gone.
We'll just kind of fade out.
And like, if they don't need it, that's
fine.
But I guess that makes sense to be
pretty clear.
So like informing them would be like, I'm
going on maternity leave between April 1st and
(24:04):
end of July.
I'll email you two weeks before I return
to check in and see if you want
to.
I wouldn't even say to see if you
want to, let's not plant that seed, but
like I'll reach out two weeks before.
Okay.
So that we can get you in the
time that works best for your family.
Okay.
(24:26):
Another aspect of all of this is that,
I don't know if I'm delusional, but I'm
like thinking I'll still have time to run
my online business as well, which is like
posting on Instagram daily, which you know, is
a lot of work.
And I'm like, is that going to be
possible?
(24:47):
Because currently I'm seeing like six clients a
week.
So I have like tons of time to
work on the online business.
And so I'm like, is this going to
work?
I want to reframe the Instagram as a
ton of work.
Okay.
The scrolling takes a ton of time when
we get sucked into it.
But the creating the content, I want you
(25:07):
to like, maybe we, oh, we don't have
time to, but like, I want you to
consider like, what is the easiest version that's
also impactful.
And you've been creating content for a while
too.
So like all my friends who are big
content creators, like hundreds of thousands of followers,
they rotate the same content, like 90%
(25:29):
of the same content every 90 days.
Yeah.
And that's a good point.
I have gotten a lot faster at it
and have like a clearer vision of what
I want to share and how to share
it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a helpful reframe.
Rotate stuff as well.
Yeah.
And you can schedule those using one of
those online schedulers, or you can schedule right
(25:50):
in Instagram.
Just doing what you can to look at
it as easy and then let it be
easy.
Yeah.
Gotcha.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, time will tell if it's
the online business.
I'm giving myself to the end of 2025
(26:11):
to see if it's profitable and worth investing
in this, you know, in this, the way
I am now.
So we'll see.
But that helps me definitely have a idea
of how to keep at it when I'm
like, have two kids and I'm still seeing
therapy clients.
(26:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Of course.
It's so good to see you.
And please like keep us updated in the
Facebook group about how things are going.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And maybe I'll pop into the like office
hours one of these times.
Do miss that.
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, it's such a great, um, atmosphere.
Yeah.
And have fun with all this little good
(26:53):
smelling baby snuggles.
I know I'm excited.
Thanks Alison.
Absolutely.
I'll see you later.
Bye.
Bye.
If you're ready for a much easier practice,
therapy notes is the way to go.
Go to therapy notes.com and use the
promo code abundant for two months free.
(27:15):
Make sure your email is actually HIPAA compliant
with powerbox.
Use code abundant to get powerbox for less
than a hundred dollars.
Your first year at P a U B
O X.com.
If you're listening, you probably need some support
building your practice.
If you're a super newbie, grab our free
checklist using the link in the show notes.
I'd love for you to follow rate and
(27:36):
review, but I really want you to share
this episode with a therapist friend.
Let's help all our colleagues build what they
want.
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