WP 62 | The Grace to Try Something New

Welcome back, friends! It's 2024, and I am thrilled to be here with you on the Wise Practice Podcast. First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to all of you who have been loyal listeners throughout last year and into this new year. Your support means the world to me. If you haven't already done so, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review the show. Your feedback is invaluable to me, and it helps me improve and grow as a podcaster. You can find a form on my website at WhitneyOwens.com if you're interested in being a guest on the show.

Reflecting on the Past and Looking Ahead:

As I was thinking about the podcast and what I wanted to discuss for the end of 2023, I did a solo series on the things I learned during that year. Now, as we step into this new year, I have some exciting interviews lined up. However, before we dive into those, I felt compelled to share one more solo show with you all. One specific topic that has been on my mind is the grace to try something new in your practice.

Conquering the Fear of the Unknown:

When we embark on something new, fear and uncertainty often rear their heads. Whether it's the fear of making mistakes, the fear of the unknown, or the fear of failure, these emotions can hold us back from taking risks. It's crucial to remember that taking risks is an inherent part of growth and progress. Just like the first time I took my family to Disney World – I was scared, but it turned out to be one of the best family trips we ever had. The same applies to starting your private practice – it may be unfamiliar territory, but it also holds immense possibilities for personal and professional fulfillment.

Embracing Your Entrepreneurial Spirit:

As entrepreneurs, we wouldn't be where we are today if we hadn't taken those initial steps into the unknown. Not knowing everything should never discourage us from trying something new. When you first started your practice, you may recall feeling scared and uncertain about the business side of things. How do I run a business? How do I handle paperwork? How do I charge clients? These questions and more plagued all of us at the beginning.

My First Steps – An Example of Grace:

I vividly remember the launch of my own practice ten years ago. It was a mix of excitement and nerves. In fact, I made a funny mistake and forgot to turn the heat on in my building before my first session. But despite the setback, I tried something new, and that first session marked the beginning of a fulfilling journey helping clients and their families. Remembering what you love about your practice, focusing on the positive, and embracing the unknown will help you overcome the fear and take that leap of faith.

From Risk to Success and Growth:

Many entrepreneurs have looked at my practice and expressed a desire for their own practice to be like mine. But behind the scenes, I've had to take numerous risks, face insecurities, and work incredibly hard. Building and growing a successful practice is no easy feat. However, these risks are pivotal for growth and laying the foundation for a thriving business. Just like the biblical figures who stepped out in faith, you too can do great things and make a difference in your private practice.

The Importance of Learning from Mistakes:

Mistakes and failures are an inevitable part of any journey, but they shouldn't discourage you. In fact, they offer invaluable learning opportunities. For instance, I made mistakes in hiring my first employees, but those experiences were transformative. They guided me towards the model that I envisioned for my practice, ultimately leading to its success today. Remember, each failure can be a stepping stone to success if you approach it with an open mind and a willingness to learn.

Continuing to Take Risks:

As you move forward in your practice, don't be afraid to take risks. It's common for practice owners to fear raising their rates, but by taking that risk, you'll discover that clients value your expertise and are willing to pay for it. Likewise, investing in events and conferences can reap substantial rewards. When I took the risk of organizing a summit, little did I know that it would become a platform for practice owners to connect, grow, and inspire each other.

Discovering Your Passion and Stepping Out:

In this new year, I want to encourage you to explore the passions that lie within you. What is it that you would do for free because you love it so much? What excites you and feels like your calling? Take the time to write down these dreams and aspirations. Maybe it's starting a group practice, hiring your first therapist, or simply trying new approaches in your current practice. No matter the scale, remember that you have the grace to try something new and the support of our community as you take these brave steps.

Seeking Support and Finding a Community:

Embarking on a new journey can be a lonely experience. That's why it's crucial to connect with like-minded individuals who can offer guidance, support, and accountability. You don't have to go through this alone. Whether it's through my membership community or other resources, find a community that resonates with you and can help you navigate the challenges and uncertainties of building a thriving practice.

Conclusion:

As we venture into the unknown of 2024, let's embrace the grace to try something new. Let go of the fear that holds you back and step into the possibilities that lie ahead. Remember that God is with you every step of the way, comforting you, providing for you, and catching you when you fall. Take risks, learn from mistakes, and celebrate successes. Together, let's make this year a remarkable one for ourselves and our practices.

What is Alma, and How Can It Help You?

• Alma - Your private practice support system. Alma offers clinicians the opportunity to join their insurance program, providing benefits such as getting credentialed within 45 days and enhanced reimbursement rates with major payers. 

Links and Resources

• Learn More about Whitney Owens Consulting

• Connect with Whitney Ownes on Instagram

• Connect with Whitney Ownes on Facebook

• Check the podcasts on the PsychCraft Network: PsychCraftnetwork.com 

Podcast Production and Show Notes by Course Creation Studio.

• Transcription

  WP 62 | The Grace to Try Something New

  ===

  [00:00:00] Whitney Owens: building a private practice can be challenging, trying to grow your caseload, attracting your niche client, managing the business side of it all, navigating insurance. And managing paperwork and billing, these all can take a significant amount of time. That's in addition to delivering great quality care.

  [00:00:26] Whitney Owens: That's why Alma gives clinicians the tools they need to build a thriving private practice. When you join their insurance program, you get credentialed within 45 days and access to enhanced reimbursement rates with major payers. They handle all the paperwork from eligibility checks to claim submissions and guarantee payment within two weeks of each appointment.

  [00:00:46] Whitney Owens: In addition to their insurance program, Alma offers time saving tools and administrative support so you can spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering the great care to your clients. To learn more about building a thriving private pay practice with Alma, head to helloalma. com slash wise practice.

  [00:01:07] Whitney Owens: That's hello. A L M a. com slash wise practice.

  Welcome back friends, it's 2024 and you are hanging out with me on the wisest practice podcast. It means so much to me that you have spent your time with me last year and moving into this new year. And I really appreciate it. If you have been a long time listener and have not taken the time to rate and review the show, can you please do that for me?

  [00:02:22] Whitney Owens: It means a lot. I do go in there and I read the reviews. And it helps, um, being a podcaster can be kind of a lonely time. And so when I get feedback from you guys on what something means to you or ways that can improve the show, or maybe you just reach out to be a guest on the show. I love it. So I do have on my website, a place where you can fill out a form.

  [00:02:42] Whitney Owens: So if you've been listening to the show and you want to be a guest, go to the website, Whitneyowns. com, fill out the podcast guest form, and someone will be in touch with you about coming on the show. So I'm excited for the brand new year, and as I was thinking about the podcast and what I wanted to talk to you guys about for the end of 2023, I did a solo series on things I learned in 2023.

  [00:03:04] Whitney Owens: And then, as I was thinking about the coming year, I do have some cool interviews coming up, but I was thinking, I think I might want to say 1 more thing as a solo show before I start bringing in some great interviews. I have seen over and over again, sadly, people being scared about taking risks in their practice.

  [00:03:27] Whitney Owens: This was very clear here at the end of 2023, a lot of money mindset stuff, a lot of fear of making mistakes, a lot of uncertainty. So I wanted to speak to you today about the grace to try something new in your practice. As entrepreneurs, you would not be where you are today if you hadn't tried something new, in fact, that's just life, right?

  [00:03:52] Whitney Owens: We won't know everything. Many things are new and you have to step out and do them, right? I mean, the first time I took my family to Disney world, I was pretty scared about that, but it was awesome. It was something new and it was 1 of the best family trips we'd ever had. So when you think about when you started your practice, very likely you were scared.

  [00:04:14] Whitney Owens: You were thinking, I don't know how to run a business. No one taught me how to do that. I don't know what to do when my first client comes in, right? How do I charge the card? How do I do the paperwork? Where am I going to see clients? All those questions. And this is funny in a way it was actually exactly 10 years ago from January that I saw my first client at my practice.

  [00:04:41] Whitney Owens: So I'm taking myself back to those moments. In fact, on a funny side note, I thought I had turned the heat on at the building and evidently I had not. And when I came for the first session, I got there like an hour early being all prepared and the heat would not turn on. I was so embarrassed. I got a space heater.

  [00:05:00] Whitney Owens: Warmed it up as much as I could and was extremely apologetic when they came in for their 1st session. But I did my first session, right? I tried something new and I didn't beat myself up over it. And it was the beginning of actually a client that I ended up seeing for a very long time and helping her and her family.

  [00:05:21] Whitney Owens: So when I got my first building, when I started my private practice, it was all brand new and I had all the fields, right? I remember after I had that first session, I drove home so thrilled. I was like, this is what I was made. This is what I love, right? Those are the things you have to hold on to when you're starting something new, remembering what it is that you love about it, instead of focusing on all the things that you are nervous about, scared about.

  [00:05:51] Whitney Owens: Now, I don't want you to ignore those things because those things are important that you acknowledge them and you look at them, but you got to be able to take risks, right? Oftentimes people look at me and they say, Oh, I want my practice to be like your practice. And I'm like, Okay, like, I'm glad that you said that, but you know, when I look back and think about my practice, I've worked my butt off.

  [00:06:14] Whitney Owens: It has been hard, and I have had to take so many risks, and it's been scary. It's dealt with my insecurities, but I've stepped out in faith and moved forward in what God is asking me to do. Now, we can look at biblical figures who all had to step out in faith to do great things, right? To do new things. And to do God's work in the world and you are doing the exact same thing in your private practice.

  [00:06:44] Whitney Owens: As you start your business, as you see clients now, you probably have started your practice and you're moving along and you're doing well. And maybe at this very moment, as you're thinking about the new year, you're thinking about things that maybe God has been stirring in your heart. Maybe it's something new that's come up or maybe it's something that's been there for a long time and you've struggled to have the courage.

  [00:07:09] Whitney Owens: To step out and do the very thing, well, I want 2024 to be a year of taking risks in your life, taking risks in your practice, knowing that God is with you every step of the way that he is going to comfort you. He's going to provide for you and he's going to be there to catch you when you fall because guess what?

  [00:07:32] Whitney Owens: Taking a risk means you might fall. Taking a risk means you might lose. In fact, you will lose, you're going to have times that things just don't work out. But if you don't try it, then you never have the room for success. So chances are, there are going to be times you have success, and there are going to be times you have failures.

  [00:07:50] Whitney Owens: Right? We just want to make sure those successes outweigh the failures, and that when we do have successes, we look at them, or failures really, we look at them the right way. Right? That a failure can be a success. Because you can learn a lot through it, and you can become a better boss for it, a better person for it, a better therapist for it, a better Christian for it, maybe.

  [00:08:16] Whitney Owens: I love helping people start their private practices, but lo and behold, many of us make mistakes in our first few hires. I'm thinking about this recently with a practice owner I'd been talking to even today, and it was reminding me of my own mistakes. And I use that with air quotes in my practice. My first two hires.

  [00:08:40] Whitney Owens: We're gone within 8 months. There was a moment that I was all by myself having to see all the clients again, even though I had started a group practice and I learned a ton about hiring. I learned about my model that I wanted for my practice. And it was when I lost that 2nd contractor that everything changed the way I wanted to run my business and it's been the foundation for where it is now.

  [00:09:04] Whitney Owens: So I could have looked back and been like, dang, as soon as I got somebody full, they go off and they start their own practice. They leave. That was a failure. Right? Well, it wasn't. Because I grew, I learned, and I found God through the process. And if I hadn't been willing to take a risk and start hiring, I never would be where I am today.

  [00:09:27] Whitney Owens: So we have to be willing to take those risks and be willing to pivot as necessary. This is where I've been really grateful for my faith, that God has directed me and guided me. Even when I thought I knew the best way, God has directed me. In a better way, and then I sometimes find myself beating myself up.

  [00:09:50] Whitney Owens: Why did you make that decision? Why did you partner with that person? Why did you think that was okay? I'm like, no, no, no, hold up. That is not a kind way to talk to myself. It's okay that I made that decision. I made the best decision I could with the resources and the wisdom I had at the time. And the good thing is God has kept me from so much worse.

  [00:10:14] Whitney Owens: He's kept me from a much worse situation. And he's grown me because of it. I find that our greatest risks in life are our greatest successes. Right. When you really have to lay it all on the line. I remember the summit from this past year in 2023. I had to put a deposit down on that event and I was scared.

  [00:10:39] Whitney Owens: What if nobody wants to come? What if this doesn't work? And they were over 70 practice owners that showed up here in Savannah that connected with one another, made new relationships, they grew their practice. It was incredible. And what if I hadn't taken that risk? A lot of you guys wouldn't even know each other.

  [00:10:59] Whitney Owens: Right. Some of you listening right now are thinking, gosh, that summit was so great. I'm so glad I was there. You wouldn't have even had that experience. I'm not saying that to elevate myself. I'm saying it because I want you to think about what is it that God has put in your heart that you're too scared to do and you're not doing it because people need you to do it.

  [00:11:22] Whitney Owens: They need you to take that risk. So I want you to know that grace. It's on the other side of that risk. If you mess up, it is okay. It's okay. And you have to be willing to pivot and God will direct you in the way that you need to go. He always does. So a recent time that this happened and this kind of goes back to in your business, I just want you to try things, right?

  [00:11:47] Whitney Owens: I just throw things out there. I see if they take or if they don't take and if they don't take, don't take it personally. That's okay. And if they take, that's awesome, right? Okay. So recently. I wanted to start a mastermind group for a large group practice owners. So that was kind of 1 of my goals for 2024.

  [00:12:05] Whitney Owens: I really enjoy work. I enjoy working with a lot of you guys, but I love working with large group practices and had a few people that seemed interested in the group. So I started promoting and talking about it, inviting people to it. And then it was so interesting what happened those large group practice owners had lots of reasons why it wasn't going to work for them.

  [00:12:26] Whitney Owens: And, and, and that's fine, but I had a bunch of solo practice centers reach out to me and say, Hey, I need this, or I want this, or I'm interested in your mastermind. And I was like, really? Like, I, I'm surprised because a lot of times it can be hard to make that investment when you have a small practice, because the cost is the same for the large group practices and the solo group practices.

  [00:12:47] Whitney Owens: And so, or the solo practices. So instead of looking at myself and going, Whitney, gosh, you missed it. Like you started marketing something that now you're not doing right. Let me tell you that happens all the time, but then the things that do take the things that you were interested in, the things that y'all sign up for are the very things that God actually had in store.

  [00:13:11] Whitney Owens: It doesn't mean that I've done something wrong and it's giving myself grace to say, it's okay that I'm going to do something different than what I originally thought. And if I don't go into it, giving myself that grace, I'm not going to end up doing anything. It's I'm going to be paralyzed by my own fear.

  [00:13:27] Whitney Owens: So you just have to try it. Another thing I see with practice owners is their rates are too low. And they're scared if they raise their rates, then clients are going to leave their practice. Nine times out of ten, they don't. They want to stay with you because you're a fantastic therapist. But practice owners, I tell them, you've got to do this, you've got to get your rate up.

  [00:13:47] Whitney Owens: And I say, trust me. And as soon as the next person calls and agrees to your rate, let me know. And of course, that's exactly what happens. And they realize they should have done it the whole time. So, the fear that clients are all going to leave, it's a legitimate fear. I understand it, but you got to take the risk and raise your rates so you can take care of yourself and your family and do more good work in the world.

  [00:14:11] Whitney Owens: If your practice doesn't have profit, your practice isn't going to grow and be able to serve more people. Right. Yet again, going back to the summit. Before the 2023 summit happened, I had to go ahead and put money down on the next one in 2024. Again, scary, bigger place, bigger hotel, bigger deposit. But that risk was affirmed by you guys at the end of the 2023 event, 60 percent of you went on ahead and purchased your ticket for the next one, I couldn't be more honored and grateful, and it covered the deposit and some right now.

  [00:14:51] Whitney Owens: I don't want you to think I do my finances based on. Having to have that, I could have paid it. Like I saved for it, but I'm very grateful when I do take a risk that God comes through and you guys come through. So as we go into this coming year, I want you to spend some time thinking about what is it that's deep within you that you've always wanted to do, that you're excited about, that you feel passionate about, where you think to yourself, I would do this for free all day because I love it so much and you're going to be so good at it, you're going to get paid the big bucks to do it.

  [00:15:32] Whitney Owens: That's how I feel about this podcast. That's how I feel about consulting. That's how I feel about the wise practice community. Like I genuinely love it. I'm glad I get paid to do it because it allows me to keep doing it. It allows me to hire people to help me do it because I can't do it alone, but I would do it for nothing because I just love it.

  [00:15:50] Whitney Owens: I love what I get to do with y'all. And it's an honor to be able to partner with you and go around, go along this road with you. And so what are the things that you would do it no matter what you're super excited about that you feel God's passion deep within you. I want you to try those things. And maybe it's a long term plan and you write out each step and you just trust up 1 and 2 and you see what happens.

  [00:16:16] Whitney Owens: Maybe you hire your 1st therapist. Maybe you've been thinking about starting a group practice. Y'all I know it's scary to think about hiring someone, but you'll never know where you could be and there is grace to cover your mistakes. But more than likely, you're not making mistakes because you're doing good work in the world.

  [00:16:34] Whitney Owens: And you're moving forward in what God's put in your heart. I see this often with assistants. People are scared to hire an assistant. Well, if you hire an assistant, you can help more people, which is good work in the world. So if you are at home listening to this, or you have some time later, I want you to pull out your journal and start writing down the things that you want to do in 2023.

  [00:16:57] Whitney Owens: Things that God has put in your heart to step into. And I want you to step into those things. Stop being scared of what's to come because there's something great coming and you need to make sure that you do the things required to get there. You can hold anxiety. You can hold acceptance and love. You can hold the negative feelings.

  [00:17:22] Whitney Owens: It can all be at one time, but you're going to choose to step forward in what you believe is best for you and best for the world around you. Knowing that God is with you in this. God is with you in this and so am I, I would love to hear after you listen to this episode and have time to pray and think about what God's doing in your heart.

  [00:17:45] Whitney Owens: Send me a message. My email is Whitney at Whitney Owens dot com. What is it that God's doing in you? Now, you are not alone. There is a membership community that I run. We have this podcast. I run mastermind groups. I help people with coaching. So if there's something that you feel called to find a community, if it's mine or someone else's that can help you and hold you accountable, go find someone who's gone before you.

  [00:18:16] Whitney Owens: And let them help you in the next steps and bring you that encouragement, that strength, that prayer. I have been thinking recently about how the work I do with practice centers is not just about here's the to do's of growing your business. It's, it's a little bit of like a spiritual direction, life coaching kind of thing, right?

  [00:18:36] Whitney Owens: Like God is, God is in this with us and we can't ignore what he's doing in the spiritual level. So if you're looking for extra support around doing these big things in 2024, reach out to me or reach out to someone else who's done this work. So you have that extra support and direction. I am looking forward to what 2024 entails.

  [00:19:01] Whitney Owens: I can't wait to see the good things that you do. Because God calls you to him and you're not going to ignore it anymore. You're going to step out in faith, trusting and believing and waiting on him to move.

  [00:19:35] Whitney Owens: Special thanks to Marty Altman for the music in this podcast. The Wise Practice Podcast is part of the Sitecraft Podcast Network, a collaboration of independent podcasters focused on helping people live more meaningful and productive lives. To learn more about the other amazing podcasts in the network, head on over to sitecraftnetwork.

  [00:19:55] Whitney Owens: com. The Wise Practice Podcast represents the opinions of Whitney Owens and her guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only, and the content should not be taken as legal advice. If you have legal questions, please consult an attorney.