Leveraging Your Strengths with Joanne
Joanne helps people in San Jose, CA who are exhausted by anxiety and shame create vibrant relationships. She specializes in difficult emotions, painful relationships, Brainspotting, Enneagram, and Highly Sensitive Persons.
She checked in with us in the midst of Covid-19 lockdowns to share her experience and how she is continuing to move forward right now. She gives some great advice about recognizing where your heart is at and following it, in order to niche efficiently and create processes that take advantage of your strengths.
How are you pivoting or supporting your community during Covid-19?: I ran a training for niching/marketing for a group practice and also have been providing marketing support for individual therapists who are wanting to transition into private practice.
How are you feeling about your momentum and your business right now?: The main thing that COVID-19 has changed about my practice is that my sessions are online. Everything else — the number of sessions, quality of sessions, the number and type of potential clients who reach out, and my marketing/practice building habits have not changed much. I've been riding the wave of the momentum I built over the past few years, not the wave caused by COVID-19.
What have been the most effective marketing strategies for you in the last 60 days?: Taking a recent presentation/seminar I did on the purpose of emotions and repurposing the content into blogs, social media content, and resources for existing clients. I've been working to add value to whomever comes across my channels, client or not. This had led to some spontaneous word-of-mouth marketing.
How are you preparing your business for the next 30 days?: I am currently working on writing an e-book with corresponding worksheets, blog posts, etc. I am repackaging the repeated conversations topics I actually have with existing clients to give new potential clients a snapshot of what kinds of things I cover in therapy so that they know what they're opting into in reaching out to me. Better fit, better therapy experience (for both clients and myself), better outcomes, better marketing, better fit, etc.
Why did you join Bootcamp?: I felt like I was drinking out of a fire hose when I was first trying to figure out how to build my practice. I was pre-licensed at the time, and didn't have the finances to invest in an extensive program. I came across zynnyme's free trainings, which were super helpful in helping me focus on one thing at a time. Just from those free resources, my practice grew so quickly, not just in SIZE and FUNDS, but in FIT. My practice mirrors my personality and my passions, and I feel so FREE and EMPOWERED to implement my visions. I am the master of my practice, not the other way around. After a year of using the free trainings, I enrolled into the full Bootcamp — it was a no-brainer. THE BEST INVESTMENT I'VE MADE, BY FAR!
Your experience with Bootcamp in one sentence: Bootcamp helped me create a thriving practice that reflects and supports OliveMe (all of me)!
What did your business look like before you started Bootcamp?: Frustrating non-ideal clients who are hard to please, pay less, and get little traction. A swiss-cheese schedule, with lots of empty/wasted space - I couldn't even do much for myself personally because I was bound to a certain travel radius from work. I often felt depleted energy and lack of drive. I never took vacations, because I couldn't afford to financially (and felt guilt and shame at the thought of taking one even if I could). I felt chained to my practice just to get by.
How has your private practice and life changed after Bootcamp (processes, clinically, work-life balance, financially)?: Having lifetime access to a library of abundant legit resources releases me from having to reinvent the wheel, get shiny object syndrome and be distracted, do everything for FOMO, and waste time and energy doing things I might not want to do anyway but out of a sense of "should". With BSB, I built a practice that clinically, practically, and operationally suits me so that I can work from my sweet spot as my default, rather than HOPING and WAITING for it to happen every once in a while by chance. Financially, I hit my one-year goal in 5 months of being licensed to find out my vision was too small. I LOVE what I do, am excited to dream BIGGER, and am thrilled to know that it's okay to be ME. I don't need to apologize for being myself and not like others; in fact, my best contribution to the world is precisely to be myself and to COME ALIVE.
What does your business look like currently?: 95% of my clients are great fits, so sessions are so lifegiving and fun! I can BREATHE, and thus can be more PRESENT and ATTUNED to my clients. My clients carry on to successful termination much more quickly, thereby opening up more spaces to invite other great fit clients. I recently finished my first year of licensure, and have a lot of work to do behind-the-scenes in operations and finances, but I don't have to feel rushed to find and cram a bunch of clients just to squeeze by financially. I have MARGIN, so I can DREAM, PLAN, and TAKE ACTION on things that breathe life back into my practice and into my personal life.
What are the most important lessons you learned from Business School Bootcamp?: I have permission, freedom, and encouragement to JUST DO ME. There are less "shoulds" or "shouldn'ts" but more "want tos". Everyone's path is also different, so there is no set timeline or way of moving forward - even the desired destination varies, so I get to choose what feels right and good for me. This also releases us from having to compare ourselves with each other and compete - we can be in "coopetition", supporting each other with validation and encouragement, spurring each other towards our respective visions, and celebrating our wins.
What would you tell someone who is considering Bootcamp?: If you're not sure whether the financial costs are worth it, check out the free trainings! They are also GOLDEN.
