Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Caralee Frederic, Founder of Principle Skills Relationship Center, located in Colorado Springs, CO, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

At Principle Skills Relationship Center, we are a specialty marriage therapy clinic. We specialize in offering marriage/couples therapy using the Gottman Method, based on over 40 years of rigorous evidence-based data, developed by Dr's John and Julie Gottman. We also specialize in working with couples recovering from betrayals such as affairs, addictions, and escalated conflict. We offer Discernment Counseling for "Couples on the Brink," where one or both are considering divorce or separation, which is a brief, short-term intervention to help couples look at all their options from every angle. We offer a two-day couples' workshop, "The Art and Science of Love," several times/year for all couples, therapeutic support groups for women recovering from betrayal trauma, and all 3 levels of training in the Gottman method. Our customers are primarily couples in all stages of their relationship, from pre-marital to highly distressed and everyone in between. We also see individuals who either need extra support recovering from betrayal trauma or want to work on their relationship from their perspective when the partner is unwilling to join them. Other therapists are also our customers for getting trained in the Gottman method.

Tell us about yourself

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, licensed since 2002. I worked in agencies and private practice for most of my career and offered the couples workshop for the last 8 years. About 4 years ago, I assessed how many clients I was referring out because I was always full. I realized I needed to expand to meet the needs of so many couples. It was very difficult to refer out because people in distress wanted both the Gottman method and the addiction recovery specialty, and nobody else in my area was offering both. In fact, it's rare to find that combination anywhere. In 2019, I started to hire support staff and therapists. I have the best team! Everyone is passionate about our work with couples and is dedicated to offering excellent marriage therapy. I now have 4 therapists working with me, and still planning to hire more. My goal is to have a team big enough that when clients call in for an appointment, they can be scheduled within a week or two rather than waiting on our still, very long wait lists to be seen. It takes enormous courage to call for help, and we want to honor that by being available when needed.

My motivation comes from a core belief that marriage is one of the most important relationships we can have and has an extensive, multi-generational impact on children, families, and communities for better or worse. Finding excellent care for couples should be easier to find than it is. Instead, we hear horror stories regularly of therapy that has been harmful or ineffective for our couples. I have had my own "horror story" of ineffective/harmful couples therapy. This is a specialty that needs specialized training to do well. When I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of running a business - something that wasn't on my radar until recently - I just open up our scheduling platform and see how many couples are being helped by my team when there's no way possible I could be offering that much help by myself! I am also motivated to care well for my staff so they can continue to be healthy and happy in their work and personal lives. I know what it's like to try to balance a thriving practice and be available for my family. I love providing a work environment that supports my staff in doing this.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is finding excellent clinicians and office staff and surrounding myself with amazing, honest people. I hired a company, DIYHiring, to train me on how to hire well. Hiring is expensive, but firing is more expensive and demoralizing. Staying open and thriving during COVID is another huge accomplishment. This year, I started offering benefits to my staff, which I am very happy to do.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

I went to school to be a great therapist and had not one single business class. So, getting over the intimidation factor of taking risks without having a business background was huge for me. As my knowledge and business grow, the shift of working on the business vs. in the business has been and continues to be, a hard transition for me. I just want to be a great therapist, but I need to attend to the business for the sake of my staff and our clients.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I'm not sure I'm in a position yet to give tips, but I would say:

  1. Hire an excellent accountant/bookkeeper. They will keep your sanity about taxes and other financial aspects of the business.
  2. Create your vision, mission statement, and core values. This will help you communicate to clients and people you want to hire what you're all about and help you find your team.
  3. Surround yourself with excellent people who can help you learn what you don't yet know. Stay humble and treat everyone with respect.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://principleskills.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/couplesworkshopcolorado/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/principle_skills/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GottmanTherapy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/caralee-frederic-lcsw/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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