Solutions Therapy and Mediation

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Susan Regan, Founder of Solutions Therapy and Mediation, located in Berkeley, CA, USA.

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

I am a seasoned family therapist, a certified mediator, and a certified group leader. I also am a relationship expert and coach with an online business. My focus is on helping people get through a divorce–from deciding whether to divorce to figuring out how to separate their families – and ultimately move forward to have healthy relationships. I also focus on helping people strengthen their long-term relationships and engage in peaceful co-parenting.

Tell us about yourself

What motivates me each day is the passion I have for helping people heal, having deep conversations about their struggles, and finding different ways to think about developing healthier patterns with themselves, in their lives, and with their loved ones. I see many different kinds of clients, and work in different formats, including couples sessions, individuals sesssions , groups, mediation, consultation with other clinicians, and family mediation.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

One of my biggest accomplishments is that, shortly after being licensed, I created a nonprofit with the mission of helping kids and families. I realized that in order to help kids, I needed to support those who were raising them. I loved that nonprofit work; It taught me a lot about how to be in a community, create a community, and sustain a viable business with different income streams, grants, contracts with schools and government, as well as private pay with a sliding scale. I also had up to 16 employees at a time, three school programs, and four government contracts that I ran simultaneously.

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

As a clinician, once I created the nonprofit, I didn’t get to do my clinical work as much as I wanted. I actually became a CEO, which didn’t hold my interest. The biggest challenge was transitioning the nonprofit business model into another business model. This happened during the time of the government funding cuts, so I had to create a business that had better viability so that I could continue to do my public service work within the Bay Area community. There was a constant juggle between securing the funding to be released on time and paying my employees. There was plenty of work in the community, but because I relied on other agencies' funding to fund my nonprofit, I also dealt with their business operations and tried to keep my operations running in a timely fashion so that I could pay my clinicians on schedule.

For me, the hardest thing about being a business owner is finding a work-life balance. It’s so easy to let work take over and always worry about the projects that are progressing forward while concurrently maintaining a clinical professional standard.

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

My three tips are:

Make sure you have really great professionals around you who are knowledgeable and inspiring. You’re only as smart as the people who are guiding you. People are doing amazing things in the world, and I always love to be surrounded by other entrepreneurs who are working in different ways.
Have a fulfilling life outside of your work. There’s a bigger purpose to working, and that is to sustain a healthy life.
Be as consistent (in terms of your life balance and self-care)and compassionate (on the days you can’t be) as you can with yourself.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://solutionstherapyandmediation.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SolutionsTherapyandMediation/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanregancoaching/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solutions-therapy-and-mediation/

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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