Deborah Flanagan - Building a Powerful Practice: Successful Strategies for Your Wellness Business

Deborah has written a comprehensive guide which answers the many questions and concerns I have had about creating and nurturing my own practice. With simplicity, candor, warmth, humor, tremendous knowledge and experience, she shares countless insights as well as those of her colleagues to provide a solid and accessible framework that any new practitioner can follow.

Barbara Becker, Reiki practitioner, Jersey City/NYC

Building a Powerful Practice is a thorough and comprehensive guide to creating and building your own wellness practice. Deborah shares practical and do-able marketing and business-building information, and breaks it into manageable chunks. The stories she shares from her experiences, as well as the experiences of other wellness practitioners, add to and clarify the reality of building this type of business. The questions she offers at the end of each chapter help you to define and clarify your own path and help you see there isnt a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach to creating your business. This book is a wonderful resource if you are just starting your own wellness business, as well as if youre in need of a little extra support and inspiration as you grow your business. Deborahs warmth and knowledge come through in each chapter, and her experience helps demystify the process of where and how to begin.

Beth Tascione, Yoga teacher and Reiki Master at Yoga Bliss, Northampton, MA yogablissnyc.com

This gem of a book contains a plethora of relevant advice, practical actions, and lessons learned to help you establish your successful wellness business in the best way possible for you. Deborah draws from her experience of transitioning from a full time office job to where she is today as founder of Center for True Health, to support your transition in a way that is true to you. She generously shares her best tips for success (and timesaving templates), alongside those of a diverse range of established practitioners, to help you attract your ideal clients and grow your business, while respecting self care, healthy boundaries, and heart-centered business practices.

Nicola Wardhaugh, Reflexologist at Singers Lane Reflexology, United Kingdom singerslanereflexology.com

Like Deborah Flanagan herself, this book is down-to-earth, practical, and clear while still being compassionate, heart-centered, and light. Deborah tells it like it is without preaching a one-size-fits-all approach. She offers a series of questions for practitioners to ask themselves about various aspects of the business side of wellness work while emphasizing the natural evolution of any solo practice.

New and growing practitioners will find specific suggestions and insights on how to start or develop their solopreneur wellness businesses, from the author and various other practitioners who have successfully built and nurtured their own businesses without ever losing their passion or soulful approach to their work. Potential or beginning professional practitioners have plenty of room to keep dreaming while honestly exploring just what it takes to make their dreams of helping others a reality.

In this book, business isnt a dirty word; it is both love- and brain-connected. This outlook is sorely needed in the wellness world. I look forward to recommending this book to my own professionally minded students. I picked up ideas and inspirations for myself, as well. Highly recommended.

Alice Risemberg, Reiki Teacher, Reiki Pulse Roseville, CA reikipulse.com

To all the wonderful teachers, clients, and students who showed me the way with this work (and continue to show me), especially Pingo.

Contents

S pecial thanks to Sarah and Shawn Carson, Joanna Crespo, Pamela Herrick, Maria Rodriguez, Frans Stiene, Gary Strauss, and Melissa Tiers for their insightful feedback and perspectives on how to build a successful practice. Thank you to my students and fellow practitioners for sharing your questions about what you wanted to know as you built your own practice.

Thanks also to Elliott Beard, Tom Conte, Katie Kretschmer, Molly Lindley, and Krista Vossen, who contributed their exceptional expertise and guidance in putting together this book.

I wrote this book to help new wellness practitioners create a vibrant, successful practice. Over the past few years, so many new practitioners have asked me to meet for coffee to pick my brain because their various trainings didnt fully prepare them for the business side of starting a practice. This book is the product of those coffee dates, but is more comprehensive (with less caffeine!).

So often I hear new, as well as more seasoned, practitioners struggling to make a living doing the work they love. Common questions include: How can I find and keep clients? How do I figure out what to charge? How do I find office space? This book is geared toward wellness practitioners interested in creating their own full or part-time practice, as well as building partnerships with healthcare providers. While its geared toward practitioners who are just starting out, it can be helpful for anyone who wants to build a thriving practice.

Since my training is in Reiki, hypnosis, and reflexology, I can speak directly to practitioners of these disciplines. I also interview practitioners and teachers of polarity, massage, Thai massage, astrology, and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Other kinds of bodywork or coaching also fit well within this rubric.

While I live and practice in New York City, the practitioners I have interviewed for the book live and work internationally, in big cities and small towns and rural communities. I give you suggestions and ideas that you can adapt to where you live and work, and that are easy to personalize depending on your individual needs and circumstances.

As I created my practice from scratch, I spent a lot of time, effort, and angst finding my way and figuring out what business strategies worked best for me. I want to help new practitioners avoid the pitfalls and worry I faced in the beginning, so that you can connect more quickly with the work you love to do: helping people help themselves.

Throughout the book, I address the most common questions I hear from new practitioners. I share whats worked for me, as well as other approaches and perspectives from a variety of wellness practitioners, teachers, and experts. Ive also included a Business Starter Kit on my website (centertruehealth.com/business-starter-kit) that will give you templates and resources you can use right away.

What if I dont have a business mind-set?

I hear this from so many practitioners, and I can completely relate. I used to think I wasnt entrepreneurial in any way, shape, or form. Years ago, if you told me I would one day have my own business and that I would really enjoy it, I would never have believed you. (And I would have panicked!) If I can do it, you can do it, and Im here to show you how.

This book is fundamentally heart-centered, but it also includes a strong focus on practical realities. I include questions to prompt reflection throughout the book, and I encourage you to answer them as you read to help you figure out whats important to you, and what your priorities are, as you create your practice. Having a business mind-set is something that can be learned, and thats what this book is all about: giving you a clear roadmap on how to set up your practice in a way that works for you, so that you can really enjoy doing the work you love.

For me, the most important thing I learned about creating my own business was that it doesnt have to conflict with the values most wellness practitioners share: helping others and doing good work in the world. Business can be about being heart-centered and connecting with people. In fact, I think this sincerity and integrity comes through in the way you do your work, and your clients will value and recognize the difference. Reminding myself often of this truth helped me trust the process of creating and running my own practice.