Episode 122

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Published on:

27th Jan 2024

Episode 122: Profit First For Therapists: Making Money Work [featuring Julie Herres]

In this episode, Patrick is joined by special guest Julie Herres, CEO of GreenOak Accounting, specifically designed for therapists and counselors in private practice. They talk about some of the big questions and concerns that private practice owners face with taxes, finances, and ensuring that they see a profit at the end of the year.

You may have been told you don’t become a therapist to make money, but setting up your business to earn it is an important part of sustaining yourself so that you can help others.

Some Key Takeaways:

  1. Financial Insecurity in Private Practice: Many therapists and counselors struggle with feeling guilty about making money in the mental health field, which can lead to undercharging for services and not paying themselves a fair wage. This episode addresses the importance of therapists being able to make a good living and feel comfortable with their finances, offering practical tips and advice on aligning business revenue with personal financial needs.
  2. Lack of Financial Knowledge: Private practice owners may feel overwhelmed by the complexities of managing their finances, including filing taxes and making important financial decisions for their practice. The podcast episode discusses the significance of working with a professional team, such as a tax professional, to prevent costly mistakes and ensure the sustainability of the business.
  3. Pricing and Fee Setting Challenges: Many practice owners may struggle with determining their rates and setting fees for services due to comparing themselves to others or feeling pressured to conform to standard market rates. This episode advocates for setting rates based on individual financial needs and lifestyle goals, emphasizing the importance of staying true to oneself and making business decisions that align with personal goals.

More about Julie:

Julie Herres is the founder and CEO of GreenOak Accounting, a firm that exclusively serves therapists, psychologists, and counselors in private practice across the United States. Over the years, Julie and her team have worked with hundreds of private practice owners and developed serious knowledge about what makes a practice financially successful. GreenOak’s goal is to help practice owners feel comfortable with the financial side of their businesses and have profitable practices. Some of the firm’s biggest success stories were achieved through implementing Profit First.

Julie is an accountant and an enrolled agent (EA). She is also a speaker, author of Profit First for Therapists, and the host of the Therapy for Your Money podcast.

Julie, an accountant and enrolled agent, is the author of "Profit First For Therapists" greenoakaccounting.com/compensation-strategies

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NeuroPreneur Circle is an online community built by and for neurodivergent entrepreneurs who want a supportive space to build a business, a space where they can show up as themselves and in whatever way feels most comfortable. NeuroPreneur Circle exists because community built on masking isn't really community. And business advice built for neurotypical brains isn't actually useful to us, no matter how many times we try to make it fit. Whatever your neurotype, whatever you're building, there's a space here for you. You've been creating alone long enough. Visit: https://atppod.com/community

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Mentioned in this episode:

NeuroPreneur Circle Community

NeuroPreneur Circle is an online community built by and for neurodivergent entrepreneurs who want a supportive space to build a business, a space where they can show up as themselves and in whatever way feels most comfortable. NeuroPreneur Circle exists because community built on masking isn't really community. And business advice built for neurotypical brains isn't actually useful to us, no matter how many times we try to make it fit. Whatever your neurotype, whatever you're building, there's a space here for you. You've been creating alone long enough. Visit: https://atppod.com/community

Show artwork for The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur

About the Podcast

The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur
Honest conversations about building a business while Neurodivergent, the self-doubt, the chaos, and everything in between.
The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur is a podcast for ADHD, Autistic, and all other neurodivergent entrepreneurs who are building businesses, creative work, and lives that actually fit how their brains work. Hosted by Patrick Casale, LCMHC, this show is for people who
want to create meaningful work, create outside of the box, grow their impact, and build something sustainable without losing themselves in the process.

Being a neurodivergent entrepreneur can feel like holding a lot of contradictions at once. You may have big ideas, deep passion, creative energy, and a strong desire to do things differently. You may also be navigating burnout, masking, self-doubt, perfectionism, rejection sensitivity, executive dysfunction, inconsistent energy, and the pressure to keep showing up when your capacity is already stretched. This podcast speaks to that reality honestly, because building a business around your brain, your values, and your lived experience can be powerful, complicated, messy, and deeply personal.

Patrick Casale is a chronically ill, AuDHD, mental health therapist, entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, event host, group practice owner, and neurodivergent business owner who has built, grown, burned out, pivoted, and kept going. His work brings together clinical insight, lived experience, business perspective, and real conversation about what it actually takes to create something that feels values aligned. His conversations are direct, compassionate, unfiltered, and practical, with room for both the emotional reality of entrepreneurship and the concrete decisions that shape a sustainable business.

New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature honest conversations with neurodivergent entrepreneurs, creators, therapists, business owners, and leaders. Together, Patrick and his guests explore entrepreneurship, identity, mental health, chronic health,
creativity, leadership, systems, money mindset, visibility, community, sustainable growth, and the behind-the-scenes reality of creating work that matters.

Build your dream business. Protect your capacity. Work with your brain instead of against it.