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Growing a solo counselling practice into a 19-person team sounds like it takes a master plan. Barbara Egan didn’t have one.
She built Alive Counselling in Kelowna, BC through a cold call, conversations at the hockey rink, and a lot of trial and error.
In this episode she walks Daniel through the whole thing: from a career-ending hockey injury at Ohio State, to sole proprietor juggling nap times and clients during COVID, to an award-winning clinic with 19 therapists.
If you’re a solo practice owner wondering whether to hire your first associate, or how to grow without losing what makes your practice yours, this one’s for you.
Barbara is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, a licensed professional counselor in Tennessee, and a former D1 hockey player and coach.
She’s worked with athletes across the NHL, NCAA, and Hockey Canada. She and Daniel get into the messy middle of building a practice, the parts grad school never covers.
This Episode Answers…
How do you grow from a solo practice into a group practice?
Barbara’s first hire came from a cold call. A licensed therapist found her website, connected with a Brené Brown quote on it, and asked to move across the country to work for her. Around the same time, a therapist friend moved back to Kelowna.
COVID pushed the work online, which made bringing on associates realistic. Most of the growth started with regular conversations at the rink, at school pickup, at the park, where people kept asking her for a trusted referral.
She wanted a safe place to send the people she cared about, so she built one. Six years later, that’s 19 therapists.
Why does your story matter so much in marketing your practice?
Barbara’s read: people connect through pain, not highlight reels. Her own career-ending injury and identity crisis are what let her sit with athletes and teens who feel stuck. She’s careful about how she uses it, though.
Share the scar after it’s healed, not while it’s still raw. On a website, that shared experience builds trust before anyone reaches out. Daniel’s seen the flip side plenty of times: therapist sites where he can’t find or connect with the person’s story at all.
What do you actually need to learn to run a growing practice?
The business side isn’t in the grad school curriculum. Barbara picked up bookkeeping, contracts, billing, hiring, and shifting tax rules (Canada’s GST changed mid-stream) mostly by figuring it out as she went. Her biggest lesson: delegate.
Her first non-clinical hire was a bookkeeper, and Jane App handled scheduling and billing from early on. A growing practice runs on a team, an accountant, a bookkeeper, a lawyer, an admin, not just the owner doing all of it.
In This Episode, You’ll Also Learn:
- How a career-ending injury at Ohio State pointed Barbara toward counselling in the first place
- Why she leaned into sports and athletes as a niche, pairing lived experience with clinical training
- How COVID turned into the thing that actually grew her group practice
- The Joanna Gaines quote that greets clients when they walk into her clinic
- Why she waited to share her story publicly until she’d done her own work
- How supervising graduate students turned into a hiring pipeline
- What’s next: a move to the US, a Tennessee license, and a new coaching business with her husband
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Alive Coaching Group: alivecoachinggroup.com
- Alive Counselling: alivecounselling.com
- Barbara’s free resource, Top 10 Tips for Mental Preparation (for athletes and their parents)
Ready to reach more of your ideal clients? Book a free call: privatepracticeelevation.com/kickoff
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This Episode Is Brought To You By The Following Sponsors:
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Alma is on a mission to simplify access to high-quality, affordable mental health care by giving providers the tools they need to build thriving in-network private practices. When providers join Alma, they gain access to insurance support, teletherapy software, client referrals, automated billing and scheduling tools, and a vibrant community of clinicians who come together for education, training, and events.
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About Barbara Egan
Barbara Egan is founder and owner of Alive Counselling, a 19-therapist, award-winning clinic in Kelowna, and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Tennessee and Registered Clinical Counsellor in British Columbia. She runs an online coaching and counseling practice through Alive Coaching Group with her husband Taylor, is an international speaker, and specializes in Christian counselling and mental performance for athletes and families. Barbara is also a wife and homeschooling mom of 4.
About Daniel Fava
Daniel Fava is the owner and founder of Private Practice Elevation, a website and SEO agency focused on helping private practice owners create websites that increase their online visibility and attract more clients. Private Practice Elevation offers web design services, SEO (search engine optimization), and WordPress support to help private practice owners grow their businesses through online marketing.
Daniel lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife Liz, and two energetic boys. When he’s not working he enjoys hiking by the river, watching hockey, and enjoying a dram of bourbon.
