Who Is In Your Village?

I know and believe it takes a village to raise one or many children, but what about a private practice or small business? I wrote about Belinda, Tracy, and Jenna a few years ago, but my village has since grown! Belinda, Tracy, and Jenna have been integral in my private practice, all working remotely, in their own specialties. I’ll explain more about each of these women do, below.

Belinda Wasser, RocketGirl, is still my right hand person! She can fix anything, maintains my website, helps me get out these (awesome!) e-newsletters, is calming in every situation, and just had me speak at a new group she is one of the leaders of: the Entrepreneurial Women’s Club. Belinda also helped me get set up using a system called Healthie, an electronic medical record, which allows my practice to go paperless and run more efficiently.

Belinda let me know when I needed to hire a virtual assistant. I pictured an angelic, organized, ethical, and kind person who would back me up, so I called Tracy Tuplin. Tracy and I used to work with one another in a medical office setting. Tracy said yes to working together and has been truly amazing.

Tracy was and is instrumental in the utilization of Healthy Bytes, which is the billing company that allows me to  accept six kinds of insurance for nutrition appointments. We are fortunate to have been working with our billing ally, Lois McGlockton, since the Summer. We have had Healthy Bytes on board since year end 2015 and have been able to grow exponentially with their assistance.

Jenna Gorham was an intern of mine some years ago and has turned into a superstar dietitian. She represents many very cool food brands and also has a private practice of her own. Jenna and I maintain our professional relationship in a fun way. She edits my e-newsletters and I provide supervision to her for her private practice patients.

Jenna and I discussed my social media accounts about a year ago and she helped me decide on pursuing the consultant work of Krista Ulatowski of KUcumbers. Krista helps me schedule posts to my professional platforms, looks out for trends, and cues me on new ideas in this realm. Social media is very overwhelming to me. My referrals come through other clinicians or word of mouth and my practice is usually full. But Krista has helped me to find social media fun and interesting and so much less like a foreign language!

In the world of private practice, practitioners have what’s called ‘supervision,’ or mentors, if you will. These are individuals with whom you can review client and patient care, because you work alone. I am fortunate enough to have two of these! Beth Mayer, former executive director to MEDA (Mutli-Service Eating Disorders Association) is my supervisor for nutrition cases. She is not a dietitian, but my work is largely food therapy and the fit is fabulous. Beth asked me one day, ‘Why don’t you prescribe in your private practice?’ My answer was that I didn’t have a supervising medical doctor.

In Massachusetts, nurse practitioners need to collaborate on patient care with a supervising doctor in order to prescribe and work in solo practice. Beth introduced me to John Sharp, MD in 2016 and I have been fortunate to review cases with John and learn from him regularly. John has imparted his art of medicine and therapy to me, allowing for the expansion of my practice to include psychopharmacology.

 What about staying financially organized? This is a business, after all! This is why Cianna Winnick of Keane Bookkeeping is so great. I found her a few years ago but took the plunge in working with her this past Summer when my former bookkeeper retired. Cianna gave me a ‘financial makeover’ and focuses her accounting work solely on healthcare practices. She is gifted at her craft and has helped me tremendously.

This Thanksgiving, be sure to thank your village. Without one of the above experts in their field, I would not be able to function effectively in mine. Thank you Belinda, Tracy, Lois, Jenna, Krista, Beth, John, and Cianna. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.