From Ready to Sell to Thriving Again: Building a Practice Through Injury with Karissa Gussmann
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How did Karissa’s off‑hand comment from a parent spark the idea of starting a private practice?
Starting a private practice isn't what it used to be. Today's clinicians are starting private practices much quicker, easier, and cheaper than before. And they aren't guessing their way through it or getting stuck in analysis paralysis, they're following a tried and true roadmap in order to save time, money, and frustration. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel or struggle to figure out how to start a private practice on your own. We've helped thousands of SLPs and OTs through this process and now we want to help you too. For a limited time, I'm offering a free copy of our private practice roadmap, specifically for SLPs and OTs who are curious about private practice and want to see what the journey looks like.
To download your free copy, please visit startyourprivatepractice dot com backslash roadmap to sign up. Now on to the episode. Welcome back to another episode of the Private Practice Success Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Jenna Caster-Kasbahn, and I'm so excited to introduce you to today's guest, Carissa Gussman. Carissa is a speech language pathologist and the founder of Speech Pathways of St. John's in Jacksonville, Florida, with virtual services in New Jersey too. Her private practice grew from one room in a medical suite to having a thriving multi-clinician clinic. One room at a time, exactly as the revenue and demand told her she was ready to upgrade. But here's what makes Carissa's story something else entirely.
She didn't just deal with the normal bumps of building a business, she built it through a life-changing injury. And when she was at her absolute lowest, ready to sell the whole thing, she asked for a very specific son. And what happened next is one of the most extraordinary moments that I've ever heard a guest share on this podcast. Now, I won't spoil it, but you'll hear me get all choked up because when I tell you that the road from that moment to where Carissa is now is one of the most remarkable turnarounds that I have ever witnessed inside of any of my programs. She's been with me in both the Start Your Private Practice program and now next level private practitioner and watching her go from surviving to building with intention, including real systems, KPIs, and a full clinical and support staff.
To both see clients and help her run the day-to-day has been such a gift. This is a conversation about what it means to build something on purpose when life keeps testing you, about the moment Carissa realized that she could no longer be her own clinical director, and about why community has been the secret ingredient behind everything that she's built. If you've ever told yourself that now is not the right time or that something in your life is working against you, You let Carissa show you what it feels like to build it anyway. Let's dive in. I'm Jenna Castro-Kasbon, speech language pathologist, business coach, and creator of the Start Your Private Practice System. And I'm on a mission to turn stuck SLPs into successful private practitioners.
If you're tired of dealing with high productivity requirements, high caseload sizes, and low pay, it's time to take control of your professional, personal, and financial life and finally get the freedom, flexibility, and financial abundance that you deserve by working with private clients in your own practice. Join me here each week as I share tips, best practices, and inspirational interviews on the Private Practice Success Stories podcast. If you're a private practitioner or one in the making, you're in the right place, so let's get started. So before we dive in, can you please share your name, your location, and the name of your private practice?
My name is Carissa Gussman, and our location is Jacksonville, Florida, and St. John's, Florida. And we also do virtual for New Jersey as well. And we are speech pathways of St. John's.
Wonderful. So Carissa, I have really gotten to know you through the Start Your Private Practice program and through next level. But before we kind of get into what your private practice is now, I'm just gonna ask you a couple of questions about kind of how you got started in private practice.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Karissa’s off‑hand comment from a parent spark the idea of starting a private practice?
0:00–7:54
2
What challenges did Karissa face when she first opened her clinic in a single medical suite?
7:54–13:11
3
How did the traumatic brain injury (TBI) change Karissa’s perspective on her business and lead to a turning point?
13:11–18:43
4
Why did Karissa realize she could no longer serve as her own clinical director, and how did she address it?
18:43–24:54
5
How did community support and relationships help Karissa grow her practice after the injury?
24:54–30:43
6
What systems, KPIs, and hiring strategies did Karissa implement to move from surviving to thriving?
30:43–36:42
7
What advice does Karissa give to clinicians who are hesitant to start or scale their private practice?
36:42–42:27
8
Where can listeners find more about Karissa’s practice and resources for building their own clinic?
42:27–49:30
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Private Practice Success Stories
She Spent 5 Years Too Scared to Start - Now She Has a 4-Room Clinic with Tiffany Fairdosi
She Started With Two Clients on the Side - Now She Has Nine SLPs and a Clinic with Samantha Taylor
From 2 Clients on the Side to Ready to Hire — Then She Decided She Didn't Want To with Bianca Gizzi Fusco
She Told Her Dad She’d Never Start a Private Practice - Now She Has a Successful Clinic and Growing Team with Sarah Landry
She Started at 26 With One Referral - Now She Has a Downtown Office and a 3-Year School Contract with Becca Vilsaint
She Didn't Hate Her Job BUT She Left to Start a Private Practice Anyway with Heather Danielkiewicz