KAYLEEN EDWARDS: PRIVATE PRACTICE GROWTH AND PLANNING FOR MATERNITY LEAVE | EP 174
Are you currently building out your Canadian practice and unsure of how to grow? Or, are you growing your family and having children? How do you manage these two types of growth as a business partner and new parent?
In this podcast episode, my guest Kayleen talks about how she places community above competition. We discuss how her value-driven approach to running her practice brought back most of her interns as associates, how she managed planning for maternity leave as a busy practice owner, and her tidbits of advice for listeners.
If you’re looking for community and guidance, this is an episode for you!
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MEET KAYLEEN
Kayleen is an RP and cofounder of Roots in Wellness, a group therapy practice in Hamilton, Ontario. She is a validated clinical supervisor with the OAMHP and a council member for the CRPO. Kayleen is passionate about perinatal mental health and helping both clients and supervisees through the transition of parenthood. She is a mama of three littles herself, and a lover of all things nature!
Learn more about Kayleen on her practice website, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles
In This Episode
- What are the OAMHP and CRPO?
- Managing a private practice while being a committee member
- Growing a private practice
- Planning a maternity leave?
- Mistakes made and lessons learned
- Advice for listeners
What are the OAMHP and CRPO?
The OAMHP stands for the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals, and the CRPO stands for the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario!
Kayleen has been a council member of the CRPO since 2024, but has been working for them since 2019.
‘As a council member, you’re on a number of different committees … I’m the chair of the Quality Assurance Committee, and then I’m also on an exam committee, and I’m on the discipline tribunal. It’s kind of a smorgasbord of work that we do!’ – Kayleen Edwards
Managing a private practice while being a committee member
Between her commitments to her roles within the CRPO and the OAMHP and running her own Canadian private practice, Kayleen definitely has a lot on her plate! She’s learned how to parcel out her time accordingly to make sure that she can get to everything that needs to be done.
‘It’s a balancing act for sure! How do I do it? I’m not sure! I think my biggest thing is blocking my time, right? So there are certain days and blocks where I see clients, and then certain blocks that are for my work with the CRPO and other volunteering, or whatever it is I’m doing at that time.’ – Kayleen Edwards
Before the beginning of her private practice journey, Kayleen graduated in 2014 and started working at an agency for a number of years. It was demanding work with a lot of travel and tough cases, and even though Kayleen learned a lot from that experience, she knew at the time that it wasn’t something she would do forever.
‘I met my business partner at that job, and one day we were like, “Why don’t we go on this journey together and do this [practice] together?” So, in 2018, we launched Roots in Wellness, and it’s been history since then!’ – Kayleen Edwards
Growing a private practice
Kayleen jokes that the growth snuck up on them over time. Initially, in 2019, Kayleen started supervising and took on her first student.
This opened up a whole new world for her, as she loved being a supervisor and enjoyed the practice, because many of the interns ended up coming back to work at the practice full-time.
‘I loved it. I loved supervision, I loved mentorship, and I loved having students and being able to offer accessible services to the community at a lower price point – it got me really excited. From there, I [took] on a couple more students, and honestly, the associate thing happened because students were graduating and saying, “Hey, can we stick around?” … And that was how we got associates!’ – Kayleen Edwards
Kayleen still sees clients, although she spends more time networking and opening up her practice to the community in new ways – like with a book club!
Planning a maternity leave?
‘I love being a mom, but I also love this work, so for me, it’s like the perfect balance of having the students, because … It keeps my head in this world that I love, at the same time as having that balance for the parenting role that I love too … I feel like it’s been ideal for me in terms of how I balance my own wellness.’ – Kayleen Edwards
One of the many tips that Kayleen would give you when it comes to preparing for maternity leave is to give yourself a hefty dose of grace!
She also recommends being flexible. Understand that there are many ways of going about maternity leave, so you don’t have to do it the same way that other people in different jobs do.
‘As therapists, we can be really hard on ourselves sometimes, and think that things have to look a certain way, and it just looks so different [regarding] our parental leave, as opposed to someone on a salary job, and they just walk away from it for a year. There’s so much more that goes into planning for it [as a practice owner], so I would say giving yourself so much grace through that process [is important].’ – Kayleen Edwards
Having a child is such a life-altering experience, you cannot fully plan for it beforehand. So, give yourself grace and flexibility, and as long as you communicate with your clients and staff, you can make it suit you and your new child’s needs.
Mistakes made and lessons learned
Along the way, some of the most prominent lessons that Kayleen learned include:
- The importance of having boundaries around your notifications and not always being accessible or available.
- Get admin help sooner than you think you need it!
- To stop putting so much pressure on yourself to make it as big or successful as soon as possible. Put boundaries down with yourself, and allow yourself to rest as well.
- Put some money away, even a few bucks a week, into an emergency savings fund.
Advice for listeners
Value your community over competing with them!
‘I wholeheartedly believe that there’s enough work for all of us, and that we grow by lifting each other up. We grow by meeting with other people, interacting with them, and seeing what they’re about, and making those genuine human-to-human connections … The more that we build that community network, the more that we have that support.’ – Kayleen Edwards
Connect With Me
Resources Mentioned and Useful Links:
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Learn more about Kayleen on her practice website, LinkedIn, and Instagram profiles
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About Jules Smith
Jules Smith, MEd, RCT, CCC is a registered Counselling Therapist who owns a group private practice in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They are also the owner of Fearless Practice Consulting and hosts the Fearless Practice podcast. Through the Fearless Practice podcast, they provide invaluable insights and practical advice on starting and growing a successful Canadian private practice.
Jules also has written articles for the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy association. You can learn more at www.ccpa-accp.ca/blog/.
