Today we’d like to introduce you to Shanika Johnson.
Shanika, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I initially began my career working as a School Counselor for five years helping students with their emotional and behavioral needs. Although I loved being a school counselor, there was always this undeniable feeling of wanting to help our black community navigate their mental health in a positive way. I started to realize that I wanted to make an impact in the lives of others without having to only be in the school sector so I made the decision to get my license as therapist. After finally working through my fears of taking the leap into private practice, I decided to open my business in 2017. There were a lot of unpredictable challenges, several setbacks and plenty of sacrifices I had to make in trying to serve our community and reach success as a licensed therapist. However, my passion and motivation continued to fuel me to keep pushing. As I did, I started to notice that my practice was filling up extremely quickly with clientele. My ability to continue to persevere through the difficult times helped me overcome difficult moments in this entrepreneur journey. To go from having zero clients and now having an influx of clientele, two private practice locations and several quality clinicians on staff to provide services is a blessing. I would not be where I am today if it was not for my determination, purpose and discipline.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey was far from smooth. In starting up my business, I took a lot of losses. I remember having to sacrifice financially and mentally. I had to budget and save my money to be able to fund my goal of having a private practice. I invested $10,000 into my business for the license and office expenses. Even with investing that amount of money, I still did not have any income coming in the first few months and I was devastated. I thought I failed at opening a business but I started to realize that “you make the business, it does not make you.” I immediately began using social media as a way to market to clients as well as speaking at local events and networking with other professionals. After doing this, things started to unfold for me in a positive way and I started having a waitlist of clients after six months. Mentally, business required me to grow and become a different person in order to excel to the next level. Ultimately, my new life cost me my old one.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Innovative Lifestyle Network, LLC?
Innovative Lifestyle Network, LLC is a group practice with multiple licensed therapists who provide therapeutic services to children, teens, adults, families and couples through counseling, coaching and personal development courses. Our team specializes in the following areas: trauma, depression, anxiety, anger management, grief/loss, relationship issues and all significant life transitions. We are dedicated and committed to ending the stigma associated with mental health in the black community.
I believe what sets our practice apart from others is that we offer unique services from culturally competent therapists who are able to help clients of color navigate through their specific issues. Also, we pride ourselves on our ability to truly build relationships with our clients to make them feel comfortable in attending therapy and wanting to become a better version of themselves.
I am extremely proud that our business and brand can help spread mental health awareness to so many people each day. I believe the more passion that we put into the need and importance of therapy, the more people will actually start to go. I want readers to know that “therapy is a lifestyle choice” and it is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking support while trying to explore difficult life transitions. We all need a support system in our lives.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I think a lot of people look at my success and assume that I am fearless all the time which is not true. With every level I reached on my journey, I was very fearful, the only difference is I didn’t allow fear to stop me from achieving my goal. I want people to know that it is human nature to be fearful of your dreams and goals but you can’t let it hinder you.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@innovativeliefstylenetwork.com
- Website: www.innovativelifestylenetwork.com
- Instagram: @ilifestylenetwork
- Facebook: innovativelifestylenetworkllc
Image Credits
Photographer: Gavin Boulware
