Happy, Healthy, & Wealthy Therapists | Ep 37: From Solo to $2M (And Almost Burned It Down)

Released: 06/19/2026

Show Notes:

Amanda sits down with Dr. Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi, a Denver-based psychologist who built a group practice from scratch, scaled to nine therapists and over two million dollars in revenue, and recently sold it. In this conversation, Anahita gets real about what it actually takes to scale a group practice with intention, why so many practice owners end up wanting to burn it all down, and how the work of stepping into a leadership role surfaces personal stuff no one warns you about.

She and Amanda dig into pay structure pitfalls, the mindset work that separates people who get results from those who don’t, and why what you decide to do today doesn’t have to be what you’re doing five years from now. They also talk about what it means to build a business as a woman of color and how representation in this space goes way deeper than just optics.

About Anahita:

Anahita is a psychologist, former group practice owner, and mom of three. She built and scaled her group practice to $2 million in three years before selling it. She now coaches other therapists to scale a group practice to increase profit while decreasing their workload. She believes wholeheartedly that therapists deserve to make a shit ton of money, because let’s be real, who better to be making a lot of money than therapists, without feeling bad about it or without feeling like they have to work 60 hour weeks in order to deserve it. In her free time, she loves to lift weights, go outside, and spend time with her family.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Scaling a group practice becomes unsustainable fast when pay structures aren’t set intentionally from the start, and therapists who overpay staff without accounting for their own compensation often end up wanting to walk away from something that could have been profitable.
2. The difference between a healthy hustle season and burnout isn’t how many hours you’re working, it’s whether you still care about the outcome and whether you’re moving toward a vision that actually excites you.
3. Being a woman of color, a queer therapist, or any kind of underrepresented practitioner in the group practice space isn’t a liability in your marketing or your hiring, it’s a genuine draw for both clients and clinicians who want to feel truly seen.

Connect with Anahita:

• Instagram: @dranahitabanoo
• Freedom First Group Practice Accelerator

Connect with Amanda:

• Follow on Instagram: @amandakbcoaching
• Check out the Amanda KB Coaching website

Register for the Therapist Scaling Intensive Workshop: a half-day, hands-on virtual workshop for therapists who want to scale beyond private pay therapy sessions. Use code HHWPOD100 as a podcast listener to get $100 off at checkout.

Apply here for the next round of the Happy, Healthy, & Wealthy Mastermind – a 6-month hybrid, high-level mastermind with high-touch 1:1 coaching for therapists who are ready to stop relying on trading hours for dollars (even premium ones) and scale beyond the therapy room. https://amandakbcoaching.com/mastermind

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Sponsors:

• This episode is sponsored by Alma – learn more here
• This episode is sponsored by Jane – use code: AMANDA2MO for a 2-month grace period

Resources & Links:

SEO for Therapists Membership

Therapy Intensives Academy

Happy, Healthy, & Wealthy Mastermind

Free Training: 3 Steps to Booking Your First Therapy Intensive

Free Guide: 3 Steps to Double Your Income

SEO Freebie

Just a quick heads up, everything I share in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, financial advice, or tax advice. Every practice and every state has its own rules. So if you’re wondering how something applies to your situation, make sure to check in with an attorney, accountant, or another qualified professional who can give you guidance based on your specific circumstances.

Transcript:

Amanda (00:00)
Hey, I’m so happy to have you on the show today.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (00:04)
Thank you so much. Yeah, I’m really excited to be here and chat more about all the things.

Amanda (00:10)
You and I have kind of Instagram slash Facebook known each other for a little bit. We’ve chatted about things that we’re doing in our businesses and in practices and things like that. But for those who don’t know you, can you share who you are, where you are and what you’re doing these days?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (00:25)
Yeah, absolutely. So I’m Anahita I am a psychologist based in Denver. And I started and scaled a group practice. I hired our first therapist almost exactly three years ago, April 2023. We scaled pretty quickly. And by September of 2023, we were a group of nine therapists. And then

just a couple months ago hit the two million dollar mark in business and then just sold it like three weeks ago so very new to that. But yeah and now I also coach other therapists on how to scale their group practice whether they’re hiring for the very first time or they have like a well-established group practice but they’re hating it wanting to burn it to the ground and wanting to like

Amanda (00:54)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (01:09)
And I tell people, like, it’s an asset. Please don’t burn it to the ground. Let’s work together and we can get you to a place where you actually enjoy what you’re doing again. So yeah, that’s what I’m up to these days, I’ll say.

Amanda (01:20)
That’s awesome. Congrats on selling. I’ve heard that it can be a process because yeah, either, you know, and I’ve seen some of your social posts on this recently too of like, maybe you didn’t have intentions to sell it or maybe you thought it would never sell for like a number that you would want it to sell for. So was that in your vision? Like eventually, did you want to sell it?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (01:42)
Yeah, that’s a great question. So when I first started the group practice, like,

I don’t even think it was, it wasn’t like, do I want to sell or do I not want to sell? was like, didn’t even think it was selling was on the table, right? Like I didn’t think therapy practices were things that could ever be sold. ⁓ And then I just kind of started hearing people who had sold their practices and a coach I was working with at the time shared that she sold hers and I was like, ⁓ like that’s interesting. And so it was like, I started just kind of like daydreaming about it as we do, right? And thinking, this is a like 10 year down the road. Like this isn’t.

anything that will ever come up soon for me. And I didn’t think I wanted it to at the time. And then just like continuing to have kids and, you know, like leaning into the family life. was like, actually, this does feel like a possibility that I do want to be on the table. But when I first started, it definitely was not anything I considered.

Amanda (02:36)
I think that’s what I’ve seen and heard a lot of people do. And it’s things I’ve considered of, I still have a solo practice at this point. And in part, I’ve thought about growing into a group more for like social purposes of like, oh, to like work with more people. Like I work with therapists all the time in my coaching business, but in my therapy business, it’s just me. So I’ve, I’ve thought about it. And right now, like the logistics feel still a little bit too like I need to have way more brain space for it. So maybe, but not now.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (02:42)
Yeah.

Great.

Yeah,

I know.

Amanda (03:05)
But yeah,

I’ve also heard what you said earlier of some people who get into the group practice for whatever reason that is, and then they start to feel like, do want to burn it to the ground. So what do you find gets people to that space of, ⁓ shit, I wish I had just stayed solo?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (03:23)
Yeah, it’s funny because I was there too, to be totally honest. I went through a period of time within my practice where I was like, I fucking hate this. This is just not what I want to be doing anymore. And I wanted to go back to solo. And honestly, there’s a few different parts of it that I think really come up for people that people don’t expect to come up. One is just stepping into that leadership role.

Amanda (03:27)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (03:45)
I think a lot of therapists are like deeply sensitive people. That’s why we’re good at what we’re doing, right? And so then when you start managing people and you start realizing like, you can’t say yes to everything. can’t.

appease everybody and make everybody happy. And especially when it comes to pay structures. And that’s the biggest one, honestly, is like people are paying their therapist way too much, which like we want to do. I was there. I wanted to pay my people like the world, right? But when you start paying people too much, then you’re not paying yourself. And there’s so much like, it’s a hot topic, right? Like how much did a group practice owner get paid? But

Amanda (04:09)
Yeah.

You

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (04:21)
And people who don’t own one and never have will tell you that group practice owners are paying themselves too much. But when you’re on the other side of it and you realize everything that goes into it, the liability, the staff management, the client management, all of those pieces, usually people aren’t getting paid enough because they’ve overpaid their therapist. And you can’t go back from that. You can’t all of sudden be like, never mind, I’m going to pay you less. And so then people start getting into this place of like, well, I hate having to manage all of the parts of the group practice.

and I’m not getting paid enough to do it, and I could probably make more just going back into solo practice, and I wouldn’t feel as much stress anymore. And so that’s where I really see people are like, burn it to the ground, I don’t wanna do this anymore. And it’s like, cause they didn’t scale intentionally and strategically, I’ll say.

Amanda (05:07)
Yeah,

yeah, exactly. Because everyone probably sees the exact same ads as we all do of how you can make six figures, seven figures from being a group practice owner. And I think that just like anything else, there are ways to do that. But there are ways to, like you said, get caught up in this cycle of I’m actually making less or it’s just not worth it even if I’m making the same or.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (05:14)
you

Exactly. Yeah. It’s such a hard, it’s a hard place to be because I think, you know, we can daydream and you can see like what it, what, what it can look like for people. And it can be incredible. And like, I got through this really challenging phase of my practice and got it to a place where like, it was very profitable. My therapists were happy. Like we were in a very different place, but it took, it took a lot of work to get there. And it took like really being strategic about every system within my practice in order to get there.

Amanda (06:04)
Yeah. So talk a little bit more about, you know, if people want to scale into a practice, a group practice with intention and with some strategy, what are those things that they should be mindful of? You talked about pay structure is one.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (06:18)
Yeah, so pay structure is like the biggest one, honestly, ⁓ is really not jumping out the gate too hard. Like you want to pay people well, of course, you want to be competitive. And I always recommend that people go like looking on Indeed to see what is competitive in this area, because it’s going to be different based on location too. But I also see people who are like, well, I want to pay people a salary or…

And don’t, please don’t pay people a salary, especially when you’re first starting out. Like you’re going to just lose money, honestly. And so there’s, certain pay structures that you really need to be mindful of. But then also I think my biggest tip is like, don’t, I’ve heard people say like hire slow, fire fast. And I totally agree with that, but you don’t want to just.

hire because somebody came through the door and you’re like so excited to get going because then what happens is like you have to remember that as you’re scaling to a group practice you’re creating a culture like you’re creating a vibe of your practice and if you’re just hiring to hire

you’re probably not going to create the vibe or the culture that you really want to, or it’s going to be a really disjointed culture, and so people aren’t going to get along. And just like you were saying, you’ve thought about it because you want to work with alongside people, that’s a huge draw to a group practice. And so you want to be really intentional about who you’re bringing on into your practice to be able to create the culture you want. And the last piece I’ll say is you got to do the mindset work. And I know that people are like,

mindset is it you know like who cares about mindset it’s not that important like strategy is all that matters and like I see this within my group coaching program right now I see

multiple people who are doing the exact same steps. They’re taking, doing the same strategies, they’re implementing the same systems. And for one person, it’s going super well. And for somebody else, it’s not going as well. And it’s because they have this mindset that like, this isn’t going to work for me or, I’m putting in all this work. I didn’t see the result immediately. And so you have to be willing to do the mindset and like leadership work to really step into the role because you’re not just, you’re not just a therapist anymore. Like you’re, you’re a leader of a group practice. And so you have to be willing to put in that work also.

Amanda (08:27)
Yes, which you you could talk through strategy of that of, know, leadership skills and things like that. But I think it is so much, even me just having virtual assistants, like that activates all of my own like attachment stuff of like being frustrated and feeling let down, but not wanting to like put too much on people. like, there’s so much of our personal stuff that can get brought up when we change the role of what we’re doing. So yeah, you’re not just.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (08:31)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Amanda (08:55)
therapist, you’re not even maybe just like supervisor if you add that on, like you are the owner and you’re managing all these people and that is something people really need to be prepared for emotionally and logistically.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (09:06)
Yes,

exactly. You just hit the nail on the head too, like the attachment piece. like, I mean, I’ve seen it for myself or like my inner critic, you know, structure is coming up a lot. And I see it for people where like, you don’t really realize like, the things that I deal with in my personal life, like they’re going to come through in business too. Especially when you step into this leadership role, it’s different when you have a solo practice and all you’re doing is seeing clients. But when you’re managing people and you’re running a business and all these things, like so much of like the inner deep

personal work that we’re doing is coming out too. So I always, I’m like, you gotta, you gotta be in therapy also to manage all of the shit that you’re going through too. So, yeah.

Amanda (09:45)
Yes, yes. So then too,

because I talk about this a lot with therapists, like what do you feel like is the difference between, you know, as you’re looking to scale into something, what’s the benefit of being in your own therapy and doing some of that work versus what is the different perspective and guidance that a coaching program like yours can offer? Because I know some people are like, I’ll just talk about it with my therapist, but in your opinion, why should one do both?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (10:06)
Yes,

I was going to say you absolutely need both. I mean, know what therapy, like right, we’re all therapists, so we know what therapy can do for us, but a therapist’s job is not to help you scale your business, right? A therapist’s job is to help you do that deep in our work and to show up differently.

Right? And like, we talk about that in my coaching program too. We talk about the mindset piece. We especially talk about like the leadership place, but what is so different about coaching and whether you’re coaching, like you’re working with a coach to scale a group practice or to like scale and diverse by income, whatever you’re trying to do, you have to work with somebody because you want somebody who’s done the steps before you.

And so you want to find somebody who’s like, skilled to a place that you want to scale to because they’ve put in the work and they know what it takes. And so you’re not having to like trial and error your way through it. And you’re able to just kind of replicate a system that somebody else has done. ⁓ and so yes, therapist there being in therapy helps with like that inner work, but that’s like one component of it, right? There’s, there’s so much strategy and so many other pieces to it that you need either you need to pay and spend.

a shit ton of time figuring out on your own or you just pay for a coach who’s like has the roadmap and can just like hand it over to you and then also like help you tweak it for what for where you are ⁓ and your stage of business and your location and all all of those pieces.

Amanda (11:37)
Yeah, yeah, because I think that that personalization of support is different. Like if I talked with my therapist about, you know, growing into a group, she’d be like, I’m solo, what are we talking about? And we could talk about the attachment stuff and that’d be great, but she would not be able to support me in the way that like, if I were to join your program, you’d be able to say like, watch out for this and like, make sure you’re doing that. So yeah, it’s just, it’s very, very different to get mindset support.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (11:41)
Yes.

Yes.

Amanda (12:05)
in a coaching program and doing any inner child healing that needs to happen within therapy. Because yeah, yeah, it all comes up and it will, but it doesn’t mean you have to stay stuck with it. You can work through it.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (12:11)
Yes, absolutely.

⁓

And there’s so many resources for all of these, everything, right? There’s so many resources like therapy for doing more of the deep work. And then there’s so many coaching programs and things out there for any type of business that you’re trying to scale or any business support you need. There’s just so much support. So it’s easy to find somebody who can personalize for what you need too.

Amanda (12:39)
Yes.

Yeah. Which this has been coming up a lot in my mastermind. working with therapists who are wanting to scale outside of therapy in some way, whether that’s ⁓ someone is scaling into a group. But I have always told people, like, if you’re looking to scale to the group, I’m not your person because I haven’t done that. So I can’t guide you through that. So she’s doing it and she’s getting guided somewhere else. ⁓ But where was I going with this? I had a question and it just totally went away. That’s OK. ⁓ When it comes to.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (12:54)
Yeah.

Yeah.

you

Amanda (13:07)
scaling for you, I’ve also seen a lot of your content on social media around like your own experience with trying to scale into coaching and you’ve played with lots of different offers. Like what was that like for you to be running a group, also see some clients and try to add this other business? Like what, yeah, just like what was that like?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (13:27)
Yeah,

yeah, I will say it’s not for the faint of heart, right? Like, I think you have to be somebody who is incredibly driven and motivated and has the belief. Like, you have to hold to belief.

Amanda (13:31)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (13:41)
regardless of like wherever you’re trying to scale, whether it isn’t like the digital offer coaching space or if it’s a group practice or whatever, like you have to hold belief that you’re going to get to whatever destination that you have while also like, ⁓ maintaining gratitude. And that’s the biggest thing that I think people forget is like, and I’m, I’m this way. I’m like so goal oriented. I have like so many goals ahead of me that I forget to be thankful and like feel that gratitude every time I’ve met one of those goals. ⁓

But I think like it’s it’s it was for sure a lot and especially I have three young kids and so managing that as well. ⁓ And the reason that like you you talk about having different offers like I have pivoted from.

into different spaces because when I started by coaching people to scale to a group practice and then I started hitting a place in my own group practice where I was like miserable and I hated it and I wanted it out and so I was like this feels so disingenuine to be coaching people to scale to a group practice when I was like I want to burn mine to the ground and I like I remember so distinctly like there was one day

running payroll and I looked at our account after paying all my therapists, paying all our operation expenses and I barely had anything left to pay myself. And I was like, I can’t do this. This is burning me to the ground. And so I was like, I can’t keep coaching people in this space either. So that’s where I kind of pivoted. But then honestly, the past year, I had my son in November of 2024 and I took a maternity leave.

I took three months off. All I did was run payroll in my group practice and I still was able to pay myself five bigger months. And so I was like, okay, this isn’t so bad, you know? And then I came back from that and continued to have a very minor role in the practice. I had a clinical director who was managing a lot and taking care of our therapists, which was incredibly important to me.

Amanda (15:24)
Mm-hmm.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (15:35)
And so then more recently, honestly, just like, I think in February was when I started this back up and I was like, okay, like I feel ready because I had colleagues just within like the Denver area who would reach out to me they’re like, how are you barely working in your practice? Like, how did you take a maternity leave? And I was like, okay, like I think I figured something out here. And so I really want to like help people with that, which is why I pivoted back. But it’s been a journey. I will say that it has been a journey of like figuring out.

how I want to help people. And I still don’t think like this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. And I don’t know if that’s going to last for the next five to 10 years, right? Like I’m just kind of at this point recognizing like I’m always open to new ideas and new paths in business. And I think everybody kind of needs to be too.

Amanda (16:23)
Yeah, yeah, because so much changes so quickly in terms of even seeing what are the potential things that I could do out there. Like, I don’t know if I’ll do exactly what I’m doing within coaching or therapy for the next five years, but I think what is beautiful about stepping into scaling, whatever that means and looks like for people listening is that you have options and that there is creativity and that is ⁓

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (16:29)
Yeah.

Amanda (16:50)
It’s both overwhelming, especially if you have ADHD, as well as really exciting because, wow, look at all the stuff I can do instead of I’m stuck in this one thing.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (16:57)
Right,

right. Which is like, because I’ve worked with people who are scaling not specifically to your practice, but just like diversifying income and adding in coaching, know, selling digital offers, things like that. And people get so stuck in the like, I have to define my niche, I have to define my niche. And it’s like, yes, you do need to define your niche. And I always remind people like, what you decide today doesn’t have to be what you’re doing a year from now. And

I say that and it’s like, have to give it enough effort to see if it’s going to work or not. But if in a year you’re like, I don’t want to do this anymore, you don’t have to. Nobody is forcing you. Nobody is twisting your arm to continue doing the things. And so I think we get so caught up in like, I have to figure it all out right now. I know I have definitely been that way. ⁓ But I think it’s really important, especially for anyone who’s listening who wants to scale in diversity by income.

It doesn’t have to, like what you choose today doesn’t have to be what you’re doing five years from now, 10 years from now, ⁓ anything like that.

Amanda (17:56)
So you started to talk about this a little bit too of when you are in the space of diversifying and you’re working on growing something, starting something, continuing to do the thing you’ve already been doing. What’s your perspective and opinion on these seasons of life where you are hustling a little bit more versus when there’s a little bit more ease? How do you know the difference between I’m hustling and there will be ease versus I’m burning out?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (18:08)
Thank

Yeah.

No.

Right, that’s such a great question.

I definitely, mean, seasons in life are something that like really, when I started having kids, really started recognizing was like, yeah, there’s a season for everything. And I like, that is such a good question of how do you differentiate between the season of hustle versus the season of rooting out. And I think for me, like when I first started my group practice, it was a season of hustle and it, but I was excited. Like I was excited to open my laptop at 9 PM and be like making my way through.

like the course material that I had to help me scale. I was so excited to be writing job descriptions and looking at like interview or job applications that were coming in and like creating these systems and automations with my practice ⁓ versus the time when like I described you know the time I was running payroll and the time where it was like I just felt like forced. I was like I have to be doing these things. I have to be writing blogs for my website. I have to be going and updating keywords and like

You know, networking, my God, don’t get me started on networking. It’s always been like, I hate it. I hate networking. there were times where it was like, it just literally felt like I was, somebody was like forcing me into it versus there were times where it was like, okay, I know I have to network, but like holding the vision, it was like, okay, this is, do I want to be doing it? No. Am I excited to do it? No. But like, I’m okay to do it because I know what it’s going to gain me in the long run.

Amanda (19:27)
Hahaha.

Same.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (19:54)
⁓ And so I think it’s really about differentiating, like, it might not always be that you’re excited to do it, but does it feel, does it feel bad? Like, does your body have a, like, visceral reaction to it? Do you leave it feeling, like, just absolutely drained? Are you at the end of the day being like, I don’t even care what happens anymore? I think something that, like, I started realizing for myself too,

during the burnout phase was like, I knew I had to do things and I was like, I don’t even care. I don’t care if we bring new clients in anymore. Like, I don’t care if we make more money. And if you’re at that point, like we’re at burnout. We’re not caring about what’s happening anymore. We are absolutely at burnout and that’s when we need to like readjust and figure something else out.

Amanda (20:37)
Yes, yeah, I think that’s very different of like, I think we all, right, because again, social media paints this picture of, you know, working at the beach or just like margaritas all the time and like all chill and that’s what you’re supposed to be going for. And that’s what success and ease looks like. But if you are excited about opening your computer at nine o’clock to run payroll or write job descriptions or whatever it is, like that’s still good. So long as it’s

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (20:46)
Thank

you

You see? Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda (21:04)
You know, you have that feeling, you’re holding that vision and you’re not, I think the feeling forced into it part, like I really resonate with that. Cause yeah, there are times where it’s like, who told me to do this? Wait, I told me to do this. Wait, why am I doing this? So there’s, there’s a difference between if you’re doing something for the first time, learning new things, growing something, it does take effort. Like it’s not instantaneous as instantaneous as we want it to, we want to believe it is like it takes a lot of work.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (21:07)
R.A.P.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Amanda (21:34)
And that doesn’t mean, like lot of work is not a bad thing inherently, as long as you’re not burnt out and feeling angry.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (21:40)
Right, and that’s I think like such a good differentiation because especially like with having kids, see so many, I mean mom jamming was just like the biggest thing in the world, but especially around work, right? And it’s like, I see so many social media accounts of people that are like,

Amanda (21:49)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (21:57)
talking about how they don’t want their kids to see them working and they don’t want to ever have to say no to a kid because they have to go do work or something like that. And I’m like, that’s not the vibe I’m going for. Like I’m going for the vibe where like my kids can see me actually like love to work and like love what I’m doing. And it’s not, you know, I always used to think like I wanted part of my brand to be like anti-hustle culture. And like, I’m like, I actually disagree with that because the thing that got me to the success that I’ve had is hustling in the right season for it. And so,

Amanda (22:06)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (22:27)
I think it’s just so important to recognize that like, yeah, you know, the dream is to like have all your time back and be making insane amounts of money, right? But like, nobody started there. Literally nobody started there. And everybody had to have a season of hustle and had to have a season of grind. And so it’s not, you have to put in the work too. And it doesn’t, it’s not a bad thing though if you actually enjoy what you’re doing and if you have the vision of like what is possible on the other side. So, yeah.

Amanda (22:37)
Right. Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah. And I think that is, I remember when I was very early in my practice and I think I was, I think I attended like a free training about ultimately it was like adding coaching and it was promoting someone’s coaching program for adding coaching. ⁓ And she offered like free one-on-one calls with her and I had this call and she was like, well, what’s your vision? And I was like, I don’t even know what that means. Like, I don’t know what vision is. And I thought, I was like, that’s a stupid question. I just want to make more money. Like money is the vision, but.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (23:21)
Yup.

Amanda (23:22)
money

itself is not actually a vision. And so as we keep talking about like, yeah, what is your intent? What is your purpose? What is the vision? Like, I actually think that is really helpful for people to ground themselves in otherwise. Yeah, they’re not gonna know the difference between a 60 to 80 hour week in that season of hustle to get to the season of ease. They’re just gonna feel like, ⁓ this is what it is. This sucks. I actually don’t know if I wanna do this.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (23:40)
Right.

Right, right. And that’s, think so many people get in this like, I just want to make more money, I want to make more money, which like, that’s not a bad thing, like to want to more money, right? Like that’s really, honestly, I think money in the hands of therapists is like gonna do the world so much, so much better. But you have to, like, you can make money a thousand different ways. And so you have to know, what am I willing to put the work in to get to the money that I’m, you know, that is the goal for people.

Amanda (24:19)
And so in this theme of money and making a shit ton of it, ⁓ where do you feel like as a group practice owner, either as the owner scaling into becoming a group practice owner, what is the biggest money mindset thing that you see therapists struggle with? Is it the how much I pay myself versus staff or what are the other pieces?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (24:22)
Yes.

Yeah, I think it’s definitely like how much I pay myself versus staff. And I mean, I went through this too, like feeling like, I shouldn’t be paying myself this much. like when other people are getting paid a certain amount, right. And it actually came up with our admin quite a bit. And she, I was paying her what a normal admin rate was, which was $20 an hour. And she struggled with it. And I understand it because she wanted to make more. But if you want to make more, like then there’s other opportunities out there for you.

is position that, you know, is this. This is the money, the salary that’s this position. but I think, you know, I always compare it. love this comparison because when you think about paying lawyers, like we’re not just paying them for the time that they’re like physically at their desk. They bill by like, my employment lawyer bills by six minute increments, I think, but it’s not just like for the, again, the time that she’s spending at her desk, it’s for the time she’s thinking about.

what she’s helping me with. And so I love that comparison because I think group practice owners, we don’t give ourselves enough credit of what we’re doing because especially like I got to a place where, and I share this on social media, I was working physically like five hours a week in my practice, seeing clients, doing some website optimization stuff and managing staff and things like that. It was probably around five hours. Was I only thinking about my practice five hours a week? No.

Amanda (26:05)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (26:06)
And there’s

so much more to it, right? There’s the liability of it. There’s the managing, like we ⁓ take insurance and so there’s managing the insurance payment aspect of it. Like there’s so much to like justify how much I was paying myself and for any group practice owner out there, like you have to realize you hold all the risk and that can be a really scary thing. And usually it’s not because you have like systems in place and things like that to kind of be that catch all, but

you are holding all the risk and you deserve to be paid for everything you’ve built, all the systems you put in place, and the person managing it and being responsible if shit hits the fan at any point. ⁓ And so I think in terms of the mindset, it’s really about ⁓ learning to understand why you deserve to be paid, what you’re getting paid. And even in the seasons, I have a coach, I love this, I have a coaching client who we started our session and I was like, so how are things going? And she’s like, I’m bored.

Amanda (27:05)
Great!

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (27:05)
Amazing. I love to

hear that. That’s exactly where we want to be in our group practice, like I want you to be bored. But that’s, again, it’s a season. She’s not going to be bored forever and there’s going to be things that come up. And so just recognizing that like even in the seasons where you’re bored, you still deserve to be paid what you’re paying yourself.

And so it really is, it’s the money mindset around like feeling like you have to work a certain amount to be paid what you are taking home versus like what you’re paying your therapist and things like that. And the last thing I’ll say with that too is like, I was actually just talking to a coaching client yesterday about this. It’s like, if therapists weren’t happy working for you, if they weren’t happy for the pay that they’re getting, they have plenty of other options. They can go start their own practice if they want. They can go find a different job. And so they wouldn’t work for

you if there wasn’t some benefit to working for you. Even if it’s not fully financial, which that’s something I talk a lot about in coaching, it’s like it’s not always the straight amount you’re paying somebody that’s the benefit of working for you. There’s so many other benefits to working in a group practice.

Amanda (28:15)
When I was working at my agency before going into private practice, there was actually someone who was working solo private practice who left it and shut it down to join the agency. And in my mind, I was like, why would you do that? They don’t pay us enough here. But like she was like, yeah, I was just kind of tired of marketing myself and I was lonely. So it’s not always the financial thing that’s going to keep someone with you. There are other needs that we need to have met.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (28:23)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. And also not everyone is financially driven. And that’s something that I don’t think we always recognize too, because we are all surrounded by like-minded people who are goal-oriented and business-minded and money-minded, right? But there are a lot of people who don’t give a shit. How much they’re bringing in necessarily, and they just want to do what they love to do. They want to be surrounded by people they enjoy. And they want a positive work environment. And so that’s an…

Again, there’s so many other draws to working in a group practice than just the financial piece of it.

Amanda (29:18)
I think part of what we’ve talked about is, you know, any of this attachment stuff, this inner child stuff that may bring a lot of pieces to either money mindset or leadership roles or things like that. You and I have also collabed on a couple of social media pieces around being women of color and the additional layer that that adds onto like, can I be successful? What does it mean for me to make money? Do people take me seriously compared to, you know, others? So as you’ve,

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (29:27)
Thank

Yes.

Amanda (29:48)
worked also with therapists, what are you seeing in terms of just like cultural pieces that they’re struggling with and have to work through?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (29:55)
Yeah, that’s a great question. it’s interesting because a lot of the people in my coaching program are minorities. They’re BIPOC members of BIPOC communities. And it’s been really cool to draw that in and talk about the systemic issues that we’re facing, right? And just knowing that that adds such a deeper level to all of this, especially the money mindset piece.

like wanting to make a good salary and feeling deserving of it and just, you know, and like climbing the ladder and knowing what’s like with the barriers that we’re facing as women, as women of color. And so that’s something that like, I love talking to people about is like recognizing how just by like existing in this space, just by like creating a business, just by deciding to like,

expand to a group practice and hire and like become like step into this leadership role like you are crushing through so many like barriers that so many people never thought was possible and that’s like I love it because I think they’re obviously like there needs to be so much more representation in this space and so it’s really exciting seeing and getting to work with all these women who are

Amanda (31:06)
Thanks

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (31:11)
expanding to group practices and I’m like, you guys are just setting the example of like what is actually possible in this space. And so I think the cultural piece is huge and I hope that, you know, people see people like us and they believe that it’s possible for them too to step into these like really badass roles for themselves.

Amanda (31:30)
Hell yeah.

Yeah, exactly. And that’s what, you know, a lot of conversations I have with people who are, again, scaling and diversifying in whatever way is like, is there space for me? And like, what does make me unique? And I’m like, I mean, literally look at like who you are, like, are you a person of color? Are you a member of the queer community? Like anything that makes us us and the more that we embrace that even as a part of our marketing, like

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (31:57)
Great.

Amanda (31:57)
that does

make us different. There are so many people I work with who are like, I don’t see many other women of color coaches, or I don’t think people will get, you people who grew up, ⁓ I don’t know if like high SES, but at least higher SES may not get like the specific things that I struggle with that I’ve shared, I do, like in my podcast and in different posts. So I think that there is a piece of like, there’s always gonna be space for whatever it is that you do, because to have

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (32:04)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Amanda (32:25)
a clinic owner who’s a person of color, to have a coach who’s a person of color, whatever it is, you are bringing that personal touch to it and seeing someone in a way that they may not have been seen or held before.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (32:36)
Yeah,

yeah, which like, it’s interesting you say that because I think about that from both perspectives of like coaching, but also like being a therapist, right? And like, for the therapist with a group practice who again, we talked so much in

Amanda (32:46)
Yeah.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (32:51)
our coaching calls about, you know, what is the draw for somebody to work for your practice beyond just how much you’re going to pay them. And a lot of times I talk about like, what is the vibe of your practice? And we talk about, have, you know, people of color, have people of the queer community. And I’m like, think about how incredible it is for somebody who identifies in that way to get to work for a group practice that like sees them.

for who they truly are and not even just seize them because like anybody could do that right like a white cis man could could do that but hopefully hopefully they could hopefully they’re on their journey to be able to do that but like it’s so different when it’s somebody who identifies in the same way right and it’s like i would if i had a choice between working for like whether it’s a group practice or whatever it is working with a coach

Amanda (33:26)
Hopefully.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (33:44)
who is a person of color versus a white person to be totally transparent, I’m gonna choose a person of color because you identify in a way that resonates with me and I feel so much more seen and held with that person. ⁓ And so I just think it’s how crucial it is for people who are identified in some sort of minority, whether it’s queer community, BIPOC, whatever it is.

to go after your dreams because you never know who is going to like come through your door who wouldn’t have otherwise who like would have just not done anything had you not existed and so and it goes for coaching space but it also goes for like therapists and group practices like people want to work for people that they can like actually be themselves with so yeah

Amanda (34:11)
Yes.

Yeah. Yeah.

Cause again, speaking around like what keeps people at a group practice or agency or whatever it is, like again, the last place I was at, the majority of leadership team were women of color. And I was like, this is awesome. We have one white man and then like four women of color. And I was like, this, yeah, it was weird too, because it’s in the middle of Oregon, which is a very white state, but

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (34:45)
Yeah.

That’s amazing.

Amanda (34:57)
That’s, part of what drew me to it. Cause otherwise a lot of the staff of agencies I was interviewing at were like pretty much like white insist dominant and male dominant. So that kept me there probably longer than I would have if like, I wasn’t seen as much if we didn’t have as many conversations around culture and diversity and honoring staff. ⁓ So if that is something that you build your group practice culture and vibe around, like that can also keep people there.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (35:09)
Yeah.

Amanda (35:27)
not regardless of what the financial situation is, but it can compete with it of like, sure, maybe I could make more money elsewhere, but maybe I’m not going to be held and seen in the same way.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (35:29)
We’re ready. Yeah.

And that’s, mean, you still have to be compensated well and we’re never going to tell somebody to like pay their therapist $20 an hour or something like that. like, yeah, but there’s people get so stuck in their heads of like, well, I can’t pay what like these other agencies are paying or, you know, things like that. And it’s like, that’s not all that people are looking for. Like there are other pieces to this puzzle that really matter. like working, I mean, that’s why people, any therapist could work for themselves. Any therapist could start their own.

Amanda (35:45)
I know.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (36:07)
their own practice, right? But there’s so many draws to like making less money, but working among like-minded individuals and like having that community and collaboration and just so many other components to it ⁓ that are just crucial.

Amanda (36:22)
Yeah. So you’ve sold the group practice. It’s still a little bit new. What do you think is next for you in these again, five years from now it could change, but your next like let’s say three to six months. What are you focusing on? What is it you want to do personally and professionally?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (36:26)
Just.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah,

that’s a great question. mean, it’s interesting because when I sold, people were like, so are you just not working anymore? I was like, actually, my day to day really hasn’t changed that much. And especially because it’s a transition. It’s not like I’m just done with the practice. So definitely helping ease that transition, making sure that the new leadership is, they know what they’re doing and they’re taking over the systems and everything.

But in terms of where I’m actually going from here, it’s really leaning into the coaching space. And just I have my Freedom First Group Practice Accelerator. And we have some badass women in there who are absolutely crushing it right now. ⁓ And so just continuing with that because, again, I had a conversation with one of my clients yesterday.

we were talking about, were wrapping up our three months together and she’s the same person who told me she’s bored of her practice. So we were talking about like, you know, what are you wanting from here? And she was like, you know, after I saw you say that you sold your practice, I thought maybe that’s what I want to. And I was like, let’s do it, you know, like, and so it’s really just getting to help therapists who want to scale to a group practice or who already have one. And again, this is like full circle, like,

please don’t burn your practice to ground. Like you have an asset, even if you’re not gonna sell it for millions of dollars, like you still have an asset that is sellable, regardless of like whether or not you think it’s like a terrible, like whatever, you’re burning money or anything like that. And so my goal really is to like help continue to help therapists scale their practice to a place that is sellable, even if they don’t want to sell it. And like what that means is that it runs itself, that you don’t have to be there for the day-to-day operations.

Amanda (37:55)
Ha ha ha.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (38:23)
So that’s kind of the short-term vision, I would say, right now. Maybe it’s long-term, I don’t know, but for at least the next year, that’s kind of ⁓ what I’m leaning into. And just easing my life a little bit, right? I have three kids, five and younger, and so I want to be able to really spend more time with them also and balance both sides of my life right now.

Amanda (38:47)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I love that. And part of what I really love about what you’re doing too is not just like honoring your own needs and your own wants, but a lot of people in your position could see like, there are there are already other coaches out there helping people grow into group practices. Like, why should I bother? Whereas you’re like, not really fucking good at what I do. And I draw in my people. And why would I not continue moving in that space when you’re working with people you love and you love what you’re doing? So

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (39:06)
Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda (39:16)
It gets great to

just, you know, talking about that abundance mindset of like there’s space for everyone in whatever they’re doing.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (39:22)
Totally, totally. And I mean, it’s very much like what we were just talking about. There’s gonna be people who resonate with me and who wanna work with me, who don’t wanna work with other people and vice versa. And like, that’s totally fine. I want people in my circle who vibe with me and like align with the way that I work and operate and everything like that. So there’s always room for more people. So, yeah.

Amanda (39:35)
Yes.

Yes, yes, for sure. Any

parting words you want to leave the listeners with and especially in terms of how they can keep in touch with you and learn about what you’re doing?

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (39:51)
Yeah, totally. ⁓ I mean, I think in terms of like parting words, it’s really like, don’t stifle yourself. Like don’t set your own boundaries ⁓ in terms of like what’s possible for you. look at people who are doing it and view it as motivation and like aspiration, not.

not something that’s going to tell you like you can’t do it and that there’s not room for you. ⁓ So I would say like that’s my biggest parting advice to people ⁓ in terms of like how people can get in my circle. So on Instagram my handle is dr.anahitobanu. You can find me there and I have like I said I have my freedom first group practice accelerator and so if you are interested in joining it’s a three month program ⁓ you can DM me on Instagram or I have the link in my bio on Instagram and I’m revamping my website so it’s not currently

Amanda (40:18)
Mm Love it.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (40:39)
live, but it will be in a little bit. But yeah, find me on Instagram and that’s how we can connect. my DMs are always open. I’m happy to chat with people. And it’s really me in DMs. I get people who are like, are you AI? I’m like, no, it’s me. It’s all me. I’m here to chat with you. And I love connecting with people. So please reach out if you feel so inclined.

Amanda (40:51)
Yeah.

So yeah, we’ll make sure we link all of that in the show notes too. And I’m sure by the time this episode is out, you’ll have the website all brand new revamped and put up there so people can find you very easily. Thanks so much for spending time with me today. This is an awesome conversation.

Anahita Banoo Lake-Khosravi (41:11)
a little bit. Yeah,

thanks Amanda. It was so fun to be here with you.