WP128 | When Doing It Isn't Doing It Anymore with Christy Pennison and Stephanie Korpal
Ever feel like you're running on empty but can’t quite figure out why? Burnout doesn’t hit like a lightning bolt—it sneaks in, disguised as busyness, exhaustion, and a growing disconnect from the passion that once fueled you. As a practice owner, you’re juggling a thousand responsibilities, but when was the last time you truly paused to reflect?
In this episode of the Wise Practice Podcast, Christy Pennison, Stephanie Korpal, and Whitney Owens dig deep into why reflection isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. They unpack how solo and group practice owners alike can build intentional moments of self-awareness to stay aligned, avoid burnout, and sustain a practice they love. They’ll also introduce the Five Rs—a simple yet powerful framework to help you reset before exhaustion forces your hand.
If you’re ready to stop running on autopilot and start leading with clarity and purpose, this episode is for you. Tune in, take a breath, and let’s talk about how to make reflection a non-negotiable in your life and business.
Why Reflection Matters
In a conversation on the Wise Practice Podcast, Christy Pennison, Stephanie Korpal, and Whitney Owens discussed the necessity of making time for reflection. When you’re caught in the daily grind—seeing clients, managing administrative tasks, and growing your practice—self-reflection often takes a backseat. But without it, you risk running on autopilot, losing sight of why you started your practice in the first place.
For solo practitioners, the challenge can be even greater. With no team to bounce ideas off of or to help shoulder responsibilities, it’s easy to fall into a cycle of constant doing. Group practice owners, on the other hand, may find moments of reflection when team members acknowledge their growth and success. But regardless of practice size, creating intentional time to pause and assess is critical for long-term sustainability.
The Culture of Doing vs. Being
Our culture rewards busyness. As entrepreneurs, we often feel addicted to action—launching new projects, refining our business models, expanding services. Christy highlighted how this “doing” mode can become a habit, making it difficult to slow down and simply be. This constant movement, though sometimes productive, can also prevent us from recognizing when it’s time to pivot, rest, or realign with our deeper purpose.
The Role of Community in Reflection
Reflection doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor. Stephanie pointed out that surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who prioritize self-awareness and intentional decision-making can help reinforce those habits in your own life. Whether it’s a mastermind group, a faith-based community, or trusted colleagues, having people who will challenge and support you is invaluable.
Whitney shared how feedback from others has been instrumental in her own reflection process. Sometimes, an outside perspective can help us see things we might be avoiding—whether it’s an unsustainable workload, misplaced priorities, or a business model that no longer aligns with our values.
Incorporating Reflection Into Your Life
Christy and Stephanie introduced the concept of the Five Rs as a simple framework to build reflection into your routine:
Recognize – Acknowledge the need for reflection before burnout forces it upon you.
Review – Assess what’s working and what’s not in your practice and personal life.
Reassess – Consider if your current path aligns with your long-term goals and values.
Realign – Make necessary adjustments to ensure your work supports your well-being and mission.
Recharge – Intentionally create space for rest, creativity, and renewal.
Final Thoughts
We know reflection is important, yet we often struggle to prioritize it. The key is not perfection but consistency. Even small moments of intentional reflection can help prevent burnout, provide clarity, and ensure your practice remains fulfilling. Whether it’s through journaling, prayer, conversations with mentors, or simply setting aside quiet time each week, make reflection a habit that supports both your personal and professional growth.
How do you build reflection into your routine?
Christy Pennison and Stephanie Korpal’s Resources
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[00:00:00] Whitney Owens: Hi, I am Whitney Owens. I'm a group practice owner and faith-based practice consultant, and I'm here to tell you that you can have it all. Wanna grow your practice, wanna grow your faith, wanna enjoy your life outside of work, you've come to the right place. Each week on the Wise Practice Podcast, I will give you the action steps to have a successful faith-based practice while also having a good time.
Now let's get started.
[00:00:29] Jingle: Where she grows your practice and she don't play. She does business with a twist of faith. It's Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast, Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast.
[00:00:48] Whitney Owens: If you're anything like me, is challenging to slow down and think about your practice and think about the direction you're going in. As a practice owner, we have so many demands and that might be tasks, it might be decisions. People reaching out to us, crisises to manage. It is so hard to get a loan or just think clearly.
I feel that, and as much as I have intentions of doing that. Things really do take up your time. This episode today where we interview Christie Pennon and Stephanie Corporal from the private, from the Practice Co Lab, we are gonna talk about how to make intentions, how to put time aside for reflection, and they have a really great model that they're gonna go through with us.
I found this interview helpful and informative, and the most important part is I need the resolve to do it. And so these ladies will give you just that. So you are gonna hear a lot about how to take care of yourself, how to be intentional, how to improve your reflection within your practice, and they also have a freebie that's available to you.
I am so grateful for the relationships that I've gained over the years and these two ladies I la I met years ago. In a different group and was such an honor to be able to interact with them and to know them and watch them grow their practices and their consulting business. And I think it just speaks to the importance of meet other people.
Y'all like, you don't have to do this alone. This podcast is a great start, but there are lots of ways to get involved in the last practice community. There's a lot of ways to get involved. Even the practice CoLab is they're gonna tell you all about that and that's another great way to meet other practice owners.
They specifically work with group practice owners, really slowing down and having retreats and being intentional with the work you do. So I'm looking forward to introducing you to them. So we're gonna go ahead and jump into the episode. With Christy Pennon and Stephanie Orle
today on the Last Practice Podcast, I not only get to interview some amazing group practice owners and consultants, but also friends of mine. We have Christy Pennon and Stephanie Corporal here on the show. They are the co-founders of the Practice CoLab on a mission to help group practice owners work less, make more, and live most.
What started as a spontaneous working weekend between two nearly strangers in 2020 quickly turned into a transformative collaboration that redefined how practice owners can succeed. Together with Christie's big picture vision and Stephanie's eye for detail, they offer a unique blend of energy strategy and real world experience in growing and managing group practices.
Now they're ready to share their insights. Helping fellow practice owners overcome obstacles, streamline operations, build a thriving, sustainable business. Thanks for coming on the show, ladies.
[00:03:46] Stephanie Korpal: Always good to see you, Whitney. I miss you.
[00:03:49] Christy Pennison: Aw. Well, and Whitney, when you were reading that, I was thinking, and in 2020 we were getting some help and consulting from Whitney.
Yeah,
[00:03:58] Whitney Owens: well I, it's an honor to be a part of that and then to see all the good things that God does in your practices and within your businesses and just. Who you are as beautiful people. So I really appreciate having you on the show. And we're gonna talk about a topic that's super important for all of us as business owners, this idea of slowing down reflection.
And as Christians, you are really listening to the Holy Spirit's activity in our lives. So y'all are the ones who brought this topic to the table, and so I'm really excited to be able to hear kinda your thoughts and insights. Tell me first, like what kind of brought this up for you today?
[00:04:33] Stephanie Korpal: Do we think we're all gonna cry today?
I just kind of was like, as you were doing that in production, I was like, oh, I think I'm gonna get emotional today. So just gonna preview that for anybody listening. Oh gosh. Well, that's
[00:04:46] Whitney Owens: funny because I, I was thinking before we got on how the last time we got on that happened. I don't if you remember I was a mess.
I can't remember what was going on. I was like all teared up. And then today, right before we started recording, I'm having like a yucky day and I was like, oh my gosh, am I seriously gonna cry again? So yeah. Stephanie, we're kindred spirits here. Color. Be shocked. Not at all. It's just 'cause we love each other and what we get to do and we're very grateful for it.
Yeah.
[00:05:16] Stephanie Korpal: Yeah. Yeah. Um, wow. Okay. So what are we supposed to dig into from there? Yeah, we're talking about what about room for God in the Holy Spirit? Mm-hmm.
[00:05:25] Christy Pennison: Well, and reflection in general. Right. And honestly, uh, maybe the reason why you're thinking, okay, are we gonna get teary eyes? 'cause we can think about our journey and the different intersections that we've been on together over the past.
You know, I guess. Probably five years I think, right? Somewhere around there. Uhhuh, since we've all known each other and you know, sometimes when you are running in the day to day, whether you're a solo practitioner or a group practice owner, you can get overwhelmed pretty easily. It, or just called up in, what do I do next?
I remember when we first started out, Whitney, when you were helping us and consulting with us. I remember I was just trying to throw whatever would stick on the wall. Like, you know, try whatever it could make it, try to make it happen and keep trying to do, right? Mm-hmm. And I think one of the things that we've learned as we've went along the journey is that you can keep doing, but if you don't have that.
Space to really reflect and even to your point, realign with what you feel God is calling to you to this. In this season, you can be going a thousand miles in the wrong direction and so that's where we really wanna. Kind of maybe talk about today, how do you create that intentional space for reflection?
Because it does require intention. And if you don't, then you might feel all of those feelings that we all feel on the journey, overwhelm possible, teetering on burnout, you know, decision fatigue, all those things. And how can you get to space of realignment for yourself and your practice?
[00:06:56] Whitney Owens: Mm-hmm. Christie, you said that so well.
Thank you. Like, and, and even this idea of like something sticking to the wall. It does feel like, especially when we're not focused, we're just doing things to see what happens. And it's exhausting. We're creating more burnout than where we're already at.
[00:07:16] Christy Pennison: Yeah. And that burnout thing, it creeps up on you.
It's not like you know it, people normally don't see burnout coming, right. It's just you get there and then that creates a space for forced reflection. Like at that point, you're so tired, you have, you have no other option but to reflect. And so maybe what we can talk about today is for those of you who feel like you're teetering, how can you do this before you even get there to help make sure that you're in alignment with what feels right for you?
[00:07:45] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Well, that'd be great. I'd love to hear about that.
[00:07:49] Stephanie Korpal: You're taking this all on your own, Christie, go for it. You were Oh, no, no, Steph, no, in a good way. That was not, that was not a negative thing. It was
[00:07:55] Christy Pennison: just,
[00:07:56] Stephanie Korpal: I'm
[00:07:56] Christy Pennison: sitting
[00:07:56] Stephanie Korpal: here
[00:07:57] Christy Pennison: like, Uhhuh. Go ahead. Yeah. I need more reflection in my life. Well, and let's talk about this.
So me and Steph, kind of like you said, we met when we were in a, in a consulting group and Whitney was one of our leaders. And you know, the whole journey of us of how we got here is. We realized that it was hard to create sometimes space for reflection by yourself. So we always have these ideas of like, yes, that sounds great.
Taking a few hours to sit and ask myself deep questions and, and figure out where I wanna go, where my energy's going, what's working, what's not. And I'm saying all those kind of very, you know, sarcastically, but we have good intentions. But often that intention doesn't come to fruition. And what we've found is.
If you can set something, you can do this by yourself, but you could find somebody else to help do this with, and that that kind of really can create some change. But I'll let Stephanie maybe give your a little bit perspective about some ways that we've kind of seen that this works
[00:09:00] Stephanie Korpal: well. Yeah. First I wanna just reflect on the different.
Way speaking to those solo practitioners. I wonder if it's actually harder to reflect as a solo practitioner than a group practice owner, because in group practice, I do think sometimes, either because of other people seeing what you've built and how it can seem so grand or things like that. Other people say things that may at least give you room for pause.
Not that people don't appreciate solo practitioners and what they've built in the same way, but you know, in my life, friends and family will say, can you believe that this is where your practice is? Gone to since you first built it, like, no, I can't. And so things like that will really make me sit down and give me that moment.
But solo practitioners, because you really are on your own all the time, I do wonder if there are thoughts about doing vision work and not necessarily thoughts about reflecting on what you've built, how you're taking care of yourself, how you are being a conduit for. A calling and so I don't know. I haven't thought about that much before, but now it's coming up and I wonder if solo practitioners.
Almost need this in a different way than group practice owners, but just as much. It's the same ultimate time and space, but the the need for it is almost filling a little bit of a different bucket to keep going. And so again, it's so important no matter where you are in this business to create that space.
Because what we do, no matter what hats we're wearing, reconciling the books. Supervising other clinicians providing therapy or any of the other myriad of things that any business owner has to figure out how to do. You do need to sit down and think through, am I taking care of myself enough to keep doing this?
And also, I'm gonna bring the Enneagram in here a little bit. Depending on what your inner voice is, you might not be so good at giving yourself some credit or room for things to be good enough. And so, so that's important too, and being able to hear yourself talk, but also hear your faith life bringing up in a way that can continue to fertilize your growth and work in the days and months and years to come.
[00:11:31] Christy Pennison: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Whitney, what have you, what have you heard and seen through your experience about this intentional reflection time? Where do you see practice owners struggle, whether they're solo or group? I.
[00:11:43] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Lots of things, and I think Stephanie kind of spoke to this, the solo practice owners are wearing all the hats.
Mm.
[00:11:50] Whitney Owens: And so it's very hard for them to find that time and to think about, it's hard for them to be creative and think there's something beyond just doing therapy. All Yes. Mm. Right. They're so in this. Maybe hamster wheels. The way to say it, I gotta make this income so I can pay my rent, so I can do these things, and then they feel like there's no breathing room for attending a conference to think outside the box or being creative with a course, or how do I launch a course the right way instead of just throwing a course on the wall and seeing if it sticks right.
I'm also thinking about a practice center I talked to recently. Gosh, this person owned like three or four businesses and it's one of those people that I just feel the anxiety coming off of all the time, you know, and always struggles to get back to me, has too many things going on, and I just looked at 'em and I said, you are covering up all your anxiety by doing a bunch of things, and if you slowed down and took some things off your plate, I think you'd really figure out what you wanted.
[00:12:53] Christy Pennison: Very, yeah. And look, anybody that has started a practice, you are a doer. Okay? Uhhuh. So you are an implementer. You are not the person that is sitting on the sidelines saying you, you've tooken the step to make things happen. And I have noticed within myself, Whitney, like throughout the years doing can become addictive.
Seriously. Like it's like, do I do this and then this happens, or I do this? Oh. And that didn't work out the way I thought it was gonna be, but I'm gonna do again. And 'cause you learn that like sometimes by that doing, you can create some traction, right? But like you said, if you're not in that intentional space to like, okay, maybe doing it, isn't it doing it anymore, and I need to just be.
B, and I'm like doing my little calming fingers. But you know that it's a hard place to get into because your nervous system, I think just gets used to the go, go, go. For sure. And the slowdown is kind of a challenge, at least for me. Yeah.
[00:13:57] Stephanie Korpal: Yeah. I also think there's something with multi ambitious people, which most entrepreneurs are.
Um, none of us are here. None of us. And I don't think every, everybody who then practice, I think there are people who own a practice that just wanna do therapy. And it satisfies them. Fulfills them, and, and that's great. And I also think there are a lot of other people who do have. So many thoughts and ideas and dreams and ambitions, like I said, and then blowing down enough to hear what that next iteration of their business is, or the next outgrowth of their talents is really important, but they feel like they can't lose the time.
That it would take for that. But that is that reflection space to make sure that you are accurately assessing what is fulfilling you, what you do feel called to do next, what does align best with your strengths and your needs. And again, it can just be really hard to find that time, but so critical for actually growing, multiplying your talents and resting enough to keep going with that, doing that, Christie talked about.
[00:15:08] Whitney Owens: Yeah. Some sitting here thinking, we all know this is important. I'm gonna guess that anyone listening to the show is like, yeah, slowing down and prayer and mindfulness in God's presence. These are all important. Mm-hmm. Why are we not doing it more?
[00:15:23] Stephanie Korpal: I think we are living in a culture that doesn't. Promote that or prioritize it.
And I talk often, like with the couple of clients I still have, about how important it is to surround yourself with the people that reflect the values you want to have. I. The priorities in your own life, right? And so I think any business owner, solo practitioner, group practice owner out there who wants to make sure to take that time for reflection or wants to get better at their faith, life or prayer, make sure the people that are.
You know, closest in your circle. Are the people doing that? The people who say, have you talked to God about that? Or who say, oh yeah, I was praying the other day and it came to me, what I need to do next. But if you're already struggling to do that by yourself and you've been struggling with it year after year, even if you have the best intention in your head or at New Year's, or when a birthday comes around or anything.
What you need to do is have people in your life that are reflecting that behavior in their own life, and then with enough time spent around them, you'll be mimicking, modeling, mirroring that same behavior. And so that's when these groups, like the conference that you have or masterminds, are so important because that's when you can find those people who are already like you, but are also maybe doing things that you've been longing for in your own life.
And again, continued exposure to them in creating. Meaningful relationship with them will rub off on you. Mm-hmm. Ways that you've been wanting to elevate your life. Usually for years. Mm-hmm.
[00:17:02] Whitney Owens: Good. Definitely. And I think about, we were kind of talking about this reflection piece. Sometimes the reflection is about us.
Just on our own, but also you were kind of speaking to people that know us, speak that life into us. Like I can't tell you how many times with mastermind groups and other practice owners that know me really well, they can say something that I didn't see in myself until they said it. I feel that angst come up within me.
You know that offensiveness, and that's usually a sign that this is real and I need to pay attention to it. And I'm just so grateful for all the times that people have said things into my life like that.
[00:17:41] Stephanie Korpal: Yeah. Well, and as a, again, as a clinician and a business owner, you're not, you're, you're taking care of everything and not, not many people are taking care of you.
Um, especially if you also add in roles of mother, or you have aging parents who are sick and you're becoming a caretaker of your aging parents or any other role you play in your life. There's so much pouring out and pouring into other people, which has, you know, holiness to it. But. There's also that I need to be poured into.
And so again, being in those groups with people that know you really well does allow that to happen. And the pouring into you might be some unwelcome truth sometimes, but they are things that eventually will move you along and do allow you to feel seen and understood and loved. And that can be really hard in an entrepreneurial space and journey.
[00:18:35] Whitney Owens: Definitely. And so how do y'all make this time of reflection? How do you incorporate this into your lives?
[00:18:43] Christy Pennison: Yeah. Well this is a great question, Whitney. 'cause we were talking about this before, you know, we got on here and we're like, what is it? What has helped us incorporate this into our life? And let me do a disclaimer before we kind of talk about our little acronym we're gonna give you to help you remember this.
Okay. Is that we don't always do it perfectly. Okay? And this you might go through seasons where you have more of this reflection than others. So remember some reflection. Time for and space for this is better than nothing. And doing it, maybe imperfectly is better than doing it perfectly, but for us, we said we, we really came up with something that would help us remember and communicate this, but we call it the five Rs, and these are things that we've noticed that you have to kind of almost put into place so that you can.
Make sure that, that you are giving this time. And so I'll do like the first two or three and then let stuff take some of them away. And that sounds good, but plan, one of them is Plan, yeah, the game plan. Okay. So if you're like, yes, this sounds great, what you're talking about, how do I do this? Here's just some suggestions that maybe can help you along the way.
But one of the things we found is for us, it's like setting a consistent rhythm. So, you know, just like we as therapists do a really great job most of the time of setting a rhythm for our clients, right? Mm-hmm. And I always say, I can show up for anybody else. Every day of the week showing up for myself or showing up to give that intentional space and reflection time with God, time with just seeing how I'm feeling, how are things is, is a challenge.
I'm not gonna lie. So sometimes that rhythm is setting some type of consistent meeting and putting it on your calendar just like you would a client session. You know, you would not put a client session, you know, on your calendar, but do the same. At the same priority level for your reflection. This can be daily, weekly.
It can be monthly. But figure out what works for you and in what capacity, but set it and then show up for it. Right? And if you need somebody else to come along with you, that gets into another R, which is like relationship. Then you can invite people along the journey with you. And I think, like we were talking about es, especially for solo practitioners and group prac, practice owners too, but solo practitioners invite another solo practice owner in your area to say, let's go do coffee on this date.
We'll spend about an hour and a half, maybe 30 minutes of that. We're just gonna take some time to sit with each other and do our reflections, and then maybe we can. Discuss with each other, kind of what's coming up for us, because I do think there's power in relationship and people who get what you're going through can weigh in and help you give perspective and direction when needed.
But it also allows you to honor the commitment to yourself to spend time, just whether it be reflecting or praying. I mean, y'all can go on a walk. I mean, you can do all kinds of stuff, let your creative mind take you away, but some kind of relationship. And like you said, Steph, I mean we are, the quote is I think what you're the, some of the five people you spend the most time with, the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
There you go. There you go. That one. That one. Yeah. Yeah. So if you are, you know, spending time with people who get it and that are also gonna elevate your maybe perspective or thinking then that really. It can add a lot of value and I think for all of us, we all have masterminds that we're in still to this day, that these people have walked the journey and have added incredible value to me, but they also know me so they know when to be like.
Christie, slow down or that doesn't seem like a good idea, or have you, or have you prayed about that? Or is that just something you're thinking that you want to do and you really haven't aligned with your faith and making sure this is something that isn't a good season for you? So I would say definitely relationship and then also like a ritual.
So sometimes people. You know, we need a space that may be not our work environment to go and do this reflective piece. So for you, if sometimes when you go into your office setting that creates like some feelings of like, oh, I need to go see somebody. Or you know. 'cause when you get in your environment, especially provide therapy, it's almost organic that you put that therapist hat on.
So find a space, an environment that to do this in that may actually help you settle into the. Slow down and just that calm. But those, those are three Rs. I'll let Stephanie maybe take the the last two. Yeah. So rhythm, ritual, relationship. What I wanna say about ritual
[00:23:26] Stephanie Korpal: is that people's rituals obviously will look a lot different.
Christie's a journaler, she loves to journal. She does it beautifully. I will never. I've tried. I will continue to try. It's not gonna take with me, I'm just not that person. But I do reflect if I am like reading a book that related to leadership or even faith, I will slow down from a sentence in a book. So I'm not gonna try to journal.
I will try to read as that prompting my ability to reflect. So I think you have to know yourself really well here. Like Christie said, is it a walk with a meditation? I reflect really well while I'm doing a puzzle, right? I'm slowed down enough, but my brain's engaged, but it can, my mind can wander enough.
So I think the ritual, people need to know that they can be really creative in what that environment and the activity that prompts it can be. But
[00:24:23] Whitney Owens: yeah, what do. That's great. I love that you just shared that, Stephanie. Of course, again, you're my same Enneagram, so I'm like thinking about that. I love journaling.
I also find dreams to be reflective, so I'll wake up and write my dream down and really like sit with the images of the dream and what are they speaking to me. 'cause usually that's telling me something I'm not paying attention to. That just happened this week and it was. Really insightful for me. I also like to just lay down and close my eyes and just let my mind float.
Mm-hmm. And a lot of times that brings things up as well.
[00:25:01] Stephanie Korpal: Do you dream in color or black and white?
[00:25:04] Whitney Owens: Usually. In
[00:25:04] Christy Pennison: color.
[00:25:05] Stephanie Korpal: In color.
[00:25:05] Christy Pennison: Christie, what about you? I. I can't remember my dreams. What does that say about me? I don't know. Honestly, I can't remember my dreams that much. Sometimes I can, and Whitney, I probably should take a practice that when I can, I.
Remember them to write them down. But I find that in periods, and this is also knowing yourself, right? I'm typically dream more in periods of high stress or a season where I'm trying to get stuff done. And normally when I'm more at peace and not as like, Ooh, what do we gotta do next? Then I don't dream as much.
It's very interesting.
[00:25:42] Stephanie Korpal: Sorry to take us on that tangent. I just always like asking people that it turns into usually an interesting conversation. Mm-hmm. What about you, Steph? Color? Black and white. I have no idea. I don't dream often, but I, I have literally no idea. And then as soon as I start, start trying to describe my dream, it's like it floats away from my consciousness as the words are coming outta my mouth.
[00:26:02] Whitney Owens: Yep, yep. And I can't always finish. I do a lot of dream work therapeutically with clients. I do. Mm-hmm. And my therapist, no. No. I've always done it. Cool. My therapist is, I didn't trained and so she did it with me and it was always really helpful. But we do dream every night. And the more you write 'em down, the more you're conscious will say, oh, you're paying attention to me.
I'm gonna dream more. Right. And typically it is all the stuff we hide all the time. It's coming out in our dreams in different mysterious ways. So we're like finding out what that looks like 'cause we're hiding it during the day.
[00:26:35] Stephanie Korpal: Mm-hmm.
[00:26:36] Whitney Owens: So anyway, if y'all ever want, that's a whole nother episode. I know we should do a whole brief interpretation episode, but um, yeah, that's great.
If you need a Guinea
[00:26:43] Christy Pennison: pig, I'll write a few down and come back. Okay Whitney, and you can definitely
[00:26:48] Stephanie Korpal: some. That would be a fun book to write. I, you know, my life in a Year of Dreams. That would be fun. That would be fun. Okay, the five hours, the last two, so realign as part of your reflection. You know, I think as Ben business owners, time goes so fast and life is changing around us, or we are changing because of business ownership or because of life in general.
So making sure to reflect at a frequency that is appropriate to the change in your life to make sure that you are realigning and keeping. Your business and its values and align with your life values, but also at certain times of uncertainty or after overcoming or while dealing with a big challenge, making sure that things are aligned right?
Because that usually is part of a challenge. You feel dysregulated because things aren't aligned anymore, so sometimes you have to zoom out to really make sure. If you're exerting influencer control in places that's appropriate, but also in ways that it's going to work at the end of the challenge. You know when it is resolved and you are moving forward, and also making sure that you're keeping your priorities in order, right?
Because those, we can, we can say all day long, we're really good at prioritizing things, but it. Is also really obvious to anyone who's an adult, that priorities can get knocked over pretty easily when something big comes in. And making sure that we are staying aligned with our values and our priorities can be a great way to make sure we're overcoming challenges in a way that's gonna feel good or or to help with decision making.
You know, we can get stuck in. Hazy decisions. But if we go back to that value system, go back to those priorities. And again, this, this is easy to hear if you slow down, we're, we're making sure that we're realigning everything in the season of uncertainty. I. Which becomes new, which then becomes normal. And then finally, and this is a huge one, and I, Christy and I talk a lot about how lucky we are that we were able to do this well after learning so much.
But you have to have the resolve to follow through, right? So you can learn all day long, you can reflect all day long, but if you aren't somebody that's going to have a system, the resolve within yourself to actually implement. It's not gonna do much good. Right? So, so many business owners and, and I get it, we're all busy.
Just collect knowledge, collect workbooks, collect spreadsheets, API trackers all sorts of things, and don't do anything with them. And so if you are looking for space for reflection and you do get clarity during reflection, you have to then move forward. With the implementation from that reflection so you can continue to level up and evolve and, and that feels good to do with other people, you know?
So all of these kind, all of these five Rs feed into each other become a positive snowball effect. But if you, if you're creating all the time and space to do this, set up a frequency, you know, set up that rhythm, the ritual, the relationship, you also have to then have the resolve to follow through on it.
Because otherwise you're just kind of leaving what you learned in the dust and, and not keeping up with all of your potential.
[00:30:16] Whitney Owens: So important. Yeah. And at least for me, it's having a coach. It's having a mastermind group. It's having people that I'm saying it to. Yes. Telling what I'm gonna do, something that's actually gonna help me follow through with it.
[00:30:28] Stephanie Korpal: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. The account accountability
[00:30:31] Whitney Owens: piece.
[00:30:32] Christy Pennison: I'm telling you, me and Steph have reflected on this a lot, Whitney. 'cause you know, thinking about just where the past few years have really taken us and you know, where my practice journey has been, has far exceeded what my original vision was for where, where I was going.
And there are some things I. Excuse me, that I could have never imagined being here. But I think what has helped is these, honestly, these five R's, but then getting in community and getting that accountability and getting mentorship or coaching. There's just so many things that you don't know that you don't know that.
Mm-hmm. When you have somebody that has either been a few steps. Ahead of you on the journey, or they're walking the journey with you, the learning that you're doing together, all those separately, it's just like a multiplier, really. Mm-hmm. You know, because they might be learning this over here, you're learning this over here, and then you're sharing it, so then you're actually like saving a lot of learning time.
I have a good example because I've, yeah,
[00:31:32] Stephanie Korpal: well, learning time. You're also saving, oh my gosh. I don't know why I lit up so much right now, but, so obviously you're saving time and money by learning with people, but there's an emotional energy you save. Christie had gone through something in her practice this fall, and I was privy to this experience and the hardship of it and all of it.
[00:31:53] Christy Pennison: It was a struggle. The struggle was real. I found myself in burnout. Go ahead, say it. Go ahead, Steph. Go ahead.
[00:31:58] Stephanie Korpal: And the same comment happened in my practice. This the exact same. And had I not had Christie already share that with, I would've first taken on like guilt, shame, embarrassment, vulnerability, all self blame as the Enneagram won, right?
Like it's all my fault. Oh my gosh, I'm not perfect. Mm-hmm. And so there was so much energy I was able to save by just a lot of people go through this. This is just a common part of business ownership, especially with employees. These are the steps I will take to handle it. Here are ways I can have the conversation and it'll all be okay.
And if she hadn't shared that with me and allowed me into that vulnerability with her, I, I think I would've lost the rest of the work week. And that happened on Monday. I. So it's, it's also doing this reflection in community in addition to all of the, the time it saves and monetary resources by able being able to share so many valuable things.
There's also an emotional ROI, you know, sharing the burden, multiplying the joy and, and all of that. But it's, it, it cannot be understated. The value of doing this in community with like-minded people, like valued people. And that's not to say that other people can't be helpful, but when it comes to the hardship, that shared priority of of values in your life is pivotal.
That's beautiful.
[00:33:28] Christy Pennison: Yeah, and you've experienced this too, Whitney, haven't you, like in your own space, like of having people to, because I mean people sometimes, I know you support a lot of people along this journey. Mm-hmm. But I also know that you have your group that's, that's supportive of you as well. How has that helped you be able to move through things or emotions?
I'm just curious.
[00:33:48] Whitney Owens: Girl, you got
[00:33:49] Christy Pennison: some good questions. I love it.
[00:33:51] Whitney Owens: Uh, this just happened to me this week too. What would be real funny is if we get off and talk about it and we all went through the same thing, but I had a situation with within therapist that was one of the hardest I'd ever had to navigate, and I was grateful for my leadership team at my practice, but.
I knew another practice owner. It's actually the one of the consultants with Wise Practice, Amy, who I was her, the consultant, not therapist, consultant. And then you hired her. And I knew what she'd gone through 'cause I walked her through it even though I had never been through the exact thing she was going through.
I. And then it happened to me very similar. And we were on the phone on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM because it went down at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning. So I called her and I was like, I don't know what to do. Or I really just needed her to push, push me, gimme that kick to do the right thing. And she sure did.
And I did something I'd never done before. It was the best decision I could have made, hands down. Wow. I hadn't had her, I don't know if I would've made that decision.
Mm-hmm. And
[00:34:48] Whitney Owens: looking back, I'm so grateful and. We need it and you need multiple people because we all have different experiences and what we're going through.
It can speak to different things as well. Yep,
[00:35:00] Stephanie Korpal: yep. Yeah, it's cool to realize who's in your life, you know, because again, we're so busy and time goes quickly that it, when push comes to shove, you do see those people and it, it is incredible how lucky we all are when we have that community and it's the opportunity to lean
[00:35:19] Christy Pennison: on them.
So if you're out there listening saying, I wish I had some community, listen, don't delay, go find you some community today. Okay. That actually rhymed.
[00:35:31] Whitney Owens: That's right. That's right. Well, well ladies, you do this for a living. Help therapists connect with one another. So can you talk a little bit about how to help people get connected to the work that you're doing?
[00:35:42] Christy Pennison: Yeah, so I'll say, go ahead. Are you gonna. Well, I was gonna say, if you're like, Hey, I wanna like do some journaling or reflection, or I want some prompts of how to incorporate this in my life, we did create a worksheet of like the five Rs so that you can go through that and you can go find that over@thepracticecollab.com slash Hey.
Friend. Okay. And you can get that. It's free. It'll give you some prompts to maybe help you get started on this process of how to build some intentional reflection time into your life. But what else, Steph?
[00:36:19] Stephanie Korpal: Yeah. Our heart goal is really the emotional space and accountability for group practice owners who are about two years into their group practice owner journey, right?
So they've learned the things. They've learned the things. They still have a lot to learn, but the basics are there. And now they're really looking for and significantly needing space for the continued emotional processing of the hardness of group practice ownership, as well as the accountability to do their own to-do list, right?
So we all know that. Everything else under the sun will come up before we get around to our own to-do list. Especially in those middle years of group practice ownership where you don't quite have admin help to mm-hmm. Start delegating out. You're still, you might have one or two people, but it's still mostly you.
So we offer working weekends where it really is. Leave your practice behind come. We'll give you the time and the space and also the community to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm or talk through KPIs or your profit and loss statement. It doesn't have to be all dreaming and scheming. It can be the nuts and bolts of your practice.
And then we do, it's not quite a mastermind group, but just for comparison's sake, it's kind of like that, but. It's really a cohort, a working cohort, so part emotional processing, what's coming up in your practice, and also, all right, for the next 45 minutes, what are you gonna work on? And we'll come back together and then talk a little bit more and work.
And then we have kind of a blend of those two with a two day semi conference that's not really a conference and that is. In St. Louis, and what we do is a speaker and then an implementation hour on what the speaker presented on. So let's say it's somebody speaking on financials in your practice and you're now redesigning your p and l, or you're redesigning some of your pay structure, things like that.
But you're doing it in a small group so you can ask other people some questions and the speaker is walking around as the. Topic expert, able to give you some tailored insight for your specific business. So those are the, just the ways that Christie and I have worked together beautifully and you know, just gotten through the hard things over the years and so we realized that is what we wanted to offer all everyone else because it has just saved us.
And I think also given us room and just motivation to find gratitude in the work that we do and give ourself some, some pats on the back because other people encourage that. And just so many beautiful friendships born out of this space that make this also feel a little bit more worth it. 'cause we know it doesn't always feel.
Worth it day to day.
[00:39:11] Christy Pennison: Yeah. And I think about our friendship with you, Whitney. Like, I may not see you for a whole year, and then I see you and you know you. We know we, even though we don't live a life with each other, I feel like I still saw you yesterday. That's how it feels, right? Mm-hmm. I don't know about for you, but I'm like, oh, hey Whitney, I just saw you.
And that was like
[00:39:28] Stephanie Korpal: a year ago. You know, I think a big part of that, Christie, is for a year we did spend. Four hours a week with her. We did. We did, when we were in your consulting group, you know, Christie and I showed up to everything. So it would be, you know, that is true thing. And then open office hours on Wednesday and then a special presentation on, and we were always there.
So I think the foundation of that relationship is likely, I. How that year can go by and it feels like nothing.
[00:39:53] Christy Pennison: Well, and and that's a shout out and I'm gonna give a tidbit. So if you are in the Wise Practice community, okay. And you wanna get the most out of it, the one thing that me and Steph always reflect on is that in those early days, we set it on our calendar and we showed up and we asked questions that we thought, oh my gosh, this is gonna be embarrassing.
I seriously, my heart would pound sometimes that I'm like, I'm embarrassed to ask this question, but that. Intentionally showing up into spaces like that has really been the game changer, I think. So that's just a small tidbit to your audience who's in those communities, you know.
[00:40:31] Whitney Owens: Well, thank you. I appreciate that and, and you know, Stephanie, I appreciate you kinda walking through the different opportunities that you offer to people because everything's gonna meet people in a different place if they're able to travel or not, or just need to do some work sessions.
So I encourage listeners to connect with these ladies. They're fantastic and obviously have much wisdom. But also just a gentle spirit, you know, and compassion for people as practice owners as they've walked through the journey. So the practice colab.com. Correct. Okay. That's right.
[00:41:04] Christy Pennison: Thank you Whitney.
[00:41:05] Whitney Owens: Yeah, I wasn't looking at my notes, but yeah, that's it.
And so make sure that you get in touch with them and look at the events they're doing. And y'all, it is just an honor to have you on the show. Always appreciate my time with you guys. And it does feel like, oh, I saw you yesterday and I'm gonna see Stephanie in person, you know, and what, six weeks in Chicago for the group scaling summit that's going on.
So I'll be speaking at that and we'll be working on our BA businesses together. So. If y'all are in the Chicago area or just wanna come hang out with us in Chicago, then group prac, group practice scaling summit, check it out. I went last year. It was
[00:41:39] Stephanie Korpal: excellent. Great people there, great presentation. So definitely thumbs up on that one.
And thank you so much for having us today, Whitney. We value our relationship with you so much and also the work that you're doing in this space and the niche that you're filling is so important and wonderful. So thank you for being you.
[00:41:59] Whitney Owens: Thank you. Well, thank you ladies for all the wisdom and goodness you just brought to the show and I'll be seeing you around.
[00:42:09] Jingle: So click on follow and leave a review and keep on loving this work we do with Whitney Owens and The Wise Practice Podcast.
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[00:42:23] Whitney Owens: Podcast. Special thanks to Marty Altman. For the music in this podcast, the Wise Practice Podcast is part of the Site Craft Podcast Network. A collaboration of independent podcasters focused on helping people live more meaningful and productive lives. To learn more about the other amazing podcasts in the network, head on over to site craft network.com.
The Wise Practice Podcast represents the opinions of Whitney Owens and her guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only, and the content should not be taken as legal advice. If you have legal questions, please consult an attorney.
