WP179 | How to Leave a Group Practice and Start Your Own (The Right Way) with Zack Ufland
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Thinking about leaving your group practice… but not sure when (or how) to actually do it?
In this episode, Whitney sits down with Zack Ufland to talk through what it really looks like to step out on your own and build a private practice that actually supports your life. From timing your exit to managing risk and setting up your foundation, this conversation goes beyond logistics and gets into the mindset required to make it work.
Zack shares how he knew it was time to leave, how he prepared financially, and the practical steps he took to create a smooth transition for both himself and his clients. He also opens up about the emotional side of starting a business, including fear, uncertainty, and the determination it takes to follow through.
If you’ve been wondering whether private practice is the right move, or you’re in the early stages of planning your exit, this episode will help you think more clearly about your next step.
Why Leaving a Group Practice Is More Than a Business Decision
Leaving a group practice isn’t just a logistical move. It’s a personal one.
Most people want a checklist. They want to know the exact steps, the timeline, the cleanest way to exit. And while those things matter, they’re not what determines whether this works for you.
What matters most is what’s underneath the decision.
The First Question You Have to Answer
Before you think about timing, money, or paperwork, you have to ask yourself one thing:
Why are you leaving?
If your answer is frustration, burnout, or “I just need to get out,” that’s worth paying attention to. But leaving alone won’t fix that. Starting your own practice won’t automatically solve what’s driving that feeling.
You need a purpose that can actually sustain you.
Because once you’re on your own, there’s no one else carrying the weight with you. Your “why” becomes the fuel that keeps you going when things feel uncertain.
How to Know When It’s Actually Time
There’s no perfect moment to leave.
But there are signals.
One of the biggest is when you realize you’ve outgrown where you are. You can’t grow into the kind of clinician or business owner you want to be in your current environment.
Another is when your current setup no longer aligns with the life you’re trying to build.
It’s not just about your career. It’s about your life outside of work too.
And sometimes, it’s simply that quiet clarity that keeps coming back. The sense that you’re being invited into something different.
The Reality of Risk
Every transition comes with risk.
The goal isn’t to eliminate it. The goal is to make it a calculated risk.
That means getting honest about your financial reality. How long could you go without consistent income? What does your safety net actually look like?
It also means asking yourself a harder question. If this doesn’t work, do you trust that you can recover?
When you can answer that with confidence, the fear doesn’t disappear. But it becomes manageable.
And that changes how you make decisions.
What to Do Before You Put in Your Notice
This is where a lot of people rush.
Before you say anything to your current practice, you need a plan.
You need to understand your contract. Not just skim it, but really read it. Know what you agreed to. Know what you can and cannot do.
If you’re unsure, get legal guidance. It’s not worth the risk of getting this wrong.
You also want to think about how you’re going to leave in a way that honors your relationships. Even if your experience hasn’t been perfect, burning bridges rarely serves you in the long run.
A thoughtful exit matters.
Setting Yourself Up for a Seamless Transition
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people leaving with too much of a gap.
If clients can’t easily find you, they won’t follow you.
The transition needs to feel simple and steady. From the client’s perspective, it should feel like a continuation, not a disruption.
That means having your systems ready. Your structure in place. Your presence established before you fully step away.
The smoother you make that transition, the more stable your start will be.
The Truth About Starting a Practice
There’s a belief that starting a practice is overwhelming and expensive.
In reality, compared to many other professions, it’s one of the lowest barriers to entry.
You don’t need everything to be perfect. You don’t need a fully built-out office or high-end furniture. You need the essentials, and you need to be ready to serve people well.
What matters most isn’t how polished everything looks. It’s the value you bring.
How Your Work Becomes Your Marketing
The best marketing strategy is simple.
Be excellent at what you do.
When clients feel cared for, when they experience real transformation, they remember that. They stay. They refer.
Especially if you’ve built deep, meaningful work with people, they’re not looking to start over. They want continuity.
Your reputation is built long before you leave.
The Mindset That Makes This Work
Private practice sounds appealing to a lot of people.
But it’s not for everyone.
There’s a level of determination required that you can’t fake. You have to be willing to keep going when things feel slow, uncertain, or harder than you expected.
It’s not just about wanting freedom. It’s about being willing to do what it takes to create it.
Your mindset will carry you further than any strategy.
Fear vs. Values
At some point, you’ll have to decide what’s driving your decision.
Is it fear?
Or is it values?
Fear leads to reactive decisions. It pushes you to move too quickly or hold back when you shouldn’t.
Values create clarity. They give you direction. They help you make decisions that actually align with who you are and what you’re building.
When you’re grounded in your values, the path becomes clearer.
Faith, Risk, and Letting Go of Control
For many of us, faith is a central part of this process.
Not in a way that removes responsibility, but in a way that allows you to move forward without needing certainty.
You can prepare. You can plan. You can do everything “right.”
But at some point, you still have to take the step.
Trusting that you’ll be okay, even if things don’t go exactly as expected, is what allows you to move.
Why You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
One of the biggest shifts for practice owners is realizing how much they’ve been carrying on their own.
There’s value in having someone walk alongside you. Someone who can help you see your blind spots, bring you back to the data, and remind you what’s normal when things feel uncertain.
You don’t have to figure this out by yourself.
And you’re not meant to.
Because building a practice isn’t just about creating a business.
It’s about creating something that supports your life.
Sponsor Wise Practice Summit 2026
If you’re in a season of big decisions, feeling stuck, or carrying the weight of leadership, the Wise Practice Summit was created for you. It’s a space for faith-based practice owners to step away from the day-to-day, gain clarity, and realign their practice with their life and calling.
Right now, you can grab $100 off your ticket with our Early Bird pricing through May 1.
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
Meet Zack Ufland, LMFT
Zack Ufland is a private practice owner, consultant, and leader who is passionate about helping therapists build sustainable, thriving practices. After transitioning out of agency work, Zack successfully built a private pay practice—Paradigm Therapy in Raleigh, North Carolina—and later expanded into a group practice alongside his wife. He’s known for his focus on creating strong systems, healthy boundaries, and a positive team culture that actually supports both clinicians and clients. Today, Zack helps practice owners grow with intention so their business can support the life they truly want, and he also serves as a consultant with Wise Practice Consulting.
Zack’s Resources
Private Practice Start-Up Checklist
Links and Resources
Learn More about Wise Practice Consulting
Connect with Wise Practice on Instagram
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Whitney Owens: Before we jump into the episode, I wanna take a moment to share something special with you. Have you ever found yourself in a season of doubt, needing some clarity, big decisions that need to be made? Maybe you feel the weight of leadership. This is why we created the Wise Practice Summit. Often attendees at the summit come and say, it was at this event that I gained clarity to take this next step in my practice, and it changed everything.
The summit is a gathering of faith-based practice owners wanting more than just strategy. We want clarity. Alignment and a way to build our practice that actually supports our life and our calling. So it's a place where we step out of the day to day and really look at what's working, what's not working, and what God might be inviting us into.
You don't have to figure it out alone. So right now we are doing the Early Bird special for your tickets. You can grab a hundred dollars off your Wise Practice Summit ticket if you do that before May 1st. If this podcast has been meaningful to you, I wanna encourage you to try out the summit. You will be with your people.
You can get all the details in the show notes, head to wise practice consulting.com, and I look forward to meeting you at this year's Wise Practice Summit.
Zack Ufland: Hi, I'm Whitney Owens. I'm a group practice owner and faith-based practice consultant, and I'm here to tell you that
Whitney Owens: 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.
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.
Whitney Owens: I am so glad you're here with me on the Wise Practice Podcast today. I know there's a lot of different places that you could be and things to listen to, and you choose to be here. So thank you for being that and being a supporter of the podcast. I am really looking forward to our conversation today, 'cause I get to, well, I guess I'm reintroducing you to Zach Lin.
He was on a show a couple of months ago, but now he's in a new capacity. As one of the wise practice consultants on the team. And so even though he's new to Wise practice, he is not new to the work of helping practice owners grow their practices and he has a successful group practice in Raleigh, North Carolina.
So I'm looking forward to getting to know him in this episode and, and next week's episode. So today we're gonna chat through. How to leave a group practice, but not just how to do it, but like how to do it in an appropriate, in a professional way. I think it's scary when you're thinking about leaving your practice.
Many of you listening maybe already have done that, or maybe you're in a group practice right now, you're thinking, how do I do that? Or maybe you own a group practice and you're like, how's the best way for people to transition? So he's gonna talk about his experience. But what I really appreciate about Zach is that he doesn't just.
Give you the, here's the 1, 2, 3, the A, B, C. Even though that's really helpful when you're talking about leaving a practice, he really dives into the heart behind what you do. So he's gonna talk about the values that you need to identify and why you're making the decision you're doing, and what's that foundation that you're really setting for yourself and for your practice.
When you take that leap. And so Zach really does dive into the harder questions that practice centers need to face. Um, but he does also give you those tips and tricks on actually leaving your practice and starting your own. So I'm really looking forward to you to hearing from him today. We've also included US private practice startup checklist in the show notes.
If you wanna grab those, you totally can get that and that will help you on your journey if you are looking to start a private practice. So we're gonna jump into the episode. This is episode 1 79 on how to leave a group and start your own. Practice the right way with Zach gland.
Today on the Wise Practice Podcast, we have got Zach und, who is practice owner, consultant, and leader, who's passionate about helping therapists build sustainable thriving practices. After he transitioned out of another group practice, Zach successfully started a profit pay Practice Paradigm Therapy in Raleigh, North Carolina, and he later expanded that into a group practice alongside his wife.
He's known for his focus on creating strong systems, healthy boundaries, and a positive team culture that actually supports therapists and clients. So today, Zach helps practice owners grow with intentionality so their business can support their life, the one they truly want. And he also serves as one of the consultants at Wise Practice Consulting.
Thank you for coming on the show today.
Zack Ufland: Thanks for having me. And just as an aside, you said Raleigh correctly that time.
Whitney Owens: Oh, thank you. My, my great accent, uh, makes for fun ways that I say Riley.
Zack Ufland: Yeah, some people around here can't even say it correctly, so me doing great.
Whitney Owens: Oh, great. Let's get to know you a little bit before we kind of talk about the work that you do with practice centers and kind of talk about your journey of leaving an agency.
Um, tell us a little bit so you have a practice with your wife. I think people find that really interesting.
Zack Ufland: Yeah. Yeah. We actually, when I left the private practice I was currently at, it technically wasn't an agency, but it was as big as an agency. My wife had her own private practice and I had my own private practice, and so we were able to kind of see what it was like working together without diving fully in.
And of course, like with every couple working through something difficult, like starting businesses, we had to learn how to grow together and we found out we worked great together. So we decided that. Starting and managing two practices was insane, so we merged 'em and we are continuing to grow things.
Whitney Owens: That's great. Now you have littles,
Zack Ufland: very young littles. We have a three and a half year old. She may not be a, I can't remember if she's three and a half. She's only three. And then we have a almost three month old, so brand new family. With our two, two girls. And it is crazy. And exhausting. But manageable somehow by God's grace.
Whitney Owens: That's right. That's right. Okay, so talk about, you had a, you worked at another group practice for a while. It sounds like before you decided to start your own, can talk about how long you worked there. Were you working? Did you get your license when you were there? What was that like?
Zack Ufland: Yeah, it should be.
Acknowledged that I always felt like I was called to start a group practice. There was a component of therapy that I loved, so I wanted to find a place could grow in and really learn the business side of things. But I loved the integration of clinical work and business. So when I was in grad school, I remember telling my colleagues, I'm gonna start a recruit practice one day.
Not tomorrow, but one day. So it was always part of the mission. But yeah, I found I was truly blessed with another practice here in in Raleigh that really just focused on helping me to develop and I. Found that I really loved working with couples, so I was able to, did my toes in the water of helping to develop a couples program, got a taste of the business side, um, became fully licensed there and then over time felt like I was being called to start a group practice.
And it was around the same time that we started having kids too. So that, that, um, was kind of led to us making that change as well.
Whitney Owens: Yeah. So how did you know when it was time to actually leave the other practice?
Zack Ufland: That's a great question. That is a great question. It was a couple years ago, so I'm trying to remember.
'cause so much can happen and you just keep fighting to continue to grow and be sustainable. But if I remember correctly, we were at a, an intersection where I just didn't feel like I could truly grow into where. I wanted to be. And it was at the same time that my daughter had just turned. She wasn't even a year old yet.
And we knew that how our life looked was not sustainable and it wasn't exciting. So Amanda made the jump first. 'cause she was working at a local university here. She's also a married and family therapist. Um, you know that and. We truly launched with God's grace and some wisdom and some healthy acceptance of some risk, and felt like it, it was time and like I said, I always wanted to do it.
It was all about timing and, and, um, I felt like I had enough contacts and, and people and the drive to be able to make it work. And then I did a lot of praying.
Whitney Owens: Sure. Yeah. So as you kinda are going into it a little bit there, what are the things if somebody's listening now thinking about leaving an agency or maybe another group practice, they're not really sure about the timing or is there a right timing?
Yeah. Could you kind of one into, how do you know if it's for you PR practice?
Zack Ufland: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's different for everybody. I think that at the very core you have to make sure you know why you're leaving and you're leaving for the right reasons. If you are leaving the group practice just because you're upset, that's that there's no purpose or value in that.
It's just, uh, I need to get out and that's okay. If you need to get out, great. But that, getting out doesn't always mean starting your own practice. Um, and like I said. It's all about taking calculated risk. And the emphasis there is that it's, there's always risk involved. It's just calculated. Um, so for me, I felt like I had this drive and this purpose.
I, one of the things that I'm extremely passionate about is providing really good specialized care, but also this is my business side of me. I want to provide an experience for people, and I love the idea of managing others. And Amanda, my wife, and I just felt like we could do that really well. Now whether that was naive or not, we will see, but so far, so good.
And so, um, you know, we, we were just excited about the idea of growing something that's stable that other people can depend on. And so I guess I would say what I was really considering when both of us were, were considering, can we make this work? The first was, okay, why are we doing this and can that purpose sustain us?
And we felt like it could. We felt like I was calling us in this direction for the reasons stated. The second was in analyzing the calculated risk is. I asked the simple question, how long could I go financially speaking? What is my financial safety net? How long could I go without seeing a single client to where I would have to say, this isn't working.
We have to change, and did I feel like I was confident enough in my ability and in my contact in my area to be able to get a job right away if this totally failed?
Whitney Owens: Yeah,
Zack Ufland: that's how I thought about my safety net and I did a lot of work over the course of my career to build those connections with the practice owners have Integrity initiative, and I felt very confident in the relationships I've built.
So that was part of the safety net. Once I figured out, okay, how long can I go? Then we started saving that money and we kind of put it in, in a fund that's our cushion, so that if this is a huge success, that's great. If it's doesn't go as well as we thought, that's okay, we got some cushion, and if we totally fall flat on our face, which we didn't anticipate and we didn't, we would be okay for a little bit and we wouldn't have to worry because remember, this is something that I'm constantly analyzing in myself.
Fear doesn't lead to very good decision making, and so we wanted to remove as much fear and and produce as much stability as possible. So. That was really, once we kind of got those things in place, we analyzed our gifts, said, okay, can we do this? I think we can, do we have the cushion to go a couple months with not a single client and if we fall flat on our face, do we trust the context?
We have to get a job quickly because that, remember when we did this, my daughter was only like four months old, and so there's a lot riding on this calculated risk.
Whitney Owens: Certainly, yeah. Those all, all those things make a lot of sense. So if somebody, you know, has some cushion couple of months, if, if they fall in their face, they'll be okay.
How do they actually go about putting in their resignation and actually leaving?
Zack Ufland: Yeah. Well I think that there was a couple steps prior to that moment, and I think that first you have to. Get a plan together because knowledge is power and you have to figure out how can you leave in a way that honors your obligations.
Mm-hmm. Honors the contracts that you've signed, um, and to the best of your ability does not burn a bridge. So where does that start? I would first read your contract. A lot of us did not read what we signed. Now there's some, you know, things shifting in, in, in law right now about non-competes, but you need to read 'em, right?
Go back and read what did you sign and what does it say? If you have questions about what is enforceable or what is not, that's when, if you need to consult the lawyer at what. There was things that I did con consult a lawyer with just to make sure all my t's were crossed, my i's were dotted, because I didn't want to be trying to start a group practice.
And then like some people I know were also getting sued because they didn't go through these steps. Yikes. Which is, yeah, which is terrible position to be in. And you know, you wanna honor the people that have, that you work in their practice, whether they were great bosses or terrible bosses. I think you should honor them.
And so you wanna figure out what is the obligation and what can you do and what can't you do? Okay? Ideally, this is an, in an ideal sense, you would be able to, at the same time that things are winding down at your current practice, you'd be able to overlap and start to build your practice. Now, build your practice doesn't necessarily mean seeing clients unless your current practice totally signs off on that.
That would be pretty rare. I don't see a lot of practices saying, yeah, yeah, go ahead and build your own practice. But some do. At the very least though, you wanna have them butt up right against one another so that for your sake, for any client's sake, that will follow you. That transition is S. You want it to be easy to find you.
If it is not easy to find you, you're losing money instantly. So what does that look like? That is okay if you're allowed, right? You wanna have your LLC set up, you wanna have your website ready to go. You wanna have your psychology today ready to go. You wanna have potentially a place set up or online perfectly, a place EHR, paperwork ready to go.
We had it so fine tuned that I stopped working at the previous practice on a Friday, and I started on a Monday at the new. Whoa. Because I didn't want there to be
Whitney Owens: stressful.
Zack Ufland: It was stressful, but it felt secure. That's part of that calculated risk. It's like, okay. I did not want there to be any stress on the clients that wanted to follow me.
I wanted to be business as usual. All we're doing is going to a different place, which have felt a little bit of different paperwork, but a lot can happen in in a two week gap, in my opinion. Some people like to take those gaps and kind of setting things up. I wanted it to be seamless because remember, I had a lot, depending on this new family, a lot of pressure.
I needed it to work, so that was one easy way that I felt like I could make that happen.
Whitney Owens: Yeah. Well, you listed out a lot of things that somebody would have to do to start. Did it feel like a lot of things,
Zack Ufland: I viewed it a little bit differently. I truly believe this, that therapy, like when I think about other professions starting their business, doctor's office, dental office, construction, whatever it is, the startup costs are insane.
So I view my profession in starting a group practice as such an easy entry point. I've worked with dentists, I've worked with lawyers, I've worked with doctors who started their own gig and thousands of upfront money. They've gotta get the equipment, so much money. So I viewed it as I barely need anything to get started.
I need a website, EHR, office space. I'm the equipment right. I'm I'm the person doing the work. Some nice furniture, paperwork. You're ready to go. It's funny,
Whitney Owens: I'm laughing 'cause my furniture, when I set up in Savannah, I got it from the Junior Service League thrift store. I like ran in right when it opened and like found the best sofa I could find and it's not very nice at all.
So, you know, I, I set it up with other, whatever furniture I could get. In fact, the chair I have here in my office now is still a hand me down from somebody. It's, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be something, but something works.
Zack Ufland: Yeah. I don't want to downplay the difficulty of starting a practice, but in relation to other professions, I think.
We couldn't have it better.
Whitney Owens: Yeah. Well, and we have a checklist with Wise practice that I can throw in the notes so that people can grab the like logistical aspects of it.
Zack Ufland: Absolutely.
Whitney Owens: I'm curious, how many clients were you seeing at your other agency work? Like EV or the practice you're at? Yeah. How many week and then when you started your own, how many a week did you have?
Zack Ufland: It's a little bit more complex, and I think I have a very unique story because I started out. Insurance based at the previous practice, and because I specialized so much in couples, they actually took me out of insurance. And so I was out of, I was private pay for a while and so hey, I was seeing somewhere between, somewhere, I think around 25, probably 25 to 30 a week, 25 to 30 sessions, and.
What really helped and why my situation is unique is because it's not that people were paying a copay like a $20 or a $0 copay, and then I'm moving on. They can transition to someone else in the practice. They had invested thousands of dollars into their work with me, and if they had invested thousands.
They'd invested time and energy and emotional energy. You know, I specialize in a lot of difficult crisis level couples. They wanted to stay and they felt like we have autonomy as clients. We are not gonna restart. We've we're too far along the journey to just start over.
Whitney Owens: Okay.
Zack Ufland: Now what I did was I really, I felt really called to do my best to honor.
Obligation that I had in the paperwork I, I signed, but because I was private pay already, a lot of people did follow their own, their own autonomy. I didn't pull them, I didn't message them. They found me on their own. I think, I think what I knew early on was that the best way to market is to be the best therapist I could be and to provide as much value as I could from start to finish, be excellent.
Everything I'm doing. And even more so, and that led to, um, a good safety net and it led to people wanting to continue.
Whitney Owens: Yeah. Great. So your dream was to start a group practice, and how long did you have your solo practice before you started a group?
Zack Ufland: I think it's really weird. I think with both my daughter's births and.
I can't fully remember, which sounds kind of funny. Just time is going so fast, but probably, I think it was about a year and a half, year and a half of consistently being full. And that was, that was tough. I remember there were some weeks where I thought, okay, I'm getting some clients, but I didn't get a single call this week.
And I have a philosophy of I'm gonna make this work. Not, I'm nervous it's gonna not work. I'm gonna make it work. And so I would reach out to every single contact I had. I would reach out to any clients that I felt like hadn't I hadn't talked to in a while, and we would make it work. My, my saying was, if I'm gonna, I want this so bad that if I have to run pizzas, I'll run pizzas to make this work.
Whitney Owens: Aw. I think there's something important to be said, and as I've worked with practice owners over the years. You can start to tell early on who's got it and who doesn't. Like, it's not for everybody. Running a business is not for the faint of heart. It's challenging. Mm-hmm. But I think. You're pointing out the importance of determination.
Like
absolutely.
Whitney Owens: If you really want something bad enough, you're gonna do whatever you have to do to make that thing happen. And I don't think everybody, people, private practice sounds, sounds good. Yeah, it sounds like a fun thing to do. That's what people talk about, but it's certainly not for everybody and you gotta really want it.
Zack Ufland: Yeah, absolutely. And that's why it goes back to the purpose. Your purpose and determination will be the fuel of the car.
Whitney Owens: Yeah.
Zack Ufland: And if that you got bad fuel car's only gonna get you so far.
Jingle: Yeah.
Whitney Owens: I mean, I know for me, a big part of it was I had the security of my spouse. You know, you, you, you and your wife were both in practice, so that's gotta be extra challenging.
But like talking about calculated risk, like I said to myself, okay, this is what my husband's salary is, this is the amount of money I have to start a practice. And once that's gone. If I'm not sustaining enough in the practice to meet my need, you know, to at least meet the expenses of the practice, I'm gonna have to shut this thing down.
You know? But I had that security of, okay, he's making this. If we have to eat ramen, it's gonna be fine. Like we don't have to have everything. And then I was able to kind of grow from there.
Zack Ufland: Yeah. Do you feel like, I don't actually see this as much anymore, but I noticed there was a trend. However many years ago where I think people were partnering with other therapists to start practices and then somewhere along the road they would break off and one person would continue to move the practice down the road.
Do you feel like, do you see that as much anymore of, of people partnering up to start a group practice?
Whitney Owens: I wouldn't. I certainly see partnerships in group practices. I see more like a collaborate, like a CoLab. Where you're kind of sharing space, you're referring clients back and forth. You might all be on the same website, but you each have your own LLC, and then as you grow, you kind of go on your own.
That's more of what I've seen. That's actually what I first did when I left my agency was we all went and started a practice a week later as a collective.
Zack Ufland: Yeah, and what made me think about that is going back to the what is, what emotion is driving, is it value-based or is it fear-based? I always kind of come back to that question.
I should say, is it value and data driven, or is it fear driven?
Whitney Owens: Yeah. Yeah. Well, one thing I appreciate about this conversation about you is that you know the components of starting a private practice, but you speak to things much deeper than that. You know that it's about your values, about who you are, and it's about the faith integration piece.
I mean, was that a part of you starting your practice?
Zack Ufland: Absolutely. I, I mean, I truly do not believe that I could have. Taken. Even though I was a, it was a good calculated risk. The risk, if I did not trust that we would be okay no matter what. I truly believe that we would be okay no matter what. Even if it totally failed.
It wasn't what the Lord had for me, even if I fought for it and we would figure it out.
Whitney Owens: Yeah,
Zack Ufland: and that's tough. That's tough to get there. But here's another thing that I would mention. One of our values here at Paradigm is humility, and I think there is a difference between the determination that I highlighted, like my own determination, like I'll run Pizzas to make this work, but also difference between that and blind determination where you're just saying, I can do this and I don't need anyone and I'm gonna just make it work.
It wasn't that it was. There are so many people who have done this. I have the engine, but I have a lot of blind spots. I have, I recognized early on I can do this. The Lord's gonna protect us and I have no idea what I'm doing. And so that really led, led me honestly to find wise practice and to say, if I can learn from other people's mistakes, I'm gonna be that much wiser.
Make. Better decisions. So that's, honestly, it's the prayer and leaning on the community God provided to help get me on a path that was sustainable and healthy.
Whitney Owens: Yeah, for
Zack Ufland: the business.
Whitney Owens: That's great. And now you do consulting?
Zack Ufland: Now? I do consulting. I've learned so much because I was like a sponge early on and so now I, you know, what makes me most excited about consulting, and you had just mentioned this, the idea of like going deeper.
When I did my own consulting, I recognized just how important the role con a consultant plays in offering emotional support to say, I mean, how many times have I messaged you and said something happened? I have no idea what I'm doing. This is just, I'm nervous. This is gonna fail. You're free to say. No, what you're experiencing is actually a very normal season in a business owner's life.
And hang on, what does the data say? What's your next step? And now I'm shifting from emotional based decisions to, like we talked about data driven decisions. So then it motivates me as a consultant to say, we all know those of us who started group practice, what it's like to be in that setting to take that calculated risk to truly jump.
It's scary. And no matter how secure you feel, there's always gonna be that doubt. And to have that community to say, I've been here before. I know what you're experiencing. Here are your blind spots, and I'm gonna be with here with you every step of the line. So
Whitney Owens: Zach, I just have to point this out on the podcast because you made one of my bucket list dream items in my life come true.
Do you know what? Well, I'm not gonna say, do you know what that is? 'cause something weird could be said, but I got to hire somebody at a karaoke night. That's like my dream.
Zack Ufland: That is true. At the, at the Wise Practice Summit After Amanda. 'cause I'm not a big karaoke guy. Amanda definitely is. She's the life of the party.
Right after she belted a great queen song. The pitch, the the offer was, was given right there, right in the middle of the karaoke bar.
Whitney Owens: Yeah. So I'm, I'm very proud of that. So yeah, we'll always have that good memory To go back to when you remember getting hired, you were like, what?
Zack Ufland: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. So, and I've been thankful ever since.
It's, it's a, it truly is a, being a consultant was never my bingo card, but it truly is a gift to walk alongside people and offer additional insight, practical support, but also emotional support to say, you can do this. Keep moving.
Whitney Owens: Yeah. Yeah, and, and you know, something about wise practice that I find particularly special is that we integrate faith.
Like we're not just saying, here's how you run your business, we're saying. I'm doing it with you. I'm praying for you.
Zack Ufland: Yeah.
Whitney Owens: Listening to the Lord and what the Lord might have for you, for me, for wise practice, and it's a really special thing. Um, so tell me if somebody's wanting to get some business consulting, what is your, like ideal practice center that you work with and how can they get in touch with you?
Zack Ufland: Yeah, my ideal, um, practice consultant is one who is. In the stage that we talked about in an agency or a large group practice and wanting to make the jump, helping them make that jump. Um, how to go from a very new solo practice to becoming more advanced and more stable, or to starting a, a small group practice.
That is where I thrive, where my experience lies. And if you wanna start consulting, I would do it sooner rather than later because time is money. Do it now. Do not wait wise. Practice consulting.com. Fill out the form. We'll jump on a call and I would love to meet you. I really do mean that I'd love to meet you.
I'd love to figure out how, um, at the very least, I can offer support, even if it's just with that phone call, but obviously with, with the goal of supporting you long term. So it's huge, huge passion of mine that I hadn't intended the Lord to lead me to, but I'm here now and I'm excited to continue to grow into it.
Whitney Owens: That's great. Thank you for all your tips and tricks today and I know people will be reaching out for some consulting, so thank you for coming on the show.
Zack Ufland: Thanks Whitney.
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Whitney Owens: 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. 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.
