WP206 | Is It Worth It to Run a Group Practice with Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS
Watch on YouTube
Running a group practice can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also bring a level of pressure, responsibility, and isolation that many practice owners are not prepared for. In this episode of the Wise Practice Podcast, Whitney Owens talks with Lisa Catallo, Canadian psychotherapist, group practice owner, and business coach, about what happens when you start asking yourself a difficult question: Is this still worth it? Lisa shares her own experience of growing multiple practices, reaching burnout, and ultimately deciding to downsize in order to create a business that worked better for her life.
Why Group Practice Ownership Can Feel So Lonely
Many therapists start group practices because they want community, collaboration, and the opportunity to build something meaningful. But as the practice grows, ownership can actually become more isolating. Lisa explains that owners often feel like they are working harder than everyone else while carrying responsibilities they cannot fully share with their team. Without support, boundaries, and healthy systems in place, that loneliness can quickly turn into resentment toward the business itself.
Systems Can Protect You From Burnout
One of the biggest themes in Whitney and Lisa’s conversation is the importance of systems and structure. If every question has to come back to the owner, or all of the processes live inside your head, you will eventually become the bottleneck. Clear operating procedures, onboarding systems, defined client and therapist experiences, and a strong administrative team can protect your time and allow the practice to function without requiring your attention every minute of the day.
Sometimes Burnout Is Hard to Recognize
Lisa did not immediately recognize what she was experiencing as burnout. She was managing changes in her practice, losing therapists, navigating personal challenges, and wondering whether she could continue operating at the same level for another five years. It was actually someone else who named burnout for her. Once she had language for what she was feeling, she could begin asking what needed to change and where her energy truly belonged.
Downsizing Does Not Mean You Failed
For Lisa, the answer was ultimately to downsize from two locations to one and release her contractors. She helped some therapists transition to new locations, maintained strong relationships with them, and shifted toward a model that required less day-to-day responsibility. The decision was not easy. Lisa shares that she wrestled with shame, questioned whether she had made the right choice, and even grieved the vision she originally had for her practice. But she also began to recognize that protecting herself did not erase everything she had built or learned.
Your Business May Need to Change as You Grow
Whitney and Lisa also discuss how the challenges of running a practice change at different stages of growth. Getting to five clinicians can feel exhausting because you are still building everything. Around 10 or 12 clinicians, leadership and management can create an entirely new set of pressures. Whitney shares how adding a COO and leadership team dramatically changed her own experience of running a larger practice. The systems that worked when you had five people may not be the systems you need when you have 15.
Boredom Does Not Always Mean Burnout
Not every difficult season means you need to close the doors. Lisa points out that entrepreneurs often love the excitement of building something new. Once the practice stabilizes, that excitement can fade and the business may simply feel boring. That does not automatically mean you are burned out or that the practice is no longer worth running. It may mean you need stronger support, a new leadership structure, clearer systems, or a way to reconnect with the original vision that made you want to build the practice in the first place.
What to Ask Before Closing Your Group Practice
If you are thinking about closing or downsizing your practice, Lisa encourages owners to examine their systems, values, vision, and support before making a decision. Is there something that could be tightened up? Is there someone you could add to your team? Does the business still align with what you want your life and leadership to look like? And perhaps most importantly, do you have people around you who can listen, encourage you, and help you think clearly instead of making the decision alone?
You Are Allowed to Build a Practice That Works for You
A group practice should not only serve clients and clinicians. It also has to work for the owner. Your business may look different than you originally imagined, and the decisions you make today do not have to be permanent. Whether the next step is adding leadership support, improving your systems, downsizing, or choosing a completely different direction, the goal is to build something sustainable that allows you to keep showing up for the work you feel called to do.
Meet Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS
Lisa Catallo is a Canadian psychotherapist, group practice owner, and business coach who has spent the last eight years helping practice owners lead with clarity, confidence, and sustainable systems. Through the Group Practice Network and her podcast, Empowered to Lead, she supports therapists who want to build values-driven practices without burning out or losing themselves in the day-to-day. Her work is calm, grounded, and focused on helping leaders step fully into the CEO role their practice needs them in.
Lisa’s Resources
Website https://www.grouppracticenetwork.ca
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/grouppracticenetwork
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/grouppracticenetwork
Group Practice Audit https://grouppracticenetwork.myflodesk.com/ceoaudit
Links and Resources
Learn More about Wise Practice Consulting
Connect with Wise Practice on Instagram
Connect with Whitney Owens on Facebook
-
[00:00:00] whitney owens: Building a thriving faith-based private practice isn't easy. It takes courage, wisdom, and commitment to lead your business without compromising your faith and values. I'm Whitney Owens, the owner of a seven-figure multi-location group practice and founder of Wise Practice Consulting. Every week on the podcast, I share real strategies, lessons, and conversations that come from actively leading my own practice, helping practice owners across the country do the same.
Whether you're building a solo practice or growing a team, this podcast is here to equip you, empower you, and remind you, I believe in what God's called you to. You don't have to do it alone. Welcome to the Wise Practice podcast. Let's get started. Welcome to the Wise Practice podcast. Thank you for taking the time to listen today, and maybe the title of this episode drew you in because you could be a practice owner who's wondering, "Should I keep doing this?"
Especially group practice owners. This is a hard conversation. It is really hard to look at th- these topics, like is this the thing that I really wanna be doing? And we keep pushing ourselves sometimes when really we just need to stop, or we say stop too early, and we don't take the time to get the insight and understanding that we need.
I think the world of Lisa Catalano, who really says, "Hey, I asked the hard questions, I paid attention to myself, and what did I need instead of what does everyone else need?" I've had so many group practice owners this past year come to me and say they're thinking about stopping their group practice, and we've talked through what that might look like.
And so I wanted to bring someone on the show who could bring that perspective to you and actually has stopped their practice and can say, "This is what it's been like on the other side. This is what that process was like." So if you've been thinking about it, first of all, I have empathy, I have understanding, and that's really hard.
And I also hope that this episode brings you some knowledge and encouragement. And if anything, I want you to take the time to think through these things. Find other practice owners to talk to. We have the Wise Practice community as well, or reach out to me. Happy to have the discussion as we're gonna go into this episode with Lisa, where she shares her story.
Is it really worth continuing to run a group practice?
Welcome to Lisa Catallo, a Canadian psychotherapist, group practice owner, and business coach who spent the last eight years helping practice owners lead with clarity, confidence, and sustainable systems. Through the Group Practice Network and her podcast, Empowered to Lead, she supports therapists who wanna build values-driven practices without burning out or losing themselves in the day-to-day.
Her work is calm, grounded, and focused on helping leaders step fully into the CEO role their practice needs them to be in. Mm-hmm. Lisa, I'm so glad to have you on the show. Yeah,
[00:02:56] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: I'm glad to be here.
[00:02:57] whitney owens: Yeah. I was reading your bio and it was like, "She brings calmness," and I was like so intense when I was reading it.
I was like, "Calm down." No, I, I love that. I love that because us visionaries- Mm-hmm ... we, we need more of your energy.
[00:03:09] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:03:11] whitney owens: Yeah. That's so good. Well, let's just start out. Um, I would love for you to just share about yourself a little personally, you know, where you're located, how you got into this work.
[00:03:20] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah. Uh, so I'm located in Vancouver BC area in Canada on the Pacific coast.
I became a therapist- Oh, I think it's just over 10 years ago now. So a little bit later in life. I graduated with my master's, uh, crossed the stage, and then turned 50 in the same area of time.
[00:03:43] whitney owens: Wow.
[00:03:43] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: And have four kids and three grandchildren, and yeah, just a new one on Father's Day too, so kinda cool. And yeah, different kinds of roles in that.
Um, I have started and grown two different group practices. One of them I did with a partner, and then in COVID we went our separate ways and then started one on my own, and we grew to two locations. And recently, in the last year, I downsized that to one location. Um, and through all of it have been really wanting to support group practice owners.
So in Canada when I started, there weren't, there weren't really any coaches or support for Canadian group practice owners, and a lot of... It felt like a lot of people were really protecting their space and not, not playing nicely. Um, and so really wanted to create community and connection and just that opportunity to feel heard and to learn from each other.
And so that informs a lot of the coaching that I'm doing, so when I downsized, also pouring more time and energy into the coaching side of things. Um, we d- we did a podcast episode and, um, on mine, and we talked about like just a lot of people feeling like, "I don't know if this is worth it," and I want people to know it's worth it, um, and to create something that works for them and is a good return on investment rather than just like have to keep everybody else happy and make it work for everyone else but the owner, um, because that's not actually what a business is supposed to do, so.
[00:05:32] whitney owens: You are correct. Okay. This is so fantastic. Mm-hmm. Let's go back What made you decide to start a group practice? Why did you wanna do that?
[00:05:43] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: I always knew when I was in school that I wanted to have a group practice. And when I graduated, I thought, "Well, I can join one and I can support somebody." W- I joined somebody and I was too much for her.
And it was like, "Let's do this, and let's try this." Um, and she was like, "No, I just wanna grow this slowly." Um, and so decided to go on my own. I really wanted to serve women and couples who had survived a traumatic experience, and, um, wanted to do that well with quality therapists. But also, I spent some time in private practice in an office all by myself, and that was very lonely, especially with everything that we carry.
I couldn't go home and talk about it or, um, have some of those conversations with colleagues. And so I wanted to create a space for that to happen. So that really was why I started there, wanting community. I also like to lead. I like to have some fun together, to have colleagues around, and come out of the office between sessions and just have someone to shoot the breeze with a little bit and know that you're not alone.
[00:06:56] whitney owens: I love that too. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, I was just hanging out with my team before I came up here to record, so. Okay, so we go into this with all the best intentions, right? Yeah. I mean, y- and by the way, you didn't say anything about money, just pointing out. That was not your call. No. Right?
[00:07:11] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Nope.
[00:07:12] whitney owens: No. Uh, fortunately we do get some money out of it, but yeah, can't do this work for the money, I try to remind all my therapists
[00:07:18] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: that.
[00:07:19] whitney owens: You can go into it for that. But w- what do you think are the reasons that group practice owners, 'cause I'm hearing it more too and you're hearing it, "Is this worth it?"
[00:07:29] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:07:30] whitney owens: Why are they asking that?
[00:07:31] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: I think sometimes it is money because, I mean, we need to make a living.
[00:07:36] whitney owens: Totally.
[00:07:36] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Um, but your business is a huge investment.
It's your time, it's your money, it's your energy. It takes away from other relationships sometimes, and so it needs to fill that bucket. But if you're coming home and you're still seeing 20 clients a week and managing the group practice and you're getting paid less than what you did in private practice, that's usually what I hear people saying, like, "Well, why don't I just shut it all down and go do it on my own?"
Because the financial impact isn't there. But I would say that it starts before you notice that number. Um, you're feeling like nobody sees you. You're feeling like you work harder than everybody else and they just take and take. Um, you don't have support. You don't have somebody cheering you on and celebrating or also hearing the hard parts of it, and your team aren't really people that you should be talking about that stuff with.
And so just like me being in a private practice room all by myself, that's how it feels, but you've got people around you. One of the things that I'll say quite often is, like, in private practice it feels like your world gets small, and then as a group practice owner it feels like your world gets even smaller.
Mm. And so if you aren't getting some of that connection, if you don't have good systems in place to protect your time and energy, if you don't have healthy boundaries between you and your business, you start resenting the people or your business, and then the money says, "And this isn't worth it."
[00:09:16] whitney owens: So people feel more lonely running a group practice, or that's, that isolation is stronger.
Would you say it's also stronger the larger you get?
[00:09:27] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: If you haven't created a good structure, yes, because then the larger you get, the more you're serving everybody around you too- Mm-hmm ... right? Rather than protecting you. And really, if you have... So let's... While you're at 15 people, you now have a COO. If you were still caring for all of those people, you're gonna burn out.
Um, and, uh, so if you don't have the structure in place to protect you as the owner, there's not gonna be a group practice for people to work out of.
[00:10:02] whitney owens: Okay, so how do we protect ourselves as the owners?
[00:10:06] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: I think it's, it's different depending on who you are as, as a person and what you need. So for me, I need people that I can talk to about other things than business, but I also need people who I can talk to about business.
I think that systems and structure are huge because if you're always answering the same question, you're the one that everybody has to go to because they don't know how the business is run. It's all in your head. That is a recipe for failure, um, or for not feeling successful. Having peers, I think, is huge.
I- so I have a membership, I have a Facebook group, and hear so often, like, "I, now I know I'm not alone."
[00:10:52] whitney owens: Mm.
[00:10:52] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: And sometimes that just is enough to keep you going, uh, as well.
[00:10:57] whitney owens: Yeah. Yeah, I appreciate that. Actually, this year when we came into 2026 and we set our goals for the year, our group was like, "All right, it's gonna be systems and processes."
Like- Yes ... we're gonna get these written down and execute them well. Yeah. I think that makes a huge difference in feeling relief.
[00:11:14] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yes. Yeah. Mm. I'm a huge believer in that. Operating procedures and the onboarding process, knowing your client experience, know your therapist, therapist experience from joining to leaving, and more clarity, the better for everybody involved.
[00:11:31] whitney owens: Totally. Totally.
[00:11:32] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:11:32] whitney owens: Now, let's step back even a little more now and go to the time where you started thinking about maybe not having two locations anymore.
[00:11:41] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Mm.
[00:11:42] whitney owens: Um, you've maybe started questioning, is... Did you have that question in your head, is this worth it?
[00:11:47] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah. I, so two and a half years ago, three years ago, really was starting to feel burnt out.
I lost a few therapists all in a row that were quite full. And I don't know what it's like in your area, but it, our area is quite saturated with therapists, and it was still hard to find good therapists. Yep. And so in the middle of that, I had good structures. I have a really good admin, um, so I had those things in place.
I also was going through, uh, the demise of my marriage, um, and so personally that part was happening. And so, and then my lease was coming up, and so really kind of on that horizon, like, can I keep doing this at the energy that I'm putting out for another five years? And, uh, I also love the coaching side of things.
And so all these hats that I'm wearing, where does my energy need to go? How do I keep the doors open? 'Cause if I keep going, there's not going to be a group practice for anybody to work out of. And as I was going through some of that, I didn't actually name it as burnout, 'cause I expect that I can do everything.
[00:13:04] whitney owens: Yes. Uh-huh.
[00:13:05] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Have, have the same energy all the time. And I was away speaking at a retreat, and somebody else used the word burnout for me. And when I sat with that, um, so I'm also a Christian, um, I was out on the beach and then like, "So what am I doing then?" Um, and just felt like God was saying, "This is where you're supposed to be.
I know that this is where you are," but he didn't give me any answers, um, or say, "This is how to go forward." And so just kind of searching, talking to people, trying to figure out what, what is missing, what do I need going forward, um, where is my heart and my passion in there. And I had an- another colleague friend at another situation, and she's, "Just because you make a decision now doesn't mean that that has to be permanent.
But if you make a decision now based on what you need in order to keep going, you can always change it." And so knowing that if I Well, I downsized to one location. That doesn't have to be that it's always just going to be one location forever, or it doesn't mean just because I don't have contractors right now, I only have renters, it doesn't mean that I can't start looking to the future of what that could be.
And I need to take care of me because if I'm burning out, I'm not gonna see clients, I'm not gonna talk to colleagues, I'm not gonna do all the things that I know I need in order to do that. I feel like I went off on a little rabbit trail there. Hopefully I answered that question.
[00:14:43] whitney owens: No, it's great. And I think so many things of what you just shared, we relate to.
I mean- Yeah ... different people in different places in their journey. I, I love that you sh- said someone pointed out burnout because I think a lot of us are exactly what you just said. You know, we think we need to keep going or we think we can do it all, and we don't see burnout till someone else points it out.
[00:15:04] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yes. Yeah.
[00:15:04] whitney owens: So I commend you for listening- Mm-hmm ... and paying attention because sometimes people say it, and at least for me, I'm like, "I'm not burning out. I'm fine," and I keep going, right?
[00:15:13] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Because it feels like weakness- Mm-hmm ... um, if I can burn out, and also, so I didn't pay attention to what I... Like, I missed something.
So yeah, it was hard. It was hard to name it. And there was almost a bit of relief to say, "Oh yeah, that's what it is." So if I can name it... I mean, we tell clients all this all the time too, right? If you can name it at least, then you can figure out how you wanna move forward with it too.
[00:15:43] whitney owens: Most certainly. All right, so you f- you saw this need to downsize- And so walk us through a little bit of that process and w- what did you do with the therapists that were at the location that you were at and, and how are you feeling on the other side?
[00:15:59] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: So I had made the decision that, um, in order to take care of me, I didn't feel like I could take care of other people as much, and we... I have contractors, so filling their caseload, taking care of their needs, and so I released them. Um, I helped them fi- some of them I helped find a new location. We navigated sending clients to where they were going.
A couple of people came and rented from me here. I'm at, I'm in my other location. Um, and made it very clear that it's not a contractor relationship. So this is how I can support you, keep your business going. I still have healthy relationships with all of them, and I would say most of them said, "If you ever do this again, let me know."
Um, so ended with good relationships, but also I wanted a colle- more of a collegial relationship where you still have... I'm not coming out of my office, and it's, there's nobody here. Um, so I still wanted that type of environment, so protecting that Was important, and I gave them enough notice to do some of that, kept in contact later, um, send clients to those people as I get referrals that don't fit for me.
So really maintaining that healthy relationship was important for me as, as we wrapped up, too.
[00:17:31] whitney owens: Yeah. Yeah. Did you have times along the way that you considered that you had made the wrong decision, or did it just feel totally right the whole time?
[00:17:41] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: No. It's always questioning. Maybe I can keep going. Well, my landlord decided to sell the location at the same time, so then had to navigate that.
I coach group practice owners, and so there was a lot of navigating shame or, like, if I'm downsizing, how, how do I tell people how to build their business? But I know how to build it. I also know how to protect myself. Um, and I've learned so many lessons of how important that is now, too, and so working through some of those.
And also, there's almost, like, a little bit of status to be a group practice owner. Like, look, I've had enough clients that I've brought people in, and so yeah, what do I do with that part of me, too? And I thought I was gonna do this, like, right from graduation or when I was in school, and so there's a loss, a lo- a bit of a loss of a dream and a vision of where I thought that was gonna be.
So yes, definitely. Mm. Uh, is it the right decision? Had some really good people in my life that are saying, "Yes, you need to," and then as they saw, as they have seen me started to heal, celebrating some of those things with me and just saying, "Oh my goodness, you're back to who you were before." Um- Wow ... and so that has been really encouraging and really important, too, not doing it alone.
Yeah. Whether you're doing a group practice or whether you're downsizing or choosing to leave, not doing that alone I think is so important.
[00:19:19] whitney owens: Yeah. When, when did this happen? How long ago?
[00:19:23] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Last fall.
[00:19:25] whitney owens: Okay, so almost a year.
[00:19:27] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah. Yeah, it hasn't quite been a year. I, I told everybody last September, so-
[00:19:34] whitney owens: Okay ...
[00:19:35] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: yeah, coming up on a year.
[00:19:37] whitney owens: Yeah. So how has it, how has life felt for you with less responsibilities and
[00:19:42] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: on the other side? Well, I've dived into the coaching side of things, so it doesn't feel necessarily less busy.
[00:19:50] whitney owens: Okay.
[00:19:50] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Um, there is less of the pressure of, um, con- being concerned about everybody's caseloads and if they're not full, uh, how do we get that?
And so a l- less of those details. There are days when that feels really good. And if you're burnt out and you're wondering if this is worth it, um, yeah, there are definitely parts that feel really good to release that. And there's also a part of like, I really miss leading people in the moment and helping them fill their caseloads or just having that same vision and trajectory that we're working towards the same thing.
So I have renters, but they're all doing their own thing and they all have their own businesses and so I miss... I will not be without people for very long. It's just a little bit of a healing time right now.
[00:20:45] whitney owens: Yeah.
[00:20:46] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: No.
[00:20:46] whitney owens: Yeah. There's so many things I'm just thinking through as I'm listening and thinking about my own journey and of course then my mind just went blank as soon as I said that.
Right? I, I think all of us, no matter where we're at, want something different. That's just our human nature, right? Yeah. So as I'm sitting here listening to you, I'm like, "Oh, gosh, what would that be like to- ... not have to manage people anymore?" Mm-hmm. Like that feel, there's this like lightness that comes to me as I say that.
But I also hear you and it's, "I would miss this and there's this," you know? So it's like no matter what- Yes ... there will always be struggle.
[00:21:23] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah. And
[00:21:24] whitney owens: we, we, it's figuring out who we are and what we need in that season, which is what you did, and I just like admire you so much for talking- Mm ... about this- Mm
but also for listening to other people and to yourself and actually making those hard decisions and then continuing to walk through it because, yeah, I could, I could foresee me being like, "Wait, no, maybe I should've done that," you know? Like, so I, I really admire that about what you're saying.
[00:21:48] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Thank you.
Yeah. Yeah. It's, I'm not done with the healing or figuring out how this is gonna play out, but thank you. That, that is affirming.
[00:21:59] whitney owens: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:22:00] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:22:00] whitney owens: I'm also just, um, I mean I certainly can say even I think a week ago, I was walking with my husband and I was like, "Do I wanna just be done? I'm so stuck." You know?
Like we're all gonna have those moments that we, that we think that.
[00:22:13] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:22:14] whitney owens: But I was, I was kinda thinking about burnout and, you know, maybe I'm also thinking about the episode we did right before this where I was on your show, and just there's this- middle gr- middle ground place. Um, I don't, I don't even know exactly.
I'm putting my words together right now. Where we- Yep ... when we first are starting, we're so tired building a group practice. It is, getting to five is, like, tough.
[00:22:36] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yes.
[00:22:37] whitney owens: Tough.
[00:22:37] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:38] whitney owens: And then we talked about this a little on, on me, on your show. When you get to, like, 12, there's a new tough season of management And I certainly had many times I've thought about giving up.
Mm. So many. But once I, like, implemented the COO and got the leadership team in place and got things organized, I'm like, "Wow," like, "This is totally different than I felt or it was before." Now I still have bad days and I get irritated, but in the end it feels so different. So I think that you can only be in that growth phase for so long-
[00:23:14] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yes
[00:23:14] whitney owens: before you either choose not to do it anymore or you get your leadership team in place, because there's only so many days I can keep pushing myself to keep- Mm-hmm ... doing
[00:23:25] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: this thing. That's one of the reasons why I think systems and structure are so important, and they shift and they change as your practice grows, and also as you grow as a leader.
You're not the same leader at 15 people as you were at one to five, right? And it requires a different energy. And so systems and structure, but also what do I want out of this? So some of us really love that... So when I started Panorama, we would have pizza or sushi on a Friday night, and we'd be in the res- in the r- waiting room, and so collegial.
And then as we grew to 10 or 12, it's harder to get everybody's schedules and to make that happen, and not everybody wanted to be in there. And so that's not that I missed some of that culture, I grieved some of that. Yes. But my trajectory, my plan was to be two locations, which means more than five people.
And so what's important in there? What is my vision and how do I create it? So that for me, in having more people on the team, if I can't have those team meetings necessarily, I'm having one-on-ones with them so I still get that connection and still have some of that culture. But if I don't have a good admin team to take care of a lot of these things, if I don't have a leader who can take care of the nitty-gritty, then I don't get to play into the strengths or where I excel, and that's where you start to resent the business.
I think a lot of times too when we're entrepreneurial, the excitement... So when you said it's exhausting to get up to five, there's also a thrill like, "Ooh, I'm creating this," or- Oh,
[00:25:11] whitney owens: yeah ... "
[00:25:11] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: We're starting something," right? And you get to dream and all that creation piece. And then you get to five and it kind of plateaus.
In a sense it gets boring. That doesn't mean you're burnt out. It doesn't mean this isn't worth doing it. It means, "Okay, now what do I need in order to keep that flow, that energy, that vision, um, that I- Thought I had back at one and make that happen. So that's SOPs, that's, um, having admin team. It's reaching out and getting a COO or s- an integrator, whatever term you wanna use for that person, so that I can keep doing this and keep a space that I had that original vision for.
[00:25:56] whitney owens: Yeah. Something I have to remind myself is it's okay to just be.
[00:26:01] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yes. '
[00:26:02] whitney owens: Cause I'm always wanting to grow. And so, like, when things are running smooth, let them be smooth. Yes. And take a breath for a minute because it ain't gonna be smooth forever.
[00:26:10] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: If you're like me, when it gets smooth or when you go... I, I always use this example.
So I went and had a massage to relax, and then I went out for lunch, and all of a sudden, like, oh, I've got all these ideas and things- Right ... because I slowed down. Sometimes you just need to slow down and let those percolate, and you don't have to necessarily act on them.
[00:26:33] whitney owens: I know. I just... I went on vacation, and, and at the very end of the vacation, I launched my first digital course.
[00:26:40] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:26:41] whitney owens: Yeah. So I hear you on that. Um-
[00:26:43] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:26:44] whitney owens: So if practice owners are listening, or they are, uh- Mm-hmm. Okay, practice owners are listening. If they are thinking to themselves, "Is this worth it? I'm thinking about closing my group practice," what would you say to them?
[00:26:58] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: I would say take a deep breath. Look at your systems.
Make... Is there something that you can tighten up or somebody that you can add on your, onto your team to help you keep going? Is this in alignment with your values still and your vision of where you're wanting to be? And get some support. Get people around you who can either say, "Yeah, I think you need to step out," or to say, "Hey, we'll hold you, and we'll cheer you on, um, and listen to you.
We'll commiserate with you." But you're, you don't have to do this alone.
[00:27:35] whitney owens: Yeah.
[00:27:36] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah.
[00:27:36] whitney owens: Thank you for that. Well, I've really appreciated this conversation and just your willingness to have it. Mm-hmm. I think a lot of people wouldn't be willing to face the things that you have faced, and I admire that.
[00:27:47] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Thank you.
[00:27:48] whitney owens: Yeah. Well, you have got the CEO Audit for us- Yes ... freebie, and that's in the show notes. Could you tell us about that?
[00:27:57] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah. That really comes from, like, those boundaries. Um, how... What do you need to protect yourself as a CEO, as the owner of your business, and make this business work for you so that you can keep doing it?
Um- Mm-hmm ... so a lot... Some questions, some reflections in there, and then, uh, some numbers to look at as well. Um, so just a quick audit to see, do you wanna keep doing this?
[00:28:25] whitney owens: That's great. I love it. Yeah. I love it. Um, so how can people learn more about you? And if you wanna tell us a little bit about your membership community, that'd be great.
[00:28:33] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Yeah. So I primarily serve Canadian group practice owners, and, uh, so I have the grouppracticenetwork.ca. Uh, and we have the Group Practice Connection within that, which is a membership for that reason, so let's support each other. Um, I have templates and resources. We have calls. We have, um, chats in between just so that you know that you're not alone and you've got some of those, that structure to make this work.
[00:29:03] whitney owens: That's great. Yeah. Well, thank you again for coming on the show. It's been my pleasure. And- Yeah ...
[00:29:08] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: I look
[00:29:09] whitney owens: forward to hearing more of your story as it progresses.
[00:29:12] Lisa Catallo, RCC, CCC, ACS: Thanks. Thanks for having me, Whitney.
[00:29:14] whitney owens: The Wise Practice Podcast is part of the SiteCraft 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 sitecraftnetwork.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
