In this episode I connect with Adriana Rodriguez, LMFT therapist, entrepreneur and podcast host. Adriana shares her journey from being a Salvadorian-immigrant sociology student to founding Adriana Rodriguez Therapy and Wellness. She emphasizes the combination of her cultural identity, creative mind, and passion for community building. Adriana discusses her transition from working in educational systems to establishing a private practice by harnessing her strengths, community ties, and strategic planning. Through insights on financial stability, networking, and continuous improvement, she offers a roadmap for those aspiring to create their own private practices.

Entre Tias Y Amiguis Podcast

Adri's IG: @adri_rodriguezwellness

Adri's Private Practice Website: https://www.adrianarodrigueztherapy.com/

Visit us at: https://www.beabosscoaching.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

2025 Strategy Coaching Bundle

Lock in your success with my 2025 Strategy Coaching Bundle.

You're listening to the Be A Boss Coaching Podcast. My name is Beatriz and I am an entrepreneur and business coach. In this episode, I have the lovely pleasure of speaking with Adriana Rodriguez, aka Adri Rodriguez. Audrey is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a proud Salvadorian American.

As a first generation, Latinx, eldest daughter and queer femme,

Adriana brings a unique perspective

to her work, combining her lived experiences with 19 years of expertise

in mental health, education,

and non profit management and direct service.

Adriana is the founder of Adriana Rodriguez Therapy and Wellness, and she is the host of the podcast podcasts,

which creates space for real conversations about adulting identity. and liberation.

Beyond Therapy, Adriana is an educator, , and community builder dedicated to the dismantling of systemic oppression,

, and reclaiming joy. she brings her passion

for racial healing into every space she enters, always centering Creativity and purpose.

Adriana is a wife, tía, dog, and plant mom,

and a champion for all who seek to understand themselves more deeply and authentically. I'm excited for you to listen to Adriana's story and how she was able to build a successful private practice. Enjoy the show.

​

Beatriz: Thank you, Adri, for being here. I am so excited. Like I said, I just finished talking to you that I just set up this brand new set up with my camera. So I'm, I feel a little jittery. I don't know what's going to happen, but how are you? I'm

Adri: good. I'm good. I'm really excited. I was thinking, um, I was sharing with my wife that like, I have been interviewed as a therapist many times as a, like, you know, some things about like my own history, but never about my business. So this is a first for me to talk about just like my business. And I'm really excited, um, for that just kind of lens, you know, So thank you so much for having me.

Yes, me too. I'm, I'm very excited for you to share your journey as a clinical practitioner, as a business owner, entrepreneur. But before we do all that, I want to give you some space to introduce yourself So let me see, so I'm Adri Rodriguez, short for Adriana. I'm kind of like in this transition of like a name, uh, you know, so like something shorter. So I'm going by Adri and my pronouns are she, her, hers, ella. I am a queer Salvadorian native. I was born and raised in El Salvador until I was 16.

So I came to the U S, uh, the beginning of, at the end of 10th grade. So like two months of 10th grade, and then went on to finish high school here. Uh, went to Sac State. I live in Sacramento, Northern California. So I went to the university, uh, locally here. And so I'm like a first gen through and through, but I hear that my generation is like a 1.

5 gen, because it's like, I have both the experience. It's a lot of being an immigrant. So, many times, like I get along with a lot of, like the people that are like a little bit older, like the generation of maybe like our parents because I've had some of those immigrant experiences and also kind of like, I feel like my life has been like this bridge of just like kind of the two worlds very clearly just because I've had to navigate it.

And so a lot of first, um, first, you know, granddaughter on my dad's side first, you , like eldest daughter in my family, first one to go to college, first one to do everything business owner. So there are a lot of things about my experiences that kind of always have that lens. I'm a multipreneur. I have been a photographer, I've had a photography business that I'm semi retired from, but like my clients keep asking me to come back at a retirement.

So maybe like this fall be coming back and multipreneur because I not only do have my private practice. I'm also a professor, my photography business. I also do consulting around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and mental health. So I'm a little bit of a, I call myself a Jack of all trades and like a master of every single one.

Then we're going to talk a little bit about that. And so I am a very, I have very curious mind. I want to learn everything. I'm a serial DIY er. So like. Yeah. That's just like a little bit about me.

Beatriz: I love it. I love it. I identify with, with wanting to do so many things all the time. Because I When I was in high school, I just remembering trying out, like I did softball, I did dance, I did volleyball, and I have always been that way where if anything piques my interest, I want to do it. I just want to try it out, see what it's like, and podcasting is actually one of those, those things.

Activities that I've always wanted to try and I'm so happy that I finally have gotten to try it and it's actually a passion I would say I love I even love editing. It's it can be tedious. I will say but I even love editing but I all of that to say I love that you identify as a jack of all trades master of all of them because it is possible to Be good at the things that you love right to be good at multiple things and not just Stick to one thing and be strict with that. So thank you so much for sharing okay, so I I would like you to go a little bit into your business and your private practice because I think that it can feel a little bit unclear as to when you're a private practitioner, clinical practitioners, like you have those skills, right?

Like you have the skills of of being a, um, I'm a social worker. You're a licensed marriage and family therapist. I see them as cousins in the field of mental health. And I, but I, I do want to get into the the details of like how that got started, but also the logistical things because , I realize that it's not, there's some things that that we need to do as a clinical practitioner that may not be something that as a regular business owner does not need to do, but we'll get into that.

But you did identify and said that you are a jack of all trades, master of all of them. So can you say more about how you came to accept that as part of your,

Jack of All Trades and Master at All of Them

Adri: Yeah, you know, I've always been a multi interested, multi passionate sort of person, right? And I've struggled, I think, through the years as to, like, how to find a lane. One fun fact about me is that I actually started I started undergrad as a computer engineering major. So I've gone from computer engineering to becoming, to being a therapist.

Yeah. I was actually like pretty far in into being an undergrad, uh, about to declare, like to go into upper division courses, calculus, all the sciences and all the things. And it just so happened that when I was taking a lot of engineering classes. Like socially, it wasn't like a good match for me. Like I could not stand going into this quiet room.

So everybody was like in their computers coding. And I remember very specifically. There's one memory when I walked in into the computer lab because back in my day we had computer labs because not all of us had laptops. And I walked in and you could just hear the, like, the teclas, like, and it was so dead and it was so dark and I was just like, oh my gosh, like, I am going to die.

Like, this is just way too quiet. And so then that same day, so I, around in that journey, I started taking a lot of sociology classes because I had grown up pretty conservative. I had grown up in like a very strict religion as a Jehovah's Witness. And so when I got to college, it was one of my first times that I had like the opportunity to ask all kinds of questions to me, all kinds of people to take all kinds of classes.

And I found that through sociology, I was not only like taking like classes, right? But I also got to like chat about all these subs that I had and all these questions that I had and I would be writing papers. And so I had this like competing sort of interest or like the very logical, very technical things that I love.

I mean, like you give me a computer, a mic, like anything now that I'm podcasting, it's just like, give me technical stuff. I'll figure it out. Like, it's like quick. But there's this other part of me that just loves people and just loves being in like flow and like hanging out and like being super social.

And so I, you know, I couldn't find myself within the road that I had picked to become a computer engineer. And I started just like what it would be like to go into more like social, like social justice, social services, like nonprofit type of work. But I really had no clue of what that meant because I was still pretty like a new immigrant.

I had only been in the United States like four or five years at that point. So I was still like just even getting to know how things work here. And , and at some point I just made the decision that, you know, the computer engineering wasn't going to be for me. And I think that was the first time that I was like, I need to follow what feels right for me because I can do the things that I have in front of me.

If I set a goal, I will get it done. Like whether it's harder, it's not hard. If that's the goal, I will do it. But it was the first time that I was like, but what do I want to do and what do I love? And so from there, I feel like it opened up, it has opened up kind of like this career that even as an MFT, when I finished my, my MFT, I went into program development, grant writing, managing millions of dollars for, you know, uh, one of the local school districts here in Sacramento.

And so it's like, I can be good at a lot of things and it's more about like what I'm interested in the moment. And so I've surrendered this idea that like, you can only be one, like be good at one thing. I want to be good at everything that I do a little bit. Maybe it's recovering of perfectionism that has left me with still like really high standards, but a lot of excitement about learning and about doing things really well.

I love when I have a goal, when I have a thing, especially something tangible, and then like, I can envision it and then. Kind of take all the steps to get it the way it needs to be. Like that just really excites me. And so I just have a high standards for everything that I do. And I know that whatever interests I have, it will be done well.

You know how I don't quite know always, but like somehow I get there.

Beatriz: I love it. I love it. I love it. You know why? Because the reason why I chose social work for myself was also because I felt that it was such a versatile field because you could go into mental health, you could go and be with people, talk with people, being around people, but you could also be in a very technical job or role as well where you're managing grants, you're managing. programs, be a non profit executive director, or you could go into philanthropy or be in working for a corporation. And there's just so many different, for me, I saw it as this field where it was so flexible, so versatile, and it wasn't, it's not just social services like child welfare type of, um, field, right?

So that's why I identified that with that a lot too. And I, I'm very, that is so awesome that you decide that you are into computer engineering. Um, just for all my own selfish reasons, I wish you would have stayed in computer engineering because there's not enough women in computer engineering, right?

There's needs to be more women in computer science, computer engineering, because, computer science and coding and like technology is what's really driving a lot of business and and just the future forward I I believe but that's why I believe that but anyway either way, I am so glad that you were able to find something that you feel called to feel and that you Really took the time to reflect on what it is that I want, right?

I could be really good at so many things but what is it that that I want for, for me. So that, that is awesome. Uh, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into, marriage and family therapy specifically? Did you ever consider social work by any chance?

Adri: So this is also kind of like a little bit of a funny story, right? I'm just like, I'm like a person that it's like, Oh, that sounds like a good idea. Like, sure, let's do it. Right. I'll try it once. And I, in fact, I have a couple of friends. I'll be like, you know, the thing about Adri is that she'll try something at least once, and then if it's not for her, she'll drop it.

But like, if it is for her, then she'll really go hard at it. Right. And so when I switched from computer engineering, I went into the sociology and I love the topics. I love the conversations. I love the papers. But I didn't really think about, like, what does one do for a living when you graduate with a sociology undergrad.

Like, It hadn't even occurred in my mind, like you'd get a job, right? And I'm an immigrant. I'm just like, you get a call, you come here, you get a college degree and then you get a job. Like it just seemed that simple. So I graduated from undergrad and I'm just kind of, or I'm about to graduate from undergrad and I'm like, what the heck do people with sociology degrees do?

So I remember I went to monster. com and I started putting in like, to see like the jobs that you could do with sociology. And then I ended up finding a job at a non profit called El Hogar that is a regional, um, support center for like people with mental health issues. And so then they had a bilingual case manager position and the bilingual case manager position was basically like helping people allocate resources, housing, transportation.

And I was like, I can do all that. Like it doesn't seem hard, seems really interesting. So I get to this job and I'm just like, working and I, they give me, um, a seniors group for arts and crafts. And so it was like this like weekly group where like the seniors in the community, everybody that came to the clinic could come.

And then some of us are going to pass that level. They're like, I saw my muchachos Salvador and like, she's like Salvadorian. She's Hispanic. They can sell group boy. Yeah. I mean, platinum. She has like all this like, we'd be crocheting and just like chit chatting. And I'm just like, literally chilling. Like, this is like the funnest thing.

And then after I got a right note, it was like, this is what we did. But like, nothing of that seemed like felt hard to me. Right. And so. I start having like, I went from like having two, three people to having like 20 people come to my group and we're literally crocheting, doing arts and crafts. And in the meanwhile, right?

Like I hadn't even really realized the power of healing of coming together as a community and how this folks had really found the space that I was like putting together as a, both as an immigrant, as a Spanish speaker, but also as a person that knew how to navigate the system, the mental health system that they were dealing with.

I just became like this like resourceful person. Right. And so yeah. One of my friends is applying for grad school, starts applying for grad school, and my boss is like having a conversation with her and I'm just there and I'm like, Oh, yeah, one day I'll go to grad school. They're like, well, what, what are you waiting for?

And I'm like, I don't know. Like, how does one go to grad school? Like, to be like that honest, like I had only been in the United States like six years at this point, because I have to remind myself, like, why didn't I know all these things? Like, why didn't they feel like the life that I had thought I was going to have in El Salvador, like there was like.

This whole transition of like what is going to be my life here in the States. So then the application deadline was coming up like in November or something like that. It was like a month away and , there was a coworker there and two of my bosses and they start having a conversation about how I should go to grad school and why I should go to grad school, that I should apply and that they will all have my back, the right letters for me.

And so I just thought it was a good idea. I just thought it was a good idea to apply to grad school. And then

Beatriz: Yeah,

Adri: months later I was like in a graduate program and I had no idea what I was in, in for. I had no idea, like, really what what therapy was, what the field was. I just was holding on to that feeling of running that group with like, tanto, that they would like come and like platicar and like tell me what was going on with them.

And I was like, if this is the, this is the educational path that gets me to do that, like that feeling of like, Being with people, but being of help, being, generous with your time because it just feels like we're moving so fast through the world that like being a therapist is like really kind of like a drop of generosity where you're just like, I'll sit with you for an hour.

Like who does that? Right? Like nowadays, like who, like who has time for that? for that type of relationship. And so how I ended up in grad school was a little bit, just kind of how I ended up in sociology, you know, I was just kind of like, this seems really good. It seems like a good fit to me. I like it.

I'm good at it. I'm learning about myself and we'll see what happens. And so it's not a very fancy story more than like a funny one, because I just Like, sometimes I'm like the goal, the audacity that I have of just saying like, you know what, I'm going to grad school, like at school, like I'll open a business, like, and then here I am doing like this amazing things, you know, so it's kind of hard to believe sometimes that the process to me has felt that easy, but I really think when I sit with it now with knowing what I know is that I have always been good at following like my gut feeling, my intuition, and I have been responsive to that feeling of like, I know what I should be doing.

I know what is wanted of me, but what feels good to me. And before I knew the color light intuition and all of that, like I was just, I just kind of knew in my heart what would be like a good fit for my life.

Beatriz: Yeah, that sounds so good. I, I wish I had the same intuition. Sometimes I, I feel I overthink everything and I'm like, Oh, Que voy a hacer? Do I go over here? Do I go over there? I don't know. But I love, I sense this fire in you like you just like you, there's always a fire in you that is ready to like take on the world and and just really wants to be around a community and the fact that you started this group and it got bigger and bigger even before you went to grad school because when I was in social work school I actually worked when my internship was at a community center with a lot of viejitos around the community right and I had to create a program and but that was my my task.

Like I had to create a program and I didn't know what to do but when I hear your story it's like you it came natural to you almost like you wanted to be around people and like you really wanted to be in community and people really resonated with you and who you are as a person and it just it it just came it came to be and so the fact that that came so naturally I think it speaks to the fact that as a LMFT that is a natural like career for

you

Adri: I feel like the field chose me because I hear sometimes my colleagues, it's like, Oh yeah, when I was like 12, I went to a therapist and the therapist was like my inspiration or so and so like my parent or my uncle, my auntie, they were therapists. And I'm just like, I am the first therapist that I've ever known.

Like, I did not know anybody else that was doing that until, like, I got into the field, until I started having co workers. And that's a big part of being first gen, right? That I think, like, that intuition part, sometimes, like, the experience of being first gen, it's like, do we, are we, like, not following ourselves because we don't because it's not there, or is this doubt about the direction that we're choosing just like really, um, coded by the experience of not having anyone, that is living a life like you are, you know?

Beatriz:

Adri: And I think, you know, like when I hear the experiences of other, my other, my friends are therapists, right? Like generally their story has to do that. They met a therapist earlier in their life, whether a family member or their own therapist. Right. And here I am, this immigrant girl, like.

Terapia Like Que es eso Like even to this day, like a lot of stigma, right, still exists about it. And to me, it was just like one of those things of like, I just want to help people. And I think that was like the naive, and I hear a lot that like, when I talk to my mentees or my students, right, it's like, I just want to help people.

And it's like, Wait a minute, like you don't even understand like in this effort to help people, you end up like doing so much work on yourself and sometimes we're like not even prepared for it. And so the field did take me by surprise, but I literally feel like I was chosen for this, like this is what I love to do.

What I'm good at, um, I get to help people, but I also have learned so much in the process of becoming a therapist and being a therapist over the years. The biggest gift of it all is just how much I've gotten to know myself and how much I've grown because I became a therapist.

Beatriz: Yeah, it's a wonderful journey to hear and it, everybody has very unique journeys, but I do agree that a lot of folks go into the service field and mental health because there's, they want to give back, right? Maybe like they've gone through their, like, I know for me in particular, I, I remember a. In high school, saying that I wanted to be a child psychologist, but I didn't.

And and that was. the most language I ever had around mental health. I didn't know social workers

existed. I didn't know marriage and family therapists existed. I just knew psychologists, psychology existed, psychologists, and that there was such thing as child psychologists. Um, and, but it took me into a different journey of, in my path, and in my healing as well.

So there's a lot that, um, That I think going into the service field, it's, it's about healing for you and wanting to heal with others as well. So I agree. Awesome. Okay. So I, I want to transition into the details of starting your own private practice. I know when we

officially, when we had talked prior to this, you had mentioned that you were working for the school district.

And, um, There's a lot of feelings that were bubbling up for you during that time and it was during the pandemic but I'd like to to if you could say a little bit about that and and what that transition was like going from working for

a system essentially like a an education system to working for yourself.

And especially when you're bilingual, bicultural, you know, you end up working with a lot of people. I feel like your family that feel like your Tia's your mom's, or like some of the even things that you're going through yourself. And so I got burnt out from the field. I was just like, I love this. I'm really good at it, but I'm burnt out.

I'd had a case that like really literally had ripped my heart apart with like a little, little kiddo. And, uh, I was like, I finished my hours, I'll take my exams. And I took two years to take my exams just because I was like, I don't even know if I want to do this anymore. I don't know. So, um, I ended up running a group home in San Francisco when I was living over there.

And, um, it was just kind of like taking a break. I needed a break from mental health and, uh, did a lot of program management and, and run this like beautiful, beautiful program. That program ended up closing down because of funding. And so then. I ended up coming to Sacramento and I had the option, like basically like the two roads, right?

Do I stay in this, um, in the field, like of mental health? Do I go back? I've taken like a year and a half break at this point, like do I go back or do I go and to do something else? And it just so happened that the opportunity to come to the school district to do a program development for youth development.

So, for after school programs, summer programs. Which is kind of what I had done, um, as a job during undergrad, I used to run summer programs and kids take, take kids to the pool, then go and field trips to the zoo and things like that. So I'm like, Oh, this sounds like a great job. Like I'm not ready to go back, uh, to mental health.

And plus the pay was terrible because I was still an associate and I just was short of taking the exam. My last exam, uh, like kind of decide. So I'm working in youth development for about. Four years and I started getting into the place of just like, okay, is this a field that I'm going to stay in because positions are coming up?

Like, am I going to get, um, to be promoted? Right. And the career path was to one day become the director of the department that I was working in. I mean, like, why not? Right. Like, this is the thing that you do naturally. You go up the ladder. And then the mental health department at the school district found out that I was a licensed therapist.

And we're like, time out. Like, why are you working in youth development? Writing grants and doing programs and not here doing mental health. And I was like, I don't know. Like mental health is really hard. So then. I ended up transitioning to work with them to kind of get my feedback into doing mental health.

And then the same thing after three years, it's just kind of like, okay, I'm really good at this. So do I go and now start promoting up, right. To become the director then on this new program. Like, cause I could see myself like being like really good at the people management, the money management, the systems management.

Like I'm very good at it. But somehow, like the things that used to be really important to me, like around titles, around like, Oh, being like the director, like those things started having a lot less meaning to me because I started getting closer and closer to see how bureaucratic, um, you know, systems are.

I think at that point it was when, where like the idea of idealization that we just do this work to help really kind of hit the reality that your, your ability to help is limited by the constrictions of the system that you're in. Yeah. Yeah. Right? Like you can help all you want. You can be creative all you want, but ultimately what are the grants want from you?

What are the, what is the funding expecting from your job? Are you meeting outcomes? Are you doing quality assurance? Are you doing all these things? And I just felt that being in all those constrictions was really kind of eating away the soul of like the work and like what I really like to do. I kept myself busy doing work with kids, supervised interns, ran student support centers, things like that, which was still really fulfilling.

Do they have laptops? Do they have food? Do they have paper to like write? Like how are we going to put this classrooms? And basically from like March, April, May, June of like that first, part of the pandemic, we were out and about like trying to find kids, trying to connect, trying to get them their laptops and all this stuff.

And that was really anxiety provoking because I do have also some, health issues that it was just like, do I pick my health? I was really scared about with COVID, but also, you know, we had to do the work of finding the kids. And so that was kind of like the first, like, Oh, I don't know. I don't know if this is for me.

So once 2020 hit, I had been in private practice like a year. Um, and only seeing like three clients. And so one of the things that happened once, uh, when the pandemic hit with my job is that I used to be dead by the end of the day, because you're talking about 800 kids constantly, Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Rodriguez over here, walkie talkie, come in here, come and do this all day interrupted.

And so once we settled into our school year. I had time at night, you know, because I wasn't like exhausted like I was because the peopling is really what was exhausting for me, not necessarily work. So I kind of set it in mind that whatever money I was making from the private practice, it was just going to be cushioned for just in case I made the decision of leaving my job.

It's like, I wasn't. I wasn't feeling it. So I set like a money goal, uh, that first year of, uh, working in the evenings. And I talked to my wife and I was like, Hey, like I'm going to go from working one evening a night, uh, a week into two evenings a week, three evenings a week, maybe four evenings a week. And so now I was working from Monday through Thursday every night, seeing like two to three people.

And that's kind of when I had my realization of just like why I continuing to push against a system that it is so rigid and it is so established by the powers that be that are way higher than me. And this, um, this dream that I had of just like being able to be creative and construct the work in a way that I knew would be best for, for the students.

It just was felt impossible to do. And so that summer, cause I was an 11 month employee that summer, I already had probably at this point, like eight to 10 clients that I was seeing regularly. And then when July came, um, was my month off. I was like, okay, I'm going to hustle this month. And if I get a full caseload, which my full caseload is like, between 14 to 17 cases a week.

So couples, families or individuals. If I get full in this month of July, like I can't have two jobs because I'm like, what am I going to do? And within like a week and a half of opening up that I had this new private practice that I was going to be taking clients, I was full. And so, um, August came and I had to quit my job because then I couldn't have two jobs.

So that's a very long, short story of how that all happened, the transition.

Beatriz: The transition. What I do love, though, and if you could go into it, is that you, you were like, okay, this month of July is, well, We're hustling, and if I get to a full caseload, then we're gonna have to figure something out. But I, I feel like that was already your way of saying, like, this is gonna happen, like, this is gonna, I'm gonna get a full caseload.

And like, somehow, you already had it in your head that you were going to, this is what's going to be your new path. Um, I wonder And I don't know if, if, I'm sure that you've spoken with other clinicians and other, um, marriage and family therapists or even social workers before. how common it is to get a full caseload in a short amount of time?

Is that something that's common or is it, like, I wonder what the factors are where that can

Working in the community and being a resource to create referral funnel

Adri: know, I don't think it is as common as they happened to me. And, and I think that the factor, like, I don't feel that it was luck that what happened to me is that I, So I had a PR issue, maybe like seven years ago, I was at an event and then somebody was like talking to me about photography and they were like, da, da, da, and I was just like, Oh no, like I'm not a full time photographer.

I'm just like, this is my side gig. And they were like, wait, like everybody knows Adri Rodriguez photo. Like what? What do you mean that's not your full time gig? It's like, no, I'm actually a therapist. And I remember from that day on, I was just like, I have a PR issue. Like nobody knows that I'm a therapist because my front facing social media persona was always photography.

So I think that from that moment on, I decided that I really wanted to kind of switch that. And I really wanted people to see me be a therapist. And because of the work that I was doing in the community. I already had a lot of connections. I already have a pretty hefty reputation about like the good work that I do do in the community.

And so before even like the days of just like therapy influencers, right? Like we are like in a heavy therapy influencers. Now I started just kind of posting and created a social media account where I was just like talking about being a therapist, my experiences. And, In my personal accounts, for example, I always post, I have space for clients, but if you can see this, I cannot be your therapist because we're friends.

But if you rec, if you know somebody that's looking for a therapist, like please throw my name out there. And so I feel that even just that, like I've done a lot of education in my own community about what is to be a therapist, what happens in therapy, who can be your therapist, why can't your friends be your therapist, and also like how to refer people.

to therapy. And so even as, um, through the years, even as people were wanting to go to a therapist and they were like somebody in my close group, I have taken the time to be just like, let me walk you through the process. Let me, what insurance do you have? Let me go to my therapist groups. And so I think a combination of just like my own savviness of like, running a business already with my photography, but also the community relationships that I built and the education that I spent doing really not, not thinking that it was going to pay off this way.

When I came back and when I kind of got to the point of like, okay, I need this full caseload. And I announced like, okay, I'm going to be taking more clients. Um, people really were ready to like have my back and support me and put my name out there and share my stuff. And that really, I think has been like the pivotal catalyst of my success is that I, to this day, I host, um, uh, I go to networking events, for example, I host now, uh, Third Friday of the month, a therapist meet up.

I believe in the power of community and the power of your name being like in people's mouth, right? Who's going to speak your name in the room that you're not in and bring you an opportunity? And I feel so, so fortunate. But it's it's fortunate because they're the people that I have in my community are super generous.

But also, I've put in a lot of work in building these relationships. And so when the moments come of like opening up, People like I know are going to be super down for me. And so that July, that really is what happened. I posted, you know, like I'm going to be, um, uh, kind of like announced, I'm going to be quitting my job.

I'm going to have private practice. And so send me everybody that you know, if they're looking for a therapist. And somehow, someway, you know, the people found me. And, um, but, but I really, really think that it also has to do with all this work behind the scenes of building like a solid reputation as a clinician and the community networking and having, um, You know, just, um, also a financial plan.

I had been saving and I was ready with like six months of, uh, savings for when, if, and when I took this step. And so then that also allowed me to just kind of

Beatriz: mm,

Adri: like, I'm going to go into this because I felt really safe. In order to do it, to do the jump, you know, it wasn't just like a overnight thing. It was like, I had been thinking about this now with a direct business plan of how it was going to happen.

But I was like, at some point, I think I'm going to get there. And so I had prepared myself financially and with all the network, I also had prepared my network for, for my transition.

Beatriz: Yeah, that speaks to the power of building relationships, right? And building that community field around you. And, and when it comes to private practice, and being in the mental health field, whether in social work, or marriage and family therapy, or counseling, or any, any sort of related fields, I feel like Like sometimes we can get at least that was my experience where I felt like I'm an introvert so I feel very comfortable one on one with people just like one on one but in private practice I think that there has to be a pivotal moment where you realize that actually even though you may feel comfortable one on one with people and you do whatever you can to be one on one and in that comfort space. I think private practice brings out or making that decision to like, Branch out on your own brings out the need essentially to like Start to build community to like start to not be afraid of like putting yourself out there and really showing up and being like you said you started a social media account and you were talking about what you do as a therapist and when you were talking about what you do around the community and And If, if that's in your head that maybe you might want to do that and start want to build a caseload, then you have to start with

Adri: Yep.

Beatriz: letting people know, right? Letting people know

what you do and who you are and

Adri: 100 percent because I think that, um, many people might think I'm ready to start a business. So then now I'm going to have all the clients come to me. Right. And I really think in my formula, what has worked for me has been a buildup of a transition of Both the financial security, but also like the network security, right?

Or like the way that I have been able to show up and like build a lot of education. Cause I think a lot of us in business sometimes expect that the consumer, that the customer, that the client will know how to come and find us. And actually that is one thing that I have found. There's like a lot of people don't even know what kind of provider they're looking for, what kind of issue, what kind of specialization.

You know, we, uh, kind of like in our own rooms, one on one with people, right? Like we become so focused on actually doing the work that I think we are not, we're forgetting that there is a need for, um, client education, not only from like the consumer perspective, but also from like the stigma perspective, particularly in mental health, right?

That in great majority, I'm working with queer, queer, trans, uh, uh, black indigenous people of color, QTBIPOC, like that is like the majority of, of the people that I work with. And so the assumption that they knew exactly what a therapist that is working with that population does and how do they show up and you know, all of these things, I think I saw it from the lens of like, there was so much that I didn't know, even as I became a therapist, like when I got into private practice, there was even more things that I didn't know.

And so taking that time to like educate the client, but also to get them to know me, right, to get my community to know me as a therapist. I think that has been, um, like a really important step that like now I'm back into like, Who is Adri as a therapist? Somebody needs a therapist. Tell Adri, like, right.

Like constantly people, I know that I'm popping up in them. And that is kind of like my goal. I want, if anybody here in Sacramento thinks of a queer fem Latina immigrant therapist, I want my name to be like the first thing that pops up. And I, I, I, I like that. Like, I want to be that person.

Beatriz: yeah, yeah, that's a lesson in branding. I want to say like you have really embraced that as like you that's who you are and now also people like you said queer femme, anyone who can think about these terms. I'm gonna about Adri, when you think about branding in general or business in general and you think about for example like a fizzy a fizzy soda that's like dark you think coke you know like I would like a soda you were like oh give me a coke you know so you're like the the coke of like therapy for QT BIPOC like that's what I'm thinking.

The queer, like, yeah,

Adri: huh.

Beatriz: first gen immigrant, friend, amiga, like, that's gonna, that's in mental health and therapy, right? So I love that so much. Okay, so I know that we are wrapping up or we're getting down to, I'm glad that you talked about your transition and then like how you came to build your private practice and your caseload.

And are there any logistical things that you would like to emphasize that people should know prior to? Making that jump of, of going from perhaps they've worked at, you know, maybe they're working at a hospital as a therapist or anywhere, but now they're like really considering making that jump. Are there any logistical things that you wish someone would have told you or you know that it's very important that you should know when you're making this decision and to go into private

Adri: Yeah, you know, I did a lot of research on how to run a business, not necessarily how to run a business as a therapist. And so I think the business acumen, your money avoidance will show up your, uh, you're not good at paperwork that will show up. So like all the things of like. running a business. It doesn't have to be how to run a therapy business.

Ultimately, it's about how do you become responsible for managing your time, like having goals, um, going back to, right? Like that money avoidance of being able to see, like, are you actually making money from the things that you're doing? Uh, are you, Are your offerings, right? Like actually like the language that you're using is a matching what the community is looking for.

There's a continuous, um, improvement cycle that I feel like it is really important that, that we have as business owners that we are ongoingly thinking about the quality and the ways to improve, not to criticize, not to say like, Oh, what I'm doing is bad, but it's like, how do we continue to grow? Right?

Like this growth mindset that is like every step of the way there is a new lesson to learn, a new way to like systemize something, a new way to make it easier, faster based on the conversations I'm having with people, basing on like how the field is moving, but also learning from people who are not therapy business, like in the therapy business, but just like in the business realm.

I think that to me, that has really useful in terms of logistics, right? Like processes and things like that. Um, when one of the big ones that I think I feel very proud of the processes that I went through for myself is that when I work at the school district, I was an 11 month employee. And so going into full time private practice, one of the things that I grieved was like, am I really not going to have a month off?

So, And the summer, like that's going to really suck. I've gotten used to like having like summers off. And so instead, what I did is that I used to work 210 days. That was our school year. So then I work about 210 days, but now instead of having a July off, I have Fridays off. I don't work on Fridays. So I, um, created a money goal for the year, then divided that into the 210 days.

I picked how many, uh, decided like how many vacation time I would take. Usually it's a weekend, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and then a weekend, um, the spring. So I take about three weeks of vacation plus all the Fridays. And I divided the money goal by the days that I wanted to work a year, by the weeks that each month had, by the days that each month had.

And then I created like, many, many goals for the day, for the week, for the month and for the year. And that like, that has been like one of my, is one of my proudest sort of things that I like to share about how I run my business because I used to think I was going to miss not having this month off. And so what I did is that I created a business that still gave me a business structure that still gave me the opportunity to be successful.

To make as much money as I was make in the district, but also like understanding what were my tiny goals for the day. Like how much money do I need to make a day? So that turns into a week, that turns into a month, that then turns into a year. And that process, I think it is really, really important. And I wish more people were talking about how they're setting up like their long vision for the year.

You know, I get, I, um, produce a report, a quarterly report and a mid year report to myself. Sometimes I like present it to my wife. It's like, that's so cool. The health of the business. Let me put a PowerPoint for you just because, you know, when I was working at the district, I had to do a review is right over like, where are we at?

And so I've replicated a lot of those systems that I, when I used to manage other people's money is how I manage my money and my business. And I'm having quarterly goals, six month goals, and then yearly goals. And he excites me to be that on top of my business. To be honestly, to be honest, it's like, I am really excited to see Progressing and then also to build this space that if I don't meet a goal, it's not a point of like, Oh, you know, like in a, in a critic or judgmental, but it's just like, what happened there between what I thought was going to happen and what happened and what are the lessons and in the bridge between the two points, right.

That are just like a fact. So that's also like another part of just kind of how, um, I've built my business, you know, from learning and bringing a lot of the lessons I learned from managing. public money into like managing the business sort of like well being, uh, particularly the financial one, because I find for me that when I'm financially stable, I can be more creative.

I can be more relaxed. I can just dream and then take on other projects because like my house is in order, right? Like, and so that is like my grounding sort of place of just like business owners. Do not avoid looking at your money. Do not avoid thinking about your goals. Allow yourself to learn and grow from the moments where like you thought something was going to happen.

You didn't rather than putting yourself down and then give it another shot, you know?

Beatriz: Yeah, that's amazing. Thank you so much Adri for sharing. I I I really love that breakdown down to like the day, you know I think it really helps you just to see like your goal like Break down a big goal down to like a small goal. And it's a great example of, of how you can do that financially, but also not just financial goals, but just in general, just you have this big goal.

Well, how can you break that down into smaller goals so that it can, it can build to this larger

Adri: Cause the financial goal turns into like how many days I want to work. Like ultimately that was my big goal is like, how do I make the money I want to make, but only working. Uh, at minimum, like right or maximum the 210 days, because if I work more than 210 days, then it would not make sense to leave my job.

Like the whole point was to come and have a better quality of life. So the, that financial sort of aspect, it really translates more into the quality of life on like day to day that I know what is it that I, what kind of effort do I need to put week to week and day to day to be able to feel like, oh, yep, Friday gets here.

I get a three day weekend, you know, on most weeks. And I really like that for me.

Beatriz: I have so many more questions to like about time. I feel like we need to do a part two and everything. But and if you're willing, let's come

on over to part two. We have I want to we have to do it. But thank you so so much for sharing your story and your journey, how you've come to be into private practice and just also down to how you build community and Just everything that I hope can really help someone who's looking to build their own private practice can really take and, and if they have any more questions that I want to ask you before we, we wrap, where can people find you?

Where can people find, get in touch with you, follow you,

Adri: a good millennial. So find me on Instagram. That's where I live. It is my like, my main social media. And so my Instagram is Adri, A D R I underscore Rodriguez with a Z. Wellness. Um, and that's where I house like, All the things that I do, including my new podcast that is going to be coming out, that you're going to be a guest in soon.

And so all of these things that I do live on my Instagram, mainly for those of you that may be looking for a therapist or just kind of want to connect more and see how, what my business looks like. The kind of like the open sign of my business, you can find on my website, AdrianaRodriguezTherapy. com.

And that's, , my, my therapy website. And so. Yeah, but , you can find me online. I'm there.

Beatriz: Awesome. I'm so excited. So if you have any more questions, Adri is your girl. I'm so excited that you came on to share how your journey has evolved and progressed , And it's possible.

It's possible to have your private practice if that's something that you really want to do. and so I'm excited that

for people to hear this.

Adri: you so much for having me.