We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Zully Schultz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Zully below.
Hi Zully, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
Well, I’m still working on it! It’s been tough and it’s been a process. I’ve been taking a lot more risks this past year in the professional sense. My business partners and I decided to expand our practice December of last year and it’s been a lot of sweat and tears. But having each other has made the process easier.
We’ve had to be more comfortable with making quick decisions and sometimes bad decisions. Taking risks is most often perceived as scary or at least it has been for me as I’m someone who likes to play it safe and think through all my options. However, I’m learning that not all risk taking is as scary as it once felt. With each professional risk I take, I learn something valuable so I try to remind myself of that when I believe I failed at a risk.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
So, we are Reconnecting Relationships Therapy. It is comprised of myself, Zully Schultz, Grace Thomas, and Jenifer Gmeiner. We started our marriage and family therapy practice in April 2015. The three of us met at Texas Wesleyan University at different times. I met Jen during our undergraduate studies. We became fast friends and study partners. She was influential in motivating me to do well in school. Then I met Grace in graduate school. We are required to complete internships as part of our training and I think that is where I really connected with Grace. She is so sweet and friendly!
When we started our company, we were only responsible for ourselves. Then last year the opportunity came up that allowed us to expand our business. However, the timing seemed off with both of my business partners pregnant and expecting in the spring of this year. But we’ve managed to begin expanding and we have a 5-year plan of growth in place. We are focusing on building a team of relationship experts and will be bringing on more Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists as we move forward. Our LMFT group is small in comparison with LPCs (Licensed Professional Counselors) so we want to focus on creating a space to really highlight the skills of our LMFT peers.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
This past year has been the most challenging since we’ve gone through so many changes in our personal and professional lives and I would say it has taken communication, trust, and our strong work ethic to help us through these hard times. I think the fact that the three of us have established a good friendship and working relationship prior to expanding has played a key role in our journey. We may not be able to avoid the stress that comes with growing a business but knowing you have great team players makes you feel more secure through all the chaos. So, it matters a great deal who is on your team! It’s okay to be selective!
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Our friends and family for sure! They are the ones we come home to and hear it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Also, we’ve had a good group of professionals who have been guiding and supporting our growth which has been so appreciated. We’ve reached out to our peers, colleagues, past professors and supervisors, business owners and even the property owner of our offices. And when we were feeling overwhelmed and confused with making certain business decisions, we decided it was time to begin a business coaching program. So, to overcome our challenges and obstacles or to build on our skills we’ve definitely had to look into different avenues to help us be successful. Growth is collaborative, it comes with learning from others!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reconnectingrelationships.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconnectingrelationships212/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconnectingrelationshipstherapy/
Image Credits
Aaron Thomas
