Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Flores.
Hi Vanessa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a mom, entrepreneur, Latina, recovering perfectionist and proud Gemini. Professionally, I provide mental health services to folx of marginalized identities. I aim to decolonize mental health by providing safe therapeutic spaces that give folx room to honor their lived experiences as a way to promote healing. I also support fellow entrepreneurs and healers through business consultation and mentorship.
I’ve spent over a decade working in schools and hospitals as a Social Worker. While I always knew that I wanted to be in private practice providing direct services to clients and building strong therapeutic relationships over time, there was a lot of fear and comparison happening. At the tail end of my career as a School Social Worker in 2016, I decided it was time to launch into private practice so I did. I was a solo practitioner for about two years and then decided to expand my business into a group practice which is when I founded Colors of Austin Counseling in 2018. We are now a team of 19 serving a little under 300 clients a month.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The overnight success story is an interesting phenomenon. We’re inclined to think that it’s one lucky break that catapults someone into success or fame, and we rarely get the behind-the-scenes glimpse of the years of hard work, struggle, and sacrifice that got us to the point that we see now. I had no business experience when I first decided to go into private practice and when it came to expanding my business, I felt as if I stood at a crossroads: should I stick with my private practice and do this whole entrepreneurship thing solo, seeing clients 1-on-1, or should I take the leap to reach more people and bring my vision to life where I could grow a business that has the capacity to serve more communities with a diverse team of dedicated clinicians? Like many of us who have stood at that crossroads before, expansion felt risky and I was very unsure if it would work. I was also afraid of losing all my hard-earned money only to invest it in an area where success wasn’t guaranteed. I feel very fortunate to be where I am, but it came with its fair share of mistakes, lessons, and heartbreak.
Looking back on it now, I can see just how important it was for me to make mistakes: trying to host an event or group that didn’t make, taking financial risks that put me in a bind, entering into collaborations that burned me, etc. Each and every one of those experiences has played an integral part in where I am today. So, I’m on a mission to lift the veil of the illusion of perfection. I want to share my story, as well as give others a platform to share their own, so that in doing so, we give others the permission to follow their soul and make empowered decisions. We have to stop allowing fear to take the lead, and begin to run our businesses by making decisions from a deeply rooted place. There are many barriers to entry in this field as a woman of color, and I realized that I’m no longer interested in fighting to “have a seat at the table”. It’s important to me that I build my own table and share it with whoever wants to join.
We’ve been impressed with Colors of Austin Counseling, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Colors of Austin Counseling is an intentionally diverse multidisciplinary group practice comprised of 19 clinicians that provides counseling services in person and online within the state of Texas. We are social justice oriented in our practice and inclusive in our work within the community. Our goal is to reduce the barriers that exist when it comes to mental health support and to provide high quality clinical services to all regardless of race, gender, and/or socioeconomic status. We provide a variety of direct and indirect services to include individual counseling, group counseling, workshops, therapeutic retreats and professional trainings for fellow clinicians seeking support around mental health and/or business topics. As a therapist myself, I specialize in working with women, especially women of color who are moms, entrepreneurs and/or creative. As a Certified Daring Way Facilitator™, created by Dr. Brené Brown, I am trained to facilitate and support individuals who are seeking to foster shame resilience and practice vulnerability. I am also trained in EMDR which is often used to support clients who have experienced some type of trauma in their lives. My work with clients is highly relational, racially trauma informed and social justice oriented. I am to decolonize mental health and remove the stigma associated with seeking therapy.
I am most proud of the fact that my business is one of the very few practices in our city that is representative of the communities we serve. Representation matters and we believe in creating therapeutic spaces where clients feel seen, heard and valued for who they are. The clinicians at our practice engage in monthly Diversity, Equity and Inclusion clinical consultations as well as Identity Based Consultation Groups. Every person on our team has made a commitment to lifelong learning and active engagement towards greater social change. In addition to my clinical work with clients, I provide business consultation and leadership coaching through my consulting brand, Brave & Well. This brand offers leadership coaching, 1:1 business consultation for those who want to start a private practice or expand their practice, Clinical Supervision to provisionally licensed therapists, business support groups and community events/workshops for healers and entrepreneurs.
How do you define success?
My definition of success at this point in my life is the ability to build a business that is rooted in my values of courage and vulnerability. Success to me is choosing courage over comfort even when it’s risky, it is ‘power with’ versus ‘power over’. It is transformational leadership versus transactional leadership and it is having the flexibility to do what I love while prioritizing the needs of my family and myself. I like to believe that I am a natural born helper which has translated to me becoming a healer. My superpower is vulnerability, and it is also my kryptonite. I feel deeply with others and I do believe it is what has brought me to this field of mental health. As a child, I remember wishing I had permission to feel, to ask for help, to be vulnerable. I didn’t know that was an option. So, here I am. Building a life centered on what I once needed myself.
Contact Info:
- Email: connect@colorsofaustincounseling.com
- Website: www.colorsofaustincounseling.com
- Instagram: @colorsofaustin @braveandwell
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colorsofaustin
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCULdFrfrMEWaw1sriuhNEEA
Image Credits
Chelsea Francis Photography Christin Hume Photography Hannah Wilde
