Today, we’d like to introduce you to Peter Georgilis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story as an entrepreneur started when I was young. My parents were immigrants from their respective countries, Greece (Father) & Hong Kong (Mother), so they both instilled in me the value of working for yourself. There were also a lot of mental health issues that ran in my family, and I recognized the importance of mental health from an early age. For college, I went to the University of North Texas for an undergrad in psychology. Then, I went to Texas State University for my Master’s in counseling. Around the time I graduated from Texas State University, the Texas Behavioral Health board had just changed its rules to allow LPC-Associates (The first license you need to get an LPC) to open their own private practices. I opened up my private practice under my LPC supervisor. I worked out of her office in Round Rock, where I ended up staying after I got my full LPC after doing my 3000 clinical hours. I did most of my clinical hours while working full-time at Infinite Recovery, a residential rehab. Then, I finished my hours at the Travis Country Jail. Now that I am in full-time private practice, I developed my passion for working with the BIPOC community as I slowly realized that there was a massive need for therapists of color and few that could meet that need. I also learned that there was a lack of male therapists. I have found myself in an interesting position where I am one of the few male therapists who is also a minority in Round Rock. As for my career right now, I am working on growing my business to serve the community’s mental health needs.
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?
There were many struggles along the way, but a few really stuck out. When I first started my business, I knew it would be hard to get my name out there and attract clients, but I had severely underestimated just how poorly I understand marketing. For the first year to a year and a half, I did nothing but lose money while working full-time at the Travis County Jail. It got so bad I was going to close my business down. As a last-ditch effort, I hired a company that works with therapists to make them profitable. I spent ten grand that I didn’t have on this program, which was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done because I would have no way to pay it back if I failed. Luckily, the program worked, and I went to profitable at the beginning of this year in 2024.
While I was still working on building my business, I also worked part-time at Mindful Health in Georgetown in January 2024. When I interviewed, on my resume, I told them that I had my own business and just wanted something part-time. I got hired and worked there part-time with no issues until the upper management came by to visit. The company owner called me into a room and basically told me I needed to shut down my business and work for them full-time or be fired. I obviously didn’t take them up and just quit. Still, this experience showed me how cutthroat venture capital was in healthcare (The company was VC-backed). I realized that when it came to my business model, I didn’t want to treat people like dollar signs and employees as expendable. It was a hard lesson, but I think I needed it.
We’ve been impressed with Georgilis Psychotherapy, PLLC, 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?
I specialize in working with anxiety disorders, trauma, and ADHD. I am someone who pulls strongly from my Asian American heritage, so I utilize a Buddhist mindful approach in all of my clinical treatment with clients. I also got trained in EMDR because my clinical supervisor practiced it and got me hooked. I also learned while I was building my business that I had ADHD! I was shocked at first, but it slowly made sense, given the many struggles in life. Since then, I started implementing QB testing to screen my clients for ADHD (the same way I got diagnosed) and started teaching clients with ADHD how to manage their symptoms from a behavioral approach. I like to take pride in my business because I am family-owned. The only other person involved is my wife. While I am looking at expanding my business, whenever someone reaches out to me, they get me directly. Even after someone is my client, they can always reach out to me, and I get back to everyone very quickly. It made me realize just how disconnected the average person was from their therapist/doctors, etc., and I wanted to give people a different experience.
What does success mean to you?
I would define success as not only providing for my family but also providing real service to the community. Most people struggle in silence as my family did growing up, but I realized it did not have to be that way. While, of course, I care about making money, I didn’t want to reduce my clients to a dollar sign as this is how they get treated at the vast majority of healthcare agencies. I also recognized that success (for me) was being able to make my own path, and that’s why being an entrepreneur appealed to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.georgilispsychotherapy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pete_the_therapist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552402092316&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Eli Samuel
