Tiffany Hopkins, Clinical Counselor and Certified Health Coach

[00:00:55] Sanjay Parekh: Today's guest is Tiffany Hopkins, a certified health coach and nutrition specialist. Having experienced substance abuse in the past, Tiffany has found her passion in helping individuals, and more specifically, mothers taking back control of their lives by quitting alcohol. Tiffany, welcome to the show.

[00:01:12] Tiffany Hopkins: Thank you so much for having me.

[00:01:14] Sanjay Parekh: So, I'm excited to have you on because I think you're the first that we've ever had on the show specifically focused on this area that you're thinking about and working in. But before we start diving into that, tell us a little bit about you and what got you to where you are today.

[00:01:29] Tiffany Hopkins: Yeah, absolutely.

So you mentioned that you wanted the short version so I'll try to do it very quickly. But the short version is that when I graduated high school, I had my very first panic attack. And you know, I was diagnosed with panic and anxiety disorder and being in my late teens, early twenties, you know, entering into college and the social scene and the party scene, I found out very quickly that alcohol lowered my anxiety.

What I didn't know was that it was only temporarily lowering my anxiety. And after I graduated with my bachelor's degree in psychology, I kind of took a left turn, if you will, and kind of, you know, went down this path of alcohol, which then kind of led to some substance abuse, kind of harder, harder drugs and things.

Relying back on my faith in which I was brought up, I was able to kind of, you know, as I described, climb out of this pit that I was in. And this kind of gave me, you know, if you will, a purpose. I was going to school to be a social worker. So, I worked with people who struggled with anxiety, panic disorder, and could really relate to what they were going through.

And eventually got a master's degree in social work, and now I own a private practice where I help women who struggle with anxiety disorders and alcohol abuse. And then I recently opened a sober health coaching business where I help moms, specifically, overcome their struggles with alcohol.

[00:03:12] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So that's an interesting kind of segue that you've done there in adding on a second business a coaching business. What was that motivation to start another thing on top of what you were already doing?

[00:03:25] Tiffany Hopkins: Right. So, something that people may not know about the social work and counseling world is that we're very limited in who we can help.

So, because I'm licensed in the state of Ohio, I'm a licensed independent social worker, I can only help clients who live in the state of Ohio. There is legislation out there right now that's trying to kind of get rid of some of these rules because it really prevents us from helping, you know, people who literally might live 15 minutes from my office across the river in Kentucky, right? But I can't help them because I'm licensed in Ohio only.

And so, in the coaching world, we have a little bit more flexibility. So, when I'm thinking about helping women or moms in particular, I want to be able to reach everybody who needs help, not just people who live in the state of Ohio.

[00:04:21] Sanjay Parekh: Right. Oh, that's fascinating. Strange laws and legislation that do all these weird things and for people like you that live right on the border. Yeah, exactly, it's a tough situation to be in.

So, with your first business, was that your first time ever doing something entrepreneurial, or had you done entrepreneurial things before that?

[00:04:44] Tiffany Hopkins: I had not. I did community mental health for 12 years and after I had my second son, I became a stay-at-home mom. That was different. That was a new job, if you will, and the hardest job by the way, I always tell people. So, I did the stay at home mom thing.

And when I decided to go back to work, I knew that I wanted to work in a healthcare setting. I have a passion for health and, you know, taking care of our bodies. And so, I did counseling for a primary care doctor's office. And while I was doing counseling there, COVID hit. And so, for most people during the COVID pandemic, of course it was devastating and, you know, we lost lots of lives and things like that.

But for me, it kind of presented itself as an opportunity to say, okay, well, I'm now forced to do telehealth, right? Because I was seeing clients in the doctor's office, but with COVID that wasn't happening anymore. And so, I was forced to do telehealth and I'm sitting at my desk at my house, flipping loads of laundry in between sessions. And I'm like, this is actually kind of nice. I kind of feel like I found that balance, right? Like I could get my kids on and off the school bus. I no longer have that drive time to and from work. So that's when I was like, I feel like I can probably start my own private practice.

And I literally just started googling, how do you start your own private practice? So, I started this during COVID.

[00:06:17] Sanjay Parekh: Wow. And so, in doing that, what was the most surprising thing that you experienced that you didn't know about running your own private practice?

[00:06:27] Tiffany Hopkins: Oh, the administration side, right? Like for counselors, you know, specifically or social workers, we are very well trained and how to be empathetic and compassionate and how to help you if you have anxiety.

What they don't teach you in school is the billing side and how to work with insurance companies and, you know, all of your expenses and things like that. And that was literally extremely time consuming. And a huge learning curve.

[00:06:58] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah, the business side seems, in so many professions, to be kind of the thing that nobody learns, and everybody needs. And I'm not sure why we don't do a better job of teaching some of these basic skills to everybody. I think we would be better off for all of us if everybody had at least some minor amount of business education. Even if you're not going to run a business, because I think it helps you understand the businesses that you're in.

[00:07:26] Tiffany Hopkins: Absolutely. Yeah, 100%.

[00:07:29] Sanjay Parekh: So okay. So that was new, dealing with all of that. Were there any entrepreneurs in the family that you had to lean on or had anybody done anything entrepreneurial in your family before?

[00:07:41] Tiffany Hopkins: Not necessarily, no. I mean, I grew up in a home with very hard workers. There was a lot of hard work ethic in my house, you know and so I did have that, I think, instilled in me. But I just, you know, kind of was like, I think for me, it was more of the ability to also kind of have that stay-at-home mom role.

My kids were still fairly young. And so it was that balance. It was, how can I contribute a little bit to the household income, right? While still helping to take care of the kids. Because my husband travels for work. And so, he does power lines and so everything's dependent on the weather. So, if there's a hurricane, like we can't predict some of this.

So, I have to be kind of the one to run the ship, if you will. So, I tell my clients now when they call, you know, to make appointments, I let them know ahead of time. I call myself a full-time mom and a part-time social worker or a part-time coach because, you know, the house comes first.

[00:08:47] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. If something happens, it happens.

[00:08:50] Tiffany Hopkins: Yeah, kids are sick, I'm staying home, you know.

[00:08:52] Sanjay Parekh: Exactly. Was there anything that made you nervous when you decided to take that leap and start your first business there? Or now with the second one, like either way?

[00:09:03] Tiffany Hopkins: Well, money, obviously, you know, I mean, I think that's everyone's, you know, am I going to be able to provide, am I going to be able to pay the bills?

For me, what I personally did was I stayed and worked at the doctor's office while I built my private practice. So that way I still had an income coming in. Cause you know, I'm like, is this going to work? I don't know. We'll see. So, I still had that income. And then once I was able to make about the same amount that I was making at the doctor's office, then I gave my notice at the doctor's office.

And so, you know, with counseling and health coaching, there's, you know, when you own your own business, there's no PTO, there's no vacation. So if I don't work, if I'm not seeing clients, I'm not making money. So, there's a lot of that you have to consider.

[00:09:54] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So those issues there, does it make you nervous, then? Does it make you nervous now? Like, how did you deal with that?

[00:10:05] Tiffany Hopkins: I just show up to work. Like I just, I very rarely take sick days or anything like that. Of course it makes me nervous. You know, but it's all in also, I think, how you market yourself and how you show up for your clients. I mean, when you own your own business, you cannot be, I don't want to use the word lazy, but you know, you can't, you have to show up. There's a huge responsibility that, you know, obviously you have to be responsible anywhere you work, but when you're an entrepreneur, I think that's a little bit extra weight that you carry.

[00:10:43] Sanjay Parekh: Right. So, this is interesting to me because, you know, you started this whole kind of journey because of having a panic attack and anxiety and all of these things, right?

There's a lot of anxiety around being an entrepreneur. So how do you balance that for yourself and don't allow the stress to overcome you in terms of having your own business? And then also, family life can be stressful and anxiety producing, especially when you have young kids. So, how do you deal with that for yourself?

[00:11:14] Tiffany Hopkins: Yeah. Well, first of all, I'll share that, you know, in my twenties, I did a lot of work around my anxiety and substance abuse, right? I went to see therapists and support groups and I really put in the work to heal, right? And so, so I take medication for my anxiety and panic disorder now. I do my own therapy, which I highly recommend for everybody.

But I also, you know, for example, like this past weekend, we went out of town for my son's birthday and I make sure to disconnect and so on all of my social media platforms. I will let them know I am disconnecting for the weekend to spend time with my family because I think in this day and age part of, you know, obviously a lot of what we do is social media and computers and podcasts.

And, you know, at times it feels like I'm glued to my phone. And so, making sure to disconnect and really reconnect with what's most important.

[00:12:14] Adam Walker: Support for this podcast comes from Hiscox, committed to helping small businesses protect their dreams since 1901. Quotes and information on customized insurance for specific risks are available at hiscox.com. Hiscox, business insurance experts.

[00:12:35] Sanjay Parekh: Okay, so you've had now the luxury of a little bit of time running your businesses and kind of reflecting back on all the things that have gone probably right and wrong. If you could go back in time and do something differently, what would that be?

[00:12:54] Tiffany Hopkins: So, you know, I've been thinking about this and it's kind of a hard question.

And not everybody will maybe get this, but for social workers in particular and health coaches, we like to get a lot of certificates and pay for these, like, you know, I'm certified in X, Y, and Z and whatever. And I think when I first started my businesses, I really kind of fed into that, like drank the Kool Aid, if you will.

I paid for a lot of certifications and, you know, certificates. And in the end, I think I would have done that a little bit differently. I think I spent a lot of money on things that, yes, helped me. Like helped me become a better business woman, better entrepreneur, maybe a better coach.

But I don't know that they were actually necessary, right? Like my master's degree was sufficient, you know, my licensure, the supervision, the health coach certification, we have to take a pretty hard test actually to get that. And so sometimes I think we need all of this extra stuff.

So, I think I would have done that a little bit differently, not spent so much money on all of these extra trainings that I thought that I needed so that people would come to me. I think people come to me and stay with me because of my experience, because I can relate, because of my compassion, not because of all the certificates that I have.

[00:14:28] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Do you feel like that's, is it like trying to solve for imposter syndrome or is it a crutch of some sort?

Like, why do you think that is that so many people do that? Because you're not the only one. I see it all the time.

[00:14:41] Tiffany Hopkins: I know. There's a huge market out there for it, right?

[00:14:43] Sanjay Parekh: Right. So what do you think that is? Why do you think people do that?

[00:14:48] Tiffany Hopkins: I don't feel like it's an imposter, at least for me, I don't feel like it's an imposter syndrome. I just feel like it's a, like, it's another check, right? Like, oh, I got that, check, you know? I can add this to my Psychology Today profile, check. You want to feel like you're giving the best service that you can, I think. And so, I think sometimes when we do these extra trainings, that's what we're hoping for.

I think it's genuine where it comes from, but I don't know if it's necessary, right?

[00:15:21] Sanjay Parekh: It's interesting because I've seen this as well. I've been a part of a number of different organizations, you know, leadership development things like that. And you see these people that go through them and I feel like it's just resume fodder for them, right?

Like they're not engaged after the program ends. And I'm one of those people that, I stay engaged. Like I just had a 10-year reunion for a group that I'm a part of. We all got together. I mean, it was maybe a third of the class you know, out of 80 people, about a third showed up. And so, you can see the people that are engaged and for the rest of them it's exactly what you say.

And I don't know what the value is in that. I don't know if it actually does anything for you. It’s just a check box, right?

[00:16:03] Tiffany Hopkins: And in this day and age, too there's lots of memberships, right? And so it's like I’m gonna be a member of this and a member of that.

[00:16:14] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the business itself and the things and the challenges that you see with people. Because I think you might be able to provide some good advice to some of our listeners who are aspiring entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs already. You've seen it — the anxiety. You can see how that can happen with entrepreneurs.

What are some pieces of advice for somebody that's listening that is dealing with anxiety or is dealing with the chaos of running a business and doesn't know how to handle that stress?

[00:16:47] Tiffany Hopkins: Yeah, well, I mean, self-care obviously would be a huge piece. Taking care of yourself and whatever that looks like for you, right? It could be going to therapy. It could be just exercise, eating well, sleeping well.

But then I think the other piece that I had to kind of learn along the way is delegating some of your responsibility, right? Like I spent so much time doing my own social media, not realizing that I could hire a virtual assistant.

And now, you know, talking about the billing side, now I actually hire, I've hired a biller. And so, these are like, I know they sound very simple, but they were very aha moments to me. So, I was like, you know, I will pay whatever to like hand this off to someone else. So, you know I think that really helped to lower my anxiety and my stress and allowed me to be more present for my clients. Knowing that some of the workload was being handled by people that, quite frankly, do it better than I do.

[00:17:53] Sanjay Parekh: Right. Well, what caused that aha moment for you to be like, oh, I should get somebody to do this instead of me?

[00:18:01] Tiffany Hopkins: What caused it? I think when I started the coaching business. And then I had two businesses. And the counseling, you know, when you're a licensed social worker and things you are paneled with insurance companies and there's, I'm not going to say that there's not a lot of marketing, but it's definitely different with the counseling than coaching.

So coaching, you have to market yourself. You have to get yourself out there. You're, you know, we don't take insurance quite yet. Some people are starting to, but we're not paneled. There's not like a Psychology Today. Like the counseling world has Psychology Today. It is like a like a directory where people can go to find a counselor.

There's not a lot of well-known health coach directories out there. So, you really have to get yourself out there. And so, the whole marketing piece was new to me when I started my coaching business, and so that's when I was like, I need help. And so, right. Of course, I belong to a group that taught me and showed me how to, you know, hire a VA, hire a biller, to alleviate some of the workload.

[00:19:12] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So that was a good group to be a part of.

[00:19:15] Tiffany Hopkins: That's still a good group to be a part of, yes.

[00:19:18] Sanjay Parekh: I want to make sure it's clear to our listeners, as well as to me, you mentioned something you said, paneling. What does that mean?

[00:19:24] Tiffany Hopkins: So, if you are credentialed, so in the counseling world, in my counseling business, if you know, if I accept Anthem, let's say, as an insurance, then you are what they call credentialed or paneled with the insurance company. So, members, you know, if I'm a member of Anthem, I can call or get online and they will send you a list of providers that are credentialed or paneled with anthem.

[00:19:56] Sanjay Parekh: Okay that they work with they'll do the reimbursements and all that stuff, right?

[00:20:01] Tiffany Hopkins: I’m in network with Anthem.

[00:20:03] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. That's what paneling means.

[00:20:05] Tiffany Hopkins: Yes, that's what paneling means. Health coaching as of right now, you know, insurance doesn't want to pay for that. So that's another episode. I’m gonna stop there.

[00:20:12] Sanjay Parekh: That's a much longer episode that will be some other time. Okay, last question for you.

What would you tell somebody who is, like you, that's thinking about taking the leap and launching a side hustle or taking their side hustle and turning it into a full time business? What advice would you give them?

[00:20:35] Tiffany Hopkins: Yeah, surround yourself with like-minded people. People that have kind of paved the path before you because there's so much knowledge out there.

And instead, you know, like I said, I started just googling, how do I start a private practice? And there are people out there that are coaches themselves, right? Business coaches that will actually help you get started.

And so, I would say try to plug yourself into people like that, that will help you with step-by-step guidelines on how to start a business. Because I think in the long run, it'll save you time and money that could be spent, you know, building your business.

[00:21:22] Sanjay Parekh: Right. Okay. I love it. I love it. Tiffany, this has been fantastic. How can our listeners find and connect with you online?

[00:21:29] Tiffany Hopkins: Sure. So, on Facebook and Instagram, I am at Sober is Beautiful. My websites are Mind and Body Restoration LLC.com. That's my sober health coaching website. And then for my counseling, it's just Tiffany Hopkins online counseling.com.

[00:21:52] Sanjay Parekh: Love it. Thanks so much for being on the show today.

[00:21:54] Tiffany Hopkins: Thank you for having me.

[00:22:00] Sanjay Parekh: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Side Hustle to Small Business podcast powered by Hiscox. To learn more about how Hiscox can help protect your small business through intelligent insurance solutions, visit Hiscox.com. And to hear more side hustle to small business stories or share your own story, visit Hiscox.com/side-hustle-to-small-business. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. You can find more about me at my website SanjayParekh.com.

[00:22:00] Sanjay Parekh: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Side Hustle to Small Business podcast, powered by Hiscox. To learn more about how Hiscox can help protect your small business through intelligent insurance solutions, visit Hiscox.com. And to hear more Side Hustle to Small Business stories, or share your own story, please visit Hiscox.com/side-hustle-to-small-business. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. You can find out more about me at my website, SanjayParekh.com.