Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Fleming.
Victoria, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a kid, when other little girls played ‘house’, I played ‘business’. I set up a little tea table and chair in my bedroom closet where I sat with a black rotary phone and old checkbooks, and I would sit and take orders and run my business.
While earning a doctorate in Educational Psychology at Indiana University, I started working for a professor of counselor education as her graduate assistant. The position involved international travel and exposure to the world of counseling. When all was said and done, I finished a master’s degree in counseling the same year I defended my dissertation, and then took a faculty position at Miami University. From there, I went into faculty development at Northwestern and moved my family to the Chicago suburbs. I met a neighbor at my first block party, who introduced me to the idea of opening up a counseling practice. I continued to teach and run faculty programs by day while running my business and seeing clients in the evenings. By 2006, I had small children and a choice to make. I decided that running my own business would give me the flexibility I needed to raise my children.
Because I had a deep love of teaching and a desire to be of service to my professional community, I acquired the necessary credentials to provide continuing education to my fellow counselors and social workers.
Now, 12 years later, I remain the Executive Director at North Shore Counseling, where I maintain a full clinical practice and a successful continuing education program. My children are late-teens, and I was very blessed to be able to build my business while working around their schedules.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Starting a business without the right educational background meant for me a lot of on-the-job training. I was very good at the teaching and the counseling, but the running the business was tricky and very stressful. Much of the stress was self-inflicted, as I wanted to do everything myself! I asked a lot of questions, and I learned that even the smartest people don’t give the same advice on how to manage a small business. I confess that (as a recovering control freak) hiring people into key positions was a big deal for me. After about 2 years of doing everything myself, I farmed out payroll and I hired an accountant to run the taxes. Putting procedures in place, including a detailed Policy & Procedure manual, was therapeutic for me. I’m in the process now of handing off other key roles in the business, because I’ve learned that putting the right support people in place frees me up to do the work I love.
Please tell us about North Shore Counseling.
North Shore Counseling provides counseling and behavioral services to adults and older teens. We are known for our personalized services and impeccable professionalism. I’m proud that the practitioners here are so committed to the clinical work and to helping clients reach their personal and professional goals. We have a very transparent process for clients, meaning they can pick a therapist from our website and request an appointment directly with their counselor-of-choice! All of our paperwork is available online, and we have an insurance verification document that allows clients to know exactly what their out of pocket expense will be before they even come in. We also have the flexibility of providing long distance services for those unable to come into our Northbrook office. We can phone or video conference.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
For many years, we provided both counseling and wellness services. It wasn’t until 2011 that we decided to focus our efforts on mental and behavioral health. We probably would have done just fine with that focus from the start.
Contact Info:
- Address: North Shore Counseling
425 Huehl Rd.
Bldg 19B
Northbrook, IL 60062 - Website: www.northshorecounseling.com
- Phone: 847-205-0371
- Email: northshorecounseling.il@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/NorthShoreCounseling/
- Facebook: North Shore Counseling, Ltd.
- Twitter: North Shore Counseling, Ltd.
- Yelp: North Shore Counseling, Ltd.
- Other: North Shore Counseling, Ltd.
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