A few months ago, 
I began reflecting on the smart and talented women who I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Some of these women have made huge leaps in their business progress over the last few months. I love reading success s
tories about women who’ve reached another level of success and I’ve had requests from readers about this as well. Kim Scott has been a Success Circle member and is the managing partner for Practical CE Seminars, which is a company that offers approved online continuing education courses for busy professionals in the psychotherapy field. Kim has a real desire to help people and she is always excited about new ideas and growth for her business. Read Kim’s spotlight interview and learn more about how she stays motivated and inspired.
1. Tell us about your work – what you do, where you do it and who you serve.
Kim: “Practical CE Seminars is part of The Holman Group of Companies. It was founded in 2008 to address the training needs of psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and addiction counselors. Our courses are unique in that they address the clinical and cultural issues therapists’ encounters when treating individuals in unique work environments. We also offer courses that enhance the therapist’s brief psychotherapy skills. Most of our courses are provided online through a user friendly website. We are approved to offer continuing education credits for our courses through the following organizations: American Psychological Association, Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), Board of Behavioral Sciences, California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC), The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), and Nation Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC).”
2. What inspired you to start your business?
Kim: “In 2002 I left my job of 14-years as a Senior Vice President of a Managed Behavioral Health Care Company to start my own business. The only problem was, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I spent about 4 years working part-time in my husbands law firm while trying to find my path. I was feeling frustrated and disappointed in myself. Then one day a friend forwarded one of Joy’s emails to me. I was intrigued. I attended a free introductory session, and then joined Joy’s Success Circle. In this group of 4 or 5 women, Joy helped us explore our values, interests and passions. She also had us write a mission statement and goals.
By the end of the Circle, I had decided that I wanted to write a psychology book. Soon after setting this goal, my ex-employer asked me to write a continuing education course for the therapists in his network. The course was 95 pages long and I loved writing it! This got me thinking about turning my interest in research and writing into a business. I approached my ex-boss and proposed that he and I become partners and create an online continuing education business. This is exactly what we did.”
3. How do you define success?
Kim: “To me success is a lifestyle that includes the freedom of working for myself, while doing work that I love, and always having time for my family. I also define success as making money, but not at the expense of my other goals.”
4. What have you taken away from your work with Joy?
Kim: “I have learned a lot from attending Joy’s groups and through my individual sessions with her. I have learned to follow my passions and to set goals that are congruent with my values. I have learned that any dream can be turned into a reality by figuring out what needs to be done, and establishing action step. (Joy’s Profits with Passion group was a godsend on helping me create my action plan.) I have also learned that having a mastermind group is really helpful. Even just attending monthly group meetings made me accomplish so much more because I felt accountable. I didn’t want to come back to my group and tell them that I didn’t accomplish anything over the month.”
5. What’s been your biggest challenge as a woman entrepreneur and how have you overcome this challenge?
Kim: “My biggest challenge as a woman entrepreneur has been finding enough time to commit to my business. I find that it is easy to let everyone else’s needs take precedence over my work. I can’t say that I have entirely overcome this challenge, but one technique that Joy shared with me is to block out specific time to tend to different responsibilities. For instance, Monday 8-3 is blocked out for me to work on writing new courses and other work that requires concentration and quiet. After 3:00 each day is family time. And so it goes. Each day I schedule time to grow my business, time to help my husband’s business, and time for my family. I also squeeze in some exercise, downtime for myself, and lunch with girl friends.”
6. What advice would you share with women who desire to have a successful business?
Kim: “I think the most important suggestion I would give to a budding female entrepreneur is create a mastermind. It is much harder to be successful alone.”
7. What’s next for you?
Kim: “Right now I have a solid foundation for my business. My next hurdle is to grow, grow, grow.”
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