Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Fox.
Hi Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I can’t say that I’ve always known I wanted to be a mental health therapist, I actually wanted to be a lawyer (inspiration, Elle Woods – iykyk) until about my sophomore year of college when I started taking psychology courses as my minor. Then I made the decision to enroll in grad school when my husband was deploying again. We had just been moved for the third time, we were newly married, and completely broke. Thankfully, I have an incredibly supportive family, and my sister let me come live with her for the year that I returned to Michigan to finish grad school while my husband was deployed.
After that, it was the typical post-graduate struggle of getting licensure hours in state and agency jobs until I began working as a Military and Family Life Counselor. That job allowed me to have a portable career for all of the military moves. It also allowed me to work with children and serve the military population. I stayed in that position in different states for almost 9 years.
I won’t get into the “woe is me” details, but eventually, some health issues made me decide to leave that position and open my own practice for more flexibility. I wanted my practice to focus on more than just traditional talk therapy. I had seen the impact of nutrition, lifestyle choices, and overall health in my own life and mental health, so I began to dig deep into the research and professional trainings on these topics. Over the past 7 years of heavy research and continuous education I still love “nerding out” on the topics of the gut-brain and body-brain connection. My husband and kids or so sick of me saying “Did you know that this nutrient helps this neurotransmitter that helps with this?”
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?
I’m not sure the road is smooth for most small business owners. I’d say the road is still under construction to being “smooth”. Financial struggles and figuring out the business and marketing side myself have been the biggest challenges. I went to school to be a therapist, not an accountant, bookkeeper, marketing specialist, social media manager, web designer, SEO specialist, administrative assistant, or HR specialist. So I had to learn those things as I went, and I still am! I’m so thankful that I have two very close friends who had built their own successful businesses a few years before me and have been the most amazing support and source of information.
We’ve been impressed with (Re)flourish 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?
I named my practice (Re)flourish because I know most people go through a period in our lives where we don’t feel like ourselves, stuck, or like they’re wilting. Nothing at all against men, but I tended to see this most with women and moms. The (Re) part of my brand is that we can flourish in life again! So I decided to focus on helping women emotionally thrive again. A large part of my career was also working with families and children, and as a mom of two myself, I absolutely love the fun and creativity that goes into working with young children. The specialization in women and children sets me apart, but the integrative piece of education on nutrition and lifestyle impact on mental health is what really does it. I’m not offering meal plans or diets as a nutritional professional would, I’m simply giving information on what our body needs to support our best mental and emotional functioning.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Whether you call it luck or not, I recognize that I’m very blessed to have such a supportive husband, family, and friends as role models. Maybe it was luck that my dad was an entrepreneur as I was growing up and that likely planted the seed for me to open my own practice one day. Maybe it was also luck that I met two driven business women as great friends. I do think it was pure luck or divine intervention that led me to find my current office space: I got lost on the way to look at another space and happened to drive by a tiny “For Rent” sign in the front of my current office building, which I absolutely love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reflourishcounseling.com
- Instagram: @reflourishcounseling
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reflourishcounseling/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicajfox
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jessica-fox-re-flourish-counseling-columbia-sc/866640
