There is something deeply personal about building a mental health practice as a Black woman.

Still Rising Counseling and Consulting was not created from the desire to simply own a business. It was born from purpose, lived experience, clinical passion, and the belief that healing should feel accessible, affirming, culturally aware, and intentional. As a Black female practice owner, I understand the importance of creating spaces where women feel emotionally safe enough to be seen, heard, challenged, and supported.

Entrepreneurship is often discussed through the lens of hustle, numbers, and productivity. While those elements matter, there is another layer that is rarely discussed openly: the emotional, mental, and spiritual mindset required to sustain leadership while simultaneously holding space for others to heal.

Owning a private practice has required me to develop resilience in ways I never anticipated.

• It has required discipline when motivation was low
• Faith during uncertainty
• Boundaries when overextending felt easier
• And confidence in rooms where my expertise may have been questioned before I even spoke

As Black women, many of us are conditioned to survive, perform, nurture, and carry. Yet entrepreneurship, and especially mental health leadership requires something different. It requires intentionality. It requires unlearning the belief that rest must be earned through exhaustion. It requires understanding that leadership does not have to come at the expense of wellness.

At Still Rising Counseling and Consulting, I strive to build a practice rooted in both clinical excellence and humanity. Therapy is not simply about symptom management. It is about helping individuals understand themselves more deeply, identify patterns, increase emotional awareness, strengthen coping skills, and move toward healing in sustainable ways.

I also recognize the significance of representation in mental health care. For many BIPOC individuals, particularly Black women, finding a licensed mental health professional who feels culturally competent, emotionally attuned, and clinically grounded can feel difficult. Representation alone is not enough; clients deserve clinicians who are educated, experienced, ethical, and committed to evidence-based care while also understanding the nuance of lived experiences, identity, family systems, generational trauma, and societal pressures.

Building a solo private practice is teaching me the value of community relationships and professional networking. No business grows in isolation. Mentorship, collaboration, referrals, partnerships, and genuine human connection matter. There is strength in cultivating relationships with people who understand both the vision and the responsibility attached to entrepreneurship.

This journey has also reminded me that success is not always loud.

• Sometimes success looks like consistency
• Sometimes it looks like maintaining integrity
• Sometimes it looks like creating a business model that aligns with your values instead of external expectations
• And sometimes success simply looks like continuing to rise despite obstacles that were never meant to be easy to navigate

The name Still Rising Counseling and Consulting reflects more than resilience. It reflects transformation, healing, perseverance, and hope. It acknowledges that healing is not linear and that growth often occurs simultaneously with challenge.

As a Black female practice owner, I do not just want to build a successful business. I want to contribute to a larger conversation about healing, accessibility, emotional wellness, and representation in mental health care. I want people to know that seeking support is not weakness. I want aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women of color to know that there is space for them to lead authentically without abandoning themselves in the process.

The entrepreneurial journey will challenge you. It will stretch you. It will refine you But it can also become one of the most meaningful extensions of purpose when it is built with intention. Continue rising strong each day.

This is a contributed blog post written by Marci Bonner LMHC MHC MCCS CAGS, Founder and Owner of Still Rising Counseling and Consulting. Are you interested in submitting a guest blog post? Fill out our contact form.