Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Spader.
Hi Kimberly, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My office space was sold during the pandemic; I was office homeless with a colleague and so I recruited a couple more friends and we set rented office space together. I and another colleague decided to take on the financial risk of putting down the deposit and decorating the office space and holding the lease.
About a year and a half later the landlord from this beautiful office space on Wrightsville Ave. in Wilmington, NC decided she was going to expand; so, we found another office space, an additional investor, and a couple of more Therapists. We had one more colleague from the original space, leaving us with a need to get an additional location which we ultimately filled.
It was an organic process with on-the-spot problem solving and continues to be operating under the same MO. We recently decided to dip our toe into hiring contractors and now we have 2 contracted employees, so the next adventure is how to support them with filling their caseload.
It has been an adventure with great friends, and our ultimate goal is to support one another and foster a fun and functional work environment, which anyone who has come from agency life knows is gold to a mental health provider!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We have 3 therapists who are financially on the hook, but we learned that comes along with the responsibility of taking on IT duties, stocking basic items like tissues and setting up office cleaning, advertising, paying for website, etc… We have had some tough conversations and practitioners have come and gone but we always try to keep things light and supportive.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Balance and Harmony Wellness Collective?
We are a group of mental health/wellness providers. The ladies that own Balance and Harmony are also full time, practicing mental health therapists so we do not depend on the income of the collective. We operate largely as a corporative, in so far as there is little profit as our goal is to make the work balance a positive, supportive space for everyone. This attracts the most talented mental health providers in the field and so we offer a space where mental health clients, likely going through the most difficult times in their lives, a reasonable expectation of consistency.
What were you like growing up?
I was a wild card who did not understand hierarchy and so, while sweet, not always well liked by adults. An example is my paternal grandparents refused to keep me when I was told to leave the eggs alone and proceeded to break them on the floor. Not in defiance, but out of curiosity.
Pricing:
- Generally in NC you can expect to pay $115-130 for one to one therapy sessions out of pocket
- Generally in NC for couples therapy – good luck – I would say $200 plus out of pocket is fair but that is complicated so if someone is good, they can ask for whatever they want
- Generally in NC, same for couples goes for children
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.balance-harmony.com
- Instagram: balanceandharmonywilmington
