Mom Boss Monday: Featuring Superstar MOMpreneur, Emily Lowenfels!
Emily is someone I met through networking, & also as a guest on my old tv talk show a few months ago! We have tons of mutual friends & I thought she was instantly someone I could be friends with as soon we we met! She is a dedicated Mama, therapist & quite an inspiration for many around her! Here is her story!
1) Name: Emily Lowenfels, LCSW
2) Where are you from: Originally South Orange, NJ but now Morganville, NJ
3) What is your business name/info? I am the owner and lead therapist of Figure 8 Therapy Center
4) How did you get involved with Figure 8 Therapy Center? My journey began in Berklee College of Music where I was first introduced to individuals with Autism and other developmental disorders. I began working in the helping field once I graduated from Berklee with a dual Bachelor’s in Music Therapy and Songwriting. During that time, a seed was planted and after working as an Expressive Arts Therapist, a Case Manager for mentally ill adults, getting my Masters in Social Work, and working as a School Social Worker/Counselor, I decided my passion lays within private practice. To bring this current, I had been working in a group private practice for over 8 years near my hometown and I wanted to have my own practice closer to my new home where I get to be a better and more present mom and my own boss 😊.
5) What are the biggest challenges you face in your business? Hmmm good question! I would say my biggest challenges are getting my name out there since I am still new in the Central Jersey therapy world and, the most challenging, juggling my life as “Mommy.”
6) How do you manage your time effectively? I think this is always an inner battle! Striving to get it all done but there just isn’t enough time in the day. I have my calendar and my business software that helps on a business level and good communication with my husband about schedules for at home. However, you can’t control when your child gets sick or when a client will be in crisis. Sometimes, I get calls at 8 pm at home, right before the bedtime routine, and I need to help stabilize a client. Sometimes, my children wake up at 3 am to tell me they threw up. These types of things tend to throw my entire day or night off schedule. Because I can’t always be at everything for every child, I have a part-time nanny now and grandparents to chip in to help, aside from my husband when he isn’t working long hours. Learning to be more time efficient, also means being able to ask others to step in when you can’t be there.
7) Tell us about a challenge you faced & overcame! This is a hard one because I feel like my whole journey to opening my practice has been a challenge and I like to be challenged. Just ask my parents and they will tell you that when I have my mind set on something, I follow through. However, that does not mean the road hasn’t been bumpy or there weren’t times I wanted to give up. There were struggles of trying to get all my clinical hours in for my licensure before I gave birth to my first son. I gave up my full-time school job with benefits. Even just taking the leap to have my own space was a challenge. For the first two months I had just two clients. It was frightening! Now my practice is flourishing, and, in the near future, I see growth for Figure 8 Therapy.
8) Who inspires you & why? Oh, so many people! Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart-definitely my music idols. My mother and father for being an advocate and a teacher respectively. The women who I meet through these networking sites. My clients and their families. My husband, my children. I really feel inspired and touched by the people who weave in and out of my life.
9) What do you do for fun? I’m a professional singer at heart. I’ve been in bands, recitals, plays and performed throughout my teens and twenties. I stopped at the age of 30 to “settle down” but recently started voice training again and who knows where it’ll take me this time! I also love to read, travel, be outside on summer days with my family, and be creative as much as time allows me (these days its art projects for the kiddos to keep them entertained!).
10) What makes you a MOM BOSS? That is literally what I am! I am a mom of three children ages 3-12 and my own boss!
How can we find you? Website // Psychology Today Profile
SO great to learn more about you Emily!
If you missed last weeks Mom Boss Monday, check it out here!
