Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Egel.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kim. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have to preface this intro by saying that there have been countless times of not knowing what decision to make or where to take my life, much less my career. With that said, here’s my best attempt to shortly sum up how I got to where I’m at today.
Once I got licensed as a therapist, which took following a pretty structured path, I went in a lot of different directions. I think going to school and getting licensed took so much of my time and focus in my 20’s that once I completed all the “to do’s” my creative side was starving for attention and rearing to go. My head started turning toward so many different creative outlets.
As I was building up my private practice in Cardiff, I turned toward photography, I started designing a small T-shirt line that local north county boutiques carried, I started writing a blog and, eventually, I started designing jewelry. It took years to get clear on where to focus my energy since I was interested in a lot of different areas and was torn on what to commit too.
Building my practice has been and always was my main foundation and at this point, my jewelry business has been 7 years in the running. Recently I merged my jewelry line into my therapy business as it feels like it all fits together. I use a lot of natural stones in my handmade pieces. Natural stones have energies and healing properties that coincide with the philosophies and perspectives of how I do my work as a therapist. I feel like recently I’ve finally found a groove of efficiency and intentionality with how I’m putting my work and, essentially, ME “out there” in the world.
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth? No. Struggles, Abso-F’N-lutely.
Dealing with the uncertainty that lies before you when starting out as your own business owner and learning to trust the adventure of it all has been the struggle and victory all in one. With that said, I think the uncertainty and struggle along the way has been the driving force that pushed me to dig deeper and try new things. It seems like when things “didn’t work out” along the way, I either had the choice to give up or think outside the box for a solution. Deciding not to give up and digging deep pushed me to do the actions that brought unique opportunities and people into my life that helped form my career path.
Looking back, I now see how meeting that one particular person or showing up that one particular day was the catalyst to why I’m where I’m at. In the last decade of honing my career, I couldn’t have scripted how people, places, and events have played out.
It’s really cool to witness what happens when you can let go of what’s comfortable and have the curiosity to try something new. It’s just so dam hard to do sometimes. For real.
The biggest piece of advice that I would give, is to follow a road that you feel connected too, curious about and excited to step toward. Following inspired action has been huge for me. It’s been a practice that’s really lead my life in an authentic direction. Getting away from the ways of life and “shoulds” that didn’t fit me, pushed me to figure out another way to go about certain aspects of my career and life, in general.
One tip I would give is to be aware of getting too logical with how you think things need to be or what you think you need to do in order for the “right” result (the result you want) to happen. I can’t tell you how many times I fought so hard to go in a certain direction because it “made sense,” when in all reality it didn’t make me happy.
Another approach that really helped me was to connect with people who were doing what I wanted to do. Going toward the people who were doing the thing I wanted to do in a way that aligned with me has and remains to be a huge compass for my life.
Here are some perspectives that have helped me push through the struggle:
Be patient. Good things really do take time.
Go step by step. It’s way less intimidating.
Stop chasing the clock. I mean this in so many different ways, shapes and forms. There’s enough time friends, there is. Not thinking that there is creates more of the issue.
Keep good & inspiring company.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
What do I do?
I’m a licensed marriage family therapist and my private practice lies in Cardiff, North County San Diego. My niche is mainly working with individuals who are drawn to a less clinical, more relaxed, outside the box approach who are looking for a place to work through all and any blocks that are limiting their potential. That sounds so pitchy, but it’s the best way I know how to say it in short.
I like to think of myself as helping people mentally reorganize. It’s amazing what a clear out of what’s not serving you can do. Restructuring mental concepts and creating new perspectives can change someone’s reality. We have people that help us organize our external space, therefore I see my role as helping others clear out mental garbage that’s taking up space, creating problems and holding them back. That’s it in a nutshell.
I also love bringing other elements of me into my practice as who I am as a therapist has so much to do with who I am outside my office. How I help others is a result of who I am, how I think, my experiences, my perspectives in combination with my clinical education. I’ve been a semi-professional track and field athlete, I’m super enamored with photography, I’m a huge advocate of traveling and how exposure to something different other than what you know is beyond powerful and life-changing. I dig everything design, I believe that music and film can heal, I love everything ocean-related and have used the sea to push my own limits, both mentally and physically.
I recently brought my jewelry line into my therapy business, as I believe that wearing jewelry with stones and symbols is a cool way to remind us of our intentions and desires. Stones have natural energies that can benefit the wearer. Bridging these two aspects, therapy & jewelry, into my business makes it feel complete and well balanced.
I like giving my potential clients an accurate screenshot of who they’re coming too. This is why I have a blog section of my site, where I share my perspectives and address topics that I think are relevant to issues I see within my practice and life in general.
What am I known for?
Ummm, I don’t know. Ha!
All I can say to this question is that I’m doing my best to be a human that others would describe as open-minded, kind, well-intentioned and putting up a good fight to a life true to herself.
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of doing my best to live a life that’s true to me. Believe me, there’s plenty of moments in this life of mine, where I doubt my choices and wonder what the hell I’m doing. It’s been scary, lonely, hard and disappointing. It still is at times. It’s also been adventurous, interesting and full of love and surprises. There’s a fire within me that’s leading me somewhere and I’m doing my best to trust it’s lead. I suppose I’m proud of myself for tolerating the uncertainty that comes with all that.
What sets you apart from others?
I’m not one to claim that there’s something about me that separates me from the pack. What I can say to this question is that I genuinely do my best to see every person and situation that I come across with the most open-minded perspective that I’m capable of. I’m not perfect. I’ve failed in doing this at some points and moments in my life and will continue to do so. However, I do my best to see another as they are because I believe that giving and showing respect to other humans is kind and can make a huge impact.
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
I’m going to go with my gut with answering this, even though it’s personal, but hopefully, it can be relatable and helpful to others. I had an older sibling that struggled with a pretty severe eating disorder that had her in and out of treatment while I was growing up. I was around 10 years old when this all began, so I think seeing that level of struggle from a young age so close to me, actually pushed me to get really grounded. It made me see the world more realistically at a young age, which was difficult but also made me build some grit. I hate to say that my siblings’ struggle was where I was pushed to grow, however, it was an event that changed the way I saw the world.
I also want to acknowledge the dear friendships I made so young, that are still so true blue today along with the Italian side of my family, shout out to all them; These individuals really helped me self identify and were/are a huge support system who kept me pretty centered.
Last but not least, I gotta give a shout out to athletics. Being involved in sports and challenging myself physically taught me a lot about becoming my own person. It still does.
Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
I love connecting with others and I truly believe that there’s so much value in networking. I also think you have to find a way of networking that feels genuine to you.
My way of networking has been stepping toward individuals along the way that I’ve felt a genuine connection too. For me it’s been less about going to networking events and more about noticing the people who showed up in my life that I was fired up about and inspired by. It’s been less about getting somewhere with my business and career and more about building a solid company of good people around me. That’s success to me.
With that said, I have a little network of photography friends that I met years ago who’ve helped me tap more into my creative side over the years. I met them because I followed my gut, by picking up a camera and learning more about anything and everything photography. With doing so, a whole world of events and people presented themselves. For me, my other interests have strengthened my skill set as a therapist. I feel more relatable to my clients because of my different interests.
Contact Info:
- Address: Office Address:
2047 San Elijo Ave
Cardiff, CA 92007 - Website: https://www.kimegel.com/
- Phone: 760-274-4649
- Email: kimegel@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkimegel/
- Other: https://www.kimegel.com/kimegeljewelry
Image Credit:
Photographer: Renata Amazonas
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reamazonas/
1 Necklace Image: Amy Lynn Bjornson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byamylynn/
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