050_Turning Pain into Purpose: Tracy Long’s Journey to Counseling Excellence

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Hosted by: Jarvis T. Gray, The Quality Coaching Co.Guest: Tracy Long, Owner of Shades of Resilience Counseling

In this insightful episode of the Excellence in Healthcare podcast, host Jarvis T. Gray welcomes Tracy Long, a clinical therapist and the founder of Shades of Resilience Counseling. The conversation focuses on Tracy’s entrepreneurial journey, her passion for serving Black men through mental health services, and practical business coaching strategies to scale her impact.

Key Discussion Points

1. Tracy’s Personal Journey Into Private Practice

• Tracy shares how the pandemic and personal life changes inspired her shift from university clinical work to opening her own private practice.
• The loss of her father and the resulting grief played a pivotal role in her understanding of therapy’s importance, especially in the Black and Brown community.

2. Specializing in Mental Wellness for Black Men

• Tracy reveals that her practice evolved from a broad focus on BIPOC clients to a mission centered on empowering Black men specifically.
• She describes her own negative first experience with therapy (with someone who didn’t represent her community), which influenced her empathetic and culturally aware approach to counseling.

3. Addressing Real-Life Stressors

• Common issues Tracy helps address include:
  • Depression, anxiety, and symptoms like sleep disruption or appetite changes.
  • Anger management, communication challenges, workplace and financial stress.
  • Navigating issues unique to Black men, such as workplace trauma, stereotypes, and the pressure to excel.

4. Values That Guide Tracy’s Practice

• Tracy leads from a place of lived experience, never asking clients to do what she hasn’t done herself.
• She strives for a power-balanced, compassion-centered engagement based on authenticity and mutual respect.

5. Building and Marketing a Signature Program

• Tracy discusses developing the "Resilient Man Blueprint," a proposed six- to eight-week program aimed at transformative growth for Black men.
• Jarvis advises breaking the program into distinct modules/parts, adding onboarding (“Week 0”) for expectation setting, and leveraging group coaching for peer accountability.
• They discuss marketing as a lifestyle change, a transformation, and a movement to break through to the target audience.

6. Business Advice and Event Marketing

• Jarvis highlights the effectiveness of event marketing (workshops, webinars, networking events) to reach and engage the target demographic.
• He suggests using consistent, value-driven events to both serve clients and gather insights for refining offerings before scaling with paid ads.

7. Next Steps for Tracy

• Tracy is motivated to refine her Resilient Man Blueprint into group and modular formats, enhance her event marketing, and define her client avatar more clearly for targeted outreach.

Connect with Tracy Long

• Websi

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