H.O.P.E. & Harmony
Our story is 9 years in the making, so I’ll try to share the “nutshell” version. Future blog posts may include a more detailed account of our individual journey.
Rachel and I met at Aurora University in 2016, where we were both undergraduate students in the social work program. We were in the same cohort, shared many of the same classes and were lucky enough to sometimes be paired up for group projects. Although Rachel is young enough to be my daughter, our personalities just meshed and we became close friends. We also went on to complete the graduate program at AU. For six months after graduation, we studied for, tested together, and passed our first licensure exam! From there, our career paths went in different directions, but we stayed in touch.
I landed in group practice in 2020 and tried several times to recruit Rachel. About two years later, she finally accepted my invitation to join the practice where I worked! We stayed there for a couple years and occasionally pondered what it would be like to venture out on our own. One day, we finally felt ready to leave the nest and made our move in December 2024!
At first, I think we both intended to spread our wings and take solo flights but it didn’t take long before we decided it would be nice to still work together. We came up with names for our future practices and started to look for a new place to call home. But then we wondered: how could we share space and still be independent practice owners? That’s when we came up with the idea of forming HOPE & Harmony—a cute name that represented both of us!
I have to say that it’s already wonderful to be able to have the autonomy and flexibility that comes with being a business owner, but it’s incredibly satisfying to be able to run that business parallel to my favorite colleague. I love working with my clients; networking with other providers; learning new things and growing my practice—all while being able to spend more time with my best friend!
We’re very excited to have this opportunity to pursue a dream we didn’t even know we had, and we’re glad that you’re here playing a part in our journey!