What worked when I started my first group practice isn't what works now. Not because either of us did it wrong back then. The ground underneath all of us has shifted, and a lot of the advice still floating around out there was written for a landscape that doesn't exist anymore.

This summer, I sat down with four group practice owners across the country on the Empowered to Lead podcast and asked each of them the same question: how did you decide whether to grow or stay where you are. Not one of them answered with a number. Not one said "once your team’s caseload hits this," or "once you can afford that." What they gave me instead was harder to put in a framework, and more useful because of it.

Your business? It should work the opposite way. Your business exists to serve you—your goals, your vision, and your life. Treating it like a baby flips the relationship: suddenly, you’re in service to the business, reacting to daily crises instead of guiding its growth with purpose.