My Farewell to Fleurish
Dear Fleurish fans, clients, and community connections,
It is with mixed emotions that I am officially announcing my departure from Fleurish, the business I have built over the past 10 years. Allow me to take you on a little trip down memory lane from Fleurish’s beginning until today.
Fleurish was my first baby. It began as my solo private practice when I first embarked on my career as a psychotherapist. My husband came up with the name – a nod to my French-Louisiana roots with the spelling, and a representation of the flourishing I hope for my clients. My brother designed the logo and branding – a soothing teal stylized fleur-de-lis. I welcomed my first client in person in 2013 in a sublet office in Chamblee.
In between the birthing of my human babies and respective maternity leaves, Fleurish too grew and shrank and changed. I hired my first contractor therapist in 2017 and moved to a downtown Decatur office. In 2018 I hired my first w-2 employee therapist. In 2020, like everyone else, we pivoted and became an entirely virtual practice. It was a challenging time, but we persevered, grew as a team, and continued to provide quality care to our clients.
Fleurish’s Downtown Decatur Office
In 2021, we found a new physical home in our current Scottdale office. We were thrilled to return to an office with our colleagues that year. In the beginning of 2022 we finally welcomed clients back to sit on our couches again in person.
Still image from our promo video in 2021
It has been quite the adventure over the last decade. By the numbers Fleurish has so far employed 21 therapists, contracted with four clinical supervisors, and employed or contracted with seven admins. We’ve had over 1500 clients, and provided them with access to compassionate and capable clinicians through the use of their health insurance or sliding scale rates. I feel really proud of all of this.
Fleurish’s Current Office
Over the past year, I have come to the difficult realization that my ability to keep Fleurish afloat as a practice has withered. While my devotion to the ethos of Fleurish (Approachable therapists, Accessible care, Affordable rates) remains strong, I have been faced with more frequent issues with bigger impacts; and my solutions to them have become less effective.
As I began the process of shutting down the group practice to return to solo practice last month, a colleague reached out to explore the possibility of buying the practice and taking over the management and operations. I’m pleased to announce that that colleague, Janelle Peifer, PhD will be the new owner of Fleurish!
Janelle Peifer, PhD
I’ve known Janelle as a colleague for years. In fact, she rented space from Fleurish in our downtown Decatur office. I can’t imagine a better person, from both a business and a clinical perspective, to be taking the helm. She will be honoring the brand and community footprint of Fleurish while making necessary changes to keep the practice flourishing. The official hand off will take place over the next few weeks. I will remain on as a temporary consultant to help with the transfer. Janelle will be in touch in various ways over the next several weeks with her plans for Fleurish’s future.
It is not easy to say goodbye to something (and the many someones) that has been such an important part of my life for so long. But I am confident that this decision is the right one for both myself, my family, and the future of Fleurish. I am immensely grateful for the trust and devotion of our clients, colleagues, referral partners, and community as well as the dedication and hard work of our staff over the years. Rest assured that I will not be disappearing, though! I will continue to see my small handful of clients and also take a bit of a hiatus to discern my next steps.
Signing off,
