How to Start a Mental Health Practice With No Business Background | Clearhope Counseling EP: 37

**How to start a Mental health practice when you have no business background, no business plan, and no startup capital.** **Heather Lambert did it from a storage closet in a Pasadena, Texas church. Today Clearhope Counseling and Wellness Center employs more than 40 licensed mental health professionals.** Starting a mental health business without a business degree — and growing it from a church closet to 40+ licensed professionals. That's Heather Lambert's story. In this episode of Small Business Success Stories, host Dr. Jeffrey Ricken speaks with **Heather Lambert, founder of Clearhope Counseling and Wellness Center** and the 2026 SBA Houston District Women-Owned Small Business of the Year. After 17 years as a school counselor, Heather left a stable career — paycheck, pension, and benefits — after she was unable to connect a student in crisis to timely mental health care. That gap in access became her mission. She opened Clearhope out of a storage closet in a Pasadena, Texas church with no formal business plan and no entrepreneurial background. Today, the organization employs more than 40 mental health professionals and serves students and families across Texas. Heather shares what it takes to build a purpose-driven small business: navigating Medicaid credentialing, surviving the pandemic, understanding the nonprofit vs. for-profit decision, and why free SCORE mentorship from mentors Art Klebba and John Harris was pivotal to her survival as a first-time entrepreneur. Topics covered in this episode: • How to start a mental health practice with no business background • Making the leap from public sector employment to entrepreneurship • Medicaid credentialing and billing for mental health providers • Nonprofit vs. for-profit: how to decide which structure fits your mission • How free SCORE mentoring helped a women-owned business survive and scale - 0:00 – Intro / SCORE Houston introduction - 0:41 – Subscribe reminder - 1:02 – Guest introduction: Heather Lampert, Clear Hope Counseling - 1:53 – Heather reflects on humble beginnings - 2:13 – Her 17 years as an educator/counselor - 2:30 – The student crisis that changed everything - 4:46 – Deciding to start Clear Hope ("someone has to do something") - 5:30 – Resigning from her 17-year career, starting in a church storage closet - 7:11 – Practice growing, needing more office space - 8:13 – Seeking help from SCORE mentors - 10:13 – Incorporating as a professional corp / S-corp, signing a lease - 12:38 – Growth to 50 team members - 14:16 – Mission-driven approach vs. cash-pay industry trend - 17:53 – Operating through the pandemic - 19:16 – Planning for the future of mental healthcare - 21:13 – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs - 25:03 – On passion vs. chasing money/influencer life - 27:27 – Closing thoughts on team and mission - 28:38 – About SCORE and how to get mentorship - 29:45 – Outro / subscribe reminder 🔗 Clear Hope Counseling and Wellness Center: www.clearhopecounseling.com 🔗 Free SCORE Houston mentoring (no cost, no catch): https://www.score.org/houston 🔗 Subscribe to the SCORE Houston Podcast: **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYwZdflYjHJeI8oTA\_fRJw 🔗 Listen on Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Amazon Music:  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3DTCZlN... Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b4a.  Let us know what you think of this episode. What subjects you would like us to cover in next episodes. Give your comments at https://scorehoustonpodcast.blogspot.com or write to **pv.bala@scorevolunteer.org**. Let us know what you like of this episode and suggest subjects on which you wish to know more.