So, can you just pay whatever you want?

YES! Well, maybe not exactly (yet). But that is my authentic (eventual) goal!

This is a new idea for me, so it will be a work in progress, and I deeply appreciate you growing through this process with me as I learn about how to find the right balance.

I’d like to start with being transparent about what it costs me to live and maintain a practice in Los Angeles, because my income goals reflect what’s needed for my expenses.

These are the monthly expenses I incur related to operating my practice:
$1690 - office (rent) & tech
$1100 - therapy & supervision (soul hygiene!)
$550 - education (training, books)
$375 - gas
———————————
$3715/mo - TOTAL

And my half of our basic living expenses for our family of 3:
$2450 - mortgage + insurance
$800 - utilities & internet
$600 - groceries
———————————
$3850/mo - TOTAL

My basic expenses total ~$7565/mo, but of course the above doesn’t reflect every expense in my life. I am currently setting an income target of $9000/mo, so that hard-to-calculate expenses like major dental work, car repairs, etc., don’t get put off, and so I can start a retirement account and contribute to saving for college for my little one.

So here’s the caveat to this pay-from-the-heart pricing: in order for me to offer this flexibility, it has to actually work! I want to be able to serve clients at a variety of income levels. But if it doesn’t balance on its own (if I can’t make ends meet), then I will have to take another approach to pricing, such as splitting my hours between set-rate clients and flexible-rate clients. But it’s my commitment to not only serve high-income clients!

I’m still at the stage of experimentation. If you’re reading this, I’m still doing it, which means it’s working out for me so far!

But…

Let’s talk about the awkwardness factor here! I know how hard it can be to settle on the right amount to contribute. You might naturally be wondering, how can you be sure you’re not under-valuing me if you contribute at the lower end of the range, or ask for a lower rate than what I have as one of my listed one-click pricings? That’s part of why I offer some transparency about the numbers above.

If you look at those numbers above and can clearly see that your income bracket is lower than mine, then it doesn’t make sense for you to contribute at the top end of the range. If you make significantly more money than I do, then it probably doesn’t make sense for you to contribute at the bottom of the range.

I realize that circumstances are never as simple as numbers might imply, so use the above information only as a rough guideline, and listen to your heart. And I want to be SO CLEAR—that’s not a way to guilt you to contribute more! Your heart won’t only encourage you to increase your contribution. It may also whisper to you the permission you need to accept the lower rates I offer here, instead of saying, “I can’t afford this kind of thing”.

It comes from my heart when I say, please don’t let that be what stops you.

Sign up for a monthly subscription here.