Meet Anna Kennedy | Therapist & Yoga Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Kennedy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, what do you attribute your success to?
Relatability. I believe the most import factor behind the success of my brand is relatability. I work with all ages, but I am primarily an adolescent and young adult therapist. Oftentimes with teens, they are attending therapy because their parents have requested it.. they often do not want to walk into my office for the first time. Knowing this information, I am very intentional with the way I present myself. As silly as it may sound, I dress very casually.. I wear jeans, tees, and sneakers-many times brands that are popular with that particular age group. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to dress like a teenager, but I do try not to appear too dressy. I also keep up with trends in pop culture.. I am aware of the Netflix shows they watch, the popular music, the trending topics on twitter, social media trends, etc. After the first impression, I then work on making the therapy really relatable and relevant for that particular age group. for instance, when trying to introduce some cognitive behavioral techniques, I might use music that they enjoy to create certain connections (I have been known to use DMX as a CBT tool before..And if you don’t know who DMX is… well, he might not be incredibly relevant right now, but he totally was in 1999 ) . I also add the element of discussing physical health into sessions, which teens seem to really love.

What should our readers know about your business?
Elevate Counseling + Coaching is a private practice that provides therapy and coaching to people who want to work on themselves or have something in their life that is holding them back.. We incorporate a holistic approach to address mental and physical health, wellness, and personal development. We have 2 locations in Georgia. One in East Cobb, and the other near the Marietta square. I am incredibly proud of how we have scaled and grown this business. we started with exactly 0 clients and an office that I rented for 2 days a week. I have worked for the past 2 years to build a brand and company that people trust and seek out. We added additional services.. supervision, public speaking (at least before COVID-19) Now, we not only have full time offices, but we have added an additional location and we are currently looking to add to our team. And no, that was not easy. It has taken an incredible amount of work, a ton of networking, and a lot of putting myself out there. I found that my biggest challenge in growing the business was that I had to cold call, or send out bulk emails to people that I did not know. I have no experience with sales and I was so nervous about the “rejection” of people either turning me down or not responding. I got through that challenge by just doing it. There was no choice. I have committed to starting a business that I was passionate about, and I couldn’t let it fail just because I was afraid to press send on some emails. It looks so silly when it is actually written down. What I want the world to know about me is that I am passionate about helping people and all aspects of their health: mental, physical, relational, emotional, etc. I believe that my vision for helping and empowering people is what sets Elevate apart from other practices. I look at all parts of the human and not just the mental piece, and that is a huge part of why Elevate is successful. Lastly, I think the main thing that sets Elevate apart is that I really, really love working with teens.. and I think that is a bit rare for whatever reason.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would definitely spend a day in Atlanta. We would start at Krog Street Market and get a sandwich from Fred’s meat and bread and some dumplings from Gu’s We would. then take a walk on the belt line and head to Ponce City Market for some shopping and maybe a rooftop drink. I live near the Marietta square and we would spend most of our time there. We would eat at all of the amazing restaurants. Some of my favorites are Two Birds tap house, GOOD kitchen + market, and Thaicoon. We would have to grab brunch and mimosas at WR social house. In a pre-COVID world, we would go see the Atlanta Braves play, hang out at the battery and maybe finish the evening with some live music. If the visit was during football season, we would take a day trip up to Athens to spend the day tailgating and see UGA play and explore the charming little downtown. I really love fitness, so we would have to add some of that into the week.. do some hot yoga at Empower Yoga, attend a few bootcamps at Burn East Cobb, and definitely take a class at Cyclebar. We would walk up to the top of Kennesaw Mountain and we would go on a long run at the Silver Comet Trail. Finally, we would sit on my back porch and relax.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely my husband. He is the one that brought up the idea of a private practice. He is the one who encourages me to scale and grow my business. He is the idea guy with new things to bring to the business. He is in the financial world, and he helps educate me on many business practices that I wasn’t taught in counseling school. He takes on extra kid duties when I work late. He believed in me even when I might not have. For sure this shoutout goes out to Matt Kennedy.

Website: www.elevatecounselingco.com
Instagram: annankennedy
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-kennedy-96449490/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annahairstonkennedy

Image Credits
Becki Madsen Meghan Lopez