Fifty coffee dates and no one new to help.

TL;DR: Eltoniesha spent her first months in business development collecting coffee dates and photos, then realized none of it was reaching anyone who needed help. What changed things was going where the people actually are and putting lives ahead of handshakes.

Hi everyone,

Every business development role comes with its own idea of success, and in our field it usually points at the wrong thing. Eltoniesha joined me again during this conversation, three months into a full business development role at an IOP in North Austin, after years of street outreach handing out water bottles and Narcan at homeless encampments.

For her first stretch, she played the game the way everyone plays it. She went to the coffee dates and the lunches, where the same faces trade the same promise to send each other people. She'd report back that she met with 50 people, and two weeks later not one new person had come in for help. She joked that she kept coming back from events with a great photo and no new people to help.

I know that trap well. When we were new in Austin, people told us the same thing, and I had nobody to send them. I was asking for referrals so I could pay my house note. A small business can't afford the corporate version of success, where meeting ten people this month counts as a win. The only number that matters to us is how many people actually received help.

So Eltoniesha changed where she shows up. When a client mentioned that a lawyer needed them in IOP by Thursday, she asked for the lawyer's number, got the release signed, and made the call. She calls the legal world a gold mine most people in her role never touch. She runs lunch and learns at sober livings, sitting in a house with 17 women eating Raising Cane's at 7 p.m. on a Monday. She also makes TikToks, and one woman called admissions saying she couldn't help but call after seeing the video.

None of that produces a pretty photo, and the honesty is what makes it work. Her Motivation Monday series started on a day she woke up with no motivation at all. She posted at 5 p.m. anyway, said exactly that on camera, and another person reached out for help after watching it.

The clearest picture of what success really looks like came at a networking luncheon at our office that went sideways. About 75 people sat inside in the air conditioning complaining about the food delays. Eltoniesha and my husband Mike went outside instead, to talk with the people operating the food truck who were struggling. She invited a woman to church while Mike talked with others about getting into treatment. During this conversation, Mike put it plainly: we're not here for business. Business is just the way we provide value.

That's the kind of success I want our field working toward. Eltoniesha keeps coming back to the same phrase, even if it's just one. One person who changes their life is worth more than fifty handshakes.

What does success look like for you right now, and when did it last have a person's face on it?

Eltoniesha and I also get into why authenticity outperforms polish online and how faith shapes the way each of us shows up, in the full conversation with Eltoniesha. New episodes drop every week.

My Reads of the Week

Courts and treatment programs refer faster once they actually know each other

UMass Chan Medical School researchers piloted a set of strategies to build working relationships between three recovery courts and providers of medication for opioid use disorder, including structured interagency meetings and agency tours, and published the results in Drug and Alcohol Dependence in January 2026. Interviews with 24 staff found the effort strengthened trust between the agencies, and staff said referrals moved faster. Eltoniesha's call to a client's lawyer is the one-person version of that alliance, and it's why she sees the legal world as an overlooked referral source.

Letting people in recovery tell their own stories moved a whole city

The San Francisco Department of Public Health launched its Living Proof campaign in November 2024, built on testimonials from residents with lived experience, and wrote it up in Frontiers in Public Health in July 2026. The campaign generated an estimated 210 million impressions through January 2026, and 44 percent of polled viewers said they were likely to take action after seeing it. The authors call lived experience a form of expertise, which is exactly what Eltoniesha brings to her TikToks and to every sober living she walks into as someone six years sober.

In sober living, the people who've lived it set the tone

A UC Berkeley-led team interviewed 29 operators and staff from 10 recovery homes across five Texas cities, publishing in Frontiers in Public Health in March 2026. House managers drew on their own lived experience to support residents and to build house cultures around mutual accountability, though operators described the role as demanding and often temporary. Eltoniesha's point was that a house manager can mention an IOP five minutes away, but residents haven't heard the enthusiasm until someone who has lived it shows up and tells them herself.

Wisdom Nugget

Getting sober alone rarely sticks, because detox and willpower don't come with anyone who notices when you disappear. Sober living gives people a house that won't let them hide, and IOP gives them a team that calls them on their excuses and still roots for them. Awkward Recovery's piece on pairing the two sums it up well: IOP is where you learn how to stay sober, and sober living is where you learn how to live sober. Read more

Hot Takes

Focus on providing value and the profit will come (YouTube)

We WILL make a positive impact on our community! (YouTube)

Know your audience (YouTube)

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The essence of our mission at Atomic Souls transcends the realms of recovery and stability; it's about igniting the flame of purpose and passion within each soul we encounter. Join us.

Thanks for reading,

Rachel

p.s. If this is our first introduction, hi, I’m Rachel, founder and CEO of Atomic Souls Counseling. I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S) and a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC). After years in the trenches as a clinician, I discovered that my real passion isn’t just helping clients heal; it’s helping therapists thrive.

I’ve built Atomic Souls into more than a counseling practice; it’s a place where healing and business intelligence meet. I work with therapists, counselors, and practice owners to help them build sustainable, ethical, and profitable practices. Together, we focus on strategy, systems, and the economics of growth the behind-the-scenes work that allows you to keep showing up fully for your clients without burning out.

My approach blends clinical wisdom with business strategy. I coach on everything from pricing models and team structure to marketing, leadership, and scaling, all while maintaining your integrity and purpose. I believe you can be both a gifted clinician and a confident entrepreneur; those two identities don’t have to compete.

Through Atomic Souls, I’ve built a community where mental health professionals support one another, share resources, and turn purpose into sustainable success. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to expand, I’m here to help you build a practice that aligns with your values and fuels your life, not drains it.

If you’re a therapist ready to step into the next chapter of your career with clarity and confidence, let’s connect.

I write about the business of healing: strategy, systems, and soul for therapists who want to build thriving, values-driven practices on my blog.

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