14 minute read
The Impact of Covid-19
Tangee Moore - Avail Outreach The Impact of Covid-19
How has the Covid-19 Pandemic affected or impacted your practice? Avail Outpatient Counseling LLC is a private, mind-body practice focused on empowering and healing the total person- mind, body, and soul. Avail services are healing focused, personcentered, and goal directed. Avail offers outpatient psychotherapy, empowerment coaching, and holistic healing services such as Reiki, Yoni Steaming, Mindfulness Meditative Practices, Nutrition Psychoeducation, and Physical Fitness. In addition to programs and services, Avail offers holistic healing products such as yoni steam herbal blends, sage, Palo Santo, CBD products, and more.
Advertisement
To help prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Avail has followed through with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation of social distancing. Many people have had to change the way they conduct business—this includes private practices such as Avail. To reduce in-person contact, Avail’s programs and services are now being offered completely online through virtual platforms. Avail has been fortunate to have always had wellestablished business continuity plans in place. In 2017, Avail launched TelAvail™, an online
platform for clients with transportation issues, health issues, or daycare issues. Prior to COVID19, we were able to operate from multiple locations and in a highly secure work-from-home capacity. At this time, we have been able to continue to manage our operations through this evolving situation.
It is important however to note that in offering online treatment to clients, we face lower or no reimbursement from insurance companies and payers. The main barriers to maintaining usual care by telehealth require changes that are unlikely to come from the federal level. Commercial reimbursement, Medicaid reimbursement, and credentialing are the states’ domain. Only 20% of states require payment parity between telemedicine and in-person services. Fortunately, both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and some local commercial payers have modified payment policy in response to Covid-19. We hope others will follow suit. one hour session that includes physical Movement (workout routine that incorporates Hip-Hop, Afro-beats, and Latin dance moves), and Mindfulness techniques (mindful breathing, visualization, and movement) by qualified professionals.
What has been Avails response?
Avail has taken proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of our therapists, student interns, and clients. We recognize the personal impacts that the current uncertainty may have on our clients and the emotional uneasiness it may cause. To that end, we have continued to monitor the situation closely, providing weekly emails with resource information from reputable sources to our clients and staff. We have assisted our clients with safety planning, made contact calls outside of scheduled therapy sessions, remained involved with providers outside of our practice for treatment coordination purposes, and kept our website www.availcounseling. com updated with information regarding COVID-19 and ways to continue to access our programs, services, and products. Avail’s social media platforms to include Instagram (@ availcounseling), Twitter (@availcounse1ing), and Facebook (Avail Outpatient Counseling LLC) remain active offering uplifting messages or quotes and information to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and educate the community in which we serve on ways to meet unmet mental and physical health needs.
We recognize that individuals are using homeopathy, essential oils, and other forms of alternative medicine to prevent COVID-19, or to treat it. Avail does not have a cure, but we do have mind-body, holistic healing products to help ease one’s distress, lower anxiety, and find their center. Our online shop offers essentials that can help individuals with dis-ease in an effort to avert stress that will only weaken the immune system, making one more susceptible to any virus, infection, or disease.
In response to COVID-19, majority of our programs are being offered online to both our local and global communities. One of our programs used by many schools and daycares is “Mindfulness, Movement, and Motivation.” We are currently offering this online to students at E. W. Wyatt Middle School in Greensville County for their 21st Century after school program using the Zoom platform. Students receive a
The Avail Workplace Wellness program is designed to support and encourage a holistic approach to employee wellbeing by creating an organization culture of health. Avail Workplace Wellness Program provides a series of interactive and engaging online workshops that includes the following topics: Effective Communication, Cultural Competency, Mind-Body Balance, and Self-Care. Each workshop provides practical yet effective tools that employees can readily access and easily implement. Each workshop is led by Avail’s MindBody experts who are clinical licensed social workers, certified fitness instructors, and corporate leaders.
Avail, in partnership with Education Connection Academy (ECA), a nonprofit organization, continues to host our monthly series titled, “Girl, Take Off Your Cape”: Community Chats about Superwoman Syndrome online. Avail contributes to “Cut to the Chase,” a safe space for men to discuss men’s mental and physical health issues. This has continued online.
To learn more about Avail Outpatient Counseling LLC visit www. availcounseling.com. Attached is also a flyer that shares how to support Avail during COVID-19. h
Helping Bosses Build
Dominique
Dominique Rice is a serial entrepreneur. At the age of 22, she started her first company, Perfect Fit Placement. She is also passionate about helping people and inspiring women entrepreneurs.
Dominique currently owns Dominique Rice Consulting and INFLUENT. Dominique Rice Consulting is a consulting firm for women entrepreneurs that focuses on helping them grow and scale their company. INFLUENT is a travel company that allows women to travel in style with groups. Their first trip is scheduled for the continent of South Africa in January/ February 2021.
“I am regularly sought as an adviser to global and North American CEO’s and business leaders. My plan will help your company reach your earning potential. I am driven by my relentless passion to help visionaries get what they really want in business and life. My clients come from a wide range of industries, including consumer packaged goods, childcare development, and professional services. My coaching structure is built on my belief that CEO’s and business leaders can have tremendous business success, along with an enriching and adventurous lifestyle,” she says.
Dominique started Perfect Fit Placement in 2012. “I was a nanny and wanted to start my own firm. This company quickly grew and became in high demand. Before I knew it, I was placing high profile and high net worth clients. I was really rocking it in the corporate baby-sitting world and decided to divide my company in half. All baby-sitting was to shift to the franchise we acquired, College Nannies Sitters and Tutors, and Perfect Fit Placement was to continue doing the entire nanny placement. I knew I could grow the baby-sitting service to the point of selling in a short amount of time,” she says.
Over the last three years Dominique has primarily been consulting. She has helped a handful business owners scale their businesses. Once she sold the baby-sitting service, Dominique knew it was time to really focus on helping others. She used everything she learned along the way and it worked. It was then when she officially launched Dominique Rice Consulting.
“I love helping people the most that is what I am proud of. I am truly inspired by Beyoncé. Not the singer, but Beyoncé the entrepreneur and mother. Beyoncé is one of the greatest not just because she is talented but also because she works the hardest. She is a wife, mother, and creator. She expects perfection from herself and those around her. I admire her hard work and work ethic,” Dominique says.
While being faced with many challenges in business, Dominique has persevered. “I’ve had former employees leave and start their own business while stealing valuable content and work for competitors. I have faced all the issues with growing and scaling too quickly. I feel like I have faced it all and through that, I am able to teach others and help them to learn from my mistakes,” she shares. Moving forward, Dominique plans to take her business ventures to even greater heights. She clearly understand there is a great deal of work to do and is preparing herself to meet the challenge. “I want to continue to help all women entrepreneurs. I also look forward to having the ability to work aboard and travel. I truly enjoy the perks that being self employed offers such as the flexibility to spend time with my family and friends,” she says. h
Executive Chef Carlos Brown is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of C3Culinary Group LLC. He believes that “Food that Makes You Smile” and “Saving Hospitality”.
He began cooking at the young age of eight. By the time he was 16, he was declared to be a professional. “It started at home. I was raised by two great women, my mom and grandmother,” he says. Fast forward, he eventually created the Chef Carlos brand which includes Gullah On The Go, Private Stock, Kitchen by Chef Carlos Brown, Authentic Shrimp & Grits Cafe by Chef Carlos in Atlanta, and Charleston SC. His arsenal includes Celebrity Chef, Restaurateur, Hospitality Consultant, speaker, personal and private chef, philanthropist, multi-product developer, and author.
Carlo’s career as a chef is more than food on a plate. It’s artistry, developing, teaching, and training. Under the Saving Hospitality umbrella, he shares his talents with kids who have special needs. “That’s special to me because the love bring families, communities, and homes together,” he says.
Today the impact for me is not allowing my failures to stop or slow me down. Because I realized that my cooking is more food, its an encounter! This catapult me to build a stronger career as a celebrity chef.
Chef Carlos loves food and finds inspiration in cooking. “It’s starts with having a love in our strong culture of Gullah. I believe that food is an experience. I was born in the low country. Being a black executive chef was so hard and almost never heard of. But I believed that I was born to create art. That belief pushed me to move forward, reach back, and pull others up and show that we can be whatever we desire,” he says.
Chef Carlos shares there have been some ups and downs in his career as a chef. “My wife LaShawn has been the greatest support. She has been on this joinery with me since it began. I’m grateful to be a part of history located in Smithsonian African American Museum For Authentic Shrimp & Grits in Washington DC. I am a 2020 National Black Chef Awards Culinary Excellence Award Winner, and I received the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Award Kingston Chef Scholastic Award Diamond Culinary Medal in 2017. Even more, in Charleston, August 23rd is declared Chef Carlos Brown Day,” he shares. He has also had the pleasure to work with and serve some great celebrity clients that include Oprah Winfrey, Viola Davis, David Oyelowo, Shaquille O’Neal, Julius Tennon, Jim Carrey, Phyllis Newhouse, Danny Glover, US Congressman John Lewis, US Congressman Jim Clyburn, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Bo Jackson, Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, Susan Taylor, Teddy Bridgewater, Mack Brown, Bill Bellamy, TI, LIl Wayne, Latavius Murray, Jerick McKinnon, Fantasia, Rashaun Williams, Darlene McCoy, and many more.
Some of the challenges Chef Carlos has faced have been investors, who tend to run away from restaurants because most restaurant fails. “That happens when owners don’t understand the concept of hospitality or how to effectly run this business,” he says. “We have developed a winning concept to be successful.”
Moving forward , Chef Carlos plans to open new restaurants and expand the Chef Carlos brand that includes several products. He also plans to work with kids who have special needs, juveniles, and continue to share his talents with schools. h
Dallas/Fort Worth - May/June 2020
Exceptional Creations with Toccara LLC
By Terry L. Watson - Photos by Toccara Cara Samuel
Toccara Lachell Samuel of Greenville, SC is a daughter, sister, aunt, and great friend to many people. She is also a licensed esthetician and founder of Exceptional Creations with Toccara LLC. Her company specializes in products for all natural hair growth and care, beard growth and care, skincare, and wellness. Additionally she has also served as a former Training Director for the Chick-fil-A food franchise.
Toccara says her love for entrepreneurship began in 2003 as she began working in the skincare and beauty industry in Aiken, SC. It was at Beauty on The Go, that is owned and operated by Jeanette Breeland. From there she spent years working for other companies such as Bath and Body works, Arbonne and Estee Lauder. She started Exceptional Creations with Toccara LLC in 2018 after finishing Esthetics school at the Academy of Hair Technology and obtaining her Professional License. She also owned and operated a spa suite from December 2018 until December 2019 at Cornerstone Studios in Simpsonville, SC.
Toccara currently freelances and travels with her services and product line. “Traveling and freelancing allows me to reach other states and areas, and hopefully countries,” she says. On top of being an esthetician and businesswoman, she sometimes speaks at colleges and other venues about entrepreneurship, developing positive affirmations, and creating a vision plan. She is a Life and Wellness Coach and advocate for Mental Health Awareness, Domestic Violence, and Suicide Prevention. Her advocacy was sparked from watching her biological mother battle those illnesses and from her own battles in those areas as well.
Toccara shares how diverse her product line is. “My products are all natural and vegan friendly. They were developed to help with all areas of needs ranging from hair care, skincare, beard care, and wellness. Most importantly, each item is developed and formulated personally by me. My hair growth oil was developed because of my own experience with hair loss and finding out this was a need by many people. I formulated it several times before finding the perfect combination of oils. From developing the growth oil and servicing male clients, I developed the beard oil. The beard oil helps with the health and the growth of the beard but is formulated with essential oils that are appealing to a man.”
Toccara also makes hair butter, hair moisturizer, beard balm, beard moisturizer, beard wash, skin care kits, body butters, soaps, wellness oil blends, and many other items and kits that are helpful to the human body and the environment. Her wellness blends help with pain and many other ailments in the body and are specially formulated for each client that orders them.
Exceptional Creations began with Toccara taking small steps. “I started with just 25 recipes and now I have close to 100,” she says. On of her top product lines are the skin care services for all genders and also beard treatments for men.
Being an entrepreneur has its perks. Toccara says she loves the fact that she is able to be exceptionally authentic and creative. “It allows me a chance to manage my own time and grow my business. As a child growing up, I didn’t understand my creative mind and why I was into so many different things. I found myself having a love for the arts and crafts. It all started to make sense in 2016 when I realized I could go to school and obtain a professional license that would allow me to be creative and not only help people, but also provide for and help my family,” she says.
She finds inspiration in her late grandfather Henry A. Samuel Jr. who also owned his own businesses until his heavenly transition in December of 2009. “He inspired me to push and never give up no matter what happens and that I can over come any battle in my life,” she says. The second person who inspires Toccara is her adopted mom, Christabell Fulmer who came into her life at the young age of six, after her mom passed away. “She taught me that it’s okay to be myself and to be authentic. She has loved me all of my life and cared for me like a mother should care for her child. She has taught me strength and showed me how to obtain every goal I want in life. I couldn’t ask for a better mother figure in my life,” Toccara says.
Like most small businesses, Toccara has faced her share of challenges. One for her was learning how to let the word “No” roll off her back without allowing herself to be discouraged. “The answer “No” is just the journey towards the “yes” that cam change your life. It’s not an easy journey to develop and grow a business on your own but it’s definitely worth it. I’m thankful for my sister, Rhonda Burgess for being in my corner at all times. She keeps me encouraged with my business.
