As part of the Morning Lazziness series about empowering women who encourage and do incredible things with their ideas in society, I had the pleasure of interviewing Prerna Menon.
Prerna Menon, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, is the founder of Boundless, a psychotherapy group practice serving New York and Massachusetts. With a passion for mental health, accessibility, and representation, Prerna began her journey in 2010, driven to break the stigma surrounding mental health in the South Asian community. In 2023, she founded Boundless, a practice centered on representation, featuring South Asian and LGBT+ therapists. Boundless invites the South Asian and LGBT+ community to take the leap toward healing and embrace the mental health support it deserves.
Here’s what we found out about Prerna’s daily routine, followed by an exclusive Q+A.
Can you share the story behind your journey as an entrepreneur and what inspired you to start your own business?
We don’t talk about it enough, but the South Asian community, along with its beautifully dynamic layers, also has its own host of complexities. I grew up in Mumbai, India, and witnessed how stigmatized mental health concerns were. Whether it was watching my family struggle in silence without any professional support, or witnessing my friends battle depression in isolation, my heart ached for the people around me, and I wished I could help them in more ways than lending a listening ear. I myself am a queer Indian woman, and with that came a lot of emotional repression too. I wanted to be the change I wished to see in the world and be the representation I wished I had growing up.
Hence, I created Boundless in 2023! A queer and woman-owned South Asian-focused mental health practice in New York and Massachusetts. I started off in the field working in non-profit organizations as a social worker with a diverse client population. As much as I found the work to be greatly rewarding, I desired working with South Asian folks specifically. So I took it upon myself to start my own group practice, where we presently serve a 98% Asian-Diverse population.
What challenges have you faced as a woman in the business world, and how have you overcome them?
I try my best to lead with curiosity and a non-judgmental attitude. Hoping to be treated equitably by others without making assumptions about them and wishing that they would do the same for me. However, you will always come by the odd salesman that assumes you know nothing about business and questions your competency trying to upsell you on a service offering. I have had this happen quite a few times where I have been given a marked-up proposal compared to my male counterparts.
I try my best to take this in stride, and do not settle on these proposals and always negotiate and make the sales rep explain and justify every single proposition. I also have done a lot of self-learning on topics like SEO, Google Ads, domain authority, copywriting, and more. Equipping myself with this knowledge allows me to be critical of these proposals and enables me to only work with individuals that are truly trying to help and uplift my business and mission.
How do you balance your professional and personal life as an entrepreneur?
I would be lying if I said that I have my work-life balance figured out. In complete honesty, it is a work in progress. I have, especially in the last 3 months, gotten very serious about setting professional and personal boundaries to ensure I maintain my quality of life and well-being. Some strategies I have implemented look like at 5 PM every day I try to disable my work email. If emergency situations arise, my colleagues know to text me. I also never work on the weekends, no matter how intense the productivity itch is. I also have implemented a nightly practice of setting my “next-day agenda.” I take 10 minutes at the end of the day to list out 5 high-priority tasks that I am going to set my mind to the next day. I then make a concerted effort to commit to seeing those 5 tasks through within the allotment of my work hours. Lastly, I remind myself that life is short and I need to make sure I take full advantage of it. So, I always have at least 3 pleasurable activities that I commit to per week, and I hold myself accountable to seeing them through.
What strategies have you found most effective for networking and building connections in your industry?
The mental health world is vast and expansive! It has so many avenues open for exploration that it can sometimes feel overwhelming. However, the one piece of advice I can share with confidence is that people remember how you make them feel. They don’t remember faces on a screen and don’t remember names at the end of a signature, so it is crucial to be out in the world, in person, and make connections. Whether that is attending social work mixers, visiting doctors offices, attending meditation seminars, or going to community yoga classes. In a helping profession, other helpers need to know you to trust you with their clients; hence, it is imperative that we show them WHY they should trust you by building authentic relationships.
How do you approach mentorship and seek guidance in your entrepreneurial journey?
I am in a profession that requires you to challenge yourself and adapt to new research every single day. As our environments evolve, our social experiences evolve, then society evolves, and hence we as individuals evolve. In order to keep up with this constant change in life, it is super important for all therapists, helpers, and social workers to seek mentorship, peer supervision, business consultation, and clinical supervision. I consult with other social workers weekly, invite feedback constantly, am a part of leadership circles, listen to podcasts led by other entrepreneurs, and keep up with continuing education opportunities routinely in order for me to be a better leader, supervisor, colleague, and therapist.
Can you talk about a specific setback or failure you’ve experienced in your business and how you bounced back from it?
Social work school does not prepare you to be a business owner. So the business and operation side of things was a huge learning curve for me. I underestimated the need for marketing and, in complete honesty, felt a little “icky” selling a service like therapy. So I didn’t push my marketing efforts as much in 2023; this, of course, affected the business significantly, with very few inquiries coming in. After hiring my first employee, I recognized that I am now responsible for somebody else, and their livelihood, and I reconsidered my relationship with marketing. I assessed how I can be a good marketer while still staying aligned with my values and morals. This resulted in me creating highly niche, applicable, and necessary content for my audience. I began writing blogs on the South Asian experience, created website copy that leaves the reader with valuable insights into themselves, and created freebies that were not just a marketing ploy but genuinely gave the reader something they could utilize. With this turnaround, our inquiries have gone up, we have gotten great feedback, and the business is doing well financially.
In what ways do you prioritize diversity and inclusion within your company or startup?
Diversity and inclusion are paramount to everything we do. From the hiring process to the onboarding process, to our service delivery, we ensure that our company reflects the community we serve. We have a diverse team of staff clinicians, and we offer a range of financing options to our community members based on where they are in life. If affordability is an issue for prospective clients, we always offer low-cost referrals and ensure that they are given a next step to explore. If onboarded clients are having financial struggles, we are flexible in our pricing and offer financing options.
With regards to our employees and their client relations, all of our clinicians approach the work from an anti-racist, culturally responsive lens. They engage in weekly supervision where any biases or cultural assumptions are challenged.
In terms of the employee-employer relationship, we do not subscribe to the top-down organizational layout. Instead, we believe that all employees have ideas worth sharing and stress an environment of collaboration, feedback, and community growth.
How do you stay motivated and resilient during tough times in your business?
I remind myself of why I started Boundless in the first place. My goal was to provide culturally-attuned and inclusive therapy to minority communities. Whether it is one client or 100, remembering that I am seeing my vision through keeps me anchored and motivated.
I also see every obstacle as an opportunity to channel growth. I say this to my clients all the time: “If you want a different outcome, you need a different approach.” In moments of struggle, I try not to be a hypocrite and take my own advice.
Relying on my community and support is also integral to staying resilient. Being reminded that others have been where I have been and have seen the storm through to clear skies keeps me focused on the bigger picture.
What advice would you give to other aspiring women entrepreneurs who are just starting out?
Own your story unapologetically and trust your mission, even when it feels like no one else does. Your unique perception of the world is your power—lean into it, and don’t wait for permission to take up space.
What is one quote you live by that has guided you in your entrepreneurial journey?
“You are the beast and its rider” is a quote that I came across in an intensive trauma training in 2019 attributed famously to Friedrich Nietzsche. One must embrace the duality of entrepreneurship—the fierce, relentless, and often chaotic ambition to push forward and the disciplined control needed to navigate strife with precision. Accomplishment lies in the delicate dance of mastering both, allowing your passion to fuel you while your leadership and foresight shepherd the way.
Can you share a memorable success or milestone that you’ve achieved in your entrepreneurial career?
Hiring our first employee was pretty significant to me. Particularly because we got so lucky with finding a values-aligned and passionate professional to stick by us through a challenging beginning! Being able to also hear positive feedback about the culture and environment that we have created from our employees and also getting positive acknowledgement from our clients about the personalized and unique care they are getting feels incredibly rewarding. I am so incredibly grateful to have been able to see a dream through that I had for myself at age 17 in India, in a city as competitive as New York. It truly feels surreal; however, I know that this is only the beginning of what will continue to be a challenging but deeply enriching journey.
