Episode Details

What if your life first fee isn't just about earning more — but about creating a practice that can truly support your life?

In this podcast takeover episode, Linzy hands the mic to her biz bestie, Tiffany McLain — founder of The Lean In. MAKE BANK. Academy and host of The Money Sessions — for a bold conversation about what it really takes to build a life first fee practice.

Tiffany speaks honestly and unapologetically to the therapist who knows they want a more sustainable practice, but still finds themselves pulled back into lower fees, insurance dependence, inconsistent referrals, or marketing that does not seem to bring in the clients they actually want to work with.

She names the shift many therapists are feeling right now: the private practice landscape has changed, and the old ways of filling a caseload are not working the way they once did. But instead of responding by working more, charging less, or trying to compete with therapy platforms and AI, Tiffany points toward a different path.

This episode invites you to think differently about your fee, your positioning, your clinical authority, and the kind of practice that can actually take care of you while you take care of your clients.

If you have your life first fee written down somewhere, but are not yet living it in your practice, this conversation is for you.

Timestamps:

00:34 - Linzy Introduces the Podcast Takeover

02:36 - Tiffany’s Life First Fee Practice Framework

04:22 - Why Referrals Feel Different Now

05:14 - The Private Practice Landscape Before the Pandemic

06:15 - What Changed When Therapy Moved Online

07:14 - Big Tech, Therapy Platforms, and Cheap Labor

09:01 - The Pressure of Lower Reimbursement Rates

10:25 - AI, Burnout, and the Race to the Bottom

13:00 - Why Life First Fees Are a Different Path

15:46 - Why Therapists Cannot Compete with Big Tech

16:49 - Returning to Deep Human Work

17:32 - Marketing Beyond the Scaled Online Game

18:58 - Start by Knowing Your Life First Fee

20:55 - The “R to the Third” Client: Resourced, Ready, Recognized

25:00 - How Specificity Helps Clients Find Themselves in Your Work

27:19 - Where Life First Fee Clients Come From

29:18 - Stepping Into Professional Authority

31:04 - Linzy’s Final Reflection and Community Invitation

Connect with Tiffany McLain:

Tiffany McLain, LMFT is a clinical fee strategist for therapists in private practice. Her mantra is, “Full fees are the new black.” Via her program, The Lean In. MAKE BANK. Academy, she helps therapists ethically earn significantly more per month while seeing fewer clients and doing BETTER clinical work.

The Lean In. MAKE BANK. Academy is a program that addresses the underlying money mindset stories that keep therapists broke so they can become THAT therapist who charges premium fees, cash pay. With the LIMB 4-step framework to make BANK, regular coaching calls to help you go to the next level, a phenomenal community of funny and intelligent therapists, be ready to get real raw and real rich.

Website: https://leaninmakebank.com

Life First Fee Calculator: https://leaninmakebank.com/fee-calculator/

Email: hey@leaninmakebank.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leaninmakebank/

For other episodes with Tiffany, check out:

Episode 204 - Breaking the Martyr Cycle: Therapists, Money Shame, and Sel