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

Hi Pwendy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Honestly, it pained me when I saw people in emotional pain and mental suffering. I was always curious about the human condition, so in college I felt led to switch my major from Business Administration to human behavior studies through pursuing a degree in social work. After obtaining my bachelors and masters of social work, I became licensed and I started to work as a therapist for an agency. However, I wasn’t satisfied with just working for an agency. My reality growing up was with parents who were entrepreneurs. Every day I watched them working for themselves and it felt normal to want to own my own business. I knew that whatever industry I ended up in, I would inevitably find a way to become a business owner. And plus, I really do find it fun and exciting to not only create but figure out the building blocks of establishing and maintaining a business. With a desire to merge my two loves which became mental wellness and business organization, I opened my solo private practice and named it Fresh Living Counseling as a dedication to my clients who will hopefully leave my practice with some fresh perspectives and fresh way of living!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Fresh Living Counseling officially opened August 2021 in South Florida. The global pandemic contributed to the timing of its establishment, as the demand for therapy greatly increased and virtual therapy started trending, I decided this was the time to actually do it. I tend to lean towards a more hopeful “we can do it” attitude, however building this business has had its share of frustrations, anxious fears and emotional tears. Even as recent as two weeks ago, I became frustrated because I couldn’t figure out a business related matter and all of my phone calls and email attempts only led to more confusion. I was so frustrated that I started crying and I actually thought, “why am I doing this, I can eliminate all this stress by just working for someone.” I allow myself to cry without judgment then talked about the situation with other business owners which eventually led me to the solution. My support group listened, laughed with me about it, and even commiserated together and it gave me the second wind to not give up. I realized that my need to figure it all out on my own and do it myself may actually be a detriment to a successful business. I am learning that I need to be humble, patient, studious and allow other people to help me.

What I want the world to know about my brand is that my #1 goal is to help you experience emotional relief. My desire is to help people reach a better quality of living and I’m glad I get to do it through Fresh Living Counseling.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is my favorite question, because I believe that everyone should be a tourist in their own towns. If a friend was traveling to South Florida, I would plan a day at the beach, any one of them, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale Beach, or West Palm beach.

In West Palm Beach, fun lux services places to eat are at the RH restaurant at the Gallery at the Square, Elisabettas, or at the Breakers. They can walk downtown West Palm Beach through Clematis Ave. or downtown Delray through Atlantic Ave. There’s a really fun retro arcade off of Atlantic Ave. and “Dada’s” has tasty food. In Broward County, for Italian food “Pasta And” in Margate, for Caribbean “The Pearl of the Island” in Margate. In Miami there is a Peruvian-Asian fusion speakeasy style restaurant in the Miami Design District called “Pink Dolphin”. Try a unique dessert at “Aubi & Ramsa” its an ice cream bar (alcohol-infused ice cream). Lastly, I would have them tour the famous guitar hotel at night, the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shout out to my parents who were the catalyst for my aspiration to become a business owner. This is a silver lining shout out but I want give a shout out to my family as a whole because in a plot twist sort of way, it was because of our unhealthy ways of communicating that I kept learning more and more about mental dysfunction in order to find the answers to mental health. I want to give a shout out to all of my colleagues who have now become friends in the social work industry, Tiffany, Genise, Sasha, and Vivian. A huge shout out to Antonio and Alex who gave me a glimpse at what private practice looks like and answered all of my business related questions. And I saved the best for last, shout out to God because He purposed me to do this good work and I feel His delight when I meet with my clients and He in turn meets with them.

Website: www.freshlivingcounseling.com

Instagram: @freshlivingcounseling

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwendy-fenelus-lcsw-340b20144/

Image Credits
Photographer: Ellen Stines

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