Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Polk.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Fifteen years ago, I began my career in mental health services in Mississippi. It was the start of two profound journeys in my life: my work in mental health and my relationship with my partner and spouse, Zach. As fellow mental health therapists, Zach and I shared a passion for helping others navigate life’s challenges. Together, we built a vision for the kind of meaningful work we wanted to pursue.
After graduating from social work school, I took a leap and moved to Southern California. There, I immersed myself in a variety of roles, working with people navigating addiction, homelessness, and reentry after incarceration. These early experiences profoundly shaped my approach to mental health care, grounding me in compassion and resilience. But I knew there was more to learn, so I decided to further my education.
I began training with the Gestalt Associates Training Group of Los Angeles, a decision that transformed both my personal and professional life. Gestalt therapy provided me with a theoretical framework to ground my practice, but it also opened doors to international learning experiences. Traveling to train alongside expert therapists from around the world was both humbling and inspiring, deepening my commitment to this work.
Eventually, I moved to St. Louis to attend Washington University in St. Louis, where I pursued Clinical Mental Health with a specialization in Sexual Health and Education. From the start, I knew private practice was my ultimate goal. However, like many of my colleagues, the idea of starting out independently felt overwhelming. Joining a group practice seemed like the logical first step.
Over the next five years, I honed my skills in a group practice setting, learning how to navigate organizational structures and refine my clinical expertise. I rose to become the Clinical Director of a group practice, a role that allowed me to further develop my leadership and administrative abilities. Yet, the dream of creating my own space remained.
When Zach and I decided to establish our private practice, I anticipated that the steepest learning curve would be those first years of practice—mastering the art of therapy and the logistics of running a business. To my surprise, the transition out of the group practice model became the catalyst for my most significant professional growth.
Connecting with a broader community of therapists revealed a stark reality: many clinicians, especially recent graduates and provisionally licensed therapists, were navigating exploitative environments. Stories of worker misclassification, labor law violations, financial exploitation and abuse were alarmingly common. Emerging clinicians often entered group practices full of optimism, only to leave disillusioned.
These stories affirmed my determination to do things differently. I wanted to create a space where therapists felt safe, valued, and empowered to thrive. Instead of replicating the harm I saw in traditional models, I envisioned a practice guided by the question, “What’s enough?”
Together, Zach and I set out to build a space that was thoughtfully curated and trauma-informed. We purchased a building and transformed it into a welcoming, affirming environment. Instead of cramming in as many offices as possible, we reduced the number of rooms to four spacious, intentionally designed spaces. Every detail, from the artwork to the furniture, reflected our commitment to safety, accessibility, and inclusivity.
Our approach was simple: provide a beautiful, functional space and allow independent clinicians to flourish without unnecessary oversight. We offered flexible leasing options and optional consultation, ensuring that solo practice felt less intimidating. By focusing on shared values rather than growth for its own sake, we created a sustainable leasing model that allowed us—and the clinicians in our space—to thrive.
The results were remarkable. With minimal marketing, our space attracted like-minded therapists who valued independence and community. For us, stepping away from the traditional model of scaling up—more clinicians, more clients, more revenue—brought unexpected rewards. We achieved a work-life balance that allowed us to prioritize quality over quantity while maintaining financial success.
Looking back, I’m proud of the space we’ve created. It’s not just a place to work—it’s a testament to the power of community, safety, and shared vision. As we continue to evolve, our goal is to encourage more therapists to embrace independence, providing the support and resources they need to succeed.
In the end, my journey has been about more than just my own career. It’s been about reimagining what’s possible for therapists, clients, and the field of mental health as a whole.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When Zach and I embarked on creating Marigold Therapy Co., I thought our biggest challenges would be technical: navigating contract and employment law, or transforming a tired commercial property into a space of warmth and safety. Those were steep learning curves, but they weren’t the real obstacle.
My greatest challenge was something less tangible but far more personal—my own lack of confidence.
From the outset, we were determined to do no harm. We didn’t want to be just another business in a system that too often exploits therapists and clients alike. That commitment to ethics, while noble, also left me paralyzed at times. The weight of getting it right was so heavy that it stalled my progress.
The website I had painstakingly designed sat unpublished for months. The beautiful space we’d renovated remained without a sign out front, as though I was waiting for someone else to grant me permission to claim it. Every step forward felt like an internal battle against doubt.
One evening, I finally voiced my fears to Zach. “What if we’re doing this all wrong?” I asked him. “What if we end up replicating another problem? What if I’m missing some glaring mistake, and this all fails?”
Zach, ever steady, smiled in his calm, matter-of-fact way. “Then you own it,” he said. “You take responsibility and keep moving.”
His words floored me—not because they were profound, but because of the stark contrast they highlighted. In my past experiences with mentorship and employment, I had rarely seen leadership take responsibility for mistakes. Blame was often deflected or hidden, and problems were ignored rather than addressed.
Zach’s response carried a truth I hadn’t fully embraced: creating a space like Marigold Therapy Co. wasn’t about perfection. It was about accountability and intention. Mistakes wouldn’t make us failures—they’d make us human. The difference lay in how we responded to them.
That conversation shifted something in me. The next day, I hit “publish” on the website. I ordered a sign for the building and hung it proudly. I began leaning into the discomfort of visibility, trusting that our principles would guide us and that accountability would be our safety net.
Marigold Therapy Co. is now a thriving space where therapists and clients feel supported and empowered. But its creation wasn’t just about contracts, renovations, or furniture. It was about overcoming doubt and embracing the courage to lead with integrity.
And for that, I’ll always be grateful—to Zach, to our community, and to the lessons I learned along the way.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m proud to be the co-owner of Marigold Therapy Co., a space with therapeutically-curated offices located in Lindenwood Park. Marigold is a great fit for mental health workers who want to emerge in their own independent practice, but without the large overhead or extensive commitment of other office leases. I also own my own private practice in which I provide psychotherapy to individuals and couples. My primary areas of practice include anxiety, life-transitions, and relationship concerns (learn more at www.leahpolklcsw.com).
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if anyone loves psychotherapy more than Zach Polk, I do not want to meet that person (lol). As my spouse and business partner, Zach has been the steady anchor of Marigold Therapy Co., balancing my creative chaos with his clinical brilliance. His unwavering belief in the transformative power of therapy has been a guiding light, and I owe so much of this journey to him.
But there are others who deserve credit, too—so many others.
First, my children: a 5-year-old and 4-year-old twins who fill my life with joy, mayhem, and meaning. Our closest friends know this, but one of our children was critically ill for nearly two years. It was the kind of experience that redefines everything, a bell tolling loudly about what truly matters. Thankfully, our family is healthy today, but those years taught me how essential it is to center myself around what counts: my family, my time, my energy. Without that hard-earned clarity, I don’t think I could have formed the boundaries I needed to build a sustainable career and practice.
Then there’s my unexpected tribe—the “pseudo-support group” of about 30 incredible humans who stumbled into my life when I needed them most. All of them are badass, and they’ve been through the fire of disillusionment with former practice environments as well. Together, we’ve shared stories of harm and hope, and through late-night conversations filled with tears and laughter, we’ve become each other’s confidants, cheerleaders, and occasional reality checks.
This group still gathers, at least quarterly, to remind ourselves of where we’ve been and to dream about where we’re going next. Many are now pioneering non-traditional solutions to outdated systems in mental health care, carving new paths for themselves and others. Their creativity and courage inspire me daily, and their encouragement has been pivotal in shaping Marigold.
So, yes, Marigold Therapy Co. exists because of hard work and determination, but it also exists because of people—Zach, my kids, my support group, and everyone who ever believed in our vision. Every kind word, every late-night pep talk, and every act of solidarity has been a thread in the tapestry of what we’ve built.
And for all of them, I am deeply, endlessly grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marigoldtherapyco.com
- Other: www.leahpolklcsw.com
