Customer story: meet Dervla Loughnane from Virtual Psychologist

Since 2006, the number of women owning a small business has increased three times faster than the number of men. Almost 550,000 women own a small business in Australia – that’s almost 550,000 women who’ve taken a leap and said yes*. The decision to launch, own and run a small business takes optimism, confidence and energy.

This International Women’s Day, Optus Business is celebrating the Australian women who’ve taken that leap and decided to have a go – with great success.

Meet one of our amazing customers like Dervla Loughnane, Founder of Virtual Psychologist.

What’s your business called and what does it do?

Our business is called Virtual Psychologist and we offer secure, professional, and innovative virtual mental wellbeing services by professionals through Messaging (SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger), audio, and/or video to those people who find phone and face to face services too confronting, too embarrassing, inconvenient, or simply unavailable given the inherent challenges of transportation, accessibility, and potential disruptions (such as natural disasters)  in traditional service infrastructure. This multi-modal approach provides people with diverse options for seeking help, ensuring that they have access to the support that best suits their preferences and needs in moments that matter.

When did you start it, and how long did it take you to make the decision to launch?

We started in November 2017, and it took me exactly one day to quit my job and start the business as a minimal viable product following the suicide of a young man who motivated me to find other ways to offer mental health support to those who may find mainstream services too confronting.

Has your gender played a role in your business journey, if any? If so, how?

Psychology has always predominantly been a female industry and as such the clinical aspect of service delivery and storytelling has been easy. However, the challenges of raising capital where less than 3% of female businesses are funded has been extremely hard.

What’s the hardest part of being a business owner?

As a business owner within the mental health industry, you work 7 days per week and must be across every aspect of your business as people depend on your service. Unfortunately, not every aspect of the business is a strength of mine and requires capital and input from others that may not be forthcoming. The continued challenge of changing hats from business owner to mother, wife and friend can certainly be challenging.

The best part?

Without a doubt the best part of my job is making a difference in other people’s lives and being there in moments that matter. It is such a privilege to share other people’s vulnerabilities and know that my team and myself can transform lives and offer hope in moments that matter. The stories, messages, and emails we get back are so rewarding. From the remotest parts of Australia, we are connecting to the most isolated communities and people. To the men who normally would not reach out for help but find our text service to be less confronting and embarrassing, to the youth who are too uncomfortable to use phone and prefer social media channels, to the flood or fire affected victims who were too isolated to receive face to face help, we are there in moments that matter. It is all so rewarding.

What’s surprised you along the way?

The journey has been a lot harder than I thought. Given the social impact of our work and the global challenges of mental health, I falsely believed that everyone would support our mission and jump on board the opportunity to ‘change lives and save lives together”.  Unfortunately, not everyone is motivated by the same levers. Being able to frame our mission into Return on Investment and effective financial outcomes is often the basis of many a proposal! Furthermore, the mental health industry is not known for innovation, and it is always a challenge working with Government and corporate to introduce change.

Where to next?

Our goal is to become the Uber of psychology and build strong partnerships with government, corporate and NFP sectors globally to offer innovative solutions to those people who need help. Through scalability, cost effectiveness, innovation, and collaboration “We imagine a world where anyone can access hope.”

Read more about our amazing customers here

• Susie Taaffe, Founder of Skanties
• Emily Swift, Printhie Wines
• Kimberley Smith, Founder of Empowered Motherhood Program
• Kate Greenwood, Founder of Greenwood Designs

Source Small Business Matters_June 2023_1.pdf (asbfeo.gov.au)

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