Ellie Mental Health PLLP has become one of the fastest growing mental health companies in the US to nurture a franchise business focused on client and clinician experience.
Founded in 2015, the Mendota Heights, Minnesota-based company has grown revenue by 544 percent from 2018 to 2021, according to Inc. 5000 list base at 1,193 positions.
Erin Pash, founder and CEO of Ellie Mental Health C0, told BHB that the company’s focus on customer service and creating a better employee experience for professionals resonates with Ellie’s story wherever they take it.
Instead of taking on the task of growing the company nationwide, the company chose to sell Ellie’s mental health franchises. As of August 2021, the company has sold more than 400 clinic sites in 32 states and licensed them to 130 franchisees.
Today, Ellie Mental Health directly owns and operates 20 locations in Minnesota, Ellie’s corporate market, and plans to open up to five additional locations by the end of 2022.
The company has seven openings today and 30 openings before the end of the year. By 2023, there will be new clinics opening every week, Pash said.
The decision to opt for franchising came from looking internally at what made Eli Mental Health so successful in the past, Pash said. Pash and her team identified three components – passion for mental health, excitement about the turtle model, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Ellie Mental Health considers franchisees who are previous franchise owners or entrepreneurs and are suitable candidates. Franchisees must also be well-established in their communities and understand the impact of mental health treatment.
“It’s hard to get buy-in in mental health because people don’t trust it as easily as they do in medical health,” Pash said. “People want to trust people. If you walk the walk and talk the talk of your community, you’ll find out who the local high school football teams are and things like that.
While franchisees are not required to be mental health professionals, they must come to Ellie Mental Health with clinical directors who are mental health professionals. Franchises often make clinical directors a partner in the venture. Pairing entrepreneurs with mental health professionals allows each party to focus on excellence.
“Being a therapist doesn’t make you a good business owner,” Pash says.
From a professional perspective, Pash said the company’s goal is to provide the security and support of being part of a larger agency, as well as the creativity and flexibility to practice as you would in private practice.
The Minnesota market serves as a “guinea pig” for Eli’s mental health. In this market Eli develops new approaches, strategies and is able to test them. It then formalizes those innovations, prepares financial proformas and provides training to support franchise implementation.
Earlier this year, Eli Mental Health received an investment from private equity firm Princeton Equity Group. Princeton Equity Group’s other investments include Massage Envy, D1 Training and medspa810, according to the firm’s website.
The company offers telehealth services to patients and is also working with Ellie Mental Health to develop its own app for patients and businesses to provide employee wellness counseling.
The app should be live by the end of the year, Pash said.
