Mark Nolte, Founder & CEO
Start Talking
Thrive Ball Park
www.starttalking.io
THRIVE: What is Start Talking?
MARK: Start Talking offers behavioral health therapy services to Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) clients for their employees using teletherapy.
We make it easier and more accessible for our patients to get the behavioral health therapy they need by using our HIPAA compliant and encrypted video platform for teletherapy.
Our providers are available through the camera of your smartphone, tablet or computer. So, whether you’re in your car, at work, at home, it doesn’t matter, your provider is just a click of a button away.
With our 300 therapists located in 43 different states. Start Talking is currently generating a $2.0 million ARR. Doing 1,800 therapy sessions per month with 22 EAP and healthcare insurance contracts.
Get online, sign up and browse our provider network. Then, when you need it most, wherever you are, just Start Talking. It’s that easy.
THRIVE: How long have you been in business?
MARK: We’ve been in business since October 20, 2017.
THRIVE: Where did the idea come from to create your business?
MARK: Back in 2010 I was diagnosed with depression. Fortunately, I was able to get help and now live a happy and productive life. But the hardest thing to do was park my car in front of the psychiatrist’s office, which was where I lived and worked and wait in the lobby hoping I did not run into anyone I knew. That is when I decide that it would be easier if mental health counseling was offered by video. So, I started a business doing just that.
THRIVE: What was your biggest success in 2023?
MARK: Doing $1.8 million in sales and growing to 300 therapists in 43 different states.
THRIVE: What recent challenge did you face?
MARK: Discovering that therapists were signing up with Start Talking but they were not getting any referrals. So, we decided to hire a “Success Manager” to work with the therapists to increase the number of therapy sessions they were doing.
THRIVE: What’s your favorite quote that would inspire other entrepreneurs and business leaders for 2024?
MARK: In providing mental health counseling for people who need help. My favorite quote is from the Bible – Matthew 25:40:
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ”
