Darcy's Story

I graduated from Appalachian State University in 2008 with a B.M. in Music Therapy and a minor in Special Education. Before passing my board certification exam in January 2009, I had already been offered and accepted a position as a subcontractor for a therapy agency based in the Phoenix Metro area. As I was moving cross-country to begin that position, the state of Arizona cut the reimbursement rate for music therapy services by around 50%. Days after arriving in Arizona, I was on the grounds of the capital speaking out about access to music therapy and disability services in general. Looking back, I guess it was inevitable that music therapy advocacy and education would be at the forefront of my professional life.

I quickly realized that neither working as subcontractor nor living in Phoenix were for me. After about a year, I moved back to the east coast. A retirement community was interested in starting a music therapy program at their facility and brought me on part time to develop it. After a few months of growing the music therapy program, I was able to advocate for a full-time position. However, as things sometimes go in the corporate world, after about a year, we encountered some unfortunate leadership changes and one of their targets was the music therapy program. After being told “music doesn’t affect enough people,” I was allowed to stay employed but I was no longer allowed to provide music therapy services. Instead, I was calling BINGO, baking cookies, and leading various other activities. And I was also told that I would never be eligible for a raise. Really gives you the warm & fuzzies, right?

Around that same time, I received an email asking if I could provide private music therapy services for an individual with dementia. That’s when I realized that my community didn’t have a way to access music therapy services privately – thus my next calling was discovered. While working full time as an Activity Coordinator at the retirement community, I began building a private practice on the side. After one year, I had built enough of a caseload that I was able to leave my position at the retirement. Almost exactly one year after that, I opened the doors to our first clinic. A year and a half later, I had hired my first two employees. Quality services and meaningful connections were the primary drivers for our continuous growth.

Since then, I’ve continued to build a practice that has supported and developed countless music therapy students, interns, and new and seasoned professionals. We serve a myriad of clients from early intervention to elder care, from IEP-based services to substance use recovery partners, from injured veterans to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I successfully led the practice through every challenge the pandemic sent our way. We were at the forefront of innovating our services as well as our service delivery models to support our clients, the community, and keep things as stable as possible for our therapists.

After dedicating nearly every waking moment to my business, I began to accept that my current model of having an active hand in every function of the business was not sustainable. I remember leaving team meetings feeling completely drained and like my team members had just written my to-do list for the rest of the week with questions they had and decisions they deferred back to me. I began the process of setting up my business to run without me (aka “clockworking”), and approximately 2 years later, I was able to take a three month completely unplugged maternity leave. Prior to 2023, I barely went more than two days without checking in with work – even on “vacations” and while visiting family for the holidays.

That was a life-giving and life-changing experience for me, and when I returned from maternity leave, I knew I needed to help other service-based providers get their lives back, reclaim their time, rediscover their passions. I became a Clockwork Certified Partner to help others do just that by supporting them to “clockwork” their businesses. I also realized that after 15 years of running a music therapy practice, I had an abundance of knowledge and resources that could benefit others in our field. In 2025, I launched DO Well insights to provide coaching, courses, and resources for therapists to elevate their skills and expand their impact while also having space to live a life they love.

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