Friends Since Childhood in the Riviera, Sage Grazer and Kendall Bird Found Frame, a Platform to Connect People to Therapy
By KARINA EID | Intern
With hopes of making therapy more accessible and spreading mental health awareness, Sage Grazer and Kendall Bird founded Frame—a platform created to connect people to therapy with a mission to “normalize the hard days and celebrate the good ones.”
Grazer, co-founder and chief clinical officer, and Bird, co-founder and CEO, designed the platform to create meaningful connections between clients and therapists, as the Frame community focuses on personal growth and learning.
The co-founders grew up within a couple houses of each other in the Riviera. Bird attended St. Matthew’s Parish School from preschool to eighth grade and shared she still cherishes the “wonderful memories and friendships” from her time there.
Upon reminiscing about their Palisadian childhood, they said the word “idyllic” comes to mind. To this day, they possess a deep gratitude for the Palisades and its loving and safe community. Bird noted how it “still feels exactly the same … [and] will always be home.”
Before Frame, Bird spent her time working alongside various therapists, often frustrated by the barriers of mental healthcare, including finding the right therapist, high costs and scheduling dilemmas. As a former product marketing lead at Snapchat, Google and YouTube, Bird has garnered 10 years of experience in technology, product and marketing.
Grazer has worked in the mental health field since 2012, after receiving a Master of Social Work (with honors) from New York University. She has worked in both New York and Los Angeles, accumulating an array of knowledge.
In addition, Grazer is a licensed California clinical social worker and psychotherapist. She said she “has seen firsthand the transformative power of effective therapy.” She shared she has a passion for helping her clients heal, yearning to award them “a fuller and more enriched life.”
Grazer and Bird’s friendship transcended many phases of their life, from childhood neighbors to founding a company. After college, their professional paths realigned when Bird asked Grazer for a therapist recommendation in Los Angeles.
According to Bird, the process of therapist-hunting felt unnecessarily “tedious,” “challenging” and “cumbersome.” Grazer agreed, expressing “how therapists are expected to run their own private practice but are given no business training or support.”
This moment served as the catalyst for Frame.
Together, Grazer and Bird embarked on the journey to make the therapy journey easier. In fact, a mere three minutes spent answering 10 “simple questions” is enough time for Frame to evaluate “your specific needs and … provide a personalized shortlist for you to browse,” Grazer said.
“Our algorithm immediately connects you with therapist matches based on your answers in our quick and easy questionnaire,” according to the Frame website. “We also offer free educational content to enhance your therapy experience before, after or in-between your sessions.”
Currently, the co-founders play significant, varying roles in the company. Grazer, for example, oversees the engineering team. She offers direction on their product, aiming to “meet the needs of our therapists and their clients.”
Bird manages Frame’s day-to-day operations and other aspects of the business side. She drafted a list of long-term strategy goals for the company; aspiring to achieve them, she works diligently with the employees.
Grazer and Bird have also faced many obstacles and setbacks, as starting a company inevitably presents challenges along the way. To mitigate dejection, they “minimize catastrophic thinking by getting mentally prepared.”
Essentially, instead of giving credibility to negative thoughts, they “visualize the best possible outcome.” During their fundraising period, they encountered several rejection emails, giving voice to fears of failure. However, with positivity as Frame’s driving force, they decided to classify setbacks as “temporary and fixable.”
“The most resilient people think about what they would do differently moving forward,” Bird shared, rather than dwelling on issues from the past.
Grazer and Bird understand many people are doubtful of therapy, so they focus on portraying “therapy and therapists in a public way to … dissolve these mental hurdles.” They even compiled a library of free therapist-led videos—called Frame Discussion—to educate others on therapy and its benefits.
Looking toward the future, they hope to expand Frame into other states aside from California. This way, they can aid millions of Americans by finding the “right therapists for their needs and budget.”
Additionally, they believe an increase in their network of therapists will elevate them to “the No. 1 service used by clinicians to build their own independent businesses.” By offering the technology to do so, Frame also prides themselves on the ability to empower therapists into practicing “on their own terms.”
Finally, Grazer and Bird shared they believe that anyone and everyone is a perfect candidate for therapy: “Anyone who is looking to make a positive change in their life can benefit,” the two said.
Through Frame, they hope to transform “your frame of mind” into an open, positive one. For those who are ready to begin, or re-embark on, their therapy journey, Frame is a resource that guarantees an “easy, approachable and stress-free” process.
For more information, visit tryframe.com.
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