How Cornelia Gibson built Agape around accessible counseling
Cornelia Gibson is Executive Director of Agape Counseling Center and Network, a nonprofit providing counseling, mental health education, community support and training for future mental health professionals. Cornelia Gibson explains how referrals and community relationships brought early clients, why telehealth became central, and what slow growth taught about serving people well.
Serving people well and building trust can create lasting referral relationships, while adapting how services are delivered can make care more accessible. Slow growth is not necessarily failure.
What’s the short story of how your business started, and what makes it genuinely different from the other options your customers have?
Agape grew from a small private counseling practice that unexpectedly became my full-time work after I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. As I saw the gaps in accessible mental health care, I founded Agape as a nonprofit built on unconditional love—providing counseling and community support while also training future mental health professionals so we can expand both access to care and the behavioral health workforce.
How did you win your first customers, and where does most of your new business come from today?
My first clients came through Employee Assistance Program referrals, pro bono counseling through my church, community relationships, and word of mouth. Today, relationships and referrals remain a major source of new clients, reinforcing something I learned early: serve people well, and trust and reputation will open doors that advertising cannot.
What’s one decision that changed the direction of your business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
The decision to build my private practice rather than return to a traditional work environment after my brain tumor diagnosis ultimately led to creating Agape as a nonprofit. One of my biggest mistakes was initially resisting telehealth; COVID forced me to reconsider, and today approximately 90% of our services are remote because I learned that accessibility matters more than my preference for how counseling “should” be delivered.
What has changed in your industry or in what your customers expect over the last couple of years, and how have you adapted?
People are more open to seeking mental health care, but they also expect it to be accessible, flexible, and culturally responsive. Agape has adapted by expanding telehealth, which removes barriers such as transportation and childcare, while continuing to train diverse future mental health professionals who can better reflect and understand the communities they serve.
If you were advising someone starting out in your industry today, what would you tell them to do first, and what would you tell them to ignore?
Start by understanding your “why,” then serve people well, build genuine relationships, protect your reputation, and learn the business side of your work. Ignore the pressure to look successful quickly or compare your progress to someone else’s timeline—Agape started very slowly, and I might have given up if I had mistaken slow growth for failure.
Thank you to Cornelia Gibson and the team at Agape Counseling Center and Network for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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