Honored to Be Named Canopy's Community Member of the Month

I'm grateful to share that I've been named Canopy's Community Member of the Month for June 2026. It's a recognition I didn't see coming.

When I started my boutique firm here in Edmonds, Washington, I knew the work would be rewarding. What I didn't fully anticipate was how isolating running a one-person practice could feel. There's no colleague down the hall to compare notes with and no built-in sounding board for the dozens of small decisions that fill a workday.

That's part of why I started the Solo Practitioners private group inside the Canopy Community—a space for one-person firms to connect, share what's working, and talk honestly about the real challenges of going it alone. It has since grown, and watching it fill up with people who simply "get it" has been one of the quiet highlights of my year.

The group also led to something I now look forward to every other week: a bi-weekly call with a handful of fellow solo practitioners. We compare notes, swap what's working, and talk through whatever our firms are wrestling with—billing, software headaches, the occasional tricky client situation. It's part strategy session, part conversation among people who understand the work, and it has made me a better practitioner.

Being recognized for building this is humbling, though the credit really belongs to everyone who has made the group what it is. A community is only as good as the people who show up, and this group has shown up with real generosity and honesty. Mostly, this milestone has been a reminder of something that's easy to forget when you work on your own: the hard parts don't have to be navigated in isolation. If you're a solo practitioner and the group sounds like your kind of place, you're always welcome.

— Elizabeth Khalaf, Khalaf Consulting