Client Story
The Business of Better
“Now when we’re talking about hiring or opening new locations, it’s not just vibes. It’s math. And that changes how I lead.”
Alan Akira, MD
Founder & CEO
Alan Akira founded Mugen Psychiatry with a mission to bring thoughtful, evidence-based care to patients throughout Chicago. As a physician, he built the practice around empathy and clinical excellence. As a leader, he quickly found himself navigating the weight of growth, hiring, and operations, but without the systems to support it.
“Early on, we expanded too fast and got overwhelmed,” Alan said. “I didn’t even realize how unsustainable it was. It wasn’t until we brought in ProCFO Partners that I could really see the business for what it was and what it could be.”
What began as a need for financial insight evolved into a deeply strategic partnership. With ProCFO Kristy Barthelemy, Alan found a collaborator who not only clarified the numbers but helped him align Mugen’s vision with operational reality. Kristy brought accountability, helped shape decisions, and empowered Alan to lead with greater confidence.
Why Mugen Psychiatry Engaged a Fractional CFO
By the time Alan reached out to ProCFO Partners, Mugen had already opened multiple locations and grown its team. But behind that growth was uncertainty. “We were flying blind,” he said. “I didn’t know which locations were profitable. I didn’t know how to measure performance. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”
The challenge wasn’t competence, it was visibility. Alan was making big decisions based on feel. “I needed someone who could help me understand the business, not just from a high-level finance perspective, but on a day-to-day operational level.”
Kristy embedded quickly. She reviewed past financials, built forward-looking models, and helped Alan evaluate the viability of existing and potential clinics. Together, they assessed whether the business could support further expansion, rethought staffing models, and rebuilt how performance was tracked.
A Different Kind of CFO for a Different Kind of CEO
The word “Mugen” is composed of two kanji characters, and has a meaning of “infinite” or “limitless.” The practice is intentional about conveying the idea of something boundless or endless.
In the same way Mugen approaches its patients, for Alan the business transformation was personal more than just operational. “I care about my patients. I care about the people I work with. I’m still a doctor first. That hasn’t changed. But now I have more tools. Better information. I’m not guessing. And we’re not just putting out fires anymore. I can actually plan.”
He credits Kristy with helping him make that shift.
“She brought a seriousness and structure that elevated everything. Not just the finances; the way we work.”
Mindful Metrics
Kristy helped Mugen move from intuition to informed action. Through careful modeling and iterative reporting, the team created a system of accountability rooted in operational and financial reality.
- Location-Level Visibility: New P&L structures revealed which clinics were driving margin and which were dragging down performance.
- Staffing Models: Forecasting tools clarified hiring needs and exposed the true cost of adding a provider, including ramp time, credentialing lag, and revenue timeline.
- Cash Flow Planning: Payroll no longer dictated strategy. The business could now plan ahead with confidence and stability.
- Provider Productivity: Kristy helped shift the team toward productivity-based pay models, making expectations transparent and performance measurable.
“Being able to break down what the clear unit economics are helps me understand where to pour resources into next,” Alan says. “So no longer do I do things strictly off of intuition. I’m able now to pair Kristy’s expertise and the data of our unit economics to really show me – this is where we should invest, this is where we should pull back, here are where the opportunities live.”
Kristy met Alan with respect for both his clinical instincts and his organizational ambition. Rather than overhauling processes, she focused on surfacing the data that would allow Alan to lead more effectively. Her goal was to support and sharpen – not take over steering.
“I think Alan always had the vision,” Kristy said. “He just didn’t have the visibility. Once we built that, the leadership was already there.”
And she didn’t do it alone. “It’s not just me,” Kristy adds.
“There’s not one person that has all the answers or has all the experience. I don’t have the depth of knowledge that some of the other 60 CFOs on the team do.”
This unique Thought Collective of ProCFO Partners means Alan’s leveraging the expertise of many, not just one.
Kristy and ProCFO Partners helped build tools, shape actions, and redefine planning across the practice, while aligning to Mugen’s deeply human ethos.
Operational Calm in a Clinical Storm
Mugen’s work can be emotionally charged. The patients they serve sometimes arrive in crisis. Alan wanted the business side to feel like the opposite: steady, resilient, and predictable in the best way.
“There are enough unknowns in mental health,” he said. “My job is hard enough. I don’t want running the business to be its own form of chaos.”
With Kristy’s help, Mugen Psychiatry became less reactive and more responsive. Growth decisions were tied to data. Financial operations matched clinical ambition. And leadership became less about gut instinct and more about aligned execution.
Alan says, “At the rate of growth we’re experiencing, what we really needed was someone who could provide not only a lot of value for the time given, but a lot of time per value as well.”
“The time Kristy gives us is so high quality that every minute, every hour, is far out-leveraged against someone else I would try to bring in in-house.”
Doing Good, Doing Well
Alan didn’t go into medicine to chase margins. But with Kristy’s help, he learned that profitability isn’t the opposite of purpose, it’s what enables it.
“We’re here to help people,” Alan said. “But we can’t do that if we’re drowning. Now we’re not just surviving. We’re building something sustainable.”
That shift has changed everything. From expansion planning to compensation, from strategy to scheduling, the entire practice now orients around both mission and model.
And for Alan, that means fewer distractions from care and more direction in how the practice grows.
