The path to founding Inspired & Free didn’t begin with a business plan—it began with a calling. Dalesa Rueda, PhD, saw what was missing in traditional therapy spaces: care that honored the full spectrum of human experience. That recognition sparked not only a company, but a movement. As founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Rueda has created an ecosystem where healing, equity and innovation converge.
Over the last three years, she has guided Inspired & Free through rapid expansion and an intentional broadening of services. Rooted in therapy, the organization now offers a suite of culturally responsive, trauma-informed and affirming programs. With each milestone, Dr. Rueda has ensured that the organization’s core remains uncompromised: care must be built around truth and led with heart. She didn’t simply scale an agency—she scaled a philosophy.
Her vision for the future is distinctly values-driven. As the workforce continues to evolve, she is reimagining how professionals in healing spaces are supported and trained. Inspired & Free is introducing learning collaboratives, providing peer-to-peer mentorship and incorporating emerging technologies like AI into practice development. By equipping therapists and coaches to operate with integrity and precision, Dr. Rueda ensures the services they deliver are both present and future ready.
Her personal passion is rekindled through reflection and recalibration. Whether through journaling, movement or connecting with trusted advisors, she returns to her “why” often. That clarity shows up in how she leads—with transparency, care and intentional presence. When challenges arise, she doesn’t resist them; she investigates them. That mindset cascades through the team, forming a culture where curiosity is strength and vulnerability is leadership.
Dr. Rueda’s entrepreneurial journey is marked by resilience and vision. With a deep academic and clinical background, she was determined to build something different—a space where traditional rules of therapy were challenged in favor of authenticity. She left the familiarity of institutional work to design a model that centers healing justice. What she built became more than a company. It became a platform for voices long ignored and experiences long invalidated.
The next five years at Inspired & Free will bring intentional scale. Dr. Rueda is leading efforts to expand nationally, introduce proprietary content and training models and partner with institutions committed to mental health equity. Yet, even as the organization grows, its mission remains: healing is a right, not a privilege. And the systems delivering it must reflect that truth.
Dr. Rueda’s distinction as a Titan 100 Honoree affirms her influence as both a clinician and a builder. Her accomplishments include expanding access to underrepresented communities, launching integrative group programs and elevating the field through published work and public speaking. But her proudest achievement remains the creation of Inspired & Free’s foundation—a central idea that transformed into a living organization. Because for Dr. Rueda, impact is measured not in accolades but in every life reconnected to wholeness through the work she dared to create.
