The Unexpected Rewards of Embracing the Unknown in your Career Change: What Happens When Doctors Venture off the Beaten Path.

Have you been feeling a dullness glaze over you? Like there’s nothing specifically wrong- but you feel a sense that there’s something missing in your career.

In today’s episode, I share an interview with Dr. Sabrina Falquier, founder and owner of Sensations Salud. We dive into her inspiring career journey from accidentally discovering her purpose at a CME conference, to taking a leap into the unknown to pursue her passion.

You’ll discover

• What it feels like to be your full, authentic self in your career- in contrast to the stifled, muted professional mask that most of wear.
• How to leave the financial stability of clinical medicine, especially when you're the primary breadwinner and your new income doesn't yet match your clinical one.
• The strangest income source that Sabrina has uncovered. Seriously- it’s so odd, she thought it was a prank email.

Today's conversation is so inspiring. It's one you're going to want to listen to again and again to remind you of all the joy that's waiting for you on the other side of the unknown.

https://www.sensationssalud.com/
Culinary Medicine Recipe (the podcast)

Life After Medicine explores doctors' journey of finding purpose beyond their medical careers, addressing physician burnout, career changes, opportunities in non-clinical jobs for physicians and remote jobs within the healthcare system without being burned out, using medical training.

Transcript

Sabrina Falquier: 0:00

The keynote speaker started talking and I started crying,

0:03

In this episode, you'll learn what happened when one internal medicine doctor followed the pull of her purpose into the unknown. Welcome to Life After Medicine, the podcast helping millennial health professionals find their purpose and turn it into their paycheck. Because you were meant for more than 15 minute patient visits under fluorescent lights. I'm your host Chelsea Tarjan, a residency dropout turned six figure entrepreneur and world traveler. Together we'll explore how you can make a difference without sacrificing your health and happiness. Today's episode is an incredible interview with Dr. Sabrina Falkiae, who accidentally uncovered her purpose at a CME conference. And she followed this ambiguous pull into creating Sensation Salute, a multidimensional culinary medicine business. Through this conversation, you'll learn what it feels like to be your full, authentic self in your career How to leave the financial stability of clinical medicine, especially when you're the primary breadwinner and your new income doesn't yet match your clinical one. And you'll see the strangest income source that Sabrina has uncovered, which is so weird, she thought it was a prank email. Today's conversation is so inspiring. It's one you're going to want to listen to again and again to remind you of all the joy that's waiting for you on the other side of the unknown.

Chelsea: 1:18

Tell us how did you first discover culinary medicine? Like what did that look like?

Sabrina Falquier: 1:23

So I'm practicing medicine. I'm internal medicine. This is 2016 and I extra CME money and one of my colleagues had gone to a conference in Napa, about food I would get CME credit for it, so I decided to go the conference called healthy kitchens, healthy lives and I went up there. I'd love cooking. for years and to see that there was a conference that joined the two, but I didn't realize the impact it would have until the keynote speaker started talking and I started crying, which I'm sure, you know, in medical conferences, it's not something that happens very often. So I could feel there was something I couldn't deny this pull towards something. I didn't know what it was, but that's how it began.

Chelsea: 1:59

what do you think triggered the tears at that moment?

Sabrina Falquier: 2:02

so I had been in practice for about 11 years at that point people started asking me How's life and I would say, okay, but it felt dull. the answer didn't ring deep. It felt more like I was saying the words and I felt like there was something missing. when they talked about this joining of. Evidence based nutrition with cooking. It felt like, wait a second. There's this place where my worlds of loving cooking and my career can actually come together. And I had no idea where that would go, but I knew it was something to pull towards because it has such a giant effect on me.

Chelsea: 2:37

I'm sure that was not what you expected when you attended the conference. how did you start to reconcile that once you got home How did you take this new revelation and integrate that?

Sabrina Falquier: 2:48

It literally felt like I had two people on my shoulder one side's like, Oh, maybe I could do this with it. Maybe I could do that with it. And the other side is saying, but your job won't let you do it. And it was day two and a half or three that I had this epiphany that my job didn't own me, that I actually had some agency into my career and my life. So as soon as I got back to San Diego, I actually googled teaching kitchens and because they've said that at the conference and I, within. How life happens, I went on a walk with a friend. I've never walked with her before or after and she happened to be on the board of this place that has a teaching kitchen. So, and she had a dinner. She was invited to she invited me as her plus 1. so, within a week, I was already in the space and there they were talking about a 2nd teaching kitchen. Which is called all of the gardens and learning center that was having their fundraiser. within 2 weeks of the conference, I had already stepped into 2 places with fast forward 8 years from now. I'm now professor at 1 of them and I'm the chair of the board of the nonprofit of the 2nd so amazing full circle of how things began.

Chelsea: 3:50

So it sounds like the moment you got home, things just started to fall into place for you. Did you continue to have that other voice on your shoulder a voice that's like, this isn't going to work.

Sabrina Falquier: 4:00

Yeah, and I'm glad you're stating that it wasn't like this nirvana. I came back and life was glorious at that point. I was working halftime. I would work half the week in internal medicine and the other half. I started networking. I started spending time at these teaching kitchens. I started meeting chefs in the area. I started going to events that I had no idea if it would lead to anything, I felt a pull and decided to listen slowly I started building up my network and doing volunteer events in culinary medicine. You know, volunteering to speak somewhere where I was slowly gaining confidence so with that nonprofit, they essentially was learning like through apprentice. So I spent a lot of time there. I went through their program. kind of shadow their program. So gain confidence answer questions as the physician kind of demystifying myths and and that helped me gain confidence to take the next step to keep opening different doors I continue to go back to that conference yearly and each time I would look at it through a different lens. And then either the 2nd or 3rd year I went, somebody from my practice was there as well. she and I together worked with our medical group to try to get culinary medicine to grow. And we did somewhat, but I quickly realized 2 things, number 1, that my wings of what I wanted to do with culinary medicine were much larger than my timeframe. So I was on a, I think of how many years I have of careers in my life, and I didn't feel that was a place I wanted to have the battles or the tension points, I feel like I could spread my wings in so many more beautiful, genuine ways for me if I did it independently,

Chelsea: 5:42

Ooh, that's a hard one to reconcile. I want to come back to that, but you mentioned As you're kind of coming back from the conference you're just kind of following these threads. without worrying about what it's going to turn into. I think that's a huge sticking point for so many people they want this guarantee of the outcome before taking any steps. And then it prevents them from taking steps because they're not sure what it's going to lead to. So how did you think about it differently that allowed you to follow the pull?

Sabrina Falquier: 6:10

love that you're asking that because what you just touched on is how do you trust yourself? Right? So when we go through the medical journey, it's a hard road, but you know, the steps of that road, right? Like do well on tests take these tasks, a million tasks, it's all these steps. And all of a sudden you are choosing or being pulled to go to this road unknown. And I, I must say it helped because I was still seeing patients. I still had financial security. it was actually during the pandemic when. I no longer was waking up on Thursday morning, refreshed and ready to pound the pavement. I felt exhausted, I just couldn't recover that's where I started saying, okay, maybe it's time to take that leap of faith. for me journaling helped a lot. It was a place where I wasn't editing, I was able to remove the shoulds like You should stay with this. you put so many years into it. Your mom's proud of you. Your grandpa is so proud of you, like all these shoulds and to start removing that. And within a week of journaling, I realized I was ready. I told my husband, I was like, okay, I think I'm ready. And I always, had to give a 6 month notice, which is a long time. in January, I said, I was ready to him. And he's like, so when, I want a summer with my kids. I want a less scheduled summer. I knew it. I'd fantasized about a summer. And he's like, well, September is still technically summer. It's like, no, like a full summer. and yeah, that was the leap of faith. That was 2021.

Chelsea: 7:37

I love this. Okay. So when you said you removed the shoulds while you were journaling, Like, you just crossed them out in the journal, or how did you remove them?

Sabrina Falquier: 7:45

I would catch myself. this was easier for me to do when I was journaling I would catch myself like, Oh, I should continue to practice medicine because of this. It's like, Who should is that? And I would allow myself to say, okay, this should is maybe, maybe I could name it. Maybe I couldn't, but just acknowledge this is coming from external and try to bring it back to me. It was truly looking at me and this being my life journey. And yes, I'm married. We have a mortgage. I have two kids. there were all these other pieces to play a role. But to realize me coming into my full self and above me, you can see there's a peacock with rainbow color feathers. That is the image I started having as this was coming out. I worked with a business coach and instead of that feeling of sterile white with gray, muted colors of the medical office, I started having this vision of A peacock with its feathers fully out and full colors. I was getting that reinforcement when I was doing culinary medicine experiences. So I was still practicing medicine, feeling muted. I was starting to experience that full rainbow where I could even joke and show my quirky self I do this work in two languages. And sometimes the right word wouldn't come out in Spanish. we would all just laugh about it and still learn and enjoy. it was this. Eye opening moment that a career didn't have to feel so not fully human.

Chelsea: 9:12

And once you experience that, it's hard to keep putting yourself in the sterile box cause I can't imagine changing me to make money somewhere. what I love about my work, it sounds like you feel the same is I'm just myself and I'm like my best self.

Sabrina Falquier: 9:28

Yes, and I think you just nailed it on the head. as the other side of me, the culinary medicine side started growing. Then it was the juxtaposition. Now there was like, oh, there's another way of living and there's a way of. Doing work that is joyful and removing the, but I won't make as much money, but I won't have the status in society, like all these pieces. Once I made that leap of faith and I'd had my summer. I sit down like first day, my kids are back to school and that Friday comes along. I'm like, I think I made a good sandwich this week. That's about all I accomplished because I haven't set up any meetings. I truly gave myself the summer off and I'm thinking, wow, who am I? And it took almost a year to chisel a way to feel really vulnerable. To go to a dinner with my mother and she introduced me to say, Oh, this is my daughter, Sabrina. She used to be a doctor. And I'm like, I'm still a doctor. No one shed my degree away. but it took all of those to me to stand up. All these external forces, or like, who am I without the accolades of awards and this medical group, and then realize I am me and me is good.

Chelsea: 10:39

yeah, it's a hard transition. there's identity crises and there's loss of what you were clinging to. there's deaths that it feels like you go through and it's a process. So how did you get through that period of time?

Sabrina Falquier: 10:52

I worked with a job coach, which just helped me and objectively seen. I'm starting these roads. I'm networking. I'm starting to have events Like I mentioned, I was volunteering to essentially add to my CV. I am an expert at this sitting in that tension point, that discomfort, of reaching for things that might've felt like they were beyond, when you go through medical road, you have all these steps, right? So you're getting these certifications and all these, and then an entrepreneurship, there is no clear set road, but now, after a while doing volunteer stuff, it's like, I am an expert at this. I'd gone back to school and got board certified also. I had those accolades. And to finally put my stake in it and give myself, you know, what is my hourly rate? I am worth it. And to sit in that ground, even if you're uncomfortable when you're sending that email or proposal just believing in yourself, even though there might be, and there continues to be discomfort.

Chelsea: 11:50

So what was the first sale that you made in your business?

Sabrina Falquier: 11:53

I'm going to start with a sale. It didn't go through. So when I was leaving my medical group, they asked me to do a proposal to do some culinary medicine work. And I spent so much time putting this proposal together and had reached out to people to figure out how to figure out the full. Worth of the project, because that was difficult in itself and I submitted it and they never responded. They never got back in touch with me. And this is my employer for almost 16 years. Right? So I was, demoralized. I mean, I felt yet. I was able to, of course, that was my prototype. So I thank them for making me go through, not making me, but for having me go through that process, because now I had my skeleton for proposals moving forward. The 1st was initially was 1 time off. Like, somebody would call me from a school or projects that they were doing. And it's like, okay, could we have you come in? And and at 1st, it was like, even if they paid me just a small honorarium, that helps. Sense of I am starting to. Gain momentum. I started getting doing different projects. What I do is is really diverse.

Chelsea: 13:04

I noticed you have so many diverse income stream. So what has been the most surprising income stream?

Sabrina Falquier: 13:09

Um, this starts with a funny story. My husband and I got stuck in Canada. during the pandemic. So we had to stay in a hotel for five days. While I was there, I got an email from the National Mango Board and I thought somebody was playing a prank on me because I didn't know such boards existed they were getting in touch with me to invite me to an event related to mangoes. And from that, it's been really interesting because those commodity boards have led me to do things like recipe development. Food photography and educational events in both English and Spanish. So it has taken me in a creative outlet and also a tension point of yes, I'm fully bilingual, but speaking full culinary terms and full medical terms in Spanish is not as much a part of my day to day. So there's been this lovely challenge to that. I would say that's the funniest. Income stream.

Chelsea: 14:00

Yeah. I would never think that the national board of mangoes needs to hire someone with this expertise to help them out. So I think that's so interesting. And it just goes to show there's so many ways to earn money

Sabrina Falquier: 14:12

What helps me ground them and say, okay, this feels right is if it feels mission aligned. my work is really about empowering people through learning about nutrition. Once they know about it, how to take that into effect in a kitchen when I sit with a project and realize if it's empowering people, if it's helping people move that needle of health, that feels really good to me how one does that or with whom is incredibly varied. And that's what makes it really exciting.

Chelsea: 14:41

So I love talking about all the wonderful things of entrepreneurship and all the possibilities. And I also want to ground it in reality for people. For you, what have been hardest parts of leaving that steady, stable clinical medicine path and going off on your own?

Sabrina Falquier: 15:00

at this point, three years in part of it is a continual hustle. now I'm teaching at a few universities. So I'm starting to get an Okay. From that. Yearly, I'll make X amount of money from commodity boards. Those are more kind of once in a while, but the sense of you might, I might get settled because I'm in the middle of a quarter with coursework yet. I still have to keep thinking. Come January. What is going to give me My financial goal for that year. That's hard. it feels like you can't sink in like I did in medicines. Like, oh, yeah, I'm going to show up and there's gonna be 18 patients waiting for me. I'm not, scheduling them. I'm doing my part and hustling. for that, but there was such stability in it and now there's less of that. also, at this point, it's just me. So it's, you know, I joke my somebody asked me to go out to lunch. I'm like, oh, let me check with my scheduling department, which, is just me looking at my calendar. Let me look at that. Yeah. And I think, and the other part is, and this, I feel like I've gotten a lot better is realizing when say I am working with on a contract with somebody. And say there's a delay in them paying me or otherwise to keep the emotion out of it to send an email that is just saying, hey, your invoice was due at this time. You are now over. So to not be like, wow, do they not like my work or whatever? It can start being the torrel of keeping it separate. This is the work conversations. I never put them in the same email thread. I actually even send them from separate accounts. I'll send it from the generic, it's all business stuff. And then the personal is the work I'm doing with them. And that helps me separate my brain. And the work I'm doing.

Chelsea: 16:36

For the stability piece of feeling like you have to project your income and figure out what projects you want to take on, how do you cope with that? that's something that really scares a lot of people when they think about leaving medicine. What does that really like to experience that like instability.

Sabrina Falquier: 16:51

So my father passed away several years ago, and There was enough stability there that it gave us the buffer and I say us, like, my husband and me, it gave us a little buffer that if we cut back on our monthly income, between what we've saved and what we would have saved if I kept working I could finally say, okay, we have a few years of ramp up time. And so that helped that gave me a little bit of security the other part was, I had been big income earner in our household. And all of a sudden, I was taking. A downturn and that on the psyche is hard. I think now I'm like, oh, man, I'm cooking. Right? So now I'm like, the woman cooking at home. I'm cooking my choice and it's my career, but going on the kind of female stereotypes of life. I was like, well, I really gotten quote unquote backwards. yeah. So I'm being full disclosure here. but being able to slowly have that open conversation with whoever you share your life with, or if it's, yourself looking at your bank account And having goals, but giving yourself grace that it takes a lot. So I, yeah, it takes a few years. Slowly start increasing it and it is increasing Sometimes I'm amazed how much I put my proposal out there. It seems like a giant. Number and they say, yes, my husband right away is like, you should ask for more money, but it felt good to me. I did my spreadsheet. I figured out the time frame. I felt fine with it.

Chelsea: 18:13

I love that. You called it ramp up time because I think that is helpful just to give our brains The spaciousness around. It's okay. You don't have to leave clinical medicine and replace all of your income immediately. That's so much pressure. If that's how you think it's like may never happen. And so it's nice to have that idea of ramp up time and giving yourself a window to just let it build and have, grace around it.

Sabrina Falquier: 18:38

There's something else you mentioned The other part, I think that's been hardest. Sometimes it is lonely. And my life looks really exotic now on social media with traveling and all these different events and you don't see the behind the work part. And a lot of it is me and not purpose. It's me. And I am working on not Isolating myself, and that is a challenge. That is this vulnerability of saying, you know what? I need help with this. I don't know how to put worth to my expertise, which doesn't fit a box anymore, whatever it is, and that's taking me a while. that's been tricky. So I'm more actively working on that.

Chelsea: 19:14

Yeah, I love that. What advice would you have for somebody who is feeling a pull, but they're so scared and skeptical of leaving?

Sabrina Falquier: 19:23

I would, Encourage said human to see, okay, what is the pole and try not to edit the pole. Try not to say, oh, that's a fool's errand. Or that was my younger self that like to do X, Y, Z of really trying to let yourself. Be in that fantasy space of just letting yourself sit with that feeling of I am being pulled towards X and what is it? let me lean into that and what does my body feel like if I'm leaning into that?

Chelsea: 19:54

I love that. It's just like allowing yourself to follow your imagination and to dream basically.

Sabrina Falquier: 20:00

Way before I left practice, I remember I took a dance class This is ballet. I was a figure skater, but I hadn't. And I did ballet a little bit, but I did like an adult ballet class and I loved it. And I felt foolish for enjoying it. I'm thinking that's part of that med school brain, like just that mentality of straight line and don't veer. And I really did enjoy it, it didn't go anywhere and it didn't have to, but to give yourself permission to be in whatever, and maybe that dreamy doesn't lead to a career change, but maybe it lets you have more of a balance Really light yourself, lean into what looks like fun, what looks like peace, what looks like grounding to you.

20:42

I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I loved having it. And listening back now, it makes me think of this Rumi quote. Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. And what if you did that? Even when it feels scary, even when it doesn't make logical sense, what if you let yourself follow that pull and put one foot in front of the other, just to see where it might lead? you want to connect with today's guest, you can head to the link in the show notes to find her podcast and her website.