Everything I’ve Never Shared About My First Year In Business As a Doctor Turned Aspiring Entrepreneur

Ever wonder what it really looks like to start a business after leaving medicine—like behind the highlight reel?

It can feel daunting to leave behind the rigid structure of medicine and venture into the wild west of entrepreneurship. There's a chaotic mix of inspiration, confusion, and pressure to “do it all.” In this episode, I pull back the curtain and share the honest, unfiltered story of my first year in business—what I got right, what I wish I knew, and everything I’ve never said out loud (until now).

In this episode you'll learn:

• The 4 foundational lessons that could’ve saved me hours, stress, and second-guessing
• The most important things to focus on in your first year—so you can stop spinning and start making real progress
• The real behind-the-scenes of balancing coaching, burnout recovery, and a business building abroad

>> Download the First Year Files here 

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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

Speaker: 0:30

In today's episode, you will learn what to actually focus on during your first year in business.

Speaker 2: 0:37

Welcome to Life After Medicine, the podcast helping millennial health professionals leave the system and build a fulfilling career. I'm your host, Chelsea Turin, residency Dropout turned six, figure entrepreneur and World Traveler. I'll help you discover your unique path to making an impact without the burnout, because you were meant for more than 15 minute patient visits under fluorescent lights.

Speaker: 0:59

Welcome back to another episode of Life After Medicine. Thank you so much for pressing play today. I'm so excited to be back after the wonderful response I got from last week's podcast episode about I don't want to be a career coach for doctors anymore. It was so fun to connect with all of you guys after that episode, and I feel reinvigorated by the podcast and by the content and just the direction that we're headed in. So in today's episode. We are turning back the clock. We are going back to 2019 to walk you through my very first year in business, and it's like a retrospective, an audit, a review, and in this episode you'll learn what my first year of business was really like in a good, bad, unfiltered, raw, and real kind of way. You'll learn the four things that I wish I knew going into that first year. And what to actually focus on in your first year so that you can stop spinning around feeling scattered and just discombobulated, and start focusing, discerning, prioritizing so that you can make real progress. So let's go back in time to 2019. The year that I first started my business. To set the scene for you, I was teaching English full-time in South Korea. So I was doing that by day. I was also doing my coaching certification program, and then I was also working on my business and just enjoying my life on the island, being an expat and like immersing myself into a new culture, seeing different things in South Korea. I really was putting in a lot of hours during that first year. I was very immersed in this world of building a business. So on the way to school in the morning, I would be, I took a bus, I was commuting to school, and I would be listening to podcasts both on the way to and from work. So I was listening to the Gold Digger podcast. The online marketing made easy with Amy Porterfield, and then I think I was listening to like Rachel Hollis and Louis Howes, like I had my whole lineup of podcasts that I would obsessively listen to on the way to and from work, and depending on the day, my commute would be. Sometimes like 40 minutes. And so I just was like on the commuter bus in South Korea and just listening to these podcasts and I really treasured that time. And then I was posting in my blog every single week. So every Thursday was the day I decided that I would post in the blog, and then Thursday afternoons I would take my manoa. I've talked about this with my clients, which was my like resting day or my resting afternoon. So I was working, working, working. Every single day after work, I would go to the cafe. There was this cafe near me, angel and us. It was like right across the street from me. They played English music. And it was just really cozy. So I would go there after work, work on my blog work on. Like creating content on Instagram, building my email list. I was doing all these different things. I was also starting to practice, like for my coaching certification and the coaching skills, I was coaching all the other English teachers on the island. So there'd be some days where I would just. Go to a cafe and post up and be like, Hey, whoever wants to be coached, like you can book in a time and you can come to this cafe and I'll just coach you. And sometimes we would go on a walk and I'd coach them on a walk or you know,'cause I actually lived on an island, so like, there's a place, it wasn't a beach, but it was kind of like a rocky, you know, you could see the ocean. So sometimes we'd go there and it was, it was really lovely. Like I was doing a lot of, I was just, but I was really busy, right? I was working a lot and sometimes I had calls. With other English teachers who were not on my island, they were like on a different place, but I met them during orientation. And then I would also be staying up late at night. Doing calls for my coaching certification. So I'm in South Korea on South Korea time zone, and my coaching thing is on US time zone. So sometimes it would be like midnight and I would be like doing a call at midnight. And it wasn't like, I wasn't coaching, but I was like learning. Sometimes I'd watch the replays, but sometimes I'd stay up and I'd do it. And then we had, I had like a sister circle and so I had a lot of different calls and they would be pretty late at night. And so I would do all of this during the week, like Monday through Thursday, but then Thursday I would post my blog and then I would take Thursday afternoon totally off. So I'd be like, I'm not doing anything on Thursday afternoon. And that was actually great and so helpful, um, because that's when I started practicing a Manoa. And I think just by doing that helped me learn how to rest even though like not everything was done, there'd still be so much more to do and I could, you know, keep working and working forever. But I would just take this time, I would go to this park near, um. The ocean, which is so cool. I was like 10 or 15 minute walk from the ocean and I would just lay there and it was so uncomfortable.'cause I was like, uh, what am I doing? And I was like, I'm doing nothing. What is that? And it was just like such a weird time. But I now I look back on it and I'm like, that's so cute. I was like learning how to rest usually Friday I would do something fun after school, like with the other English teachers, and then Saturday I would go on a hike. I had this project I created to hike. Every single trail around the island of, um, of Juju. So I was living on Juju Island in South Korea and they have these, um, series of trails called the Ole Trails. And it, it goes around the entire island and it's like maybe 264 miles, but it's like broken into different trails and you can get a passport, um, and you can go and hike every trail and like get stamp. You can stamp it all along the way. And so I was like, early on I decided that's my project for the year. Because I needed another project'cause I didn't have enough going on. Um, but it, it was really nice to have something to do. I like went to parts of the island that most of my other co-teachers like never went to and they didn't know about. And I learned how to navigate the bus system and just get around and I saw really beautiful places. And so yeah, that was really fun on the weekends, like I was on these hikes, but I remember like listening to audio books on the hikes. That was one thing I did.'cause they were pretty long. They'd be like six or seven hours. Um, and then I also would be like really inspired by content. So I would remember like leaving voice notes to myself of like ideas I had, things I wanna create. And so yeah, it was really interesting time. So that was sort of what my a week in the life looks like in general. But then let's also go deeper and talk about what it felt like. Right, because that's just the surface stuff. I think it's also helpful to know like in my world what was going on, I remember it was really exciting. There's times where I would just feel so inspired. I'd be listening to a podcast episode of like. Six ways to improve your customer experience. And I was like, wow, I get to create this. Like I get to like think about the, the client experience, whereas before, like, you know, in the clinic it's like. I don't have control over like those touch points. I didn't care about the touch points and, but there was just something about taking ownership of this full process and I felt really inspired and I felt filled with possibility. And I was just like immersing myself into this world of entrepreneurship and discovering all these new people and new podcasts. And it all just felt, I felt really alive. It felt really right and I felt so excited. Um, it also felt meaningful. Like in a very deep way, meaningful, like the things I was writing in my blog, I was really like expressing myself and I was sharing my truth and there was like creativity, but from a place of like self-expression there. And I really cared about what I was sharing in the free coaching sessions that I was doing. I was connecting to these people, like the other English teachers and the um, the clients like that I was working with. I just, I felt a lot of meaning and connection through, through that. And I felt this, um, I would feel like a coaching high sometimes where I'm like doing the work and I'm just so immersed in it and I'm like, wow, yeah, this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I was also connecting with people through my coaching certification program and those felt like really deep and meaningful and so it felt just. Really deeply resonant and like, like this is right, like I'm onto something and yeah, I'm working a lot, I'm doing a lot of different things, but the only reason I'm able to do this is because it's, it matters and it's meaningful to me and it's exciting and it's right that's the good stuff. And those are all true, like those were there and it also felt overwhelming. I was listening to way, probably way too many podcasts if we're being honest. And because every podcast I listened to, it's like they'd give me something else to think about and something else to do. Like, oh, okay, oh, I need to build my Instagram following. I need to start an email list and then to, to get people on it. I need to have a freebie and then I need to, like, there's just all of these things I was thinking about. Um, oh, I need to start a Facebook group that's gonna be important and I need to like, improve my, you know, my client experience. I, because I have a blog I need to get on Pinterest and SEO and every new thing. That I learned about in these podcasts I was listening to, I really took as gospel. You know, I didn't have any discretion about what made sense for me to focus on at that moment based on like me, like who I am, how my energy works, and what type of business I wanna build. Like am I trying to build a digital course business? Like where I need a huge audience or am I trying to build more of a boutique coaching business? Like none of that. I didn't have any sort of discretion. I was just like, online business. Okay, go, go do everything right. And so it was overwhelming and it really did feel like I needed to do it all. Um, and because of that, I also felt really scattered. Like just haphazard in a lot of ways. Like I felt that I was just duct taping a lot of things together. I was like, okay, well I need to do everything, but I can't, so let me just do it in a really shit way and try to duct tape this to here and see how this goes. And like, you know, obviously it's gonna feel like that to some extent in the early phases.'cause you just, you don't know what you don't know and you're just like, you're just going for it and you're trying. Um, and that's great. But I also, I did feel like I was failing a lot of days. Like I did feel like I wasn't doing enough and that I should be doing more and. That wasn't the, the most dominant feeling I had, but it was there and it, it played a lot like it played on the tape a lot. And so then that made me doubt myself and feel like I should be doing more. And I think really that first year, this was before I learned I was doing meditation, but I, I wasn't really, I didn't really know like embodiment practices or yoga. Um, I didn't know about like nervous system work or regulating. And so I think I lived that whole first year. In a pretty low level like fight or flight state, even though there's things I liked doing and I was enjoying it and there was excitement and meaning, I didn't really feel relaxed. And it's like you could tell because on those days when I did my manoa and forced myself to not do anything, it was so uncomfortable. Um, and'cause I didn't feel like I should relax or could, and so there was a lot of. Just anxiety, feeling like I should do more. Not quite sure what I was doing. Lost, uncertain, all of that. So it was all true. Like it was a wonderful year and there was a lot of uncertainty during that whole year. And so if I could go back to my self, and during that first year, there's a couple things. There's four things that I wish I would know going into that year. Number one is building the skillset of coaching is so much more important than getting a certification. So I signed up for a pretty expensive coaching certification program'cause I thought like that's what you needed to do. But you know, when I look back, what I realize is being certified, it doesn't actually mean anything. What matters is that you have a skillset. To, to coach people and to change lives. That's important, very important. But you could spend tens of thousands of dollars on a coaching certification program and still not really have that skillset, still not really lock that in because the certification itself isn't the thing that matters. The thing that matters is that you practice the craft and build the skills. And so I say that so that one, you don't feel like you have to drop. So much money on a certification. Instead, you can just focus on building the skill, but then two, so that like if you already did drop all that money on a certification, that if you're still feeling more like an imposter or like you don't really know what you're doing, it's probably because you still need to build the skillset even more. Okay. The next thing I wish I knew is that relationship building. Is the most important thing to focus on that first year? If I could distill it down to like one concept, it's relationships, so it's not like building a fancy website, it's not getting a logo designed or like your brand colors or an email funnel or anything. The thing to focus on the most during that first year is building relationships. Being in conversation with people, coaching conversations, market research, conversations, just connection based on content you put out there, like being in conversation and building relationships, most important thing. So don't distract yourself with fancy funnels or logos or brands or websites. It's just relationships. Number three, man, this one's big. Someone else's copy paste strategy is not as helpful as understanding what works for you specifically and the principles behind the strategy. So every strategy can work for someone and there's merit to any strategy someone's sharing that like does work. Like it worked for them, right? But not every strategy is necessary for you or will work for you at every stage of your business, and not every strategy is even right for you at all. So in my first year, I wasted, I'm gonna say wasted, but like I used a lot of time trying to follow all of these different copy paste strategies. Ease, and that was cute and that's what I knew how to do, right? Someone gives me a rubric or curriculum and I just do what they say, but the more important thing is not what the person did that gave them results, but it's understanding more in depth why this is working for them. Like why what they did led to the results. And how you can apply your own version of that. And then a whole nother area zooming out and being like, do I even need these results?'cause there, that's a whole nother thing to talk about. So other people's copy paste strategies, like everyone's gonna throw their strategies at you and that's cool, right? Like, I'm sure they work, that's great, but it's like, it's not it. That's not the answer. That's not really what you need when you're first getting started. You really need to understand principles. Of marketing, sales, psychology. Understand yourself, understand your goals for your business, and then figure out your path forward based on all of those things, not just follow someone else's copy paste. Okay, number four, you don't have to rush the result. Let this be a long game now. There is a value to impatience. it's nice to have a drive. Like, I just wanna do this. I don't wanna wait. Right. Having impatience was helpful for me in some ways, but then at the same time, I felt rushed. I felt like if I wasn't making six figures in two years, I was failing. That's a tight timeline. It could happen. But as somebody who was like. We're brand new to the world of business and you know, like I was just brand new to everything. And every time, you know, things weren't happening fast enough, I just felt discouraged and I felt disappointed in myself. And the thing is like real businesses take time. The game of entrepreneurship is a long game. It's an infinite game, and the more you're fixated on rushing results, the less you're really understanding like the point of entrepreneurship. Because the point is the process. The point is the building, right? And if you let it be a long game and let it be like the journey that you love, then it just unfolds at the pace that's right for you. You can let it be slow if you want to, you can let it be sacred. Let it be sustainable. That doesn't mean like let yourself off the hook and like don't actually push yourself or challenge yourself to do things. So there's nuances here, but having a long game in mind, having the context of a long game just helps take a lot of the pressure off and allows you to enjoy the process so much more. So looking back, I love my journey so much and it's so fun to reflect on this and go down memory lane it with you guys. Um, but there's so much I do differently and there's also so much I did well. There's so much that looked that I nailed from that first year. So what I did is I created. A behind the scenes audio training. I'm calling it the first year files and it's a 45 minute training where I go into much greater detail. I break down what worked for me and like why it worked, like what I nailed, what didn't work, the three like big mistakes I feel like I made and why they were mistakes. And then I also break down exactly what I do again. Exactly what I do if I were starting today from scratch. So I put this all together in an audio called the First Year Files. It is packed with so many honest lessons from what I learned in my first year of business, and honestly, it is the resource I wish I had when I was just getting started. So if you're in your first year of business, you're in your second or third year, or you just wherever you are, you're like, I still need lessons from business, then I definitely recommend grabbing the first year files. Right now it is$11. If you're listening to this live, I'm not sure if it will stay that price forever more, but for now it's$11. So you wanna go ahead and grab it while it is that price, so that you can get all the juicy, juicy lessons. For getting started, so you can click the link in the show notes to grab it.