92. Stop Studying, Start Doing: Lessons from 2 Years of Dr. Toya Coaching

Hey Doc —

Dr. Toya Coaching is turning two! 🎉

Two years ago, I had a newborn, a burnout hangover, and an idea that didn’t make much sense on paper, but made perfect sense for my life. What started as a postpartum support concept has evolved into a global coaching brand, a thriving community, and an impact that‘s undeniable.

In this anniversary episode, I’m reflecting on the year everything changed — the burnout, the baby, the business, and what I’ve learned about building boldly when the plan doesn’t make sense to anyone else.

This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s about the real lessons behind the glow-up:

how I certified my way into a trap, how clarity showed up when I stopped trying to be “qualified enough,” and how every detour — even the useless ones — got me exactly where I was supposed to be.

We talk about:

• The trap of overqualifying yourself before you start
• Why “just start” is more powerful than another certification
• How every misstep can still move you forward
• The mindset shift that turns fear into freedom
• And why you don’t need to see the end to take the first step

This is a celebration, but it’s also a reminder: you can build boldly, even when you’re unsure, or a little scared.

Every dream needs a starting point. Two years ago, this was mine.

🎧 Go listen now, and share this episode with another physician mom who needs the reminder that her bold move doesn’t need permission — just a beginning.

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Transcript

  📍 Hey Doc, my anniversary is tomorrow. Dr. Toya coaching is turning two on November 13th, and I am so excited and. As I have been preparing for the anniversary, you know, not doing anything special, I had dreams of having an in-person event to celebrate, but clearly there is too much going on for all that.

But I have been. Thinking back to that year, the year of 2023, when my daughter was born, when all of this started, and it's been a very nostalgic journey. And if you're following me on Facebook, which you definitely should be, so go ahead and do that. You'll see some of the posts, about the people who helped me get to this point and.

I've been, you know, all in my feelings and just thinking about things and of course, you know, I'm thinking about you as well and thinking about how my journey to get to Dr. Toya coaching is actually quite similar to yours. And I know you're thinking like, Hmm, maybe not. I'm not a coach. I still practice medicine.

What are you talking about? But I wanted to tell a piece of the story. That I think is very relatable to you, doc, and it is so wild how many times I have told the story of how I started coaching, but there's so many different angles, so many different pieces. Like if I was to tell the entire thing every step of the way, it would take me a really long time.

And also, I can't remember. That year was a blur. And for the actual postpartum stuff, I mentioned this in episodes one and two, I had to go back through messages with a friend to like really remember what was going on. So this part is fuzzy. You know, when I sat down to record, I was like, wait a minute. I remember the highlights, but there's some details.

I had to sit and really think through and they started coming back to me. And I see a lot of.

What I see in the general population and my clients and what I did back then. So this part of the story is my certification for perinatal mental health. So you know, I am Latoya Lu, Samson, MD PMHC, and that stands for Perinatal Mental Health Certification.

And that is done by a group called Postpartum Support International. So, you know, the beginning part of the story, right? I had the burnout, went to Mexico, came back, stopped doing TikTok, stopped doing all that shit, and was just like, I need to focus on me.

That's when the weekly massages started. That's when physical therapy and the TENS unit for the pain and all this stuff started. And the idea of creating what was then beyond the fourth trimester, which was a group medical practice that was, you know, virtual is telemedicine, that I was going to start to for support women who were postpartum. And at that time, the fourth trimester was getting a glow up. It was kinda like perimenopause in 2025. In 2023, it was the fourth trimester. And I don't say that to belittle either of those things. They're both extremely important and very deservedly getting their moment in the sun.

Um, but I found, especially as an O-B-G-Y-N with what I went through and just like. Looking at people's lives in general, the focus on the fourth trimester only was severely lacking because it's not like if three months go by and all of a sudden everything's fine. And I actually think. It is more difficult in the rest of the postpartum period, like from that three month mark all the way to the one year, which medically you are still postpartum until you are one year.

Um, because that's when everybody expects you to bounce back. Everybody expects you to be like, okay, you, you're done, you're done. Healing fourth trimester over back to work, back to back, to regular life. But there are still physical changes, like there are even studies about like your pelvic floor integrity and how.

At the different stages, up until the year and beyond, there's still recovery happening. So the fourth trimester was everybody's focus,

so I had joined all of these doctor fourth trimester groups for people who had started these types of practices to see, you know, what they were doing

and to figure out what I needed to make this practice happen and really was to also help myself because yeah, I was coming out of the burnout, but I was still having severe sleep issues. I was still struggling with breastfeeding. I was still struggling. By the fall of 2023, there was still a lot of struggle happening.

It just wasn't as bad. So when I went into these groups, I started seeing, you know, perinatal mental health as like a thing, which as an OB GYNI was like, what is this? I didn't know anything about that, and I felt like I was. Fairly comfortable prescribing antidepressants and things in the postpartum period, especially because just like what happened to me, lots of people can't get into CS psych. Definitely at Kaiser where I worked, there was no way you would get in. And so if somebody really needed medication, we would just do it. So I felt quote unquote comfortable. but when I saw that there was a certification. I was like, oh, I need that because that's what we do.

I was still in this fantasy that I needed to open a medical practice because I'm a doctor and that's what doctors do. Even though most of what I wanted to do was not medical, and

because I had identified already that as an ob, GYN we were lacking in taking care of women postpartum. I was like, oh, well, I, I need some education. I need a certification. You know, I, I can't go and do anything else with a certification. So that's how I came upon postpartum was international and the PMHC And I don't regret it because when I was doing it, I texted one of my old chiefs from residency and I was like, oh my gosh, I, we didn't learn any of this. Like every OB GYN residency should be taking this course because there's a lot of stuff that we just weren't taught. Things that are very different now.

So I learned a lot, but I have this certification. That I am not using because it was not necessary because I didn't actually want to start a medical practice. And as I think back on that time, I had already had. The experience of my business school classmate telling me that she thought that what I wanted to do was coaching, and I was still pushing through because it's like, no, she's wrong. This is a medical practice and I need to. Be a doctor and to be a doctor at the highest levels.

I need this certification.

And looking back on the last two years,

while there was some training, mentorship,

growth that was needed,

and I got that from a coach

because what I'm doing is coaching not medicine ,

I have not used that perinatal mental health certification,

not one time.

Not one time coaching any of my clients.

Because the things that I learned that are actually related to what I do, I already knew.

I remember, and I have an episode about this, I think the nine things you need for postpartum wellness. That's obviously not the name, but that's like something I learned about. In the PMHC training, but it was like, oh, everything that I was planning to offer in this medical practice, here it is.

And I was like, oh, good. So it was. More reaffirming than saying, oh yeah, I learned this new thing that I now use to support women, you know, who are going through transitions and postpartum and things. I have not used it one bit, and I just think of so many of us who, when we wanna try something new, something that is a little bit off of the beaten path, we feel called to do something else.

We need to get out of a situation. First thing that we go to is, well, what certification do I need? What degree do I need? I have, uh, one of my newest clients who is closer to retirement and wants to go into entrepreneurship was like, yeah, I have to figure out,

what degree do I need to be able to make this leap? And I was just like. You sure you need a degree

because when we take these steps to get the certification, do the extra studying, we need to be like super clear about if. The thing that we are going for actually requires this. Like

Is it a job requirement?

Is it a requirement in that field

to have this MBA to do this certification?

Or do you just think that,

do you think that you're not qualified enough

because all you know how to do is "medicine." 

Isn't that crazy, that we think that?

Like all I know how to do is to be a doctor.

Girl, that is a big   📍 #&S@!*  deal.

Anyway, The question I think we have to ask ourselves is, do I actually need this degree? Do I need this certification? If I were to go after this thing, is there gonna be a barrier because I don't have this degree?

And oftentimes the answer is no. And I understand. If we don't know, he is like, you never know, it'll just make me look better. But that's where some guidance is needed, right?

Talk to other people in the same position that you want to get to. Not other women physicians,

because chances are they'll be overqualified just like you.

Look for the least qualified person

in the highest position that you want to be in

and ask them, what did they do?

You know,

what certifications do they have?

If you can find a white man, ask him, what did you do to get here? Because it's a good chance he didn't go to wait for that certification. And even if he has it, he got the job first and then let them pay for it, you know? So it's just like this default that we have that I must educate myself more.

To be able to do anything outside of the set boundaries of what I learned in residency and what I'm seeing out in practice like that needs to change. And I was the same way and I have the PMHC to prove it and you know, because that's what we do and it looks nice at the end of my name, I guess I'm gonna keep it.

But now I have this thing

where in addition to my MOC, or continuing certification,

whatever ACOG wants to call it now,

I now have to keep up for this PMHC that I am not even using.

And it's just... now the question is, well, I don't know. Am I going to use it?

You know, I, I worked so hard, I took the exam,

I don't wanna just let it go to waste.

So now I have certified my way

into a trap of needing to continuously learn

about something that is cool, is great to know,

but that is completely useless for me and where my life has taken me.

Two years of coaching many years to come.

Like, what am I gonna do with that?

And of course I'm gonna keep it because like you are probably thinking, well, you never know when you're gonna use it.

So. I tell this story, yes, because I've been reminiscing on my journey. But you know, the reason I tell all of my stories so that you can learn and not make the same mistakes that I did. If there is something that you are thinking about doing, if you have this dream of becoming a movement coach, you have a dream of being the CMO of a health tech startup.

Ask yourself, do I need to become a certified personal trainer? Do I need some kind of kinesthetics certification? Do I need an MBA? Do I need any of that stuff? Do I actually know exactly what I want to do, where exactly I'm gonna end up? Because that's the other thing. Once you start off of the beaten path, especially if it is going into entrepreneurship, you discover things about yourself and interests that medicine and the pursuit of medicine has beaten out of you.

Let me say it, a nicer way has quieted in your mind. These things come up and your path changes. It may not be a huge pivot, but it may evolve like me into something that if you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn't even know what a coach didn't even know what a coach was. The first and last time I heard about what a coach was, was on Gilmore Girls, when Paris got a life coach, when they went to Yale, and then I never thought about it again.

Until I joined EBS, like I would have never known. So you get this degree, you don't start the thing, you go study first. You get the certification first, and then you're in this new path with all these new possibilities and you end up doing something completely different and now you would've wasted time, wasted money.

It is almost always better to just start doing and let the path be illuminated as you are walking it. And I know as I say that you're probably starting to sweat a little bit. Heart rate T, because I have had this conversation with three of my clients in the last two weeks, two current and one past, where they have said to me.

I need to know where the path is going. I need to see the end for me to be comfortable and to start making moves. And I get it. that's how we've been living our lives for all these years. And it is definitely a mindset shift. It is all sorts of things that you need to kind of let go of that and allow yourself to take a risk, Being risk tolerant, just so happens that I'm a more tolerant person than than most, So maybe it was a little bit easier for me, um, to start down a path where the end was not exactly clear, but it is not unique to me. I tell you all the time, doc, I am not that special.

I'm wonderful, amazing, all the things,

but so are you.

By definition, you are a physician,

so you are just like me. You are just as special,

just as qualified, just as elite.

Like, do you know how many people

get into medical school

and how many graduate

and how many get into residency?

You're special.

So you can do what I'm doing. And of course, not exactly what I'm doing. This is my dream. You can do your dream, but usually if it involves stepping off of that. Beaten path, it will involve some risk, which you can't take. You don't need to see the end, and you don't need that qualification. You don't need the certification unless you see the job description and it says MBA required.

And you're like, yes, this is, this is what I wanna do. This is my dream, then fine, go and get the MBA. If like one of my old attendings, he was a surgical oncologist, Dr. Wayne Frederick, he went, got his MBA, then he became the president of Howard University. He needed the MBA. Okay, fine. If you wanna be a president of a university, go ahead and get the MBA or whatever else it is that you need to do.

Other than that, you will be surprised how many things you can do, how many dreams you can pursue with no more qualifications than you have right now.

Okay, doc, so as I reminisce on the infamous year, 2023 when I had my beautiful, sweet, funny. Cute daughter and had probably one of the worst years of my life at the same time, found a new passion, a second calling, got a useless certification. I wanted to share the story with you and share the learning with you and encourage you to go after whatever that thing is that you are thinking about with.

No qualifications. Be a slacker. Just go for it. Just go for it. They're all sorts of unqualified, incompetent people doing all sorts of things right now, making us so much money, and also making huge impact with zero additional skills and with way less education and training than you have. You can do it.

That is. One of the many gifts that I am requesting from you. So if you, again, if you're on my social media, I'm requesting a lot of gifts from people, kind words, happy anniversary, all that. My gift that I want from you for two years of doctoral coaching, for creating this podcast within those two years for all that I have given you over this time, is to go after your dream.

Without getting any more qualifications that that would make my day, that would make my year. And of course you have to tell me about it. So send me an email, hello@doctorcoaching.com. DM me, whatever you have to do, and let me know what steps you took towards that other thing. Skipping over the degree or the certification.

That will make me so happy. Okay, so I am so excited to be celebrating this milestone. When I look back at where I started and what Dr. Toya coaching has become. It is almost unrecognizable to go from beyond the fourth trimester supporting women in a holistic way, making sure they have community, they have support, they have physical therapy, all, all of these things, and not just focusing on that fourth trimester to helping physician moms with all sorts of transitions transitioning into motherhood, postpartum, back to work.

One of the hardest transitions, no shade fourth, trimester switching jobs, getting a raise, going into leadership, starting something completely new that they don't need extra qualifications for. When I think about how different it is, how it has evolved, because the core is still the same, I am amazed. I am proud and to think.

How small that idea was. A group medical program that is now high touch, intimate, transformational coaching

and that now includes. A group, the connected motherhood experience that is this safe, empowering, uplifting space for black physician moms that is including this podcast, stethoscopes and Strollers that is rated globally. It is ranked globally in the top fifth percentile of all podcasts. Lemme tell you, when I saw that, I was just like, what in the world?

What do you mean globally? Yes, this podcast and when I check the analytics and see different countries where people are listening, it's like, are these bots, like, who are these people that are listening to this podcast in Germany? I like anyway, to think that it now includes this podcast, it includes me speaking at different organizations at the professional level.

Changing the culture of medicine, starting to bring these issues to the forefront so that we can stop pretending like this is just something that moms have to deal with, and start realizing that we need to support women who choose to become mothers in medicine because it was not made for us. Leading that charge.

Bringing up these conversations, fighting for these conversations to be had. Because let me tell you, a lot of people are not interested. They just think this is a, you know, well, you chose that. Deal with it. No. To think it now includes that all of the resources, all of the guides, all of the inspiration. I would've never thought that it would evolve.

into this and I'm so proud.

I'm so excited. I'm so happy that you get to share this with me to be along on this ride, and I'm very excited because we are just gonna keep going. We're gonna continue reaching physician moms. And really all women physicians, right? Because a lot of the stuff that I talk about applies to all women physicians just so happens that we need a little bit of extra care as mothers, just like black mothers need a little bit of extra care and black women in general in medicine, right?

So we all have that unique thing, that unique intersection that gives us particular needs. And that needs to be met first to feel whole and feel supported, and feel loved, and feel seen. And I love those intersections. That's, that's my happy place seeing you and seeing what you need to feel like yourself and to know yourself and to trust yourself, and to love yourself.

That's my mission. That is my goal. That's what makes me happy and gives me drive. That's what makes this the second calling, and I'm so grateful for every step of the journey, even the ones that were a waste of time, because every bit of it has gotten me here. Because lemme tell you, if it wasn't for PSI and it wasn't for the PMHC, then I wouldn't have met Candace Wood, who was the guest on last week's podcast.

That podcast was absolutely amazing. If you haven't listed, go back and listen to it. Every part of the journey matters. Every part is significant, whether at the time I realized it or not, and it's the same for you.

So

useless certification and all. I'm very, very happy. Very happy with all of it. So that's all I have for you today. I am going to continue celebrating, join me online, and obviously if you're hearing this episode, long after my. Anniversary has ended. You can still wish me happy anniversary. You can still say congratulations for being absolutely amazing.

You can tell me how much this podcast and my coaching and all of it has impacted you. I want to know, and it would be great if you would put it on the podcast listening platform so that they know how amazing this podcast is and I can get to the top 1%. Yes, there are two other levels that the podcast can go up.

So help me get there. Rate review, five stars only. Thank you very much. And share it with another physician mom who needs to hear this message, who is putting in her application for her useless MBA right now? Send this episode to her and tell her you do not need it. You don't need it. And if she's not sure, if she wants to make a plan, tell her schedule a free coaching session.

We will go through it together and I will give her the reality check that she needs because most of the time you don't need a doc, right? So, okay. I have rambled enough. I'm just very happy and very excited to be celebrating this major milestone, and I can't wait to celebrate so many more. Thank you for listening, and I will see you on the next episode of Stethoscopes and Strollers.