S1E6: Transforming Healthcare: A Conversation with Becky Wolfe

Overview:
In this episode of PausePoint: The Podcast, we're joined by Becky Wolfe, a former cardiologist turned leadership consultant, who shares her transition from practicing medicine to coaching healthcare teams. Becky opens up about her own burnout experiences and the limitations she faced in traditional healthcare settings. She emphasizes the significant role of mindfulness, stress management, and emotional intelligence in effective leadership. Throughout our conversation, Becky explores her unique leadership development framework and delves into personal aspects of her life, like parenting techniques that promote balance and self-awareness. We also tackle common myths surrounding burnout and self-care, highlighting how mindfulness can profoundly enhance health and well-being within the healthcare profession.

Guest:
Becky Wolfe is a Leadership Consultant with GiANT Worldwide, boasting a rich history and passion for coaching that spans over a decade. She began her career 17 years ago as a Physician Assistant, working in various medical settings, including the ER, Cardiology, and Urgent Care at Mount Union University. Becky transitioned into health coaching 11 years ago while still practicing Cardiology, gaining extensive experience in motivational interviewing and behavior modification. Now, she exclusively coaches individuals and organizations to create healthy workplace environments characterized by high engagement and low turnover. Specializing in helping leaders and teams both recover from and prevent burnout, Becky has guided hundreds of clients toward improved health. Outside of her professional life, she is a mother to two boys and enjoys hiking and weightlifting in her spare time.

Website | LinkedIn

What You'll Discover This Week:

Journey from Medicine to Mentorship: Learn about Becky Wolfe’s transformation from a cardiologist to a leadership consultant. 

Mindfulness in Managing Stress: Explore how Becky integrates mindfulness and stress management into her leadership coaching, particularly within healthcare settings. 

Personalized Coaching Techniques: Gain insights into Becky's approach to coaching, focusing on meeting individuals where they are and the importance of self-awareness in personal and professional development. Learn about the significant impact of personalized coaching in understanding and navigating

PausePoint: The Podcast
Where Mindfulness Meets Mastery in Work-Life Balance

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Learn More:
Visit www.pausepoint.io to discover a wealth of resources and further information on enhancing your professional and personal life through mindfulness.

Transcript

Welcome to PausePoint, the podcast, your ultimate destination for reclaiming your time, revitalizing your spirit, and saying no to burnout.  I'm Felisa Wiley, CEO and founder of PausePoint, and I'm here to ignite your journey towards a more balanced and mindful life.  Join us each week as we delve into practical tips, inspiring stories, and expert advice designed to integrate with your life.

Mindfulness into your daily life.  We'll explore mental health tips, discover ways to strengthen work, life balance, and find methods to reduce your stress,  whether you're new to mindfulness or seeking to deepen your practice, we're here to spark action. It's time to reclaim our time, take more breaks and infuse our lives with moments of peace and rejuvenation.

Join us starting July 15th for our debut season, where we'll share practical tips, inspiring stories, and expert advice to help you thrive. In 

this episode of PausePoint, the podcast, we're joined by Becky Wolfe, a former cardiologist turned leadership consultant who shares her transition from practicing medicine to coaching healthcare teams. Becky opens up about her own burnout experiences and the limitations she faced in traditional healthcare settings.

She emphasizes the significant role of mindfulness. stress management, and emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Throughout our conversation, Becky explores her unique leadership development framework and delves into personal aspects of her life, like parenting techniques that promote balance and self awareness.

We also tackle common myths surrounding burnout and self care, highlighting how mindfulness can profoundly enhance health and well being within the healthcare profession.  Becky, welcome to PausePoint, the podcast. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Thank you. I 

am so grateful to be here with you.

You know how much I love your energy and I'm excited about this podcast, so thank you. Uh, yeah. My name is Becky Wolf. I am a leadership consultant and I specialize in working with healthcare organizations and teams. My background is in healthcare, so I think that's predominantly why I focus on the healthcare industry because I just love helping people get well, and it's just a different scope of what I'm doing now compared to what I was before.

And what was the moment that inspired you to go into coaching specifically? 

Yeah, so I think for me, if I go back to the motivation for coaching in general, it was, I was practicing cardiology and loved what I was doing in serving patients and helping them, but just could see there was a, There's a huge disconnect in healthcare with us treating for chronic disease management versus actually helping patients get well.

And that caused burnout for me, honestly, because I didn't see the hope in what we could do in healthcare and felt really incredibly frustrated with the way our healthcare system was designed. So, for me, going through burnout for myself, I think was the big moment and the pivotal point in why I wanted to shift into doing consulting work.

I just saw the bigger picture of where healthcare could go or where it was headed. And back, this was probably, I don't know, 10 years ago when I experienced this at this point, and just knew I wouldn't be in traditional healthcare for the rest of my life. 

When you said that there was a disconnect between actually helping people, what do you mean by that?

Yeah, most of the time I spent practicing as a physician assistant was in cardiology, and I loved it. I loved the relationships with patients. I loved being able to help them and It's one of the most vulnerable times in someone's life when they feel like they have something going on with their heart and I felt like I could adequately take care of that.

But I started noticing a common theme with patients of saying, like, how do I get off medications? How do I get healthy? I want to lose weight. I just want to be a healthier version of myself. And the traditional thing we would do, send them to dieticians and insurance wouldn't cover it. There was no other preventative care in the terms of holistically taking care of the patient.

And. So that frustrated me enough to try to figure out a solution for it. So then I actually became a health coach first and loved health coaching because I could actually help people get off medications and just solve problems with them that they really wanted to solve. That sparked something bigger for me, which was, okay, we can do this.

I'm probably the only person that sees it right now, but I know we can do this. And it was just enough of a, this feeling of, frustration and this internal  going against my values of who I was and how I was treating patients knew, knowing that there was more. 

Yeah. And how have your own views on mindfulness and mental health evolved throughout your journey?

Yes, so specifically with stress management, and there's a lot of data to support this now, that in order to reduce stress, we really need to be meditating and being really aware, present in our bodies, reducing anxiety, stress, all of those things. There are so many pieces of literature at this point indicating that if we do that, we actually reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease pretty significantly.

And I love seeing cardiologists that are like putting these papers out because we're like, no, we are a society as a society unhealthy and unwell because we're focused on so many different areas and we're not focused on how to stay healthy and just be the best we can. And that includes mindfulness. It includes just being really present in the moment and taking breaks and deep breathing, all of those things for nervous system improvement and reduction of stress.

And what are some of the most significant lessons you've learned from coaching your clients?  

Yeah, I think the significant thing for me in understanding people now is that we're all wired very differently, and we've all had very different role models in our lives and how each of us has a different culture that we're accustomed to, but really is working within the parameters of where people are at. 

So meeting people where they're at has been the most significant piece of coaching that I've had to learn to do really well. It's just being in the moment with them and helping them get to the next solution for who they are. So I was reading a, this book recently on neurodiversity and also like the changes that happen in the brain when we're rewiring and reframing.

So like the neuroscience of it rather. And. It talks about understanding somebody so deeply that you understand, like, where they came from, what frame is they, frame of reference they're coming from, and understanding their wiring and all of these different patterns that come into play to understand who that person is at their healthiest and their best.

And it really is so individualized and I love it because it is just so cool to be able to say, okay, I get you and we're going to get you to the next stage of where you want to be. And here's how we do that. 

You mentioned that everyone has their own role models. Who are some of the role models who shaped who you are?

Yeah, that's a great question. I think probably a couple of different role models that stick out to me. First of all, like my grandmother, my mom, have been through significant health issues in their lives. And I see where healthcare has, you know, It's gone in, I think, decent patterns too, but just seeing the, I think, tenacity that they both have, and I don't love the word resilience, but I'll use it here, but they just were able to put one foot in front of the other with their health. 

I think those are the female role models that I see that I just appreciate their hard work and their persistence through some really tough times. I think in the sphere of health care, I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of really cool people just through LinkedIn networking and just seeing what they get to do and how they've changed their lives in that capacity.

So there's some like physician innovators that I'm like, I freaking love you because you are thinking outside the box that healthcare, we need that, we need more people like you. So they come to mind too. So people like Keith Matheny, somebody that comes to mind for me. John Mehal is a physician, like, near and dear to my heart because he has done something and it's a really deep purpose and passion for him with starting a company that does ECMO.

And it's, again, a very fragile part of someone's life. So. It's where basically the machine pumps blood for your heart when you're in a really sick, awful place and it was only available in certain locations and he's actually trying to spread the availability of it because he was so sick that only being available to certain large hospitals.

How does self awareness play a role in maintaining overall health and wellness? 

Yeah, I think it couples really nicely with what you're promoting, which is like the mindfulness piece of being really aware of who you are and potential triggers that you have, how to have like really healthy understanding of who you are and how people might perceive you.

I, there's a study and I forget who actually conducted the study, but it says something like 95 percent of people believe they're self aware, but 10 percent really are. I'm like, that's a pretty large gap in data. So I think it's fascinating, but I think it's accurate to be honest. I think most of us think we're fairly self aware, but in reality, when we start to do the work, we're like, Oh, wait a second.

No, I never would have thought like this and I hear that from clients pretty often of I thought I was self aware I thought I had everything figured out and then they start to really understand their personality Understand some different cultural aspects of how they grew up and pieces and parts of their role models.

I'm like, oh wow Nope, I never would have guessed it was that deep 

That is a pretty large gap. I feel like we all have our own blinders on. We see ourselves every single day, but we don't actually see ourselves until, like you said, we do the work. To you, what is doing the work? 

Yeah, I partner with an organization called GIANT.

So it's a framework that I walk people through for development. And, Honestly, I think, for me, I wouldn't be doing this if it didn't change my life in some way. I read, I'm an avid reader, I read tons of books a year, and it was nothing like going through a process where somebody said, Okay, I'm gonna hold up a mirror to how you might be perceived by someone around you.

And it was like a really good look in the mirror for me. I use a lot of tools that they give us to use with clients and it has been really helpful. So that's the standard, the gold standard of what I use in practice. And then really helping people understand and frame what they're saying to me if I'm coaching them.

So I'll just frame it back, oh wait a second, I'm seeing this pattern for you. I think the other thing for me, so the giant framework that I have a coach, I had a coaches multiple times at different points of my life and I'm like, I need somebody who's going to challenge me and then tell me how I'm getting in my own way.

So I think both of those things have been really helpful for me. 

Can you give us a little sneak peek into the framework that you use? 

Yeah, when we do coaching with leaders, so it really is there's a pattern so self awareness emotional intelligence So building on how you react during situations and then how you understand the other people's emotions and it really is leading at higher levels So those like the three things I'll focus on so self awareness Understanding what it's like to be on the other side of you then emotional intelligence like leading people more effectively, especially who aren't, the people who aren't wired like us. 

And then it is, okay, so now we have that framework. How can we then lead people to lead others? So that's like the next part of it. 

How can we lead people to then lead others? Can you walk me through that? 

Yeah, so let's say there's somebody going into a leadership role. So they're then leading five people and then you have to promote somebody.

So how do you then teach your leadership skills to someone else? And then they effectively lead other people. That's where it gets tricky. I think for most people, when they're like, Okay, I've gotten to this next position, I'm leading five to ten people. And then what if I get promoted, I'm leading now 20, who's under me?

Who am I leading? Who am I pouring into that can lead the rest of the people that I was in charge of and do it the same way that I did it. So in a really healthy manner, and this is where cultures can be a little bit challenging because a lot of people don't have the framework. They don't have a language that's instilled into the organization.

They don't really have the way or access to a framework that builds people. And then it's sustainable over a period of time. We have a client we've worked with for the last six years and every new leader that comes in, they put through a leader Academy. And if they're leading one person or more, they're in the Academy.

So it is, we want to build you, we want to develop you, and we want you to stay.  I often harp on the fact that there is difference between training and development of people. So training is, let's just go to this workshop, let's see if we can take something away from it, but very few people put it into practice.

But if you develop somebody, and you actually help them understand their tendencies, and you help them understand and become more self aware, become more emotionally intelligent, that's when the transition happens.  And then they're like, Oh, I am a better leader because I became that leader. I didn't go to a training to learn something, some like new technique actually became the person to lead.

I'm so happy you pointed out the difference between training and development because I feel like companies nowadays, they have a checkbox of learning and development. They call it development, but it's really just, let's sit in a meeting for an hour.  Hear this person talk and then go about your merry way.

So it's really nice to hear you call out that there is a difference between training and then really developing these people. Now pivoting slightly, how does one's own purpose and values impact their approach to health and wellness? 

Yes, I think this is where, I love the word congruence. I feel like congruence for me is similar to authenticity, but I feel for me it really is how can I be as congruent as possible, how can I live out who I am no matter which frame of reference I'm in.

So whether that's with my personal life or professional life, with my friendships, wherever that looks, wherever I'm in, the space that I'm in, it needs to be congruent with my values and who I am. 

When you're working with clients, do you also run them through a personal or core value practice?  

So it depends on how I'm working with them.

So if I do what we call leadership intensives, or if I'm doing one to one work with them, I often will because it's really helpful for them to gauge where they're at and what they want and relax. So it depends on how I'm practicing with them, but I often do because I love being able to just secure, I think, a greater understanding of boundaries for them too.

So yeah, it depends on the engagement. 

And how many times have you brought this practice to them and they have never heard or done this before? 

A lot. I would say probably 85 percent of the time when I'm giving it to clients. They've never heard of what values are.  

Crazy. And how often would you recommend people do a core value review of themselves?

Yeah, I did one, I've done them several times since 2010, so I think I've probably done them three or four times, just checking in with myself, does this really resonate with me? And the Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey was one of the most foundational books that I've ever read. And, In it, he talks about self trust, and the ideal of self trust, and really having personal integrity, and he brings up the concept of congruence, and that's what really, I think, secured for me of, oh my goodness, okay, this is what I feel is most pronounced for me, of being the person that has I have internal trust for who I am, so if I say I'm going to show up to the gym, I need to show up to the gym.

And then, if I say I'm going to show up to something with my friends, I need to show up. If I make the commitment, I need to show up. Or there's got to be a really good reason that I don't. People need to rely on me. And then, same with work environments and all of the other environments in my life. If I say I'm going to a networking event and I promise somebody I'll be there, I need to be there.

Not cop out at the last minute. And I  think for some of us who are introverts or have a little social anxiety, it's normal to be like, I don't even want to go, I'm just going to not do that. But I think it just breaks foundational trust with 

people. I'm glad that you brought that up because that's very relevant to where I am in my life.

Reliability used to be one of my core values. And then I started realizing, Oh, I actually don't like going out. So I started canceling plans a little bit more. But I do that reminder that. It's important to keep and build that foundation of trust with people. So, I needed to hear this now. Thank you. 

I love how you said that too, where you're like, I just realized I don't like going out.

Maybe there's certain situations that you just don't want to be a part of. And I think recognizing that and being able to say no is okay. And then saying yes to things where you absolutely love it. Say yes more. I think it's just defining what we really want to say yes to can be really helpful. 

I completely agree.

Now I have a few more questions more specific to burnout. For the leaders that you work with, what would you say are the most common red flags that something is wrong? 

Yeah, so I can usually hear some type of mental exhaustion with them where they're just overwhelmed or they feel like they've lost hope.

They don't think things will get better. It is, I don't even honestly know the word to wrap around it other than they feel completely deflated. They just feel like, I don't even know what to do, and they get stuck. So I think that's one of the early signs that I'll often hear when I'm talking with them.

Fatigue without really anything other than other things in their life that have changed, so there's not a new baby, there's not anything that's  Causing them to be really tired. It is just, I just feel drained and I don't even know why. So it is just getting to the bottom of, okay, what's going on in your life?

What feels heavy? And if we get all the way around it and they're like, I just don't feel like I'm fulfilled, I can be part of it too. 

That makes me sad because it's true. Like when you're talking to people, it's their body language. It's the tone of their voice that gives away much more than what they're actually saying.

Yes, it absolutely does, yeah. There are some myths and misconceptions surrounding burnout and overwhelm. What are the most common misconceptions that you've encountered? 

So one of the ones that I think is most frustrating is that self care solves all problems. And that one just hurts my heart because it's not true.

And I think we've been forced to believe that if we're not taking care of ourselves, it's our problem. And I just hate that. I think We are set up in a system that don't really allow us as much opportunity to get like the adequate rest. And I think sometimes we set ourselves up to be busier than what we need to be.

So being really cautious of what do I need and creating the boundaries and Getting what we need individually to stay as healthy as we possibly can, but I think the greatest misconception I hear is that, Oh, you're not doing enough self care or you just take a bubble bath, go for a walk, exercise. No, that's not gonna solve the issues here.

There are some bigger conversations that need to be had and we can do some things that we know are foundationally healthy for us, but let's figure it out. Let's maybe address if it's like an occupational issue that you're just not happy at work.  And is it an opportunity for you to look somewhere else, or is it an opportunity for you to have some of the hard conversations?

I definitely agree with that. It's largely systematic, and especially with just the world that we live in, and I don't know if you feel this way or if you can relate, but if I go on any social media,  I feel like I need to be doing more. I never feel like I'm doing enough, even though I'm doing so much. And I'm like, this is crazy.

It feels impossible. And I definitely think that social media causes this extra level of stress in our lives. 

Yeah, I would agree with that. And there are studies that show it increases anxiety and it's, it is. It's the comparison trap that we get ourselves into. So it is so hard. And I think it's recognizing what amount of that is healthy and maybe, and I think that's different for everyone, honestly, what they can really tolerate and what's healthy for them.

But I know I can completely resonate with that too, where I just get sucked into scrolling and I'm like, Oh my gosh, like this person's a better mom than I am. Look at those amazing little lunchboxes that they have and I'm like, my kids. just by lunch from school. 

And you know what, that is okay too, but since you did bring up motherhood, you have two boys, right?

I do, yes. How do you try to instill this balanced life? Wait, how old are they? I should ask that first. 

It's 

okay. No, I have a 12 year old and a 10 year old. Okay, so they're old enough to learn life balance, I think. They are. Yeah. What are some things that you've done to try to instill in them? Like just being balanced, being mindful, taking care of themselves, and I don't know, what do 10 and 10 year olds do?

It's interesting that you say that. I'll give 

you a quick story on each one of them. They are very different children. My 12 year old, he is an interesting kid. So he's more into sports, I would say, than his younger brother is. But even early, we gave him the option of doing travel baseball because he really loves baseball.

And travel baseball, is usually pretty intense. Honestly, second grade, he had the opportunity to do tribal ball, which would have been 40 to 50 games a year. And a season in Ohio goes from like, end of April till maybe mid July. So it a lot of baseball, right? And in second grade, he said, Mom, I love baseball, but I want to be a kid.

I want to just play with my friends. I just want, I know. And we laid it out for him. And we're like, listen, I love it. If you love baseball, we're all in. We'll do this, but there's gonna have to be some things that you give up, and that would be maybe some free play time, having friends over, and we're gonna support whatever you want to do, but there's a little league.

The league here is for probably 20 games, 25 games, and it would be on the weekends, couple nights a week, we're not traveling anywhere, it's just this local one field you get to be a part of. And he said, I would rather do that.  And I'm like, okay. And each year we would give him the option, and not until it was not this past year, it was the year before, he was 11 when he made the decision, he was like just turning 11,  where he made the decision, okay, I want to do travel, and I only want to go 20 miles, because there was an option, we gave him options of we go 20 miles or we can travel up to two hours away.

Nope, I only want to do this because I want to be able to have time at home and play, go fishing and all the things that he just loves to do outdoors. Okay, he gets it. That was a huge moment for me. 

And 

then my 4 year old, he's, Dooley is interesting to me, but in a very different way. He is so self aware and he'll just be like, I'm feeling angry right now and I need to go relax.

I need to go, and he'll pick a corner in his room, I just need to go relax. I just need time away from people. So he will quite literally say, I just need time in my room, or just give me a few minutes away, because I've been around people too much. He just, he understands it. And we're learning his triggers.

My oldest is an extrovert, and my youngest is an introvert, and sometimes my oldest gets carried away with just talking, and then he'll be like, Joey, I really just need some time to talk right now. 

That is. Amazing, the level of self awareness they have. I actually got goosebumps when you told me about your oldest son saying, I don't want to do that, it's second grade.

It's a complete win. You're doing an amazing job. And I also love your tactic of giving them choices. Because you're presenting them with options and they can determine with what they know about themselves what they think is the best move and they feel empowered to do that. 

Yeah. Those are good mom moments.

There are a number of bad mom moments. 

We're going to focus on the wins because those are absolute wins. Those are absolute wins. That's amazing. Could you share a memorable case where mindfulness played a key role in helping someone recover from burnout? 

That's a really good question. Let me think about this a little bit.

I feel like I've had a number of different, okay, I'll use one case. I'm still working with this client, a physician client, who experienced burnout before I even met her, and just was recognizing she needed to reduce the amount of pressure she was putting on herself, honestly, and started taking away some of the roles and responsibilities that she had.

And, uh, Even in her clinic, she was noticing some challenges with certain relationships. We started just setting up some practices to be really in the moment of what she was noticing with her partners and with people in the clinic, and I would say, okay. What I want you to do, this is how I want you to pay attention to your actions.

I want you to be a fly on the wall. Look at your actions and look how that might be affecting people around you and look and see what you need in the moment. What do you think you need to really be aware and calm down if you feel like you're getting frustrated because clinics are hard and it is one patient after another and you get people put into the clinic without even getting say in your schedule?

And I'm aware of all of that. So how do you? How are you going to manage that? And she started taking more time in her office away from all of the chaos that's happening in the nurse's station and stuff. For her, it was really spending time just alone for a few moments and then recalibrating it and coming back out to manage the rest of it.

She started to say, I just need time alone and she's an extrovert. She loves people, but she can just need time and space away. And I'm finding more and more. I just need some time to recalibrate. 

For those of us who aren't really familiar with how the healthcare industry and how clinics work, can you walk us through how the typical clinic can lead to organizational stress and conflict?

Yeah, it varies in different organizations. I will say that, but I would say in majority of Organizations what you'll have is you'll have practice administrator or a leader and this is like for the separate clinics for that organization there's an over executive team and there's multiple different like clinics, but What happens is you have somebody that's usually managing your schedule for you and they design it in such a way where they're going to put patients in if somebody calls for a sick visit, they'll just plug them in.

And as clinicians, we'll sometimes see the patient's name, what they're coming in for, and it could be a bigger scope than what's in there. the receptionist or somebody in the front office is thinking it could be. I'll give you an example of this. So, I used to work at a college and there was a patient that was put on my schedule for headache with a fever and in my mind I'm thinking this kid has meningitis.

Okay. So, I'm like, Okay, this is not going to be a quick 15 minute visit. This is going to be, I need to spend time with this patient doing a really good little neuro exam. This isn't like a quick sinus infection likely visit. This is like severe headache. So those are the kinds of things that can get plugged in.

And then it raises our blood pressure level. Oh my God, I'm going to get behind. Patients are going to get mad. And so it starts to just raise this awareness of us. And I think our stress levels just go up. Because we're trying to manage our schedule and be on time and not really upset the rest of the apple cart of the day.

And that's where it gets really frustrating, I think, as providers. And on the nursing side of things, or on the receptionist side of things, we're like, I just want to help the patient, which is absolutely true. I think we all have that mindset, we want to help the patients. It's always going to be this tension or struggle, and I don't think anybody's figured that quite out yet.

But it is this constant communication that needs to happen of how can we process improve in order to get the best outcomes for the patient. And the process really is from the moment they walk in the door until they leave. Like how are we helping get people from point A, B, C, and D until they're out the door.

Do you find that in some of these settings people bond with that level of stress? 

If you can, I think there are certain personalities that are wired for it, honestly. There is a certain dynamic of people that go into the ER because they just love thrill and risk and they're going to do some crazy things in the ER that they won't have opportunities to do in primary care.

It's normal to have certain things that you just veer towards because you love them. So I think that's absolutely true and I think people just get used to the higher levels of stress. stress that they have to endure and sue, and then I think there are people who just love the relational aspect of care, and I think the problem that can happen is that we feed off the stress of other people, and then that becomes an issue in itself of like how do we collectively be on the same page and calm down, that way we're not experiencing as much stress.

It's interesting that you mention that some people, they thrive on that throne, and then others love the relationship building aspect of healthcare. So there's two different things that they're bringing to the table, and both are self aware in what they love and why they're pursuing healthcare, but it impacts them differently.

So they always have to go back to their core, and because they understand their core values, they're able to understand now what they need in order to bring their best selves to it. 

Yeah, absolutely. And I think those who love primary care, pediatrics, like cardiology, for example, they're really in it for their long term relationship building with the patients because you're going to see them multiple times over and over again, and you want to help them feel safe and seen.

Usually those that go into those, specialties or primary care. It really is because they want to have a long term relationship and they want to get to know people really well. 

Karen, you talk about just the relationship building aspect of those in healthcare. It makes it sound like a beautiful field.

You're dedicating your life to helping others. That's a lifetime of service. That sounds so fulfilling. 

It really is, and I think that that is the primary purpose of why people go into healthcare, whether that's nursing, like being physicians, um, PAs, MPs, even like medical, medical assistants, same thing.

They just get into it with the, the feeling of we get to do something for people. So it's, it is super fun. Honestly, I love healthcare. I love the space. I love how innovative it is now and the changes that I'm seeing, I'm so encouraged by. And a friend of mine, his daughter's going into nursing, I'm like, you're getting into healthcare.

Really great time. 

Now, looking ahead, how do you see mindfulness evolving within the healthcare industry? 

Oh, I definitely do. I think the biggest thing we will see is that healthcare providers, as much as they can get healthy in reduction of stress and taking care of themselves and having a little bit more say in either schedule or how the system is run, we will see the ripple effect on patients.

So we will start to see patients becoming healthier because their doctors or their PAs and PEs are healthier. But that includes diet, exercise, mindfulness, reduction of stress, includes all of those elements. But I think it will happen first when we can take really good care of ourselves. And that's what I think excites me the most.

And I think Where healthcare is going to is integrating more on the team to take care of patients better. So home coaches, integrating different functional providers into practices. I think there's some exciting things coming. 

I feel like we talked about this a little bit earlier where it started off with more doctors prescribing medicine and then the patients led the way and they're like, Oh, I actually want to eat healthier and exercise.

And now it sounds like the healthcare industry is shifting to looking at a more holistic look of what makes the doctors, physician assistants, and all of those healthier for themselves. And then that'll trickle down back to the patients.  

Yep, yeah, yeah. There are some clinics that are already doing that, and I see how they treat patients differently.

And they're just really involved in the care for the patient from the beginning to the end. And even, like, my doctor, going in there a few weeks ago, I was like, Secretaries are all super kind and then just like the whole process was so easy to walk through and that's not a typical situation. So I'm blessed and I know how amazing that is and I want everyone to experience that.

I feel like everyone can relate to that feeling of being like a number when you go into that busy waiting room and then they're just trying to get you in and trying to get you out and we've all felt that way. So the idea that you could go to a doctor's office and feel like a person and you could get to know them.

And you're not just being hurried. That is definitely a plus. What generation do you think is leading the charge with all of these changes? 

I think it's the millennial generation, honestly. I know. I do. I think the spirits that the millennials have really is, they want authenticity. They really want to be good, amazing people and do something that's bigger than themselves.

They really do. They have this spirit in them that Like, I want to solve the world's problems. I, that's like the feel I get from them of, I just want to do something that's going to mean something when I'm gone, I think. And then Gen Z, I think, is even a step further of, they really have an entrepreneurial spirit.

So in order to get them engaged and invested, you have to be creative in how you're doing that. Because if not, they will leave. They'll do their own thing. They will figure it out on their own. 

Among the various mindfulness exercises that you practice, what is your favorite and why? 

So, I would say meditation is my go to because, like, box breathing is something I do pretty regularly, uh, which is just like basically breathing in the shape of a box with four seconds, right?

I think a lot of people know it now, but, um, I don't think it was widely known until recently. Uh, so that's one that I do. I would say otherwise journaling is a big go to for me of just having some space to really reflect, think of my thoughts and what's coming out and why. I would say those are the two biggest practices that I use on a daily basis.

For journaling, do you have prompts or do you free write? 

I free write and then I'll just notice the thoughts that are coming up and then I'll ask myself questions based on like, why is that there? I'm really curious. So if I'm feeling a certain way, I'll be like, huh, I wonder why I'm feeling this way. Or why do I have that thought related to this situation?

That's something I've worked on the last, I would say, six months. Instead of just writing like any thought that's in my brain, I'm starting to challenge the narrative a little bit more and just be like, huh, I wonder, I'm just really curious as to why I might feel that way. 

Because you're digging in, you're getting more self aware.

Yes, yeah, absolutely. And looking back on your career journey so far, what would you say is your greatest accomplishment?  

Oh gosh. I would say the ability to be flexible is probably The characteristic about myself that, I think, that was like, wired Harvard into me from birth, I think, and like risk taking and just betting on myself when I started my business because I was A single mom at that point had two kids and was like, okay, I'm either gonna jump and do this or I'm not and it jumped and It's business is hard.

It is so hard and it is constant effort and work Just trying to figure out each stage of it has been tough, but I don't regret a single minute of it And I remember like my partner and I were talking recently and I was like, I could find a job, but why would I do that? I'm like, I love what I do. I absolutely love it.

And would it take any stress away? It wouldn't. It would actually cause more stress for me because I love what I do so much that I can't imagine doing anything else. 

It definitely sounds like you're enjoying the journey. And I'm really happy for you because it sounds like you found what fulfills you.

And that's what, at the end of the day, we. All need and all that we could ask for. And we don't really need to be unhappy with the work that we do. We need something that brings us that joy and that good energy. And you found that. So that's cool.  Thank you.  What are two key takeaways that you would like listeners to take from this conversation?

So I would say employ some type of mindfulness practice, whatever that looks like. So meditation, journaling, deep breathing, like finding a way to be really present. So there's counting techniques of counting the objects close to you, but finding some way to be really present with things that are helpful and can be grounded.

It really does make a difference for like nervous system. stress reduction, all of those things. So find that practice, whatever that is for you. I think the other thing is, if you're feeling stuck, then do the deep work. So do the work of knowing yourself on a much deeper level than what you do, because it will pay off in dividends for the rest of your life.

Well, Becky, thank you so much for your time. It's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you. 

Thank you so much. Great questions. And again, thanks for having me. 

Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Passpoint, the podcast. Our debut season is packed with enlightening conversations featuring thought leaders, burnout prevention specialists, authors, and mindfulness coaches.  Together, we delve into topics like effective stress management, burnout, goal setting, and transformative mindfulness techniques. 

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