Building a Practice That Gives You Freedom: A Conversation with Dr. Lauryn

What if the biggest obstacle to my success isn't burnout, but the expectations I've placed on myself?

In this episode of the Staffless Practice Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Lauryn for an honest conversation about the realities of practice ownership, entrepreneurship, and creating a life that aligns with my goals.

Together, we explore why so many healthcare professionals feel exhausted, how perfectionism can keep me stuck, and what it really takes to build a practice that supports both my purpose and my freedom. Dr. Lauryn also shares her journey of diversifying income, embracing change, and redefining success beyond the walls of the clinic.

Whether I'm navigating the challenges of practice ownership or looking for new ways to create more flexibility in my life and business, this episode offers practical insights and a refreshing perspective on what it means to build a fulfilling career.

In This Episode:

• Why burnout isn't always the real problem
• Letting go of perfectionism and embracing progress
• Building multiple income streams while staying in healthcare
• Creating a practice that supports my lifestyle
• The power of taking imperfect action
• Redefining success on my own terms

If I'm ready to create more joy, freedom, and possibility in my practice, this conversation is one I won't want to miss.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

You are listening to the Staffless Practice Podcast. We aim to serve the facilitators, practitioners, and teams of the wellness practices of our community with real deal Monday morning ready tools. Be sure to follow us wherever you're watching. Tag us, like us, and make sure you check us out online at gostaffless.com. Hi, Lauren. Hi. Welcome to the Staffless Practice Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

I'm excited. I love being on podcasts versus hosting them. It's so much less stress.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Really? It's less stress to be interviewed. Oh, got ya. Tell me, tell me what you want people to know who don't know you from a hole in the wall. Who are you? Where are you? What's your jam?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

I've owned a clinic for 15 years. I've been married for 15 years. Um, I live in like super rural Wisconsin. So therefore, I have to travel a lot. So um we, you know, my husband and I are very like wholesome in our values of like raising our family by family. And so therefore, though, my I to get my fix, um, I traveled 10 to 12 weeks out of the year. Um, you know, and so really I've tried my best meant to be 40 this year. Um, we are on an aggressive track to retire from healthcare at 47. That's when we'll be empty nesters. So I've got about seven and a half more years to like get some pieces in place so that can happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

And then we'll just get over here living our bus life. I I have to know what you're gonna do. What are you gonna do when you're 40?

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Oh, whatever I want. No, um, I won't be retired. Like I will work until the day I die because philosophically, um I I mean, I think that's just one of my God-given gifts, is my like drive and ideas. Um, but I just the geographic constraints of this type of healthcare isn't working for my freedom anymore. And so, um, and I am I'm not sick of solving the same problem, but it's just, you know, running a practice is monotonous. It really, really is. And um, I'm ready to not do that.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Let's go there. How do you how do you how do you keep it from being monotonous? How do you spark joy in the everyday rig and roll of running a practice? How do you keep it exciting?

SPEAKER_01 2:39

That's a really, really great question. Yeah. Um, so the thing is, is like you have to realize what you would rather be doing, right? And so this whole conversation is so hard. And there's always these so many caveats because, like, and so I usually only start with one caveat and say, none of us went into healthcare to become rich. Like, we it's not there's way easier ways to make money than doing this. Like, I have yet to encounter someone when I'm coaching or talking or interviewing or whatever that didn't enter this with a servant's heart. Oh, like, right? There was there was this subconscious exchange. Um, none of us really had this with our counselor or you know, uh career counselor, but it was just like I want to help people. And so we went in to healthcare. And there is this subconscious agreement that happens with the universe that we think if we're gonna help serve, like commit our life to serving and helping, that like we'll just be taken care of. Like, I say subconscious because none of us really consciously had that. Um, but yeah, none of us really like there was nobody came in and said, like, hey, just so you know, you might struggle hardcore financially, emotionally, you might burn out because, like, if we actually calculated your hourly rate, yeah. If you calculated your hourly rate, you might actually get paid like $15 an hour. You still cool with this? Like that conversation didn't happen, right? Like, most of us were just like, we didn't go into it for the money, but we just kind of thought like we won't have to worry about it. And so, you know, like when you go into practice, um, a lot of people used. I am kind of reclaiming the word burnout. I think that we, as a millennial, we really took burnout and like ruined it. Um, because burnout is really just exhaustion now. Burnout used to be like, oh, you had a heart attack at 45. Yeah, can't do that. Like, right, like burnout. I don't even know if there, I don't think there is actually a physio, um, like a medical description of what it is. Like, but it it's super physiological. It's like really, and so we've kind of been like, oh, I was burnt out. And it's like, were you? And it's like, well, I was really tired.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

How do you know if you're what is it? What would you say it is? Have you been burnout?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

So I would say that what most of us mean when we say avoid burnout, when we say, I burnt out, is that we were exhausted, exhausted emotionally and physically, and we're finally picking up the cues from our environment that this is no longer sustainable. Now, the human loves comfort, loves comfort and hates change. And so the reason I say, like, I really think we have to stop because what's happening is is we're saying, like, all of us coaches, avoid burnout, avoid burnout. And you're like, Were you burnt out? And then we tell this story. So kind of to end, like, my story was I didn't have freedom from my clinic. I was bored, I was exhausted. And so what I did then was make really difficult changes that I wouldn't have done otherwise unless I was kind of forced to. And on the other side of that discomfort of making changes to build this practice I love, I'm happy. But if I wouldn't have gone through my story of burnout, I probably would have stayed the same. Right? And so, like, so many of us, when we're like, oh yeah, burnout's bad, and then they start to tell the story, it's this story that sparked huge change for the better. And so, like, yes, true burnout, true, whatever scientific, but like for a lot of us, burnout is actually just exhaustion and approaching a boundary that makes us uncomfortable enough to actually change.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

God, I feel like I don't know, I don't know a lot of people who aren't burnout, especially right, especially in in the wellness care profession. Here, I was just saying this yesterday that what AI is doing is it's changing the game on how fast things move. And if it's multiplying it by a ratio that we've never known. And but what's happening is that's becoming the new pace. So if you're and this is true for our practice members, it's true for us as practice owners, it's true for our staff, our family, our kids who are in school, like the amount of information that goes through our kids' nerve systems in a day is like the amount that would go through in five years when we were when I was a kid in school, right? So I I I envy and I worry for the people who are like, I'm not paying any attention to it. I'm gonna stay, I'm gonna read my books, right? I'm gonna do one thing at a time. I'm not gonna talk to GPT. I'm going to, I'm gonna have a flip phone, right? They're they're staying in this lane of one thing at a time when the rest of the world is like fast forward. And I think that I think that the burnout is happening whether or not we realize it is because of the changes.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Absolutely. Yeah, and that's the thing is like you can talk to someone who works 20 hours a week and they have busy kids' soccer schedules, and their house, they're trying to keep their house clean and keep in shape, and they're they may communicate like I'm so burnt out. And then you may talk to someone who runs a podcast, has a seven-figure coaching program, is also trying to see, like, still has kids, has two practices, has four associates, is and they're like, Yep, I feel burnt out too. So, like, I don't know, I'd rather be the other burnt out. Like, if you're gonna be like, I you're right. I don't talk to anybody who's like, actually, I have found it's like, okay, so it's not burnt out. We're just as a society tired. We're just tired and a little anxious, and yeah, AI and social media is all contributing to it. And so, like, so what? So now what?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

So now what? So it started with this pause. It started like everything went on pause, and then it was like, okay, fast forward, let's go. So what do you so now what, Lauren? What do we do now?

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Well, so I think that one of the problems is our continual self-judgment without admitting that we're not gonna do the work to change. That is what will burn someone out just as much as somebody who's working hard. Okay. So, like you can have two people and they both want to make a hundred thousand dollars more next year. Okay, to have two different clinic owners. One, they're both tired though. They're both equally burnt out and they both wish and their financial stress is part of what's burning them out. Okay. So, like, that's the thing is like, yes, we're burnt out from showing up for patients, we're burnt out from solving problems in our clinic and employees and all of that, but also living paycheck to paycheck contributes to burnout because it's stress. Okay. So, so they're both financially stressed, they want to make a hundred thousand dollars more next year. They're both exhausted. Person, a clinic owner A is too tired to, it's not the right time for a coach. They just can't this, they just can't that, they don't want to make the hard decisions, they're just too tired to do anything, but they still emotionally beat themselves up that they wish they were making more money. They're too tired to actually change anything, but they're still emotionally beating themselves up. Person B is like, I'm tired, I'm gonna do it anyway. Now, the point here is not that person B is correct. The way that we would make them both correct is person A needs to go, I'm not going to do those changes right now. So therefore, what the changes I will do is live within my means to take this financial pressure off and accept that this is not my year for growth. This is a year where you're gonna have a baby, right? And so what happened, so like person A is like, you know what? I would love that this was my year that I could like tackle that huge clinic thing that would like da-da-da-da-da. But realistically, I don't have the bandwidth for that this year. So therefore, I'll like try it next year, right? Like, and they just but instead they know it's not their year and they continue to beat themselves up, and so they still emotionally, so it's just like listen, just be happy where you're at. Or if you're unhappy, then do something about it.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Because the truth is that the money that comes, we think like when I lose 10 pounds, when I get the money, when I get the husband, when I get the thing, there's a whole new set of problems and challenges. And if we can see every time I see a problem, it takes me the older I get, the less time it takes me to say, what's the opportunity here? I haven't always been an opportunist. I used to be more of a victim, like, oh man, here's another problem, right? How do you how do you so give me like the day-to-day? How do you flip the switch on that and see the opportunities in these challenges? Or um how do you stay connected to your truth, not necessarily keeping up with the Joneses or whatever, whatever it is for each and Dr. One and Dr. Two?

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Right. You know, so like I'm gonna give you the honest answer because one of the things I hate the most is like coaches that are always like, I've reached the mountaintop and like I've solved all like dealing with comparison and competitiveness and like always like coveting my neighbors' success is something that I am literally like working on. Like me and God are working on that like right now. Of like, it's it's like this flip switch has flipped, and I'm like, this is not serving me. This is not serving me and is actually robbing me of the joy of my own successes.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

You're listening to the Staffless Practice podcast. If you're enjoying this episode, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Just search Staffless Practice. If you see a like button or a follow button where you're watching or listening, tap it so you never miss a beat. Visit us at www.gostahless.com for resources to help you run your practice with less stress and more freedom. Now back to the show.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

And so, like, we are actually, I am like in a battle right now to go because like you know, when you like just draw awareness around a problem and you're like, oh, you gotta go. You have to go now. But like it's like deeply ingrained in my like nervous system and personality. So I'm like, why can't I just get rid of this? Right? Like, so so that answer is like that's in process and continue.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

So awareness, being aware of it, awareness for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Um, but as far as like what's the day today look like, is I have had to really give up perfectionism in the pursuit of being able to have more freedom. Done is good enough, like that kind of thing. Yes, yes, and perfectionism is truly what will hold so many clinic owners back from experiencing the freedom and joy. Um, it it first of all, just the ability to start to initiate something. It's so much safer to sit back and be like, it's not the perfect time, it's not the perfect font, it's not the perfect colors, everything like it's not perfect yet. So I'm just gonna hold it back from the universe. Um, and I'm not gonna like put it out there to be judged, to be vulnerable, to be critiqued, to pivot. And so I would say that one of my superpowers is that, and I don't know if this is a little bit of my ADHD or what, but like I can only think so far down the road of like, and then what's gonna happen. And so therefore, I don't need the entire map because first of all, like, right, anybody who thinks, okay, I now have the entire map of this is one step one's gonna happen, then step two, step three, we don't have control, right? So, like typically I just need to know like step one and two, and I deeply trust myself that once I'm presented with what actually, however the cards fall, in whatever step one or two is, whether this is hiring an associate, a brand new marketing plan, writing a book, new marketing ads, what I don't, whatever it is. I just need to see step one and two, get some data back, and then I trust myself that I will make the best next step once I have some of that data. And so that, like, just kind of faith in myself and understanding that like you could sit back and go, I have perfect step one, two, three, four, five. But like everybody's got a plan until you get punched in the face, right? Or something like that, isn't that the phrase? And like in life, in entrepreneurship, like you can pretend you have all the steps figured out, whether it's raising your kids, like, you know, oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna confront my teenager about this problem, and then all of a sudden, new information enters. And you're like, Well, now what do I do? My perfect plan is no longer doable, and so it's like you just when you start to understand that it gives you the faith to just start.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

I feel like the only thing that I know for sure, like I'm positive of, is that if I adjust somebody, they're going to be better for it. I know that, I have no doubt at all. And that took about 15 years in practice, right? And I feel like I literally coined myself Lauren the expert, mistake maker, and solution creator, because I'm so good at screwing things up. And I mean, if we if we know, if we give ourselves permissions to screw them, screw things up and be vulnerable, and you know, one of the closest people in my world thinks about everything before they do it, and I do it and then I think about what the hell did I do, right? Yes, and but I love people who think about everything and then do it because of their groundedness and how their world doesn't move under their feet so much, and then I can look at that and say, Oh, there's stability somewhere because of how fast we move.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

They're living in their own hell in their head. I mean, I'm you know, like they really are. They're if you ask them, everybody's everybody's broken, like, right? Those grounded people are just like you ask them what's going on in their head, and that narrative, they don't feel they don't feel that confidence, that instability that we think they do. We feel chaotic. We're like, you know what? We're gonna mess it up, but then I'm gonna fix it, and then I'm gonna learn something, and then it's gonna be better.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

You're gonna say you're gonna say what does that mean? She slays the day.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Oh my god, I don't even know. I started it in 2019, so we're on like episode 370 or something like that. Oh, I think I missed my anniversary. Shoot, I think we just had our 2019. Would this be my six years?

SPEAKER_00 19:51

She slays the year is your podcast.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

She slays the day is the name of the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Tell us about it.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

So it really started, and this is like talk about a niche evolution. I love talking about niches online um because so many people are terrible at them. Uh, but like started really of I was coaching for a big mega coaching company, like um practice management, and it just wasn't serving me anymore. Uh, needed to leave. And so stepped away and immediately missed coaching people. Like, I missed giving advice, I missed problem solving. It's funny because I'm bored with solving the own my the same problems in my clinic, but you bring up a problem in your clinic, and all of a sudden I'm like, okay, here's what we're gonna do. It's like somehow a new problem. Right, right. Um, and so I was like, well, I just want to like solve problems. And so I was like, I'll just start a podcast. That sounds great. Um, and my techie husband, so like normally you're cute. He's so hot, yeah. Um so like normally I feel like there's certain hurdles if someone's like, I should start a podcast. Well, I would have normally encountered like tech issues and like that would have slowed me down. But I literally sent him like a DM like, hey, I think I'm gonna start a podcast. And this like free the 10-day challenge says, like, this is the software and equipment me we need within 10 minutes. He comes from our downstairs office upstairs where I was, and he's like, Okay, so that's the microphone. They say we already own that software. And I was like, Oh, cool. He's like, Yeah, we could, and I was like, Oh, so you can like start this for me. And he's like, Yeah, that's not a problem. And so, so that hurdle wasn't a thing. And so we just started. I started as a female podcast, a podcast for female chiropractors, female nervous system focused chiropractors. That's where it started.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

And I only had to focus on anything other than the nervous system. But

SPEAKER_01 22:00

A whole different Instagram algorithm. Is there any you're gonna get your pricer? So then what started to happen? I only had female guests, but I would get these DMs. So right out of the gate, first week it had a thousand downloads. And I was like, Oh, wow. Yeah, which is unique for podcasts. Um, and so I started getting DMs from guys being like male chiropractors, being like, I know I'm not supposed to listen to your podcast. And I would be like, Oh, well, no, it's okay. Like, it's okay. And then, you know, I continued to get DMs from people being like, these aren't really female issues. And I knew that. It wasn't like we were talking about our periods, right? Like we were, you know, the first episode was about maternity leave, but then we were talking about things that both genders deal with, right? Like balancing, hiring, like profitability. And so then we kind of were like, okay, I'm just for nervous system-based chiropractors. But then as I continued to evolve through like boredom and like physiologically, just like my 30s, and we just kind of started to talk about other topics as well. Um, and so then it kind of evolved into just more entrepreneurship stuff. You know, our we got into our wealth building journey. And so we would talk about real estate, we would talk about whole life, we would talk about, and so over the last seven years, it's really turned into a podcast for healthcare professionals who have lots of passions and want to build wealth, like want to build wealth, don't want to leave healthcare. If you asked me now, I was actually asked this on a different podcast about six months ago. They said, like, if you could erase one thing from the world, what would it be? And I said people, um, doctors leaving healthcare. Like, I think that we have a big issue happening right now in healthcare that I think only healthcare providers really know about. I don't think I think the schools are aware of it. The schools are seeing um less attendance, you know, they're seeing low signups for schools, uh schools are very aware. Um, but we have people going, like, honestly, the exhaustion and the hours without the guaranteed pay, the student loan debt required. The student loan debt is crazy.

unknown 24:38

Really?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

It's and you talk to a doc, you talk to a doc who graduated in the 90s and they they can't understand, like they graduated with like $70,000 of student loan debt, right? And it's like, oh no, no, no, no. You talk to a student now and it's like 270. Yeah, like it's not, and so we have docs who are like, I'm gonna opt out. I think that you know, they're turning into financial advisors or real estate agents or the like right, they're electricians, they're just going like, I don't know, there's just jobs that are less stressed that pay as much or more, and so we have people leaving healthcare and we have people not even entering it anymore.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

And there, and I will also say for people who are listening, there are people who are loving every minute of practice who that's the thing, is like I love it now.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Like, I love it now. I found my sweet zone is like 10 to 12 hours a week. Now, some people will work 10 to 12 hours a week and that's their only income. And so they just learn to live within their means. I don't like being told that I can't buy what I want. And so, like for me, the figuring out calculating the thing was like, all right, so I only in order for me to love practice, I need to have more bandwidth to do other things I like. So that 10 to 12 hours a week is like I love seeing patients during that time. It's great. But I need income coming from other streams, and so we've worked to diversify, you know, our real estate portfolio, our investments, the online coaching and programs. And so it's like now I have the budget or like the income of somebody who works in healthcare 60 hours a week, but you know, and so that's how you know, kind of answer your first question you asked was that's what I had to do, is I had to go like, all right, how much money do I need to like live the life that will make me happy? Okay, am I gonna do that solely through healthcare? No, because I found that too boring. So, like, all right, so then where am I gonna make that money elsewhere?

SPEAKER_00 26:48

And so it was like, this is the equation that works now of like so creative moneying and moneying and backing into it. And with I can't believe we're already out of time. I don't know how that happened.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

I knew this was gonna happen. This happens on every single podcast that tells me, like, we'll go for about 20 to 25 minutes. I'm like, you haven't heard me talk.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

I'll find you at Dr. Lauren B. And you guys look on the bottom of the screen, please. Notice her name is creatively spelled. So check find Dr. Lauren on Dr. Lauren B on Instagram. Where else can they find you? And what do you want? What do you want the people listening to the Staffless Practice Podcast to know?

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Um, so we have, I just wrapped up. So I'm doing a a free like masterclass series this summer. We just did one in June on vacation proofing your clinic. You can the only way it's free if you show up live, you can buy the replay. So if you click on my link tree in on Instagram, you'll find the Rich Doc summer series. We have another one coming up in July. I think it's July 17th. It's free if you show up live. Um, in that one, we are talking about your out of office wealth plan. So we're talking about some of the revenue things that I'm doing outside that can afford me to work 10 hours a week and, you know, and have multiple eggs in the basket. And then in August, the free masterclass is your beach chair content like system. So it's the lazy doc's guide to creating content online. Um, so that's going on right now that you can sign up for. Um, really, that's kind of the only thing. We do have a wait list. We I have a brand new kind of my signature program is right now being all reconstructed to incorporate more AI and systems in it. So that is uh we have a wait list going for that. That is um Rich Doc. Oh my god, what's it called? Rich Doc Lab. I blanked. Rich Doc is everywhere now.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Watching this, you'll see all of Lauren's stuff. So I asked you to be on my podcast because I saw you at ICPA and I just I felt like you had such a um a presence on stage and you really were in your power. And I I not only identify with that, I also have a great amount of respect for it and just keep crushing it. I think you're awesome.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Thank you so much, Jodi. I think you're awesome. I'm sad we didn't get to have coffee, but next next ICPA.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

A lot, coffee, whatever, we'll do it for sure. So if you guys are watching, uh Go Make the World Better with Great Care. Thanks for tuning in. Dr. Lauren, please hang tight while we end the stream. Thanks for being here. Okay, there it is. Our amazing community. We are so pleased to bring you another great episode of the Staffless Practice Podcast. Now, go make the world better with great care.