What Happens When a Surgeon Bets on Herself With Dr. Shanta Shepherd

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Private practice is NOT dead — and today’s episode proves it. In this inspiring conversation, Dr. Shanta Shepherd, a board-certified urologist and private practice owner, shares how she went from fear, uncertainty, and “Is this even possible?” to launching her own thriving practice in just six months with over 1,300 patients. 

If you’ve ever wondered whether you can build a profitable, purpose-driven practice in today’s healthcare climate, this story will ignite your belief.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to the Profitable Private Practice Podcast, the show that proves that private practice isn't dead. It's just getting started. I'm Cheka Anachuku, and every week I sit down with thriving private practice doctors who are rewriting the rules and redefining what success looks like in healthcare. From smart business moves to mindset shifts and everything in between, we're here to show you how to build a practice that is not only profitable, but purpose-driven. If you're ready to thrive like these doctors, join the movement at ontremd.com forward slash thrive. Now let's dive in. Hello everybody and welcome to the Profitable Private Practice Podcast. My name is Chetha Onochuku, and it is a pleasure to be here with you. I come on here and I interview doctors who are thriving, where the common narrative is that private practice is dead. And I'm here today to show you that it most certainly is not dead. So today I have Dr. Shantha Shepherd with me. Hi, Dr. Shanta. Hi, Chetha. How are you? I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_00: 1:00

I'm very well, thank you. Thank you so much for having me here on your podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06

Yes, I'm so excited to do this. So why don't you go ahead and give us a 60-second introduction of yourself?

SPEAKER_00: 1:12

Sure. My name is Shanta Shepard. I'm a board certified urologist based in Connecticut. Um, I have been in general in practice out of training for almost five years and recently opened up my own private practice uh about seven months ago.

SPEAKER_01: 1:32

That's good. That's amazing. And so when I like to interview people, I like to do deep dives and figure out things about them. So I was doing a deep dive on you, and I figured that you worked in public health roles in India and in Central America. So that's amazing one. And I think I also was looking at it and it was like said that you were fluent in Spanish and in English, right? So what is something you learned during that time that still serves you today?

SPEAKER_00: 2:01

Great, great question. And um, I appreciate you for doing that uh that little bit of background research. So not a lot of people know. Um, but my first love was not medicine, it was actually public health. And, you know, um for me, I've always wanted to give back. I've always wanted to serve. And it was less about giving and more about how what role do I play, what role do I play in in society and in um in paying it forward? And, you know, I thought about, okay, so there's infrastructural issues in the world, there's educational issues, there's health issues. Um and I I thought and felt that I um had the potential to uh have the most impact through the lens of public health and in particular uh global health. And um, and so that's sort of how the trajectory started. And I did not get introduced to the idea of going into medicine until later on while in the trenches in the field and in public health and working with refugees, and um it really, it really changed my life. And so here we are today.

SPEAKER_01: 3:23

That's amazing. That's amazing. So let's talk a little bit about like the first the first moment you entertained the thought of becoming an entrepreneur. Like, what was that? What you know, when did that happen? What was it like? What was going through your mind?

SPEAKER_00: 3:39

Terrified. Uh the reason for being terrified is because um I didn't you you can't know everything, right? And you know what you know, you know what you don't know, but then there's you don't know what you don't know as well. Yes. Um and so understanding that there was a lot of unknown, but also knowing that what I did know is that it is a lot of work. And, you know, I think there is the there's fear of failure, but there's also fear of success. Like, okay, I do this and then what? Like, what are the responsibilities? What, how is it going to change lives, not just for the better, but you know, my life, my family's life. Is this um, is this a responsibility that I am willing to take on? And, you know, um, I actually come from a a decent family of entrepreneurs. And so I had an idea of, you know, how I know what it takes to work. I know how to work, I know how to, I understand um where that where that comes from. So the doing the work part wasn't intimidating to me. Um but this this definitely was a direction that I think um is different. It was different for sure. And in a in a time when, when every everyone around is saying either don't go into medicine or you know, private practices is is a dying phenomenon in in medicine. Um literally going against the grain, against the ocean's current, um, is kind of how it felt. And there were a lot of people who were, you know, when I had little whisper seedling thoughts about it, were like, that's a terrible idea. That's crazy. No one's doing that. And I I knew I knew that somewhere there were people doing it. And um I'm gonna be honest, discovering um, discovering EBS, discovering your mom's podcast has been a game changer because it shed light on the fact that no, I'm not the only one. This isn't some crazy outlandish notion that we can make a change. We, yes, we can go against the current, but you know what? Together we can change the tide.

SPEAKER_01: 6:01

Yes. Yeah, that's really good. And so walk me through it just a little bit, like what needed to happen between that moment that you had that thought and then when you launched your private practice.

SPEAKER_00: 6:14

Um, I would say the the the seedling idea, you know, the the feeling in in your heart was there for a while. And I sort of sat on it and thought about it for a long time. And I think the the turning point was um, I know exactly when the turning point was. It was actually around um maybe just maybe about 13 months ago this year, last year, excuse me. And so not that long ago. The turning point was in the fall of 2024 when um things were changing and changing very rapidly in um the practice that I was working in and just the environment. And and it was it was one of those moments of now, it's now or never. It's like you bet on yourself now, or you regret it in the long term, and I and I took the opportunity. Um, and I've never looked back. I've never been more proud of the decision to to to go forward.

SPEAKER_01: 7:29

That's good. And then so, how important is it for you to build a referral base? Like what has building that referral base made possible for you?

SPEAKER_00: 7:38

It's everything. It's everything. Um the referral base is a community of people who trust and value your opinion. They trust and value your your work ethic, your bedside manner, um, how you interact with and treat other humans who are their patients, right? How responsive you are to not only them in their referrals, but also if they have particular questions or concerns, being able to pick up the phone and have a conversation um about a patient, um small acts of kindness, if you will, it seems very um trivial or unimportant, but it really goes a long way and it really means a lot um when having um having that personal touch. And so the referral base, when you when you are that kind of a person, right? You are showing up genuinely, authentically, um people not only are the patients then coming back with positive feedback, um, but they also will then be more inclined. Like, you know, I have people come in and and they're like, oh yeah, you know, I had this issue. And, you know, ex-doctor said, Oh, you have this problem, you have to see Dr. Shepard. You can't see anyone else. And and that to me is one of the greatest forms of thanks. You know, it's the greatest sign that I'm on the right path, that I'm trying to do the thing to have that impact that I set out to have many, many moons ago. Um, and your referral base is not just one-way street, it's a two-way street, right? Because I look to them and I send patients out as well. I've got patients who need primary care providers, I've got friends who need, you know, different types of, you know, specialists or other doctors and and providers, and maintaining that relationship is everything. Relationships, that's what it is. Your referral base isn't just how you get patients, it's it's a community, it's relationships.

SPEAKER_01: 9:59

So, how did you start building your referral base?

SPEAKER_00: 10:04

Um, I will say that I um I have been very fortunate um in the sense that um, you know, where I am in Connecticut, it's it's a relatively small community and a lot of us know each other. Um, and so people have been getting to know me over time. And one of the things that I prioritized when um when I made the decision to open up my own practice was to reach out to my my Dream 100, to my referral base and say, hey, listen, there are some changes. Um, you know, happy to announce that, you know, I created this new practice. It's called Elevate Urology. And, you know, um we would we are so um we feel so happy and privileged to serve your patients and you know would love if you would continue to um to continue to um uh refer to us and please let us know how we can how we can serve you as well, right? So it's it's the it's the exchange of energy. Thank you for already doing what you do. Um I am here and available to continue to serve. Please let me know how I can serve you better and more. And um it's it's in the vein of um of giving of service. And I think and and locally being present, right? So you, you know, your network is your net worth. So being able to go to different events and um even if you think it's you know maybe not related to you know your particular interest, um, but being able to meet others and um engage with them and ask them about themselves and and again, same thing, service. How can how can I serve? Um, that's been huge. That's been huge. Um I think a patients are also a decent referral source too, because they spread the word, and that is also another great form of thanks. That, you know, well, if you enjoyed your experience, you know, please don't let me be your best kept secret. Please go out and and and share that. And I, you know, it it's it's real. It's it's and I engage and I say that probably daily, daily. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 12:32

That's amazing. I think I have to start doing that build my own referral base. That's all right. I did have a question, and it's like so how has um like you have to talk to strangers, right? So I I won't imagine like you just you were in Connecticut, all of a sudden you knew everybody. Like, how has you know building the referral base like so far helped you with talking to people maybe that you don't know, but you know that have a certain impact inside of the community that you're in?

SPEAKER_00: 13:00

I would say, um, I suppose for me as a surgeon, there's a few different ways. So, you know, I meet other surgeons and other providers in the hospital, in the operating room. Um, you know, we might assist each other on different cases, and I might refer, you know, for for various reasons. Um, but there are, you know, there are local chamber of commerce um events, there are um innumerable um local events, charity events, um, and you will find hospital personnel, you will find physicians, you will find all of these people. There are multiple opportunities to um to approach and engage in um and being a part of something greater than yourself, I think is a is a really um big way to meet the strangers. And then, you know, they say there's six degrees of separation between different people, and and the truth is that um you're, you know, you you you will have a reputation, right? And um, and so understanding who you are, um you'll it'll always be consistent. And, you know, someone you might meet someone, and then you know, they say, Oh, I met so and so. Oh, yeah, she's great. They're in this person, and then it's a confirmation of, oh yeah, that's the kind of person I just met. And so that's a nice confirmation that they genuinely are that. Um, I don't know if I answered your question, but um okay.

SPEAKER_01: 14:38

It was wasn't one of the ones I had planned, but it just came in. I was like, oh, okay, let me just ask it. So that's good. And then so I know you're an EBS. You did mention it within like one of the second questions I asked you. And at our last vision retreat, you mentioned that you're never leaving. So why is that?

SPEAKER_00: 14:56

I did say that. Um I'll tell you why. Um you ever go somewhere and um experience something and it just feels right? Yeah, it just feels um like home, that feeling. You ever go somewhere in the world, anywhere, and you're like, oh, this feels like home. Yes, right? This is I I've never been here, I've never been around these people, but this feels so familiar, feels so good that EBS is home. And um, and you know, I I also learn from others. I am not someone who has to make every single, like, not mistake, but um, I don't have to like, I was I was very, very, very good at observing other people's behaviors and deciding what to do and not what to do based off of what their outcomes were. And if I'm being honest, um, even before I knew that EBS was home and that I wasn't leaving, um, there were several people that I spoke to who joined EBS, present for a year, left, came back after a year. And I asked, I specifically, I remember having at least two conversations um with people who had left and come back. And I said, okay, well, what was your reason for coming back? And they were like, I just I didn't grow. Like I, like on my own, left to my own devices, I felt so comfortable. I had done all of this work. I was on like, you know, cloud nine on top of the world. And then I just, when I looked back at the following year, I all of these things had just stagnated. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't um, that there aren't EBS alum who aren't crushing it every day, who don't keep this the principles and aren't, you know, doing the thing and and are just winning. That is absolutely true. Like EBS forever in your heart, right? Um, but there is something to be said about being in a space surrounded by brilliant minds. You know, your mom says all the time we are each other's vision boards. Yes, right. And I've never personally ever been in a space where that is absolutely true, surrounded by vision boards. And I I came into the vision retreat like um feeling and I and I think ultimately this is the part of the source of why I never made a social media post until recently, and it was this idea that I didn't have I wasn't sure that I had something to say. I could say things, I know things, I'm intelligent, and you know, I have all my degrees, so on and so forth. But do I have something to share that provides value and impact? And um there are several wonderful EBS members who helped me um to very quickly realize that yes, yes, of course, of course I do, of course I have a I have a voice. Um, and um, and that's been and and that transformation, like I can't even describe that mental, it's the mental transformation. Um something clicked and it was it just reveals and it was you can't unsee it. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. And so here we are.

SPEAKER_01: 18:49

Here we are. Okay. And then so what has being in the business school made possible for you? So let's talk like intangible wins and intangible wins. I know one of the intangible ones was like the mindset shift that you had.

SPEAKER_00: 19:02

Absolutely. Um, you know, there are, you know, we're we're all like onions. There's lots and lots of layers, right? Um, I mean, in terms of hard and concrete facts, I mean, I opened my practice. When I joined EBS, like I literally, on the day that I made, right, 13 months ago, when I said I'm gonna open my own practice, I looked, I came home, I looked at my husband and I said, honey, we're doing this. I need Dr. Una. I knew. Like I literally came home and said, I gotta join EBS. Like now is the time because I had been sitting on it. I'd been sitting on it, I wasn't ready. I'm here, there, everywhere. And I I I I came home that night and I think like I immediately signed up for my discovery call with Makita. Like it was, it was like that. And so um it, and then from there, everything just fell into place. I said, okay, well, what is my time frame? I said, well, I can, I just picked, picked a day. How about you think I can do this in six months? It's like October-ish, November, um, April 1st. And then I was like, okay, now let's work backwards from that. Let's work back. How do I open a practice going backwards, like from the date that it's supposed to open? And um, and and EBS um provided the scaffolding for that. Like I um being able to, there's a lot, and I worked a full-time job and also local during that, right? And I'm a mother of a five-year-old, then four-year-old. Um, and so so it was it, I felt like I became I had to become superwoman a little bit. Um, but I had, I had, you know, the wings were lifted by by the EVS family.

SPEAKER_01: 20:59

That's right. Okay, so on that note, you entree MD has a lot of things. It has, you know, the EV, it has the business school, it has PPPM. So I would like to invite you, who is listening, to book a call with us so that we can figure out what is best for you. So you can go to entremd.com forward slash success. You know, um Dr. Shonta mentioned that she did, she immediately booked her discovery call with Miss Wikita. And so you have the option to do that as well. So it's on tremd.com forward slash success so that you can book your call and so that we can help you figure out what is going to be best for you. And then so for my you will not regret it. That's what she said, you won't regret it. And then so for my question, how has owning a private practice affected your personal life?

SPEAKER_00: 21:46

In all of the best ways, it's it's it's impacted everything, right? So, um, so you know, my husband and I, um, we have a wonderful relationship, and that this practice has made it even stronger. Um and there is, it's not just a sense of pride, it's it's the way that we function together, right? As a unit, and and um, and then my daughter and you know what she sees, um, and and how she um interacts. I think I think it's changed. I think it's changed everything, if I'm being honest. The way that I, you know, see myself, the way uh it's um it's different. It's uh I can't quite describe, but it's great.

SPEAKER_01: 22:43

Yeah, and it's uh I know Dr. Una talks a lot about building the dream business and building the dream wife. You know, one of the wins that you just now talked about was the incredible relationship that you have with your husband. So could you expand a little bit more on that? Because I know you said you guys had a great relationship and then opening the private practice made it even better.

SPEAKER_00: 23:01

So yeah, um, so he's um he plays a very, very pivotal, you know, I would say pivotal roles plural um in this practice. Um, he is um very much um involved um in, you know, not so much the clinical stuff, but really um some of the the the backbones of the of the operation and he's in he is absolutely incredible. Um but I think I think what it did too was it opened up it opened up the possibilities, you know, if we could do this, which seems, you know, two years ago seemed impossible and then improbable and then possible and then probable and then right certain. Um if we could do that, what what else can we do? What can't we do? And like, you know, in terms of dreaming and the goal setting, and you know, okay, what's our two-year plan? What's our five-year plan? What's where do we see ourselves in 10? You know, I you had this idea, let's go for it, you know, and um everything is a little bit brighter, everything is a little more exciting. We're we're also more present, I think. Um it's you would think that you um, you know, starting a private practice that you would um spend all your time on the practice, and you do spend a lot of time, but I I spend I sp I when I am home, my time is my fit, like my family time, right? Um my daughter does not say, where's where does mommy, you know? And I think that, you know, we highly value and covet our time together. Um and and just being present. And then it doesn't mean that we're, you know, out to eat or on a vacation, but like we are together. Um, and and that time is just for that time. And I think that um that's been really, really, really valuable to me for us.

SPEAKER_01: 25:22

Yeah. And I on that note, I was with my mom a few days ago, and she has this thing called me tweak. So it's like my meaningful time with kids. And so all of us were together, and I was like, yo, it's been a second since you know we've had a meet week. And she was like, What are you talking about? And so I was under the impression that me tweak is okay, we're going out to go eat, and she was like, No, it's just the time that we have together, where we're all together spending time. And so I think just because of her like explaining that, any time that we have with her has just become more valuable because it doesn't mean necessarily okay, we're gonna go eat or we're gonna go on vacation, it's I'm standing here, I am present with my family, and we're spending time together. So that's that's been amazing. I'm glad to see you know that that's in your life as well. So if you could, you know, teach a struggling private practice owner one thing, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00: 26:14

I think I think it would be um I think it would be to to start with uh from a place of honesty, honesty with yourself first and and those around you, right? Um like take a very honest look at what it is, like do an audit essentially. Like what is it exactly that you are struggling with? Is it, you know, is it the uh patient volume? Is it staff? Is it um is it uh revenue, right? Are you insurance based? Are you cash, like what whatever is going on, but like do it, and it can be that there are multiple, multiple things, you know, maybe your, you know, your schedule isn't full, not because patients aren't calling to come in, but because of a staffing issue. Like you have to become crystal, crystal clear about diagnos, we're physicians, right? Diagnosing the disease, like what is it? What is the diagnosis? And and sometimes there can be layers to it, it can be multifactorial, but the moment that you become honest and crystal clear about it, and then make swift, swift decisions and changes, um, that's that's everything. That that's everything.

SPEAKER_01: 27:39

That's amazing. And EBS will help with that. EBS will help with that. So book a call on channel.com forward slash success. Bam. She's on my side. Okay, and then so how can people find you and follow you? Because I would like to find and follow you.

SPEAKER_00: 27:56

Absolutely. So I um I am on Instagram. My practice has uh has an Instagram page as well, but um please um please feel free to reach out and shoot me a message. I'm also on LinkedIn, um, less active on LinkedIn than I am on Instagram, but uh say hi.

SPEAKER_01: 28:17

Hi, say hi. All right, and so I will I definitely will be following you. I think I actually already do follow you, but the practice page I don't follow, so I'll do that as well. And so to everybody who is watching, thank you so much for watching. And Dr. Shonta said something earlier that when she's talking to people, that she does not want to be their best kept secret, and that is the same for this podcast. Please do not allow this podcast to be your best kept secret. So if you know another private practice doctor who you think this podcast will help, then I just want to give you this, you know, call to action to just share it with them. Share it with, you know, any private practice, you know, they're just about to start their practice or they've been in their practice for a really long time, or you they feel like they're struggling, you know, with team or with you know managing whatever it is that they're managing. Go ahead and share this episode and this podcast with them. And so I just want to say thank you so much for watching. And Dr. Shepard, thank you so much for coming on. It has been a pleasure interviewing you.

SPEAKER_00: 29:15

It has been such a pleasure, Chetha. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

SPEAKER_01: 29:20

Yeah, okay. And we will see you. Congratulations. Thank you so much, and we will see you next time. Thank you for listening to the Profitable Private Practice Podcast. If this episode inspired you, share it with a private practice doc in your life and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Don't let this podcast be the best kept secret. I'm Chethan Chico, and I'll see you next week.