How to Build a Team That Runs Without You with Dr. Noha Polack

Pediatrician Dr. Noha Polack built a leadership team strong enough to run her private practice without her. Dr. Una breaks down how physician entrepreneurs can build a team, hire well, and buy back their time.

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Dr. Noha Polack has run her New Jersey pediatric practice for 25 years, and she's candid about the calls she got wrong first. The hardest was holding onto an employee long after the fit was gone. When she finally made the change, the office mood lifted and her best people stopped eyeing the exit. Her rule now: hire for personality, and if it isn't working in three months, let go.

She also watched urgent care centers and venture-backed clinics open on nearly every corner, pulling at both her patients and her staff. Most practices around her sold to hospital systems or private equity. Dr. Polack joined a larger group instead, keeping full autonomy while improving her finances enough to pay her team better.

The shift came when she stopped hunting for the perfect manager and started building one. A monthly leadership book club turned two of her staff into office managers who run the day-to-day, which is what made a month away possible even with three providers out on leave at the same time. Her takeaway: she's the most worthwhile person she can invest in.

Tune in and get to work!

Key Takeaways

00:00 30 years in and still loving medicine, business, and life

02:06 Marketing your practice has completely changed. Get loud

03:06 Your voice is not for you. It belongs to your patients

04:50 Mistake 1: Holding onto the wrong hire too long

06:10 Fear and timidity are not a business strategy

08:32 Mistake 2: Not watching what the competition is doing

11:00 Analyze the challenge. Then make a plan

12:26 You cannot build a great practice alone

14:46 Stop waiting for the perfect manager. Train one

16:02 Mentoring your team is the price you pay for freedom

19:04 Three providers down. She still went to Asia for a month

24:22 Hire for coachability and ownership. Not experience

Additional Resources
🎓 Learn more about the EntreMD Business School: https://entremd.com/call 

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Follow Dr. Una on social media: Instagram: @druna.entremd Facebook: @entremd LinkedIn: @drchiomauna YouTube: @entremd TikTok: @druna.entremd

Find Dr. Noha Polack: Progressive Pediatrics (New Jersey)
Instagram: @progressive_pediatrics 
YouTube: @ProgressivePediatrics

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about my 12-month program. 
• Interested in 1-on-1 coaching? Apply here.
• Grab a copy of the "The 7-Figure Physician CEO" book. 

When you are ready to work with us, here are three ways:

•  The Profitable Private Practice Movement - If you want to build a thriving private practice that serves a lot of patients, while creating time and financial freedom for you, come join us here. 
• EntreMD Business School Grow - This is our year-long program with a track record of producing physician entrepreneurs who are building 6, 7 and 7+ figure businesses. They do this while building their dream lives!
• EntreMD Business School Scale - This is our high-level mastermind for physicians who have crossed the seven figure milestone and want to build their businesses to be well oiled machines that can run without them.

To get on a call with my team to determine your next best step, go here ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I just see learning in general as an investment, and I see that me as being the most worthwhile person to invest in. Or you could stay still, and that's also a choice, but it's definitely a choice you're making by doing nothing.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Hi Doc. Welcome to the OnCham D podcast, where it's all about helping amazing physicians just like you embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms. I'm your host, Dr. Imna.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Well, hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Entream New Podcast. And today I'm so excited because I have my friend here, Dr. Noha Polak. And she is, she's a veteran pediatrician, veteran, private practice owner, veteran at living her dream life. I'm so excited that she's here, you know, like with all the generosity she has to share her story, to share observations. This is one to sit down and listen to, plan to listen to multiple times, share it with the people in your world because it will be a game changer for everyone who hears it. So, Dr. Noha, I am so excited that you're here.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Thank you for having me, Dr. Una. It's an honor.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

I want you to briefly introduce yourself, give people a feel for why I'm so excited you're here.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Well, my name is Noah Polak. I am a pediatrician in New Jersey, and all is good in life. It didn't start out so smoothly, but I am quite happy with what I've accomplished in terms of, you know, business, medicine, and life in general.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

The way you just described that is, you know, is what I try to sell people on. Like you can have your dream business and your dream life. And, you know, like you've you've been a pediatrician for how long now? 30 years. And the reason I ask that is I want everyone listening to think about it. 30 years into your career, being able to say, I'm happy with where I am, medicine, business, and life in general. That's that's the dream. And it's something that is available to physicians everywhere. We just have to play by different roles. You've been at this for, you know, longer than I have, longer than many people have. You have a perspective that is different. What is a way of showing up as a doctor that you could get away with 30 years ago that you can't get away with today?

SPEAKER_00 2:25

When I started, the only way I could market my practice was to go to childbirth education classes and talk to 10 or 20 people at a time. And yeah, sure, that worked. But now I don't think that would work at all. If your voice is not out there on all kinds of social media, YouTube, Instagram, whatever it is that you, your demographic vibes with, you're not gonna get too far.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

I know because I talk to doctors all the time. I know when you said that, some people started cringing because they're like, wait, no, I don't want to hear about social media or YouTube or putting myself out there. Were you always comfortable putting yourself out there, showing up on camera, making your voice loud? Or is this something you had to grow into?

SPEAKER_00 3:13

So I've been a pediatrician for 30 years. I started my practice 25 years ago, and I only started doing videos during the pandemic in 2020. So only the past six years. So, no, of course I was not comfortable. And if you look at my very first videos, it's really sad looking. But things do improve with practice, as you know.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

So, what would you say to that person who's terrified? They can't see themselves. They're like, okay, well, if if that's what it takes for me to have a practice that's thriving and all of that stuff, like forget it. I'll just do more of what I'm doing, work harder at what I'm working at, right? Like, what would you tell that person, you know, as far as getting to that place where they can do these things? Because, you know, for me when I started, I was like, I'm not the kind of person who does this, right? Like at the end, that was the end of the conversation. What would you tell that person?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Well, it's not about you, frankly, right? Your voice is not for you. Your voice is for your patients and your clients and whoever you want to serve. So if you think about their well-being, they deserve to hear who you are, what you do, and also they deserve to hear really competent information from someone who is in medicine, not just has, you know, an opinion.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

When you think about private practice owners today, right? And by extension, other types of businesses, but private practice specifically, because that's what you do. What are some of the mistakes you see people make? Like you see someone doing this, you're like, oh man, this is this is not going to end nicely. And I ask this because there's so many people who write off private practice because they're like, it's not a thing that works anymore. There's so many people who won't grow their practices because they're like, if I grow it, then I'll no longer have a life. You know what I mean? And you've done this for 25 years and you describe life as good. So so what are the things you see that are mistakes being made?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

One of my biggest mistakes, let's put it that way, is holding on to someone a little too long, employee-wise. Ooh, Dr. Una, that was you went for the good one.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Okay, go for it.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

So I would say the biggest mistake I would warn people against is if something feels off with a person, follow your gut and sooner better than later. I hired someone who initially was a really good fit as a medical assistant, did an excellent job, but as the practice grew, she became the de facto manager of people just because she was there the longest. And what I should have realized much sooner than I did, Dr. Una, is that she was actually being a bit of a tyrant in the office. And my really good employees that I had hired after her were thinking of quitting. And you can feel just, you know, the vibe of the practice was becoming negative. People were afraid. I would walk in and no one was smiling. I'm like, huh, what's going on here? I had to have a come to Jesus moment, as you say, with myself and say, what are you holding on for? Are you crazy or something? And so I made a really rough decision to let go of someone who had run the practice for a couple of years, actually, for the good of others. And once she left, the whole mood of the practice elevated. I was able to hire more. And the patients were happier. I was happier, the staff was happier. So that's number one mistake, in my opinion. Hire the right fit. And if they become no longer the right fit, let go. Let go.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Now I'm gonna ask you a question because this is so good. You know, I did that, right? And mine I kept her for seven years, like seven. But Una, I was close to that, my dear. And I want to ask this question because usually there's a thought process, right? There's a fear that makes us not let go of the person. Either I will never find somebody like this, or oh my goodness, it will take too long to train somebody like this, or whatever that is. So for you, what was that fear? And what did you do to overcome it? Because that is a very tough conversation to have, even if the person is underperforming, right? Or performing really badly. We're we're not psychopaths, we're humans who love humans. You know what I mean? And so there's still this thing of ah, it doesn't feel good. So what was the fear? What did you do?

SPEAKER_00 7:32

For me, it was more timidity. So I was being timid. I did not want to hurt this person's feeling who kind of stood by me early on in my journey. So I felt a sense of loyalty and I didn't want to let her down. And in addition to that, I was a bit lazy. I didn't want to retrain Dr. Una. So I'm I'm calling myself out. I was lazy and timid, and that there's no place in that for business, as you know, right? You cannot be lazy for sure. It's hard work every day, even after 25 or 30 years. And you cannot be timid.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

So, what did you do to brace yourself for impact? Okay, I have to train somebody, fine, I'll do it. Like, how did how did you get to that place where you didn't let the timidity and the laziness, if you will, stop you?

SPEAKER_00 8:22

I think it was the fear of losing everyone else. And then once I learned that lesson, though, Dr. Una, I did not repeat it again. That was a lesson learned once that that levity became obvious. Like, oh, why didn't I do this like five years ago? Now things are different. Now I'm able to hire for personality. And if the personality doesn't fit within three months, it's a goodbye.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Love it. So very decisive leader. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

I would say that mistake number two is not looking around me to see what others are doing in the community. Dr. Una, you know, urgent care was not really around when I started my practice. So everyone had to come to me if their kid was well or sick, right? Or or another pediatrician. But now there's literally countless choices. I can count, at least in the New York, New Jersey area, there's one urgent care center every two blocks. I kid you not, every two blocks in the city. So our patients have a lot of choice, and our employees have a lot of choice.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Both of them.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Both of them, yes, ma'am. That was really a hard lesson to learn. I learned it, I would say, probably close to 2000, 2016, 2017, 2018, when things were really, it started to really rev up and now it's crazy. Like our competition is not just other docs. It's honestly venture capital, opening a lot of and pharmacies, opening a lot of urgent care centers. So that was a big mistake that I should have learned sooner, but I did eventually learn it. And you know, it's not like you have to compete with them. You just have to do your job much better and let people know. Be loud about what you do. Don't be timid for sure.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Was that your primary response to that? Like when you finally were like, oh, wait, look around, right? So we have, you know, our team has more options, our patients have more options. So one of your responses was, you know, let's get loud, you know, let's do what we do better. What are some of the things you did to be louder and to be better?

SPEAKER_00 10:33

The first thing that happened was that I noticed that I was starting to lose staff to urgent care centers because they could pay much more than I could. And so I had to change my practice model. I was insurance-based, I'm still insurance-based. I just had to join a larger group where I can keep all of my autonomy, but at the same time, the finances looked a lot better. So I had to look around, okay, what are my choices, right? The choice was to either do better financially so that I can pay my staff better, or sell. And I did not want to sell, Dr. Una. I was not ready, or nor am I ready to, because I love what I do and I love being in, you know, in private practice and serving the patients.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

That is awesome. And I think the big lesson here is when challenges show up, which they will. I think we've been alive long enough. Anyone who's old enough to listen to this podcast has been alive long enough to know there will always be challenges, there'll always be curveballs. But the idea is to analyze the challenge, which is what you did. There's um more pharmacies opening up urgent cares, there's venture capitals doing their thing and all of that. And now our people have more options. So you analyzed it, and then after that, you came up with a plan. That's what we need to do. And even when people tell me like private practice is dead, this is dead, whoa, is everybody who's a physician and all of that. I'm like, no matter what field we go to, we're gonna bump into this. Everybody's bumping into this one way or another. And so the question then becomes, what do I do? I can become better or I can decide I'm stuck. And for physicians, we really, really, really need to get to this place where we decide we can get better.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

There are just so many mistakes, Dr. Una, that I made. Like, you know, keeping insurance companies around that were not valuing me as a provider, you know, because I was afraid to lose, you know, certain percentage of patients. And I would, I would have to make a really tough decision about letting an insurance company go because they just were not going to negotiate. So those are those are the biggest mistakes I hope docs don't make. But for me, I would have to say that I have a huge lesson that I hope to to tell others is that there's no way that you can do this alone. If I were to go back about 20 years in time, I would invest in my staff much earlier. Right? I would invest not just financially, but you know, emotionally. Right. It's only when I started mentoring my staff members, especially my leadership team, did I have any freedom whatsoever. Before then, I was handcuffed to the practice. And then you mentor people into leadership and suddenly you're no longer handcuffed. It's like the most amazing thing.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

I want to paint a picture of what is happening. When you talked about mistakes, you could have talked about credentialing, you could have talked about all kinds of things, but the things you mentioned are really the they're the biggest mistakes people make when you hire the wrong people. You know, you hold on to them. They're challenges that are coming up, you're not paying attention to them. And even if you find them, you're not responding to them. And you have insurance companies that are underpaying you. It's a difficult decision to let them go. Like, so you're talking about things that are they're high risk, high ROI. That's really what they are. These are the big deals. And there are people watching this or listening to it who are running $3 million practices, $5 million practices who are making these mistakes, like right now. And if they would change them, the impact on their businesses will be ridiculous, right? And then when you now talk about the lesson, you talk about the one thing everybody runs away from, like mentoring your like mentoring and team, because okay, you'll tell me if you were different, but when I started my practice, my impression was I'm paying you. And you had a job description. I was very clear on what I wanted you to do. So you're here now, go. You know what I mean? Like I didn't feel like I needed to mentor them. I didn't feel like that was a thing that was necessary. What brought you to the point where you said, I'm gonna start investing in my team? And like you said, it's not just the finances, but molding them, which is some of the hardest work there is, but it has the biggest payoff, right? So, so how did you get into that?

SPEAKER_00 15:06

When I was in EBS in Ultra MD business school, that I I don't remember which session we had, but one of the sessions was how you work with your team and how you mentor your team. And I was like, oh, like a light bulb went off in my head. I was like, girl, you're not gonna find the perfect manager. Go ahead and train one. And I was so excited to have people in my life who wanted to be mentored, who wanted to grow, who wanted to be more, right? They were not happy with the status quo. And once I said to them, How do you feel about reading books on leadership together and meeting once a month? They were like, What? Are you kidding? Let's do it. And we just started reading books about three years ago, and it has been life-changing. Their lives are better with their partners. Certainly at work, things are running smoother. And and I got to go away to Asia for a month. Woohoo!

SPEAKER_02 16:11

And so this is what this is what people miss, right? It's a lot of work to do, but after you do the work, you get freedom. That is what is on the other side of it. And you said something about their relationships are better, their lives are better. Because the thing about you developing is when you get better, everything gets better, right? And so when you mentor your team and they start to see their entire lives better because they work with you. So one of one of the secret visions I've always had for my practices for my team is no matter where they end up, right, as they age, they'll say, My life made the biggest leaps forward when I worked for Dr. Una. Right. And I'm sure you're experiencing the same thing because once you start working with them, I mean, everything, everything changes. Has anybody come to you to with a story or something to thank you for investing in them and mentoring them? Anyone from your your team?

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yeah, it makes me cry a little bit. It does. I mean, there was one one of the off because I have two separate locations and each of them has a manager. So one of the managers was on a track to be a nurse, and then once he started doing managerial things and learning more about it, he was like, I want to do this. So he actually changed his major in college and got a whole degree in like business management or something like that. And he said, That's because of what I've done here, what I've learned here, and all of the things we've read together. And he's like, I learned much more here than I did getting my bachelor's degree. And I was like, Can you get thewesome?

SPEAKER_02 17:58

That is awesome. Dr. Nora, you're running a whole business school.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

It is calling it a private practice. Yeah, it's amazing. And you know, helping young people, as pediatricians, we love it. It kind of tickles my fancy in a different way. So I love that. But it is a lot of work, Dr. Una. Reading those books, right? Talking about them and scheduling meetings on your days off. I'm not gonna say it's all fun, to be honest with you, but it is very rewarding and I think it's worth it.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Okay, so I would love for people to see, because for me, when I teach about teams, especially profitable teams, you know, the way we talk about it. I'm like, this is your ticket to freedom. This is the price you pay for freedom. So is it gonna, are you gonna have challenges with it? Yes. Are people gonna hurt you along the way? Yes. Like it's just a part of life. If we can redefine how we think about challenges, I think we'll enjoy life so much more. But you're gonna have a challenge either way. So you might as well have a challenge and end up with a great team versus have a challenge and not have a great team, right? So paint a picture for what work looks like for you. Like how many days a week you work, how much vacation time you're able to take off. Are you able to take weekends off? Are you slaving away with charts every evening? Like paint a picture for what life looks like now that you've built a team, you've worked the profitability of your practice. We used to call them eating frogs, right? You've eaten all these frogs. I made all these, you know, challenging decisions. What's the payoff?

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Dr. Una, in general, I work three days a week now. I used to work two days a week, and I'm I'm gonna start working two days a week soon because I just hired someone else. So thank God for that. I do clinical care three days a week right now, and I don't do weekends really, right? Anymore. I used to do weekends. I just took off four weeks and had such a nice time in Asia. But Dr. Una, I I want to go over one more kind of important thing that I had to do recently is as your practice grows, I'm sure you know this too, people have more problems. So at once, you know, I had eight providers and suddenly three of them got pregnant at the same time. So I had three people out on maternity leave at the same time. And then two of them chose not to come back to work. So I had to pivot. I was like, oh man, and I had already planned my Asia trip, Dr. Una, and I was like so sad that that this was happening. And I said to myself, hold on, what else can you do? Hold on, what else can you do? These are magic words, people. I was like, am I gonna cancel the trip that I've been thinking about for like a year, or am I gonna do something else? And I said, I'm gonna do something else because if I call this vacation a medical leave, which I certainly can hire locums to cover some of the shifts. And that's exactly what I did. I made that month into a medical leave. I went away and I refreshed my brain. And I had Locum cover some of the shifts, and the rest of the doctors continued to take on the burden of the patients. And my two office managers managed everything else amazingly. From scheduling providers and scheduling staff to making sure everything runs smoothly hours-wise to just amazing job because we we are the leaders. We call it our leadership meetings every week, and we make decisions together. So they're responsible. I'm not the only one responsible for this practice, you know. We're all equally responsible, and I love that.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

So you you have become a very savvy problem solver. Because that's that's what entrepreneurship is all about, right? It's a series of problems on your way to changing lives and creating financial freedom. But listening to you talk about the way you're like, well, I can't go on vacation because three people, and it's it's significant. Like you have three people down, and then you're like, wait a minute, but what if? How could I? Right. And these are questions that put us in positions where did three People go out? Yes. Did I go on vacation? Yes. You can have it all in a way, right? And so that's beautiful. And I love that it's three days a week going to two. I love that you're not working weekends and all of that. And I love that you don't have to deal with the mental load of the practice alone because you have other people in leadership. So let's talk about that for a little bit because then I'll have people who have, you know, five doctors, 16 MAs, all of that, and they don't have an office manager. So everybody's a producer, but the only person who's leading is the doctor. And I'm like, they're like, how can I manage my time better? I'm like, there's no universe where you like, I don't have a strategy to give you that will make life better that does not involve team. Like your whole big strategy is you need to get somebody who is doing the thinking and the problem solving and the lead. You cannot have this number of people answering to you. This is called a nightmare. This is you left burnout of the hospital to create your own custom burnout. Like, no. Okay. So, but somebody's thinking, I can't offer, I can't. These are the things I come people talk to me about. I can't afford an office manager, right? Because if I bring on an office manager, then my profit margin goes away. They say, where would I find an office manager? They say, how would I make that role um profitable? Like what would I give them to do? Because a lot of people, they've led for so long, they don't know they're leading. It's like an unconscious competence. So it's like what they look around, like what would they do? Right. So I know I threw a lot at you, but what are your thoughts as far as how people can overcome this to get some really good leadership stuff on board, not just producers?

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Yeah, I mean, I don't know how everyone else does it, Dr. Una, but I just happened to have two people in my practice that were natural-born leaders. They just didn't know it. And all they needed to do, yeah. It just worked out that they really wanted to grow, you know, personally and professionally. They were so motivated and they had ownership of the of the outcome, right? If the schedule was not full, they felt like, oh my God, I didn't do a good thing. I didn't do a good job. Not everybody had this many patients, doc. What do I do? And and we would sit and problem solve. So they they carried the monkey, as you say. I learned that term from you though. Yeah, this is not my monkey, guys. I cannot fill the schedule. That's your monkey. You fill the schedule. But we do have a list of things to do, right, to fill the schedule. So I feel like as a leader, you need to be the you need to be the trellis, kind of, and then they will follow, right, that that that trellis and just go ahead and make things work. So I would say to that doctor, if you don't have someone in your life that has that potential, then interview specifically for that potential, right? Not for having a degree in office management and not for the experience of being an office manager. Just is it someone that you think is coachable and is truly interested in leadership, not management, which is two different things, right? You can manage, but you're not a leader if you're just managing. That's how I would deal with it. And again, I just got lucky, but I I would definitely, definitely ask people to get their own office managers and make them leaders.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

You gave us all kinds of hiring master classes here. Like when you have a bad hire, like get rid of that. You've you've talked about this point, but I know you said that you were lucky. Yeah, there's some luck, but you also did things, right? Because you were the kind of leader who could create the kind of environment where people own outcomes and all of those kinds of things. Many people don't even know what that means, right? Like as far as owning outcomes and all of that. And you are willing to develop them and train them and invest in them and all of that stuff. So, yes, there was some luck, um, and you're brilliant. Okay. So it's it's two things happening here. But you pulled out something here that I just want to remind people of because I was a person who had somebody who was not coachable, was not a natural-born leader, was not motivated, and I wanted to turn them into an office manager. And I tried for seven years. Can you imagine seven years? Imagine the opportunity cost of that is just ridiculous. And I tell it all the time so that people can learn from that and never, ever, ever, ever do it. But these are the traits you described natural-born leader. That means the seed is there. So you, the leader, can pull it out of them, but it's there. You talked about them having ownership of outcomes, you don't have to train for that. So I would have people say, I'm trying to promote this person to my office manager. My only challenge with her is the other day the schedule was empty and she left the full complement of the staff and did nothing to fill the schedule. I'm like, there's no universe where that person is your office manager. Like if they see that situation and they're not like, oh my goodness, what are we gonna do? Like, if that's not their response, you can't teach that. You know what I mean? Like you can mentor people to do that higher levels, but if it's not there, it's not, it's not there, you know? And then he talks about being motivated, right? So again, if it feels like you're pulling somebody by the horns, like, let's go. Your office manager is supposed to inspire the teen and all of that stuff. They have to be a quote-unquote bulldog, a cute bulldog, but a bulldog on their own, right? They can't be waiting, you know what I mean? It can't be someone who's waiting. So this is very powerful because that lets you know who to have conversations with and who to avoid, like not touch with a 10-foot pole. That's really, really powerful. This is this is so good. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

I learned a lot in EBS too, Dr. Una.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

So let's talk about EBS. This is this has been a minute, but oh my goodness, so fun. So fun. We need to meet up in an in-person event to make up for, you know. But yeah, so talk about you know, the entree MD business school. I like talking about this because sometimes people who listen to the podcast, they're like, I listen to the podcast. What else could Dr. Una possibly teach people? And I'm like, what? I mean, I know I give it all, but I mean, there's this more where they came out from. But it's it really is an alternate reality, and I love it when people are able to share their perspectives so people can kind of get a picture of you know what happens inside of it.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

So I was in uh in EBS 2021 and 2022, and I had a great experience. My favorite thing besides the weekly calls was the the in-person events. Like I sat next to Rachel Rubin, who's like world renowned now, all over TV, you know, she's like, she's like my buddy, you know. So it's it's amazing the people you meet and and truly that are changing the world. So you don't feel like you can't change the world because everyone around you is changing the world. You know what I mean? And yes, in private practice, I don't know if a pediatrician can change the world. I mean, maybe I don't know the answer, but I can tell you that the fact that everyone around us is owned by a hospital system or a venture capital, except for us, is already changing the world because otherwise there's no choice. These patients have no choice. EBS helped me to see that there's a choice and that there are people that are able to change the world and change guidelines and and you know, do movies. And I'm not ready to do movies, but hey, uh whatever God brings next, I'm gonna go for it. So that's one thing. And the other thing that I learned there is really the structure, like how to how to be a leader, how to be an entrepreneur. I think it's different to be a leader than to be an entrepreneur, at least it has been in my experience. You know, I had to let go of a lot of mindset drama and a lot of things, like all these limiting beliefs, like, you know, only I can do this right. I'm not that special. If I can do it, a lot of other people can do it too. So I could just teach them to do things. And I would say that, yeah, I mean, I got I definitely got my money's worth from that experience and a whole ton of friendships that are still ongoing and influence me and my life daily.

SPEAKER_02 30:21

So is your practice the only practice around you that's not owned by the hospital?

SPEAKER_00 30:25

Pretty much everyone else is kind of sold out to someone or other, to be honest with you. And then that the hands have been changing, like a group sold to this practice, now this practice sold to that practice. It's all like one venture capital after the next.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

For pediatricians is particularly challenging. You know, when I show up in groups, you'll hear them say things like, I'm just a lowly pediatrician, which is something you will never hear me say, right? Like I'm just like, I'm sorry. Like there are equalizers, and entrepreneurship is one of the equalizers, right? So, you know, like CPT people may decide, and Medicare may decide this is what they want to do, but I'm gonna create another narrative for myself. So to be a pediatrician who's in New Jersey, who is standing when almost everybody has sold out to the hospital or to private equity, and have a team that you smile about. Like you literally light up when you talk about your team. You're able to take off. I mean, we're not at the end of the first half of the year, and you've already taken four weeks off. I know you have plans for the rest of the year, right? And so, so you're taking four weeks off. You've figured out how to work the finances of your practice to put yourself even in a better position where you can even pay better, and all of these things. You are a vision board for physicians, and you are a vision board specifically for pediatricians, because many pediatricians do not know that this is something available to them. And so your story makes you a world changer, whether it's the time off, whether it's the financial stability, whether it's being able to be there with all the pressure and all this stuff from private equity hospitals, and you're still standing and you're enjoying your life. That's a vision board. And, you know, that's why I love sharing these stories so people can see what we're experiencing as a community. We don't need to experience that at all. Like we can have a different narrative. But as you can see from Dr. Noha, she's made tough decisions. They didn't break her, they made her better, but she's made tough decisions. She's made tough calls, she's gone the road less traveled, right? She's decided to embrace becoming a leader, embrace becoming an entrepreneur. She had been in private practice for 19 years or so before she joined the entream D business school. I want you to think about that. The level of a growth mindset that will make someone say, after all those years, say, you know what? I want to develop this and develop that. And she evolved and all these other things are happening. So you may be here and you, I mean, medicine is doing its mostest with you. I want you to understand it doesn't have to be like that. You can say no, there are options, but you will have to play by different rules. You will have to. You will have to. Okay. So um, Dr. Noha, one of the things that comes up with the on-trained business school, people either are afraid that they're different and it won't work for them, or they're afraid they won't have the time, or they're afraid they'll lose their investment, right? Okay, so you've been an entrepreneur for a while, you were in the entre MD business school, and all of this stuff, you know, many people in the entre MD business school. What would you say to that person?

SPEAKER_00 33:51

I haven't found anyone worthy of an investment more than I am. Right? It's me and my kids, right? So I invest in me, in my education, I invest in my kids' education, right? And um frankly, you invested a ton in your education to become a doctor, M D, D, O, whatever you've got. I'm pretty sure that was a huge investment. I just see learning in general as an investment. And I see that me as being the most worthwhile person to invest in. Or you could stay still, and that's also a choice. And you're more than welcome to make it, but it's definitely a choice you're making by doing nothing. So those are my words of wisdom, Dr. Luna.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Well, they are words of wisdom. You can invest in yourself and change your future, or you can stay the same, but then everything stays the same, and they're choices, right? And you can't choose one and not the other, right? You can't choose to do nothing different and then change. Like, no, like doing nothing different means I'm staying the same. Invest in myself and upgrading as a leader and as an entrepreneur means I'm, you know, redesigning my future, right? Like you get to make these choices. That's that's awesome. Now, when you think about, because again, you've been in this game for long enough. When you think about private practice, when you think about physicians, when you think about the state of the physician community, what thoughts come up to you? Is it is it hope? Like things are gonna turn around, things could be better. They like, I don't know. What what thoughts come come up for you?

SPEAKER_00 35:31

I think we are on the precipice of a really big change. I think doctors are finally waking up to realize that the only way to freedom and and really having a meaningful life is to serve your patients from a place of authenticity. And the only way to do that is to do it from a place of freedom where you can make your own decisions for your patients without having a boss, quote unquote, that's not a doctor telling you what to do. I do feel positive about that because I am certainly seeing more providers and doctors apply for positions and practices like myself just because we're not owned by others. I hope I'm right about this, Dr. Una. I hope that this world where you know many physicians work for others that are not physicians will change. And I do hope that someone will come and take the reins when I'm ready to retire. That's a doctor.

SPEAKER_02 36:32

I love it. What do you think people should do to prepare for that big change that's coming?

SPEAKER_00 36:38

You know, Dr. Una.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

What do you think doctors should do?

SPEAKER_00 36:40

I think I think it's a mindset thing, right? I think it's all in your head. You can do anything that you can imagine. If you can imagine yourself pivoting so many times, I literally imagine myself pivoting so much that I'm constantly dancing. Like there's no standing still in business, Dr. Una, right? So just expect something else is gonna change. You'll have to pivot. Every minute you'll have to pivot. Doctors, prepare yourselves to continually pivot, especially in the world of AI. I think it's gonna be an amazing world, right? Right? I'm not scared. I can't wait for all the stuff that's gonna happen, and I can't wait to use it and to have fun with it and to help patients with it. That's really how I feel about the future of medicine. We do have to move and pivot all the time.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

And so, no staying still. That's that's not an option here.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

You can't dance by staying still. You can't dance by staying still.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

It's dance time, people. I love it. Dr. Noha, let me just tell you this. You're a whole boss, you're a whole vision board. I'm so excited we got to have this conversation. And thank you for sharing your story and you know, being vulnerable with your mistakes and all that, you know, because this is this is what we need to, you know, for people to learn and avoid them. Like, think of you know, the thousands of people who listen to this. And I mean, if even if 30% said, you know what, Dr. Dr. Noha took one for the team, I'm not gonna do that. Like that's that that's gonna be so fantastic. So thank you so much for for sharing all of this. If people wanted to find you, follow you, maybe amplify your work because you're being loud and all of that stuff, where can people find you?

SPEAKER_00 38:22

Well, the practice is progressive pediatrics. We are on Instagram, we are on YouTube, we are in on the internet, Progressive Pediatrics in New Jersey. We love serving our patients, and I'll be happy to talk to anyone about entrepreneurship and leadership and getting a great team on board so you have your freedom.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Love it, love it, love it, love it. Okay, thank you so much for coming on, everyone. This is definitely one to listen to again, to share with the doctors in your world. I definitely want to find her on YouTube, Instagram, you know, wherever you are, and just support their work, right? It doesn't cost you anything to like, to share, comment, to do whatever on their on her page since she's being all loud and she told us all about it. So go share this with another doc, and I will see you on the next episode of the Ontario Podcast.