The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
It’s easy to lose yourself in motherhood and the busy-ness of all things. When life gets hard, and you’re sleep deprived, it’s easy to lose your identity. I have gone through phases where I thought of selling my clinics, considered becoming a full-time mother, or moving countries and starting afresh, all because it could be quite overwhelming to handle everything at once. It takes a lot of action, imperfect action, to have clarity; and it takes discipline to be able to step back and re-evaluate your actions on a regularly basis to make sure everything is aligned with your vision. For me, that means going away on my own for 2 weeks every year and creating the space to think without any disturbance.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The pros are that it sharpens your resilience and grit in every single way, and you have the power to do whatever you want. As a health professional, I get the autonomy of delivering healthcare that is designed for transformation and change. I can apply the latest research evidence into the way we work immediately, be it a new treatment modality, or considerations for group or individual delivery, or effective communication with patients. The ability to cause change in the lives of my team and my patients is the most rewarding part in my business journey.
The cons are that it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling you need to do more by default, and at the same time be shamed for running all my businesses as a mother of two. That mum shaming exists in every level in the community, it’s sad, but it also gives me the drive to model to my daughters that there is another way to being a woman and being fearless despite others’ opinions.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
My new project, Papaya Clinic, is opening in mid-August in Sydney. It embodies my beliefs and evolution as a health professional and provides integrative collaborative care to women of all life stages. It will be a hybrid clinic where we offer in-person service packages geared towards specific conditions, on top of the regular individual consultations, to put health behavioural change theories in application in private practice.
It is scary, as it is a new concept in brick-and-mortar clinics and there is no one I can model or learn from, but I believe in it so much that I know it will be a fantastic venture.
I also started The Clinic Project earlier this year, which provide business strategy and implementation services to women clinic owners, helping them launch and scale their clinics sustainably and creatively. I am delivering my first group coaching program in July!
Visit the Movement Laboratory website to find out about the services they offer and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. You can also visit The Clinic Project website and check them out on Instagram, as well as the Papaya Clinic website and their Instagram.
