Claim OwnershipBetter Skills. Better Doctors.
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Join Rebecca Ong from TCM Hub as she goes beyond the nuts and bolts of clinical practice to navigate some of the more challenging aspects of being a self-employed physician.
This podcast introduces the necessary concepts and perspectives that you need to step into the next level of your entrepreneurial journey and achieve holistic success. Leave behind the unsustainable business-building methods that now have you trapped as an employee in your own business and transform into a Free + Easy Doctor™.
151 Episodes
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Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors. I'm talking about the trap that's built into the structure of Chinese medicine private practice, and why the qualities that make you an excellent clinician are often the exact ones working against your business. I get into why staying stuck has nothing to do with your strategy, your niche, or your marketing, and everything to do with identity: specifically, the difference between running your practice from your survival brain ...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors. I'm making the case that trying to be everything to everyone is one of the most common and costly mistakes practitioners make in their businesses. Using a very real lunch experience at an overwhelmingly large menu restaurant as the jumping-off point, I get into why scattered messaging dilutes your value, why niching down actually brings in more of the right patients, and how to tell whether your decision to treat everyone is c...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors. I'm coming off knee surgery and keeping it short, but I had something on my mind worth saying. After a week of WAY too much scrolling, I kept running into the same pattern: people dismissing success stories as luck, privilege, or circumstance. I get into why that framing is both inaccurate and disempowering, and why taking full accountability for your results, no matter your starting point, is actually the most powerful choice...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors. I'm making the case that a packed schedule and a waiting list are not a mark of success: they're a sign you're undercharging. I walk through why the high-volume clinic became the profession's default image of success, why busyness is keeping so many practitioners trapped as employees in their own businesses, and why raising your prices is only half the solution. The other half is the identity work that makes it stick. If this...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors. I make the case that the Chinese medicine profession doesn't have an external problem, it has a business problem. I break down why 60 to 70% of licensed acupuncturists leave the field, why blaming the patriarchy or lack of insurance reimbursement misses the point, and why the women who dominate this profession are the ones who have to lead its reinvention. This is a call out, and it comes from a place of love. If this c...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors. I sat down with Tara Tonini who specializes in women's health and postpartum care. Tara built a high-touch, in-home postpartum offering that blends TCM clinical care, herbal medicine, and specialized cooking, and she grew her package from $2,500 to $9,800 while hitting six figures within eight months of graduating. We talk about why a high-volume clinic was never the answer, a failed commercial lease negotiati...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I share what happened when I injured my knee right as my powerlifting training was peaking and how fast I spiraled into frustration, self-pity, and a full-on slump. But this isn’t really about my knee. It’s about what happens when you commit to something meaningful, like building a practice, competing, growing your business, and then hit the part no one talks about: The valley of despair. I break down the emotional cycle of change, why your surviv...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I unpack why so many Chinese medicine practitioners struggle to say how much money they actually want to make, and why that hesitation is not a math problem but an identity problem. We explore the cultural, professional, and gender-based money scripts that shape our relationship with wealth, why “I don’t want to be rich” is often loaded with hidden meaning, and how under-earning in this profession is tied to deeper beli...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I share a story from early in my career when I sublet out of two clinics and thought I was being smart by “hedging my bets.” What actually happened was predictable: split focus, slow growth, wasted energy, and no real momentum. I unpack why trying to keep all your options open feels safe but is one of the most expensive mistakes practitioners make, especially when building a practice. Indecision drains your attention, a...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I talk about the outsized power the one-star review holds in Chinese medicine and why fear of being disliked is quietly undermining clinical authority, boundaries, and self-respect. I break down how people-pleasing masquerades as kindness, why running your practice like the hospitality industry erodes trust, and how making decisions from fear leads to burnout and resentment. I explain why specialists don’t win on star r...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I talk about the rising sense of despair many people are feeling in response to the state of the world and why staying stuck in that despair doesn’t serve you, your patients, or your purpose. I explore how our brains are wired to fixate on the negative, how media algorithms profit from that bias, and why giving equal airtime to what’s good in your life is a radical act of mental hygiene. I share how I personally n...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I talk about why most people abandon their goals, often within weeks, and how to stop repeating that cycle. I unpack the psychology behind vague goals, missing plans, and the fear of disappointment that leads so many practitioners to avoid goal-setting altogether. But the point of goals isn’t to have more. It’s to become more. I share how the real value of a goal lies in who you become during the process, not just in th...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., Michael and I share our recap of Harmonize 8 and 9: our boldest back-to-back training weekends yet. We talk about what changed this time around, from improved student-teacher ratios and real-time diagnostics to the powerful new margins and pricing module that finally addresses how to price herbs based on reality, not emotion. We also reflect on the growing momentum behind our mission to reposition herbal medicine as pri...
Send us Fan Mail In this special New Year’s episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., Michael and I pull back the curtain on our biggest business risk to date: running two back-to-back Harmonize trainings in 2026. We reflect on the key wins of 2025, from hiring our first employees to launching The Modern Herbalist magazine, hitting 100 podcast episodes, and finally shifting to a single Harmonize per year to create space for bigger, longer-term projects. We talk openly about what ...
Send us Fan Mail In this New Year’s episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I break down the top five things the Chinese medicine profession needs to leave behind in 2025 if we want to evolve. From people-pleasing and toxic social media habits to blaming dry needling, avoiding sales and marketing, and staying paralyzed by fear of change. I'm brutally honest about what’s not working and what’s holding us back. I share personal experiences, challenge some long-standing narratives...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I unpack the trap of chasing achievement as a path to worthiness or lasting happiness. Using examples like Paris Syndrome, holiday letdowns, and the emptiness that follows big wins, I explore the cultural myth that things will be better “once you get there.” I break down the “have-do-be” mindset that keeps so many of us stuck, and offer a different lens: fulfillment comes not from the finish line, but from who you becom...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I talk about what happens when we delegate our self-trust to AI, social media, or the hive mind instead of doing the harder, slower work of thinking for ourselves. I share my own experience using ChatGPT to write podcast episodes and why it left me feeling disconnected from my content and my audience. I also unpack the deeper issue behind this habit: many of us were never taught to trust our own thinking. Whether you’re...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I talk about the one quality that drives every successful treatment plan, patient outcome, and practice: your own confidence. From my personal experience recovering from ACL surgery to the clinical win of a Harmonize graduate who leaned into certainty, I discuss how your belief in your work directly shapes how patients respond. We look at how imposter syndrome and vague language like “let’s see how it goes” can un...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I unpack the myth of luck and why waiting for your “big break” is often just a clever form of hiding. Inspired by the story behind the viral Bernie Sanders mitten photo, I explore the two mindsets that show up in moments of opportunity: the entrepreneurial brain and the employee brain. I break down why success isn’t about privilege or chance. It’s about recognizing opportunity when it knocks and having the courage to sa...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Better Skills. Better Doctors., I break down how seemingly harmless language, like “try,” “hope,” “unfortunately,” or even “I don’t know", can erode your authority, your patient’s trust, and your ability to lead. These words, often rooted in people-pleasing and perfectionism, are especially common in a profession dominated by women trained to soften their voice. I share examples of how these habits show up in treatment plans, communication, and ...
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