“I had a great job. I loved it. I had great work hours. I had a great life balance. I had all of these things, but there has to be more,” says Dr. Nneka Unachukwu, also known as Dr. Una, the founder of EntreMD—a company that empowers physicians to build profitable businesses and reclaim their autonomy in the medical field. This week, Dr. Una sits down with Dr. Lara Salyer to share her journey from feeling unfulfilled in a traditional medical role to finding success as an entrepreneur. What does it take to step away from the conventional path? For Dr. Una, the realization that practicing medicine wasn’t enough sparked her exploration into entrepreneurship, leading to a career that’s not only more satisfying but also more impactful.

Dr. Una shares the challenges she faced while transitioning from clinician to entrepreneur, stressing the importance of acquiring business skills and adopting a new mindset to succeed outside the traditional medical system. She emphasizes the value of recognizing and leveraging the inherent skills physicians possess, such as communication, problem-solving, and content creation, which are crucial in the business world. Dr. Una also talks about building a personal brand and how physicians can use their expertise to create diverse career opportunities through consulting, speaking engagements, and other entrepreneurial ventures.

The episode goes beyond just personal stories, delving into the systemic issues within healthcare that often lead to physician burnout. Is it time for a shift towards a more holistic and self-expressive approach to medical practice? Dr. Salyer and Dr. Una think so. They advocate for designing a career that’s more like a “work-life masterpiece” rather than chasing the elusive work-life balance, encouraging physicians to align their careers with their personal values and passions.

Dr. Una’s insights serve as a guide for physicians who are curious about entrepreneurship but want to maintain their professional integrity and personal well-being. This episode of The Catalyst is a must-listen for anyone interested in how physicians can create meaningful change in their lives and the healthcare system by embracing entrepreneurial principles and reimagining their roles beyond traditional practice.

Quotes

• “The next evolution is to become an entrepreneur because opening a business does not make you an entrepreneur; there’s another evolution that’s required.” (10:22 | Dr. Nneka Unachukwu)

• “The question is then, can I have enough of an impact building a private practice, the system of it, that I can earn as much as I earn as a pediatrician taking care of patients? These are all things I started thinking about… We need to retool ourselves because what is coming requires us to negotiate, understand money, and build personal brands that will work. We need to be able to evolve and explore—all of us, right?” (13:56 | Dr. Nneka Unachukwu) 

• “In the entrepreneurial world, we emphasize building your dream business and your dream life concurrently. The concept is that when you were in med school, you postponed your life. When you were in residency, you postponed your life. You started the dream job that you thought would give you back your life, and you had to postpone your life a little more. While you’re building the business, you’re building your dream life. You get better at building the business, and you get better at the dream life. They’re both twins; they’re growing together.” (17:30 | Dr. Nneka Unachukwu)

• “Every physician is an entrepreneur. You may be ignoring your business, but every physician is an entrepreneur. The reason I say that is because every physician has a business, and that is their personal brand. Everybody knows it’s a business except us.” (33:14 | Dr. Nneka Unachukwu) 

Links

Connect with Nneka Unachukwu, M.D.:

Website: www.entremd.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nneka.chinemeunachukwu

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drunachukwu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/druna/

The EntreMD Podcast: https://entremd.buzzsprout.com

Connect with Lara: 

Website: https://drlarasalyer.com

The Catalyst Way: https://drlarasalyer.com/catalyst

Instagram: @drlarasalyer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer

TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm