In this episode, Sachin interviews Dr. Jessica Drummond on a variety of topics around her journey from being a nurse practitioner in a clinical facility to being an integrative women’s health practitioner, serving clients around the world. She speaks of her experience with long-haul COVID, and how her practice had prepared for her to be absent for two months while she recovered with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Dr. Jessica shares her business insights and how going digital in time for the pandemic was a great shift for her business. Listen to learn more about how Dr. Jessica navigates health and illness, hard times and good times, with the support of family, friends, and mentors. Key Takeaways: [1:03] Sachin introduces today’s guest, Dr. Jessica Drummond, who will talk about her health challenges and her business. Sachin welcomes Dr. Jessica to Perfect Practice. [2:16] Dr. Jessica is a physical therapist and a certified clinical nutritionist with a doctorate in clinical nutrition. She graduated as a physical therapist in 1999, planning on sports medicine. She enjoys sports and exercise so she started her career in outpatient orthopedics. [3:19] She grew interested in women’s health. Within the first decade of her career, Dr. Jessica realized that physical therapy was not the complete answer to some of the more complex conditions affecting women. [4:06] That’s when Dr. Jessica dove in to learn more about health coaching, clinical nutrition, functional nutrition, and taking a more integrative perspective. Dr. Jessica mostly educates professionals but she has a small practice of clients with complex chronic illness. [4:52] When you come at a complex condition with a holistic mindset, and let the client lead with all the things that they can do, that gets Dr. Jessica excited. We don’t have a quick-fix solution for complex chronic illnesses like endometriosis. [5:25] Dr. Jessica started the Integrative Women’s Health Institute as CEO and Founder. Dr. Jessica thinks that having an athlete mindset has supported her in everything, not just her work. In terms of successfully navigating entrepreneurship, it absolutely helps her. [6:26] From 2006 to 2010, Dr. Jessica’s husband moved the family often as a consultant, so Dr. Jessica had to keep restarting in new clinical positions. She started her practice not to be an entrepreneur but to create something she could do anywhere. [7:12] At the time Dr. Jessica didn’t even have an iPhone, so she didn’t have a lot of tools to do digital telehealth but it was possible. She had a beautiful office in her home to meet clients in, but all of them chose to work with her by telehealth, instead. [8:10] Dr. Jessica’s athlete mindset is flexible, curious, and persistent. She says if you just keep doing it, you overcome the obstacles. If you give up, you don’t overcome the obstacles. [8:39] Sachin is reading Areté, by Brian Johnson. He recommends it. It has 451 lessons on 1,000 pages. One lesson is about making 50 pounds of pottery to get the best final product in an art class, which is another way of putting in the reps. [9:54] No one mentored Dr. Jessica in entrepreneurship, but she had a teacher who inspired her in digital marketing. She has a cousin entrepreneur who helped her a lot. All during her schooling, she expected to have a straightforward clinical career. [11:58] Dr. Jessica’s parents supported her education and paid for most of her schooling. She had a safety net. It’s easier to be entrepreneurial when you have some financial cushion. She also still had her clinical skillset if she needed to fall back on a job, that helped her to take risks. [14:00] In the beginning of her business, Dr. Jessica’s challenge was technology and she never did a tone of it. As quickly as she could, she hired people to help her with technology. The way she learned is when she didn’t know how to do something, she would do it and get feedback. [14:46] Dr. Jessica thinks what gets people stuck is thinking through how to do something, and learning about how to do it, instead of doing it. The most valuable thing for her to do was to try something and then see if it worked. [15:09] Dr. Jessica was building the first large-scale digital version of her women’s health coach certification when she met JJ Virgin, who encouraged her to sell it first and then build it, so she did. [16:45] For the first five years when Dr. Jessica was launching larger-scale global programs, she would go talk about them anywhere in the world that invited her to speak, if there were more than 20 people. She went all over the place. [17:08] Dr. Jessica overcame obstacles by taking action. That required doing a lot of things, like being on the news, filming YouTube videos, and speaking in front of audiences who heckled her. She knew that what she was talking about was helpful for patients because she had seen it. [20:19] Sachin had a conversation with an investment banker who told him the three things investors look for when buying a business: EBITDA, How much the Founder is involved in operations, and SOP. [20:52] Many entrepreneurs were challenged by the pandemic. It affected Dr. Jessica with long-haul symptoms. [21:39] Dr. Jessica thanks Sachin for the help he provided to her with breathwork, while she was ill. The year 2020 was great for the Integrative Women’s Health Institute because they were ahead of the curve. Her colleagues at in-person practices were shut down. [22:36] Dr. Jessica and her team were able to quickly pivot and educate people through telehealth with a decade of telehealth experience by that point. If you’re creative and constantly looking for opportunities, sometimes you’re a little bit ahead of the curve and can take advantage of shifts. [23:02] Her colleagues who run small private practices were willing to adapt. Some of them grew new lines of service but in the short term, it was hard. For Dr. Jessica, the short-term was great. [23:21] Then, in December 2020, Dr. Jessica got COVID-19. She thought with Vitamin D, she would be strong. She was shocked to become super sick. She was weak for months and had more long-haul issues. Almost four years later, it’s still something she manages. [24:03] Being so sick cost Dr. Jessica a lot of money. She was grateful to have some cushion from earlier in 2020. Dr. Jessica had a team of 20 running the company. They stepped up. Dr. Jessica was grateful to have work, to tether her to reality as she recovered. [24:59] Dr. Jessica says part of the healing is staying contributory, even if in small ways. There’s a sense of purpose in the work. [25:41] The systems and structure of Dr. Jessica's company had to be ironclad. At that point, they were not, so she brought in a fractional COO. They reorganized the team a bit and the COO is still with the company today. [26:12] In 2023, as a part of her long-haul COVID recovery, Dr. Jessica went to the hospital at Yale for hyperbaric oxygen therapy which was key to her complete recovery. It required hours of therapy every day for 40 sessions, so she took two months off work. [27:03] At that point, the Integrative Women’s Health Institute had built all the structure and systems to have everything running without Dr. Jessica’s participation. They were able to maintain their revenue generation, and profitability, and support their students and clients. [27:26] This year, they are working on how to scale their strongest programs. Dr. Jessica has hand-picked the strongest programs that they want to keep doing. They have a clear path to the goals to hit to get to the ideal EBITDA for profitability, and for the company to be stronger. [28:03] When you go from being at the peak of health to the week later, almost dying, you think about your business as a resource for your family, if they were to need it and you weren’t there. [28:19] Dr. Jessica doubled down on creating and optimizing SOPs, so her skilled team can continue to scale the mission of women’s integrative healthcare. Dr. Jessica has worked very hard on this asset for 15 years. If anything happens to her, her family will recoup something. [29:18] Hopefully, Dr. Jessica won’t die suddenly, and she and her husband will have something out of the intense work of the past 15 years. [30:35] Dr. Jessica says if someone has long-haul, the key is figuring out what kind of long-haul. There are different underlying causes. The most common symptom is fatigue. Dr. Jessica supported her mitochondria from Day 1, so she never had fatigue. Support your mitochondria. [31:11] The second thing is thinking of oxygen as a nutrient. For Dr. Jessica, hyperbaric oxygen therapy was key. You may have capillary microclotting. You may be dealing with organ damage or irritation to the immune system that triggers mast cell activation syndrome. [34:31] Because you create a business out of thin air, you can create it in any way that you want. It’s valuable from the beginning to think about the pieces of it that could run without you needing to be fully present even for a little bit at a time. You can keep expanding it. [35:01] It doesn’t have to be about a crisis. Dr. Jessica has learned that stepping away from the business for weeks or months brings a presence to her most important people. It also brings her new ideas and more energy to bring back to the company when she has had a true rest. [37:09] Sachin recently had three days in the wilderness. It was magical; time stood still. He was fully present. No new information was coming in. He was off the grid. Having three-day weekends now and then can be a great stepping stone if you are afraid to fully unplug. [37:54] Sachin went to India a few years ago. His business ran better while he was gone! A true business benefits when you’re there but doesn’t rely on you to exist. It’s like raising children. The more they grow, the more independent they become. [39:26] The pandemic was a turning point for many businesses. Some businesses were ahead of the curve and took off. Some businesses that were strictly physical took a bit of a hit. Things are open again. Assess what would happen in another crisis. Would your business survive? [40:20] Dr. Jessica says we can stress-test our businesses, but we don’t know what the next stressor will be. That’s where flexibility and the willingness to try crazy things come in. True entrepreneurs survive long-term by treating stressors as interesting challenges for creativity. [41:01] Always do the best you can. You can’t control everything. The stronger the foundation of the business is, the healthier it will be. [41:24] Sachin mentions a mutual mentor, JJ Virgin. Dr. Jessica gives a shoutout to a colleague, Greg Todd, who was not a direct mentor but reached out to help when she was ill. Also, Fabian Frederickson, and also her Dad, as a sounding board with his experience in the business world. [42:30] Dr. Jessica credits her team with putting their heads together to figure out what to do. Dr. Jessica goes to a lot of conferences and just listens. She chats with friends and colleagues such as Trudi, Magdalena, Isabella, and a few others she met through JJ years ago. [43:15] Being an entrepreneur can be lonely compared to working in a hospital with colleagues every day. Not all of Dr. Jessica’s mentors have been formal, but she finds mentorship through being friends with people who are doing the same thing. [44:14] Dr. Jessica just started reading a fiction book about the Panama Canal. One of the books that recently impacted her the most is Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, by Katherine May. It’s a beautiful book about navigating life when it is hard. [44:47] Another book that helped Dr. Jessica navigate living with a chronic illness is Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, by Suleika Jaouad, written by a woman who had cancer and recovered. Both books changed Dr. Jessica’s definitions of health and disease. [45:16] Dr. Jessica sees health and disease now as more of a continuum. Defining “healthy” is so elusive. Defining “sick” can be somewhat elusive, too. We don’t have to call ourselves one or the other, no matter what stage of health we are in. It’s the same with life being hard or easy. [46:35] Sachin talks about seasonality in life, and if you prepare, you can navigate all the seasons as they come up in our day. Sachin thanks Dr. Jessica for sharing her insights and some amazing nuggets of wisdom on Perfect Practice. This time has been valuable. [47:07] Learn more about the work of Dr. Jessica at IntegrativeWomensHealthInstitute.com, on Instagram @IntegrativeWomensHealth, and on The Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. [47:28] Sachin thanks Dr. Jessica again for taking time out of her day. Sachin wishes continued health, happiness, and wholeness to her, her family, and those around her. Dr. Jessica wishes the same for Sachin. Mentioned in this episode Perfect Practice Live Jessica Drummond Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential, by Brian Johnson Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, by Katherine May Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, by Suleika Jaouad More about your host Sachin Patel How to speak with Sachin Go one step further and Become The Living Proof Perfect Practice Live
[email protected] To set up a practice clarity call and opportunity audit Books by Sachin Patel: Perfect Practice: How to Build a Successful Functional Medical Business, Attract Your Ideal Patients, Serve Your Community, and Get Paid What You’re Worth The Motivation Molecule: The Biological Secrets To Eliminate Procrastination, Skyrocket Productivity, and Get Sh!t Done Tweetables: “I started my practice, not with an intentional decision to become an entrepreneur. I was trying to create something that I could do from anywhere. At the time … I don’t think I even had an iPhone, so I didn’t have a lot of tools to do digital telehealth.” — Jessica Drummond “I think my athlete mindset has just been two things, flexible and curious, and then also persistent.” — Jessica Drummond “The way I’ve learned in my business is when there were obstacles and I didn’t know how to do something, I would do it and get feedback. … What gets people stuck is thinking through how to do it; learning about how to do it.” — Jessica Drummond “When you go from being at the peak of health to the week later, almost dying, you think about your business as a resource for your family, if they were to need it and you weren’t there.” — Jessica Drummond “We’re always going to do the best we can, and I can’t control everything, but the more creative I am and the more strong the business’s foundation is, the healthier it will be.” — Jessica Drummond “Defining ‘healthy’ is so elusive. Defining ‘sick’ can be somewhat elusive, too. We don’t have to call ourselves one or the other, no matter what stage of health we are in. The same thing with life being hard or easy.” — Jessica Drummond Jessica Drummond on LinkedIn Integrative Women’s Health Institute @IntegrativeWomensHealth on Instagram The Integrative Women’s Health Podcast
Stop Letting Money Conflicts Tear Your Relationships Apart
