How to Keep Moving Forward Relentlessly with Dr. Alicia Shelly

If your business isn't working the way you expected, it's not because you're bad at business. It's because no one ever taught you how it actually works. We were trained to master algorithms in medicine, but when it comes to revenue teams and growth, we were never taught anything. We weren't even told to figure it out. We just assumed somehow we'd know. Like it would magically make sense. But it doesn't. The era of the seven Figure Physician CEO is here. And it's not about working harder. It's about learning entrepreneurship as a system. The same way you mastered ACLs and pals, you can master the algorithm of building a profitable scalable business. That's why I recorded the Seven Figure Physician CEO audiobook. Whether you're building a medical or non medical business, and whether your goal is your first million, first 2 million, first 5 million, first 10 million, this is where the journey starts. There is no Calvary coming to save us. We are the Calvary. So. So go get your audiobook now. Www.entremd.com 7Figurebook. And let's rewrite the narrative for physicians starting today. Hi, docs. Welcome to the Entre MD 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. Una. Well, hello. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the On Tremd podcast. I have a treat for you because I have Dr. Alicia Shelley. I remember when I first had her on, I called her Dr. Alicia Kelly. Do you remember that very first interview?

Yeah.

So. So I had her on. She had been in the entrepreneur business school, but 30 days at that point and we talked about her transformation then.

And all of that.

Since then, she's completed her first year in the EntreMD business school. She's done Entre MD, what we call an EBS master. That's what we call them after the first year. And she's done amazing things. She's had quite the journey, both as an entrepreneur and not an entrepreneur. We were going to talk a little bit about that too. And I'm just so excited that she gets to come back on the show and. And we were going to go down memory lane a little bit and she's going to take us behind the scenes and we're going to talk all things entrepreneurship. So this is going to be great. Dr. Alicia Shelley, I said it right this time. Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for having Me. It's an honor.

Absolutely. So give the people a little refresher. Introduce yourself, Let them know who the amazing Dr. Alicia Shelley is.

Yes. So last year I had joined Dr. Unit Andre, M.D. business School. And prior to that, maybe about six months prior to that, I was looking for something else. I didn't know what something else was. I just was looking for more. I'm a current internal medicine, obesity medicine, physician, and have been doing that in my practice. But I just was looking for something more. And for some reason I stumbled on to her podcast and actually what happened was one of her other students, Dr. Barbara Joy, had posted about her and she posted about her like two years ago. And I looked at that. I'm like, oh, I don't know, that's not for me. But then she posted again and I was like, you know what, let me look this up. I was ready. I was ready then. And so in April that year, I decided to start a podcast talking about weight loss and how to get back on track, you know, once you lost weight and regained it back. And so a year ago, July 1, I released my first podcast. Since then, I've gotten over 1,000 downloads. I've gone to 30 different countries. The podcast is taking off. I'm just trying to get it to go even further. On top of that, we're really reaching people and helping people with their weight loss journey. I've also started a group coaching program where we're focusing on how to thrive for life and just have a healthy lifestyle and healthy weight loss. The funny thing, I also started a YouTube channel too, where we're putting are the content and videos and interviews on YouTube. And I didn't tell you this, but my friend asked me to consult with her just how she can start her podcast. And so for the last 12 weeks we've been doing that. And so she has her podcast up and going and so it's going to release July 13th. So that is amazing.

I was going to ask you about that because I saw a post, it's like, oh, I helped a client. Was that what you said? Or a friend, I don't remember which, know, launch that podcast. I'm like, huh? Is she doing that as a business? That's interesting. That's fascinating.

I didn't realize I liked it so much. I was like this, like, she said, hey, can you help me? I'm like, yes. It took me 10 minutes to come up with a whole module. She's like, oh my gosh, you have module 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So you're absolutely right when you say your first business kind of propels to your next business. Because I was ready to go, I'm like, okay, we have it all together. Let's just meet. Here's the link schedule. And she was so pleased because she had used somebody else and they just didn't work out. And so we were able to come up with the podcast. So that's. I don't, I don't know if I'm going to go into that business just yet. I'm dipping my feet in. We'll see. We'll see. But needless to say, coaching, consulting, someone else also, in the last year, I was honored as one of the 40 under 40 for Atlanta business Journal. And so that was an amazing award. I've gotten to speak for the local Georgia Asmbs Society and I'll be talking for the Obesity Medicine Medical association in their fall summit. So this has been a whirlwind from coming from, I need more to, oh my gosh, I'm a podcaster, I'm a coach, I'm this and that. So it's been a pretty eventful year.

It seems like you got a lot more. Not just more, seems that way.

I got a level. And I forgot to mention I finished my first Ironman 70.3, which is the Ironman half. And so I'm now training for the Ironman full. So that's my non entrepreneurial goal that I was able to meet.

Okay, so I'm going to go on a tangent here, right, with your whole Ironman thing, where can people follow your Ironman journey? Because I find it fascinating. I follow you because I'm like, I was just asking before we got. I'm like, you did something over the weekend too. She's like, Yeah, I rode 70 miles on Sunday and then I did the Peachtree Road Race on Monday. And I'm like, with what legs? Right? So where can people follow this?

Yes. So I have the Chronicles of Ironman training on my Instagram where every week I come and I talk about what I'm doing. I post on my Instagram. I also post on my Facebook page, Dr. Shelleynde. And so in my Instagram is Dr. Shelleymd as well. So you can follow along, cheer me on. I need prayers, so please keep me.

Well, I'm praying for you if you're gonna be doing that kind of distance.

Yes, yes.

So the thing I find fascinating about sports and business is there are so many parallels, right? So many analogies. Anybody who listens to the podcast knows I talk a lot about Basketball, because that's really the only sport I watch. But and even with the games, the games are going on and my husband is like, I know you're just pulling podcast episodes out of this game.

Right.

And so in the process of doing the Ironman, what are some business principles that you've been able to pull out of that experience?

Yes, so lots and lots of business principles. The first one is you need to show up. So I started training in October of 2021 for this Ironman that's actually the full Ironman that's coming up. And for those that aren't familiar with the Ironman, we have. It's a. Basically you do a 2.4 mile swim, 116 miles riding the bicycle, and a 26.2 miles of a run. Now prior to this, deciding to do an Ironman, I've done marathon, so I've done the 26.2, but I've never done the swim or the run. And I was just a regular swimmer. You know, I learned at ymca, so I wasn't like this advent swimmer. So we're all starting from scratch. And so each day I have a trainer, I have a coach that helps me. And that's rule number two. Get a coach, get somebody who's done it, who can show you the way. And she comes up with the plan on what I need to do on a daily basis. And there are some days I have to wake up at 5:30, actually like 5 o', clock, actually 4:30, 5 o' clock, so I can get to the pool so I can swim before my day starts. Because I'm actually still working full time as a physician. And so there are days and I realize that swimming is not my favorite sport. And there are days when I prefer to sleep in bed. But I just remind myself, you need to show up, you need to just go. And even if I'm late and I only get 45 minutes in or 30 minutes in, at least I did something. So in your entrepreneurial journey, you need to show up. You need to continue to put yourself out there. Like I mentioned, how I found Dr. Una was because somebody, she was putting herself out there. Somebody shared one of her posts two years ago. Then two years later I saw another post and I'm like, well, I need to, I need this. You know, and that's what your ideal customer, your ideal client needs to. They need you to keep putting stuff out there. One other thing I want to say, side note, we're doing a challenge in our EBS this month called the Audacity Challenge. And one of the things I've been trying to do for myself is put out a weekly newsletter. And I didn't realize that it had been, like, several months since I put out this weekly newsletter. But since I'm doing this challenge, I put out the newsletter, and I was like, at the bottom of the newsletter, like, in small print. I said, hey, if you would like to join my group coaching in October, here's the wait list. Sign up here. And someone signed up. It sounds really like, you know, just this should happen, but it doesn't always happen that way. So that's why you have to keep putting yourself out there. So those are two rules. I got a couple more obstacles. Obstacles. Regardless of what you do, there will always be obstacles. Like I said, I'm starting from scratch with the swimming and the bike riding. And so each time I go out, it's a new experience. When I started riding the bike, I didn't know that you needed to clip in the pedals. And when you clip in the pedals, it's like basically you and your feet are stuck to the bike. It's like you and your bike are the machine that's moving forward. However, there's a trick to getting in the clips and getting out the clips, and you don't find that out right away. It's trial and error. There's a lot of falling involved. Like, you're just. After a while. I fell at least eight times this year. And so did you post a picture.

A video of you falling on Instagram? Because. Yeah, because I remember seeing that.

I was reliving it. I was like, this is what. This is what this ride is about, me falling. And sometimes if I know I'm about to fall, I just brand him. Like, just fall. Fall on the grass. Just do what you have to do. And so there's always obstacles you have to overcome. One quick story. The other thing you have to do is you have to kind of keep doing different races. So one of the races that I did was the Gran Fondo Hinkabee race in Chattanooga. And they had us going up on this. This mountain called Suck Creek Mountain was the name of it, and it was aptly named because it literally was four miles going upward. And if you ever go up on a hill, it's very challenging. And what I realized is that you have to. You can't stop while you're going up on the hill because it's really hard to gain momentum to keep going once you're trying to get back on. So you have to Keep moving forward. Even though you're going up on that hill. And when I tell myself what I'm doing is I keep pedaling forward, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Even if you're going slow, you're still moving forward. The same with entrepreneurship. When you're. You're going to have obstacles, you may have a VA that just sucks, and you got to get somebody else. You may not have a webinar. No one shows up. You may have put out a post that no one likes or no one even responds. You're like, is anybody looking at this? But know that if you just keep showing up, you keep moving forward. Even when it's tough, even when it's uncomfortable. You just have to keep going. You'll get to the top. You get to the top. So just keep moving forward. Can I say one more?

You can say, this is so good. You can say one more.

I can say one more. All right, last one is power thoughts. Having affirmations, sayings, Bible verses, things that you can refer back to when it's hard. So like I told you before, I don't particularly care for swimming, especially in the pool. And you're going, like, back and forth, back and forth in the pool. And sometimes I have to remind myself that I can do hard things. I can get in this pool and just do it on my bicycle. When I was racing the Ironman 70.3, I had a power thought that said, you can do it. And then a Bible verse that said, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. And so I was like. When I was riding and I was getting in my head, like, how can you do 50 miles? How can you do this? I was like, okay, you got this, and I can do all things. And I kept repeating it, repeating it, repeating it. And, you know, I did it. I made it through. I was surprised as well. I was like, yes. And I made it through. At my goal time, I was like, yes, I did it.

That is amazing.

It is the affirmations, the power thoughts work. They are so helpful. And when you are getting discouraged in your entrepreneurial journey, have that saying. Have that thing, I can do hard things and just keep moving forward. So those would be my. I don't know how many. I started listing a lot more.

You gave me four. But they're. They're really powerful because the entrepreneur in me is like, this is so good. Because when you talk about, okay, so you started off with, you need to show up. And, you know, there are many times we talk ourselves out of showing up. And it's like, just show up. You may show up, and it's a little messy. You may show up, and it's not perfect. You may show up not fully confident. You may show up knowing step one, two, three, but step seven through 100, you don't know what those are, but show up. And it's so powerful because guess what? Everybody listening right now. You can show up. Right? You talked about getting a coach, and you know, I'm all about that. And I budget for my coaching. Like, it's, it's a line item budget. I budget for it and I invest heavily because I'm like, this is what makes the difference. And so you're a physician. You're a physician entrepreneur. We built the entre in the business school for you so you can have that environment where you get the coaching and you get challenges. Right? So this is funny, but Dr. Alicia did a Facebook live with the entrepreneur Business School group this morning, and she called it the confessional, right? Where she talked about what she, she alluded to earlier. And she was like, okay, guys, the Audacity Challenge. You know, I was like, okay, now I have to put out an email every week because that's part of what we talk about. And she said, oh, the next one I, the last one I did was three months ago. Right. And so you, you get called out and you'll be calling yourself out a lot of times because we didn't have a conversation about this. She called herself out, did her own confessional, and then did that email. But because she did that email, look at what happened. Now she has, you know, someone on her wait list, and that's someone, as far as we know right now, there could be somebody else signing up right now as we speak. And then you talked about, you know, keep moving forward because the amount of momentum you lose when you stop. So it may not be 700 steps like you plan, but if you could do 200, do 200, like, whatever, just don't stop. You're going uphill. Like, we don't stop going uphill. That's a beautiful analogy. I'm going to remember that one. And then the power thoughts. And I love that you said you get them ready before you need them.

Yes.

Yeah.

Right.

So you're not thinking, what power thought do I use when I'm in the middle of an Ironman 70.3 and going like I'm. And I can't keep going. You decide on that before. And so when those tough times come, because they will, you just Just say, oh, I'm ready for you, and you just pull it out, you know, and you start. So, man, thank you for sharing this.

This.

This is. This is so good. So, so, so good. It's a. Sports. Is really a perfect analogy for. For entrepreneurship, really. So in all of these things that you've done this. This year of a lot more, because that's. That's what the last 12 months has been for you, what would you say is the biggest mindset shift you've experienced?

Oh, I think the biggest mindset is to delegate. So when I first started here, I was doing everything. I was editing. I was creating the. I was editing my podcast. I was creating the different posts, and I was getting burnt out. Like, I was like, oh, I'm tired. I think I interviewed, like, so many people in the month of October, and I was like, I need a break. And so by learning to delegate and to batch, where it's like, you don't have to do everything all at once. Like, I was. I think I was interviewing, like, six or seven people every week, and I.

Was like, oh, my goodness, that's the fastest way to quit podcasting for me anyway.

Yes, yes, yes. So I realized, like, no, pick one day, and you're going to interview people on that. That day. And then I delegate to the lady. I'm like, here is my podcast. Please edit this. She comes up with the different posts, and then all I have to do is post it. And then I have another lady that posts my social media. So delegating has been key. It was hard. It's hard to let go because you're like, this is my baby. Only I can do this, right? But then now it's like, how else can I delegate? Who can do this? I need to delegate more. So that was a really big. The funny thing is, I was doing my own hair. I was like, no, we're delegating. We're going to the salon. I need you to cornrow my hair, get it all nice so I don't have to worry about it. I actually went to meal service.

Oh, you're on a delegating spree.

I'm on a delegating spree.

So let me track back a little bit, because for me, delegation was so hard. It took me a while to figure it out. Like, it took me a long while to figure it out. And that's why I talk about it so much. I'm like, get all this stuff off their plate. But what was the tipping point for you? Right? Because we have this. I know I should delegate, but I can't delegate, Right? And so, but then once we figure it out, then we were like, I'm delegating my business, my personal life. Like, I'm delegating everything, right? So what was that tipping point where you went from knowing you should delegate till you actually started delegate? Was it. Was it a thought thing? Was it something somebody said? Was it you got so stuck or burned out? What was that thing for you?

I think definitely I got burnt out. But then in October, we had the retreat in South Carolina. So that, that retreat was very helpful because just kind of talking to people and just seeing how they're doing things and realize you don't have to be burnt out. Like, this is not a thing you can overcome. You know, I think coming from that vision retreat, I realized I need to delegate. And like I said, I just started going on a spree. The funny thing is, is that when you do podcasts, you get all these emails that people like, hey, you know, I would love to edit your podcast. Oh, hey, well, I love your social media. So the lady emailed me just when I was ready to delegate and I'm like, sure, please take it over. I didn't even, like, go and find, like, you know how you usually get three quotes. I was like, nope, this is great, when can you start? And she's been my podcast lady since that time. So I do not regret it at all.

Oh, that is amazing. Now. So there are two things that you said that made me go like, oh, I could do cartwheels. I'm just 43 years old, I don't do that anymore, but I could do cartwheels. So one is the tipping points came when you saw different people delegating. And so this is the power of a community. And this is why I always, you know, in the beginning, when we started entrepreneur business school, people are like, no, I just want to do one on one coaching with me, with you. And I'm like, that is very powerful. But you have no idea what the power of coaching plus community is, like the community itself. So there are things that you will hear, because I'm sure if you're talking about October, you had been in the business school for four to five, well, four to five months at the time. And so you had heard me talk about delegation 300,000 times. You had heard me talk. You know, we even done the training on how to build five ways to build a team with little or no money down. We had done all these things, but you walk into a room and you See examples, one after the other, of people doing what you're trying to do, and it just makes it click in a way that you can't describe. Right. And so that is the power of being in a room where people are doing what you want to do. You're like, you can't learn by osmosis. Oh. In a community, a curated community, you absolutely can. Absolutely, absolutely can. And then the second thing you talked about your va, like your podcast manager now sending an email, like, hey, I could manage your podcast. And you were like, oh, my goodness. I was ready to delegate. So I'm like, here you go. So for every entrepreneur listening, please realize that somebody has a problem that you solve, and they're just waiting for your email or they're waiting for your social media posts. Are they waiting for you to say, hey, I want to work with me? Like, they literally have the problem. They have the money. They can't. They're actually getting ready to look for somebody like you. So be the person they find. You know what I mean? Because we flip it. And that's. That's a business lesson we just learned from your. From your podcast manager.

That's a good one. Right?

Because you were waiting.

They're waiting.

Sometimes we think we have to convince people, no, people are waiting. But if we don't show up and we don't make offers and tell them, hey, come do this, then they don't find us. So that. That's ridiculously amazing. Okay, so we've talked about where people can find you. So we talked about your Instagram and all of that stuff. If somebody is thinking, okay, somebody's thinking. You know, they've listened to the podcast. They love the podcast. They've gotten wins in their business from the podcast. You know, they follow the emails. They're loving that they're in the entrepreneur Facebook group, the general Facebook group. And they're like, this is amazing. But they're not sure about the business school. They've thought about it. They don't know if they have the time, if they have the money, if it work for them. What would you tell that person?

I would say, just do it. So I was in EBS for the year, and I signed up for the next year. And the reason why is because I knew maybe before I had decided to come to ebs, I was going to do a podcast. So I knew the what, but I didn't know the how. And if I hadn't been in ebs, like you said, it is a community. So I'm seeing people who have been doing podcasts for years and I've seen people who are starting their podcast and you're seeing the different things that they're doing, the fact that they're having the social media. I mean, I don't think I knew to schedule my social media post prior to this. Like, you know, it's just the small things that kind of help you delegate. Yes. Dr. Una talks about delegation, but it didn't click until somebody was, I saw somebody else who they just delegate and they just, you know, they just batch their podcast one day a month and then that's it and then they don't have to worry about it. And so the community is so key. So key. Like when we go to these different conferences, we get so much out of just being together, just shooting ideas off and it's just like you're just firing on all cylinders. You're like, oh yes, oh yes, I can do this, I can do that. Like not only you giving to someone else, they're pouring out and giving to you. So that's the community that the EBS provides. And I'm telling you I'm going to be a lifer. So good. Like, you know, maybe I have people say, well, it's the same principles, it's the same principles but sometimes I'm a little hard headed or it goes in one ear and out the other. So I got to keep getting repetition. And honestly I'm not the same person I was when I first started. So it's a gradual thing that you're learning, you're getting better. And then when like you have, like you said, the Audacity Challenge, we have this challenge this month and I'm like, well, I'm going to show up today and I'm going to keep going each and every day and I'm a different person than I was before. So I'm learning so much and I'm moving my business forward probably faster than if I had done it by myself because I would not have known what to do.

So good. So good. You just make me happy. And life where we can do life together. Me, you.

Yeah, yes, yes, together.

And you bring up something that I want to point out because for you it is the habit of the ultra successful, people would sometimes say, well I've done that before or I've learned that principle before or I read that book before. And one of the qualities of the ultra successful is, well, two. One is that they stay curious. They can learn from almost anything. Right? Like they can learn from almost anything. So they don't go like, I've read that book before, you know what I mean? I have books I read every year. Like, every year. Like, why not? Like I read Eat that Frog every year. Of course it's for me, it's like, it's like a bible on productivity. And you know, Brian Tracy speaks my language, so I'm like, yes, let's do that. Ever since I found the miracle equation, I've read that every year. Because again, like you noticed, the version of you that reads it in 2020 is not the version of you that reads it in 2021, not the version of you that reads in 2022. So each time you read it, the book is the same, the principles are the same, but you're not. So you get so much more out of it. Right? And then the ultra successful are very clear that their job to continue to do better and better is to become masters at the basics, not masters at new things every year, masters at the basics. And so that's why we call people who are in their second year or third year of the Entrepreneur Business School EDS masters. It's not about, oh, so now we're going to, we graduate, we're going to learn all these new principles. No, you're just going to become really great at doing the basics. Right. If you look at somebody who has a hundred million dollar business and someone who has $100,000 business, a lot of the things are the same principles. One person is just a master. And that's what it is. So kudos to you for going like, no, I'm different and I'm going to get doing things out of this. So good for you.

Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And I like that. To be a master of the basics. Yeah, master, yes.

Because again, if we go back to sports, right, whatever you're doing for the ironman, if you're doing, if you're doing a breaststroke or breaststroke is a breaststroke, it's just that me doing one and Michael Phelps doing one is different.

Yes, right.

He's just a master at it. You know what I'm saying? Riding a bike is riding a bike. But if you're going to do the ironman, you're going to do, what did you say? 116 miles. That is just so wrong.

Right.

But there's some mastery there. It's not that you have some, you know, innovative way of pedaling or whatever. You're a master at the basics. And so, you know, it trips people up. They're like, I'm looking for the new shiny thing. Not the way it works. Not the way it works at all. Dr. Shelley, thank you for coming on to share your story. Thank you so much for coming to give us those analogies with the. With the sports world, with the Ironman world. And this will be helpful for so many people. I got so much out of it, so thank you for sharing. Because just like some people did for you during the vision retreat, their example made new things possible for you, and you've come to do the same thing. Your example today is going to make things, new things possible for the people who are listening. So thank you so much for coming on.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. I had a great time.

As did I. Okay, doc, so you're listening. You got a lot out of this. I want you. This is one of those you should really listen to a second time. I'm just saying you should listen to a second time. And then you want to share this episode with the physicians in your life. Why? Because in the entremd world, we have a target, and the target is the mass business education of physicians. And so we always say, oh, we didn't get a business education, all this stuff, but we can get one now. That's done. But we can get one now, right? And this story right here is enough to help somebody make their next move in business, is enough to make them show up, is enough to make them not quit in the face of obstacles, is enough to make them get those power thoughts that will help them when the obstacles show up. So share it with another doctor and I will see you on the next episode of the Ontario Podcast. Hey, if you love listening to the ontarimity podcast, I want to invite you to join Entre MD On Demand. It is my signature subscription program that gives you access to a library of business courses designed to help you do one thing as a physician entrepreneur, and that is to thrive. Just head out to entremd.com ondemand and I'd love to have you join us. See you on the inside.