Treat Your Career Like A Business With Dr. Judit Staneata

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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. Imna. Well, hello. Hello everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the On Tremd podcast. Today I am super pumped. I have Dr. Stanita here. She is an amazing dog out of North Carolina and she is one of the amazing students in the Entre MD Business school and, and she's an intrapreneur. So this is going to be a really great conversation. So welcome to the show, Dr. Sunita.

Thank you, Dr. Una. It's an honor to be here.

Honor is all mine. So I'm going to let you take a moment and introduce yourself to the audience. Let them know all about you, what you do, where you practice and all.

Of that sounds good. As you mentioned, I'm Andrea Estenida. I am board certified Physical Medicine Rehabilitation. I practice in North Carolina. Intervention and spinal procedures. Originally I'm from Romania and as you mentioned, I've been in the states for about 15 years now going through the training and the system. So finishing residency and establishing here in just outside of Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

All right, so you are one of the people I like talking to because you're an intrapreneur. Right. And we do default a little more to the entrepreneur on the entreinbe podcast. So if you're listening and you are an employed physician, you're gonna get so much out of this. And of course you're. If you're not, you do know you're going to get a lot of this. So, you know, so for you, I think I want to track back to the beginning because I remember when we first crossed paths was right smack in the middle of the pandemic. And I remember the pandemic hitting and I'm like, okay, I've never experienced this before. I don't know what's going to happen. And then I just made a decision. I was like, you know what? We're going to thrive. I don't know how, but we're going to thrive. We're going to figure this out. And I had a program during the pandemic called Thrive, and you joined that program. So. So now I'm curious. Right? So you did thrive in the middle of a pandemic as an employed physician, and then you went on after that to join the entrepreneur business school. So what was your thought process around doing that? I've never asked you, so I'd be interested to see what you say.

Yes, absolutely. Actually, it's very interesting. I had a not so pleasant experience before the pandemic with a job where actually in 2019, I relocated two, just a couple of hours away to different city, you know, packed up my chair in the house and everything and the contract fell through the cracks. So I had to move back to my old place, which it was good, it was working out. However, I felt that something was missing. So actually I started back part time, only three days a week, trying to figure out what is missing. At that time I was already listening to your podcast. I think I found you when you were in episode five or seven. I know episode seven, that's about procrastination. So I will never forget because I go back to that a lot and really listen very well live even after, you know, you are way over 100 episodes now. But it's very well and alive. So I definitely recommend it to anybody listening. So my story is like I was. I felt like something was missing and then I was working, trying to figure myself out kind of in my head. A few ideas about entrepreneurship, of course, no idea where to start, lots of fear of paralysis. And then the pandemic hit and of course I heard about Thrive. I think it was on your podcast and I went ahead and registered. Fast forward end of March last year, 2020. I got followed from my job and Thankfully, I was with you. Honestly, it helped me tremendously to get you through those couple of months where I didn't know if I'm going to have another job. I didn't know. And I had Covid first time, first time around. So it was a rough couple of. Couple of months of, you know, patch and trying to figure out things just like everybody else. Thankfully, I was able to secure another position with the clinic I'm with right now. It's an orthopedic practice and I have been. I'm going to be celebrating my first year, June 1st coming out. Time flies. Time flies. But it was a very. I felt like I got a lot out of thrive and that's why I felt positive that, you know, if I join LTMD business school, even if I'm not an entrepreneur, as an entrepreneur, it's going to help me. And it did tremendously. And we can unpack that. It's.

Yeah. All right. So we might as well go there so. Because somebody's listening and you know, they may be employed or they may be in a space in their, you know, in their journey where like, I don't know if this will work. Yeah, I don't know what's going on. So I think this will be really helpful. So as an intrapreneur in the entre MD business school and it helps tremendously unpack that for me.

How did it help for me personally, it helped me to come out of my shell, not just to be the yes person to think through the process, what I need and what kind of help I need in order to succeed and do better and you know, thrive because it's good for me as a physician and for my patients as well as for the practice. Although I'm not a partner just yet and going through the school, the business school almost weekly, I got ideas where. Because this practice, so my specialty being physical medicine, rehabilitation, this is an orthopedic practice. I was a. Everything was new to them. So I said, okay, this is my chance to set up things the way I would like them to run. And they were very receptive and open to my ideas and what I needed not just from material standpoint where, you know, you need a certain amount of needles and medications. You know, just make sure we practice good medicine. But even like staff wise and other things. So from the get go, it was a good. It was a good start, it was a good experience and I kept building on that, talking to our marketing department. Let's do this. You know, I did a short video at the beginning When I. Right after I started, and that's still in the progress to kind of come up with different other videos on our website and on social media for the. For the practice itself. So it has been just giving me the confidence to speak up as an entrepreneur and not just accept what's given to me. It's tremendous. And not to mention, you know, getting doing my half a year eval and asking for a scribe. And they said, yes, this was my huge win because for the past two, three months now, I feel like I have my life back after seven years almost since I graduated fellowship training, because, you know, I never had this luxury like going home in the evenings, not have to do notes in the weekend. And actually I can have a weekend just focused on what I need to do with my children. So it's amazing. So definitely encourage everybody, anybody who, even if you're an intrapreneur, to consider the entre MD Business school because it helped me change me as a person. And as you know, from here we can. We can unpack the other aspect I have been working on since January, being part of the writing a book.

So now I remember. When you started Thrive, had you done any videos before Thrive?

No. Never?

No. No. And I don't think even in the beginning, when everybody was doing. I don't think. I think it took you a moment to go like, okay, maybe I'll do this. I think, I think that's what I remember. So describe, does everybody have a scribe and you just qualified for one or this was something you were like, look at my numbers.

I'm doing great.

I'm bringing all these new patients and I need a scribe. How did that work out?

Nobody has a scribe. I'm the only one.

Nobody has a scribe.

Yes. They said, how can we help you to be more successful and not to feel like you're overwhelmed? We want you to have a life. So it's, you know, I guess the unlocking in the sense that my peers and the other physicians are very perceptive and understand that, yes, they realize that they have a quality of life. They use Dragon indication. But my computer is new and they couldn't get the software. It was one of those things, you know, it's always the little, little things which don't always work out. So they said, how can we help you? And they were open to it. And I'm just thankful for that, for sure.

Wow. I love it. So on one side, that's your job. And you talked a little bit about now, how you have more time, but overall, so let's look away from the business and the career side of it overall, embracing your role as an entrepreneur.

Right?

So I don't just go to work and come out. I've recognized myself as a CEO of my brand, you know, and I'll negotiate and I'll build my referral base and I'll do videos and I'll do. And look at you talking to the marketing department like, like this is, you know, collaborating with the marketing department. So how has this affected your life? Right? Like how, how you see yourself, how you feel about yourself, your family, how.

Has it affected that huge positivity, Especially going through that experience with the, with the other job, which didn't really work out. It hit me to the core. I was like, oh my goodness. Like you order all the negative self talk or you're not worthy, you're not a good physician. You're not, you know, and, but going through this and your encouragements and the group's encouragement every single week, it just got me through. I'm going to be honest because it's almost like I could hear your voice in my head, you can do this. You can do this. I'm your great, greatest cheerleader. I'm rooting for you and I'm really, really thankful for you, Dr. Una. And my children saw the difference in me. And they know you, by the way, because we do automobile University. Every Monday morning, the podcast is on.

I'm Auntie Una.

Yes, I know. Oh, that's Dr. Una. And you know, your magnet is on my microwave downstairs. So yes, you are part of the family and they know you by name and they know when I'm on the call with you. Then please, this is my time. You know, one hour Wednesday night. But it's a huge and positive change for me personally as a person, not just a physician, but as a person and as a parent as well. I can't iterate enough. The power of the group and our collaboration in our community in the entry of the business school. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Wow. Well, I'm honored to be part of your family. Let me just say I have cousins from Romania now. That's how this is working. Okay. This is so good. And I'm happy to see that it's affecting everything. Right. It's not just career, but you know, this is your whole life. And, and for the doctors listening, you know, especially if you're employed, one of the ways to work out this burnout thing is not the only way. Right. But one of the ways to work it out is to take back the ownership of your you as a physician. Like I'm the boss of me, you know what I mean? And start making things work for you. This is so beautiful. So, so, so beautiful. So now I was super excited because I saw this new project you worked on, which is now a real thing. It's not an idea anymore. Right. It's a real life living thing. So tell us about your new book and tell the audience where they can find it.

So I had the honor to be part of this book project. It's called the Warrior Women Project. 22 immigrant women from all over the world, we got together online. We have a headmaster of course, Dr. Lulu. And she's wonderful who kind of put all of us, pulled us into. And I applied your motto, I guess just do it. I did not think of it. When she texted me, I said, yes, I'm in. Without thinking, without thinking where this is going to lead me. And of course, as you said, you know, it's just exploded. We are from three or four different continents, you know, 14 different countries. I mean it's just amazing, the impact. So basically it's about immigrant women. We came different parts of the world where we talk about our immigrant stories. So it's a coffee table book and it's about. It's at the publisher right now. So it's going to hit Amazon pretty soon for the next couple of weeks. So we're very, very excited about it. And you know, if anybody's interested, you can DM me on Facebook, Andrea Sanita and I'll be more than happy to send links and post links and all this stuff.

I love it and I'm going to get the link. So we're going to. It's going to be in the show notes so everybody can look and see it. So the name of the book is the Warrior Woman Project. That's the name of the book.

Right?

Okay, now do not spill the beans but why should the doctors listening right now get the book and read your story. What is one thing they're going to get out of it like because of this? You absolutely have to read the book.

There's lots of encouragement and there's again the power of the pack. All of us have our own stories different. We come from different shapes and forms of life. However, I think are common motto is encouraging others and to never give up. Lots of lots of strength, lots of positivity, lots of encouragement coming out from the book.

I love it. I love it. I can't wait to read it because I know what it will be like. I know what it'll be like. All right, so there's a doctor out there who's working a job, probably thought it was their dream job when they started. And they've gotten to this point where they're overwhelmed. And, you know, maybe they've had a bad experience, maybe not quite furloughed, but they have a very bad experience, maybe with administration. And, you know, it's hard at home because for you. I know, right? You have kids and all this stuff, so it's not like it was the easiest thing to do. So they also have the family to take care of and all that stuff, and they're at their wit's end. What would you say to that, Doctor? Because you've been there, done that, you have a few T shirts, and you're on the other side smiling. What would you say to them?

Definitely encourage them not to give up on themselves, because when you get down there, you feel like you are not worthy. You can't do this anymore. You just want to throw in the towel and give up and just walk away, which many times we cannot for many reasons. Not just the professional, but as you mentioned, the family and all that stuff, never give up and look for help. There's lots of help out there, lots of communities, just like you were talking to, Una. Even just a Facebook group. And of course, not to mention your course and all the encouragements and all the support your community has. It's amazing. It's wonderful. And there is so much more out there. If I learned so much from you, and one of them is you always say you can do this and you can do more. And that's what I'm working on right now, working on myself, to believe more and more every day that there's more out there for myself. And we can do so much. And first, I learned from you. We're on CEOs. That really made me think that every day when I show up at work, I show up as me. And how I want to show up, no matter what's going on around, you know, what administration says or there's no perfect place, so to say, but I show up as myself, and I know that I work for myself. That was so, so powerful. I. You know, I think that was the first. First thing I learned from you, and it's really, really stuck with me. So my advice is, or to encourage any physician who is going through difficult times. Don't hide, don't stay alone like I did for a few months, reach out to any of us. And we are here. We are here. We're doing this together. And we will get medicine back.

Yes. Okay. So that statement, you know, that I could do cartwheels right now. We will get medicine back. I love it. And I love that you say I show up at work. I know I work for me. That is, Isn't that so liberating? Like, I work for me. That is so good. I hope you guys got it. So don't quit. Don't quit on yourself. I love that you put it that way, right? Like, don't quit on yourself. Don't hide, reach out, find community, realize who you work for and show up as yourself every day. And yeah, we're going to get medicine back. It is so good. Okay, so, so, so good. So you talked about working on believing, right. That there's more that you can do. So, you know, you've come to the point where you own your career now. You've come to the point where you've demonstrated you're a very valuable part of your team. Where on your six month eval, they're like, here's a scribe. Like, we just want you to be empowered to succeed. And now you've done the book. So what's more. What does more look like?

I really hope I can, I can start speaking a little bit. Not just podcast, which, another, another thing. What? I came from your group, you know, collaboration with other physicians. So I have been in several, several podcasts already. And again with you, which is a huge, huge honor. I was like, so impressed when I saw the email. I'm like, oh, I'm special. You are special. But, you know, I have a hard time coming back to the belief system. You know, I think that's something I had to work on. But I'm definitely, I still empowered by you, Dr. Una, and everything you do, by your message, by the community you created. And I'm maybe looking for another book.

You got the book bug. Okay.

Yes, yes, I did get the book bug. So right now, definitely I would like to finish up with the Warrior Women project and then I have a couple of ideas, actually, even one collaborating with my children. And. Yes, yes. And yeah. So we have, we have a few things for the future, for near future, long term, I have some other ideas, but I will have to kind of crystallize those.

Yeah.

And go from there.

Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. And I just want to say that I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy that you didn't quit on you and because I know it was a Trying time. I know the pandemic. Not just the pandemic. Pandemic, even before the pandemic, brought some different times, but you embraced it all. And I tell people, you know, I'm an introvert. I was scared of everything. And people find that hard to believe. And you know what? Even though I know that you're an introvert and you're scared of doing all these things, when I go back to think about it, I'm beginning to find it difficult to believe that that's the level of transformation. I'm not kidding. Like, I have to. I'm going to.

Yeah.

You know, because you've made so many strides. And it's not because. And it's the same thing with me. I don't make progress because I'm all that. I make progress because I just say yes and keep moving forward, even though I'm scared. Even though sometimes I'm like, I don't know if I can do that. And that's exactly what you do. And here you are, you own your career. Right. You're negotiating like a boss. You've written a book and now you're like, I think I'll do another book. I'm going to do more speaking. And just in case anybody thinks it's podcast. No, I'm doing that now. You know, I want to do more speaking. And I'm so happy for you. This is life change. Right? Like, this is so transformation. This is so exciting. So exciting. Okay, so I guess I'll ask. There's some doc who's sitting on the fence. They're not sure. They're thinking, I think I want to. I want to invest in myself. I think I want to do the business school. But they're like, but I don't know. I don't know if I have the time. I don't know if I can keep up. I don't know if it'll be worth the investment. I don't know if it'll work for me. Right. What would you say to that person?

Just do it. I'm stating your motto again. I highly, highly recommend it. As you mentioned, I'm an entrepreneur. I don't have my own business as of yet. But the community you have created, Dr. Una, and the power of the community, feeling included, because even if we, some of the other physicians are entrepreneurs and we struggle with the same issues from day to day, life, and you learn so much, and not to mention the encouragements, again, the bouncing off ideas from each other, it is so much we can learn. And the Beauty is you can always go back and re listen to one of our shows or take notes again or, hey, you know, I heard something like that. Or you can ask ideas in the group and 10, 15 people immediately jump on and they want to help, they want to collaborate. It is amazing. I never felt like I'm behind, even if I didn't keep the same pace many times because of life. However, I always felt like, you know, I could pick it up right where we were or, you know, come back on and do what, what need to be done right then and there, and it would just help me grow and become the person I am today. I am so, so thankful for you, Dr. Una. And I can't. I just can't say any words. I just pray that, you know, you keep your spirit up and help as many people as you can. And as you said, we're going to take medicine back.

Well, thank you. And you know, I take all prayers. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I'm so grateful that I get to be part of your journey. Like, for me, that's. That's the greatest honor. Like, we can walk this together. And at the other, on the other side, we look back like, wait, look what we did.

Yes, yes. It's amazing, like the transformation, you know, because when you are in it, you don't see. But as I was thinking the past couple of weeks since I received the email from you to come on the podcast, I'm like, oh, my God. Goodness. And then this and that happened, and just me, just even the fact that as a person, I feel more confident and I know I can do this. That's a huge win. Like, I cannot, you know, that cannot be paid. There's no price tag on that. It's just an amazing thing. And it's coming from the introvert to introvert who was scared to even speak in public.

You and I both. You and I both, you are evidence that this works, introvert or not.

Absolutely. I can testify for that. For sure.

I love it. And you know what? Thank you so much for sharing this and for taking us behind the scenes as well, because I know what it's like to feel trapped because you're an introvert. Because even the introverts, we want to speak on stage, we're terrified of it, but we want. We have a message. We have something to say. We have the power of contribution. So it's literally like you're stuck. You know what I mean? And to be able to walk out of that and then just own who you are. And Redefine introvert to mean, hey, when I want to recharge, you know, I just want my solitude. So I'm going to the beach. Y' all can stay here. You know, like, it's just so life changing and there are people listening who are going like, wow, well, that could be me. That could be me.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much for, for sharing your story. If you have any last words, we'll take last words and we'll let the listeners go enjoy the rest of their day.

Yes. Again, thank you so much, Dr. Muir, for this opportunity. I look forward to further collaborate with you. I look forward to our retreat in the fall. It's going to be amazing. And again, to every physician who feels discouraged, I went through burnout. I went through lots of personal issues. There is a lot at the end of the tunnel. Do not give up on yourselves. And always there's always help. You just have to reach out.

Love it.

Thank you so much. So you guys go follow her. So where do we find you on social media? You've told us about the book and the links will be in the show notes. Where do we find you on social media Media.

So Facebook is Andrea Stanita. LinkedIn andreasanita MD, Instagram andrea stanita. I will use my middle name and then my last name. So it's pretty straightforward.

Awesome. Okay. All right. And links to all that will be in the show notes. Go follow her. And you know, thank you so much for coming on doc and for everyone listening. Go share this with another doc, especially if they're an introvert. Share it with them and I will see you on the very next episode of the entremdy Podcast Podcast. Hey, if you love listening to the Entre MD 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 entre.com ondemand and I love to have you join us. See you on the inside.