Will Tik Tok Bring You Paying Patients?
1 Apr 2022 · 37 min
In this episode of the Practice Profit System podcast, host Matthew Gillogly interviews Dr. Daya "Dee" Fongod, founder of Delight Medical and Aesthetics, about how she leveraged short‑form video—primarily TikTok—to revive and expand her cash‑based aesthetic practice serving women of color. Dr. Dee recounts her early, hesitant forays into Facebook Live, the pivotal suggestion to try TikTok during the COVID‑19 lockdown, and the rapid viral success of a laser‑burn video that amassed 1.4 million views and generated over $30,000 in revenue. She outlines a three‑key framework for effective video branding: (1) knowing who you are, (2) knowing who you serve, and (3) mastering the video structure of hook, value, and call‑to‑action. The conversation delves into the specific concerns of her target market—hyperpigmentation, laser‑induced burns, hair‑care practices, and cultural issues like skin bleaching—illustrating why authentic, niche content builds trust faster than traditional ads. Dr. Dee shares her content workflow, the challenges of ADHD, the decision to keep TikTok organic rather than paid, and her expansion into longer‑form YouTube videos for evergreen traffic. Personal hardships are discussed, including pandemic‑related practice closure, postpartum depression, and the emotional resilience required to rebuild. Finally, she reveals a long‑term vision of creating a research/resource center focused on health issues affecting people of color, especially those from tropical regions, and provides contact details (Instagram/TikTok/YouTube @DrDEE MD, website aesthetics.delightmd.com). The episode offers concrete, actionable advice for medical professionals seeking to harness short‑form video for patient acquisition.
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Hey everybody, it is Matt and welcome to another episode of the Practice Profit System. You know, one of the big questions that we get all the time is how in the world can I get leads of patients? And you know, a lot of people just want to default right to Facebook and things like that. And while that is a viable option, uh, today I actually have a great guest that you are going to absolutely love. Her name is Daya Fongod. And did I get that right? Did I tell me I got it right?
Yes, you did.
Yes.
You know, you think with a last name like Gillogly, I would just be able to handle, you know, unique last names. But anyway, Dega is at Delight Medical and Aesthetics outside of— in McLean, Virginia. That is Northern Virginia. And she has, um, a great way to use short, short-form video to grow your brand and to grow your practice. Now, truth be told, uh, Dega has been in all— a lot of our classes. She's been following our stuff. But, uh, when she would share in a Business Mastery Fellowship what she was doing to grow her practice, you could hear the room stop. And so, um, I'm really excited to have this conversation because you've really done a really good job of growing your practice just with using video, right?
Yes, absolutely.
So how did you get— because, you know, most doctors are really scared of doing this whole video thing. Talk a little bit about that. How did you discover this? And how did you get started doing it?
By the way, thank you very much for having me on your podcast. I initially started when I started my practice, you know, I was interested in growing my business, and I had no marketing experience whatsoever. And so I found out that, you know, you could do Facebook, you could do Instagram. And I initially remember doing a Facebook live. And it was like 5 or 7 minutes long. And that video did well, and all of my other posts were not doing well. So I decided I was going to try to do more video. That was kind of when I stumbled on— this is back in like 2018. That's when I stumbled onto the fact that people liked seeing my videos. And when people came in, they would give me feedback that, oh, I came in because of your videos. So that gave me the clue that, you know, in terms of like building trust with new patients, like when they see you on video, they trusts you better than like just a simple feed, a post that you, you know, you post on social media. And so that's how that started out. Now, it was still difficult to get a lot of leads on Facebook if you didn't put ads on it. So even though I continued doing videos, and initially I was terrified to do them, but I just put myself out there. Um, but as I continued to do them, it was just harder and harder to get leads. Until one of my patients told me about TikTok. And he was like, you should do this, you would love it. It's really easy. It's really fast. And so, um, I, I thought like most people think TikTok is for kids. This is not something I could use to grow my business. And so I ignored what he said, but then when the pandemic hit, I had time on my hands.
Um, yeah, yeah.
My business was closed. And so I had, I was like kind of in a depressive state, to be honest with you. And so I was like, all right, let me spend some time scrolling on TikTok. And so during that time, I got to understand how the app works. And I was like, all right, maybe I could try it for just building my brand and telling my story. And that's how I started. I started posting videos. I actually blew up quite fast. So I started doing videos in July, but I consistently did them December 2019. And then I did a video and like, I think 2 days before Christmas, and I got 160,000 views. I was like, what the heck is going on?
Wait, wait, wait, 160,000 views?
Yes.
From a single video?
Single video. Wait till you hear—
What were you doing on that video? Like, you weren't like running through the streets with like, you know—
I literally told a story about something that happened, like a patient interaction video. Like, I told a story And I wasn't even advertising my business at that point. So that got a lot of attention. And I was like, oh, okay, this is interesting. And so then the next time I did a video, I did it specifically for skincare. So it was a video about a patient getting a burn from laser hair removal. And so I said, you know, in that video, this is what you need to do if you have darker skin. This is the type of laser you need to use so that this doesn't happen to you. And that video I posted December 29th, and January 2nd, it— I had, uh, 1.4 million views on that video.
1.4 million views.
And my phone—
So laser burn. So women of color, and that's primarily the market that you focus in on, correct?
Yes.
Okay.
Yes.
And so women of color, when they get laser hair removal, they don't have the right setting or the right laser, it causes burns.
Yes, absolutely. Yeah, you can get burns if the wrong laser is used and even if the wrong setting is used. And so that's like everybody's biggest fear, especially if you're darker, because when you get burns, the end result is worsening pigmentation, which is very difficult to treat. So it's really important to like find the right person and right laser for your skin type. So that—
When you say worsening pigmentation, like, is it a darker splotch? Is it a lighter splotch?
It can become darker, which It's actually easier than if it becomes lighter, but it can be both. So it's just basically kind of like a disfiguring result.
Does that go away if you don't— I mean, does that go away over time?
Or— For some people it does. For some people it doesn't. If it's hypopigmentation, it doesn't go away.
This is a major issue for women of color doing laser hair removal.
Absolutely major issue. Yes. It made sense that it got a lot of attention. But You know, it's funny, at that time business was not doing well at all. And so I had just like been thinking I might have to close my business because like I couldn't get leads. Nobody was coming in. It was 2020. Like, so I got 1.4 million views and my phones went crazy. Like, I was just getting leads. Like, people were just calling, we want laser, we want laser. That video today has probably made me about $30,000+.
Did you pay to advertise the video or was this just organic?
It was organic.
Wow, that's a pretty good— that's what we call infinite ROI in the marketing world.
It still brings me patients to this day. I mean, that was a year plus.
Good for you.
Yeah.
Okay, let's talk about this because, you know, and I know, you know, I know some of these are leading questions because you and I have talked quite a bit. You're not You're not a natural in front of the camera, right? This is something that took a little bit of time for you to get comfortable doing?
Yes, it took time. I mean, like I told you, I started doing videos in 2018, and at that time I was so awkward. Like, I go back and I look at the old videos and I'm like, oh my goodness. And but now I'm much more used to doing the videos. And, and so yeah, it takes time. It takes time to get comfortable in front of the camera, but it's absolutely worth it.
Would you say it's more necessary? Is it as equally necessary as it is worth it? I mean—
Yeah, I think it's necessary because one of the things that I realized, like I said earlier, is that when you're in front of the camera on social media, the trust level for like that you can garnish with patients is much faster. So like, you know, I'll have somebody watch 7 of my videos and then book an appointment. Like, and so they'll just be like, I binge watch your— like, you know, we're Netflix land now. So they'll binge watch your videos. And from that, they get an idea of your personality and your style of doing things. And they— the trust level is so much faster than like seeing an ad. And nobody can really tell who the doctor is or what the practice is about from an ad, right? But if they watch your videos that you do organically, like they feel like they know you, and it just makes things so much easier. Like my consultations are so easy. I don't have to convince anybody to do anything because They know I'm not that type of person. I'm not going to give you a treatment that I don't think you need. Like, they just understand who I am because I basically just tell people who I am on social media. And so I think it's absolutely necessary to do video because it's just the way that everybody's consuming media right now, you know? And it's the way that— it's the easiest way to establish trust with new people, in my opinion.
You know what's funny? That's why I do this, right? You know, one, I love connecting You know me, I love connecting with people. I love asking questions. I love learning. But it's also for that trust factor. Doing this video, doing this podcast, and if I can get one of my clients to do video and podcast in addition to doing paid advertising, their businesses will grow. It's, it's a very straightforward approach. But let's back— let's, before we go into that, let's talk about what are some of the keys. You, you have 3 keys, correct, in order to make this work. What's the first key in order to build this brand, to build this trust using video?
So the most important thing is knowing who you are. Because if you know who you are, you are going to attract who you are when you put yourself out there. That translates into social media. So what do you stand for? What do you— what are you against? Why is what you're doing important to you? Who are you as a person? You know, you share a little bit, you don't have to share everything, but you need to kind of share some of who you are with the world so that they know a part of you and then they feel like they can relate to you and that builds that trust, right? So that's the first thing.
Let's talk. I want to go into that. Like, what do you mean who you are? Do I have to talk about my faith? Do I have to talk about my politics? How I feel about free speech? Like, are we talking that kind of level?
No, I don't think so. I don't talk about any of those things. So I don't think so. But I think that in terms of like, so for example, I talk about skin of color, right? And so within skin of color, I will talk about controversial topics like skin bleaching. I will tell my patients I am against skin bleaching for the reason of becoming light because of all the cultural and all of the issues that come with that. So I will speak very vocally about that. I will talk about my challenges as a Black woman or as a Black doctor in America. Like, that's just— those are the things that— There's challenges.
I'm just kidding with you. No, I'm joking with you.
Oh, yeah. There's so many challenges. But like I said, like, most of the people who are attracted to what I have to say are also Black professionals, right? So they want to hear my side of it. Like, what was it like going to medical school? What are the issues that I've had as a business owner? Like, I just talk about the things— I just talk about myself. And I don't talk about everything. Like, I don't talk about my family or my personal business. Like, you know, social media, you don't put everything out there, but you put enough so that the person who's coming in to see you feels like they can connect with you on some level.
So what you're saying, it's kind of like meeting somebody at a party in the neighborhood. You're not gonna dump all your tale of woe on them, right?
Yes.
You're gonna say, I treat— I have an aesthetic practice at Treats women of color, right? That's— it makes you stand out. Great hook, by the way. That's a perfect— I love your market. What's the second key to make this work?
So the second thing is who you're trying to serve.
Okay, so in your case, you're serving women of color.
I'm serving women of color, and I choose women of color because one, I'm a woman of color. So like I said, it's just easier to understand what our needs are, what our struggles are, and all of that. So you need to know who you're trying to serve. And, you know, in the beginning, for a lot of people, it's actually really difficult to dial that down. But I have figured out that for the most part, you're basically trying to serve yourself. And if you think about it that way, it just makes things easy, in my opinion. So if you know yourself—
I think your opinion is dead on, right? I mean, you know, and I think especially the amazing thing about your market And it's not just people of color, it's women of color, because women in general deal with a whole different set of issues, right?
Yes.
Like, my fiancée Katie has a site called Take Charge of Menopause, right? And she's in her 50s, right? And in corporate America. And there's this whole issue nobody ever talks about it, right? So like with you, what you're doing is— I've never heard anybody— I've never realized And I'm in the medical space. I never realized that women of color deal with different skin issues than colored women, or women of color. Shouldn't say colored, right? That would be bad, um, because that's not what I meant there. But you know what I mean, right? Like, it's—
Yes.
So there's different issues. Give me some more examples, like knowing who you're— okay, so one, it's about who you are, right? That's your first key. And the second is under— is knowing your market, knowing who you're talking to.
Yes.
So can you give— okay, so use the example of bleaching. What would be another example of a topic that would only work in your market?
Okay, so for example, we're in an aesthetic market, right? And so when people are doing aesthetics, everybody thinks about anti-aging wrinkles, they think about fillers, volume restoration, right? That's really not what Black people, for example, are concerned about. They're concerned about hyperpigmentation. That's how Black people or people of color show their age. It's with pigment. It's not with— yes, it's not with wrinkles. I mean, when was the last time you saw a Black person that wrinkled or young?
Gotta admit, I've never really paid attention. Now you're gonna make me pay attention.
Pay attention.
Yeah, I see it now that I think about it.
Yeah.
I see it way more in white women. Right.
Yeah.
Huh.
Never thought about that.
Yeah. So when you know who your target is, if you know who you're serving, then you have an understanding of what their issues are. So another example for it is that I do some hair restoration treatments and I understand hair practices in African American women, be it with natural hair, with locs, which I have now, or with natural hair locs, weaves, like all of that. I understand hair practices and I understand all the pathology that can come from that. And so if I'm speaking about traction alopecia, I know exactly who I'm speaking to, right? And I know why they're pulling their hair in a certain way. I know the braid styles. I know all of that. And that's very specific to who I'm talking to. But I only know these things because I've experienced them myself. So it's really easy to talk about these topics. Or, for example, I do my kids' hair, so I know what can go into that. And sometimes, you know, if you're straightening your hair and you end up with a burn, and then I have to fix that burn, you know, like stuff like that. So it's important to know who you're talking to. And if you know who you're talking to, then you know what their issues are based on like their lifestyle. So you're not just talking skin, you're also including the lifestyle. in there in your marketing and as you're talking to them.
And you're talking also about the social stigma, it sounds like.
Exactly.
Okay, so do African American women— do women of color deal with more hair loss? Is that a more common thing?
It's not that they deal with more hair loss, it's just that hair is very important in our culture. Okay, so having Nice hair, long hair, you know, hair is very important. And so, but taking care of it is very time-consuming, right? So it would take— I take a whole Saturday just to do my kids' hair. For some people, that's completely unheard of. And so what people of color or Black women have to do is that they need to adopt hair care practices that limit the amount of time that's needed to do that. And in doing so, they usually will use practices that may harm their hair. So it's not that they inherently have hair loss, it's just that the things that they're doing to maintain their hair can cause problems. And so you have to educate them on, you know, actually, I, it's funny, I had a nurse practitioner send me a message like, can you please do a talk on how to manage hair in African Americans? Because I don't know how to talk to them about it. Or I don't know, you know, I feel uncomfortable trying to say stuff because I don't even know what products they use on their hair. Like when I, when they talk about perms, like, I don't know, is it curly hair, you know, perms of white people and problems with acne is a totally different thing. So I can speak to my audience because I understand all of those different things that they're dealing with. I understand what it's like for women to have PCOS and they have facial hair and that leads to pigmentation. And that always messes with their confidence. Like, if you cannot confidently, you know, talk to anybody, like you feel like you have to cover your face. I have people who just don't go outside because, you know, they get made fun of because they have hair on their face and nobody really understands the pathology behind it, they just make fun of you. And it can be quite terrifying, you know. So I understand those things. And I can speak to them because I see these patients all the time, and I treat this issue. So it's just easier for me to do that. So yeah, you need to understand your audience and what's going on with them.
Fascinating. Okay, then what's the third key in order to create—
The third is just the basics The basics of creating a video. So when you're making a video, the most important thing is the hook to get the person to watch the video, because, you know, attention spans right now are terrible. So you need something like a shock value.
I know what you're talking about.
You need a shock value when someone comes across your video. So for example, the video that had a million-plus views, the first thing they saw was a picture of someone's burn. And then the second thing that I did was I delivered something valuable, an educational point. So I told them the type of laser that's safe for darker skin types. And then a call to action, tell them to follow your page, or if they're in your area, tell them to come to your location. And it's that simple. You can do that in 15 seconds on TikTok.
Okay, and how long are these videos? Are you doing just TikTok, but are you doing Facebook? Are you doing LinkedIn?
So TikTok is my primary location for short form content, and I have slowly moved into doing YouTube videos, which I'm still learning, but it's getting some traction as well. And so with YouTube, I'm able to give more information on there for the people who have longer attention spans.
Okay. All right. So you're doing these— how often are you doing TikTok videos?
It depends. I have ADHD, so I can't batch create content, um, like most people do.
You don't have ADHD because if you had ADHD, you'd get stuck at the AD something something. Right. That's the— because you can't remember what the other 2 are.
Yeah, no, my attention span is terrible. So, um, I do try to batch create, but I would say I make content every day because it's just easier for me. When I see a patient and we talk about something like a topic, if I have 5 minutes in between, I'll sit down and shoot a video and then I keep going. So that's how I do it. But other people can sit down and make videos within an hour. You can have a good Chunk of videos.
Okay, now I put you on this— I want to put you on— I'm going to put you on the spot. Okay, okay, so let's do it right now, right? Like, I don't— you're not going to pull out your— well, if you wanted to pull out your phone, you can pull out your phone. Okay, what would be a topic that you heard in the last day or two that you think would be great for people to hear on TikTok?
Let me see. Um, let me try to figure this out. So in the last— I'm trying to think of my consultations that I've had today. Okay, so very common one is sunscreen. So should women of color wear sunscreen? That's a hook because everybody's talking about it and nobody wants to wear sunscreen because we think we're Black, we don't get burned or whatever. So that would be my hook, and then I would give the value. I would say women of color need to wear sunscreen because UV rays can cause worsening hyperpigmentation in their skin. Hyperpigmentation is a problem they're trying to prevent. And calls to action would be to follow me more for content for people of color. And that'd be it.
It's that simple. And you're literally just taking out your phone and hitting record.
Exactly.
Okay. So, but you don't go and recommend like what level of sunscreen they should wear, brand or anything like that?
So you can, and I do sometimes. And, you know, You know, so you'll do a video. So something like that is a hook. It's what I call a hook video, because even though it's a full video, it's still a hook video because it's going to lead people to ask you questions. And so one of the things I love about TikTok is that you can reply to people's questions with a video. And so when a person asks a question, it'll pop up on the top, and then I can go further into what my recommendations are. If it's an over-the-counter option, I might say you need to wear SPF 30 to 50, and these are the brands that I like, depending on your skin type. Is it oily? Is it dry? Is it combination? Is it mature? Is it teenage? You get the drift. So, so you have the opportunity to continue to lead on in terms of what you give. And again, with skincare, it's really not considered medical advice because it's over-the-counter stuff that you're recommending. It's not like you're giving a prescription or anything like that. So.
Got it.
Now, are you running—
you're not running any paid ads yet on TikTok? Have you tried at all?
I did try, but it didn't— to me, it wasn't worth it. So one of the things that people don't realize about TikTok is that when you post, it will go to your geographical area first before it goes to the rest of the country or the world.
Okay.
So I didn't think— it didn't seem like it was necessary. I've tried it, it really didn't bring much in, but if I did my videos, then I would get more people coming in. So it wasn't worth it for me. I think I spent like $100 and it didn't make any difference. So I get better traction with my organic content. Okay.
And then now you're starting, you said you're starting to branch out a little bit into YouTube and Facebook. So how much longer, what kind of length of video do you look to do on those?
So on YouTube, I'm trying to do between 3 to 10 minute videos. And those are hard for me because I'm so used to making short-form content. And so, so sitting down and, you know, you have to plan the video, right? You can't just sit down and just spit out nonsense. And so I think that's a bit more difficult, but I like those because I guess you could call them evergreen content, because once you've done it, especially if it's a topic that people are searching, then, um, it'll just keep, you know, leading people to your practice. So for example, yesterday I got a I got a message on one of my videos that I did in 2019, like a video, similar video. So what I did was that video that blew up, the 1.4 million views, I did a 10— I did a 13-minute video all about lazy hair removal, and I left it on the— on YouTube. And all of a sudden it's picking up steam. I don't know why it's picking up steam now, but I'm getting more questions. And someone was like, do you know anyone in the DMV in the DC area that you can recommend? Because someone just burned me and I need to find someone else. I was like, I'm in the DC metro area. So now the videos are starting to, you know, bring people into the office. So.
Yeah, I mean, I think your stuff is great. I mean, I watch your stuff all the time, right? And not just because you're— not just because you're a client, but I've watched your stuff prior to that. I've always thought it was really, really good. I mean, I love the one you did with your mom. That was fantastic. That was the— that was great.
And I like—
you do some before and afters too, don't you?
Yes, I do. Initially, it was hard to get people to allow me to do before and afters, but now I'm starting to get more people who are comfortable and I can do some before and afters. Yeah.
Why do you think they're more comfortable now to give you before and afters?
So my younger patients are more comfortable on social media and they understand that they came in because of my before and afters or from seeing other things that are being done in the office. But my older patients just don't want people to know what they're doing.
Yeah, it's understandable. Okay. Do you mind if we stick? I want to ask a couple of other questions that are outside of this, if you don't mind. Is that all right?
Sure. Okay.
And then, you know, I want, I want you to give your site and everything of where people can find out more, because I know you help people do this. But you said something, and I think it's important for people to dive into, especially I find that, you know, doctors, medical professionals, they're not really ones— they carry a lot of inner burden with regards to medical issues. And you said something that You were dealing with some depression back in 2020 when your practice closed. I'm putting you on the spot to talk about this. If that's something you don't want to dive into, that's fine. But since you threw it out there, but, you know, when you said you were dealing with depression, what was that like? What, what did it feel like? What was it like for you in that time? Because I— and I won't— you and I have shared a lot of your personal stories. I'm not gonna— because I know you had a lot of other things going on.
Yes.
In the background at the time, right? But like, when did you first notice that you had depression coming?
A little caveat.
And we're doing air quotes, by the way, around depression, right? Like you didn't go to, you didn't go to the psych ward. Not that there's anything wrong with going to the psych ward.
No, no, no, no. I just stayed in bed. I just stayed in bed. The little caveat is that when lockdown happened, I was 6 weeks postpartum. So that's one thing.
And I had— You don't even need the lockdown to get that.
Right? So this was my second pregnancy. I went through a C-section. So in my first pregnancy, I had postpartum depression. So that was was kind of part of it. But, you know, I think the hardest part was just knowing that I had spent almost 2 years building this practice. And it literally was just gone. Like, I— it was shut down. And, you know, I had to deal with things I never thought about. I had to let go of employees, I had to figure out unemployment for them, for myself. And then I had to figure out, well, how do I make money? How do I sustain myself when everything I do is tied to a brick-and-mortar business. Yeah, that was hard.
What did you do?
How did you dig yourself out? What were some of the things you did?
So what I did was, thanks to being on video, I actually was going to start working with a skincare company to speak for them. And so because I couldn't speak for them, I got paid to do Instagram Lives, to do videos talking about skincare. And that's literally what buffered me until I was able to open my practice again.
So 6 weeks post-C-section, your second child, dealing with postpartum, COVID lockdown, and all the crap that goes with that, right? Not being able to carry anything. My first wife had 2 C's. I know it's not, it's not easy. Looking back at it, How did that change you?
I mean, you know, it changed me in so many different ways. One of the things that I learned about myself is I can handle a lot.
Yes, you can.
I can handle a lot. But I also started to see things as— when you start to look at it from a positive point of view and try to ask yourself, well, okay, why is this happening? How can you benefit from it? It helped me restructure my practice. So prior to COVID, I was not focusing on skin of color. I was just doing aesthetics in general. And so I had time to like really look and look at my books and see who's coming in, what are the issues that they're asking me about. And I took the extra time to learn a lot more about how do you approach skin of color. And like, you know, like the terrible thing is like I found out there's only 2 textbooks for dermatology for skin of color. And I'm like, what? You know, like just starting to see the nuances that, you know, people of color has to deal with. Like actual dermatologists don't have education on skin of color. It's like a tiny little, little 10 pages in an entire textbook.
About the same as they have on business. So yeah, it's—
Right. So yeah, and then also, you know, everything that happened with George Floyd and like that movement, you know, it just kind of You know, I was just like— and I was terrified to do this, okay? So I'm an internal medicine physician, I'm not a dermatologist. And so here I am as an internist deciding to go into cosmetic dermatology, focusing on skin of color. That was terrifying. But I think once I went through the pandemic and I got through that, it just— I just developed this courage that I didn't think I had. And I just didn't care what anybody thought, and I just wanted to do what I wanted to do to help my people and to serve my people. And yeah, that's how that came about.
You got over the imposter— you moved past the imposter syndrome pretty quickly.
I'm not completely over it because now I'm at a point where, like, dermatologists— like, I have derms sending patients to me and I have derms asking me questions. And I'm just like, well, damn, you guys are the dermatologists. Like, should I be actually talking about it? So I still struggle with it sometimes. I'm not going to lie. But it's much better than it was in 2020.
Yeah, you can see how I feel. I'm not even a doctor and I get doctors that ask me about erectile dysfunction. So go figure, you know, how to treat it. I'm like, you realize I'm not a doctor, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But anyway, okay. So yeah, uh, very interesting. What would you tell somebody that's in a really rough— that's listening to this, that's in a really rough spot, that is dealing with what we call the gray, not wanting to get out of bed, or the black dog of depression? You know, that's what Winston Churchill called it. that's barking at the— that's scratching at the door? What would you tell somebody?
So what worked for me was just taking things one day at a time. It was literally trying to live the best day possible. And if I did that, then I could go to the next day. And one of the other things that I really love is just being grateful for what you have. And so when you show gratitude and you really stop focusing on what's going on on the outside and say, okay, do I have a place to stay? Do you have food to eat? Can you breathe? Because, you know, for me, for a long time, I couldn't breathe well, right? So I'm like, I breathe every day without issues. Like, this is a blessing. And my kids are healthy. And, you know, you just go to like the very micro granular things that you're grateful for. Like, you can breathe the air outside. And you just focus on making that day the best possible day that it can be, right? Do something good for somebody, like just help somebody out with the groceries. Don't think too far into the future because I have anxiety too, so I'm not putting myself out there. And so, you know, like, I'm like, all right, well, let's not do that. The only thing I have control over is today. And so let me do the best that I can do. For today. And then tomorrow I do the same thing. And I literally take everything one day at a time.
Now, what do you see in the future with this? What do you see this work that you're doing? What's kind of that little dent in the universe you're going to make?
You know, I'm going to share my dream with you, which is not something that I wanted to put on social media, but whatever. So one of my dreams is to have a I don't know if it's going to be a business or nonprofit or hospital or resource center, but I would love for— I would love to have a research center that focuses on health-related issues in people of color because it's different, right?
Mm-hmm.
I grew up in West Africa and I had malaria every single month on top of my asthma that I had to deal with. And to this day, there's no treatment for malaria. To this day, there's no treatment. I have a, um, a girl that I help out, and she's been dealing with typhoid for the past 6 months. You know, she keeps going back to the hospital because of the water and all of that, and there's no treatment for that, you know. Um, and so when you come from a country or from a third world country where our tropical issues are not really seen as, you know, the biggest deal, and research dollars are not gone are not going towards that, then we get left behind. So my goal is to build a big enough brand where I can get people to put money together to, to fund research that is specific for people of color, um, in these tropical regions so that we're not left behind. That's my goal.
Thank you for sharing that. You know, it's amazing when you share, right? Because all of a sudden We've all got this little dent in the universe we're supposed to make, right? And most people never share it because they're embarrassed by it, or you'll think this is silly. But you just exhibited that bravery that we all need to have, because you never know who's going to listen to this and going, oh my God, that's the exact same thing I've been wanting to do, and I've got something set up. Happens all the time. So good for you.
Yes.
How do people get in touch with you if they want to find out more about this? Or more importantly, you coach people on creating videos for TikTok and other social media, correct? How do they, how do they track you down?
No, the easiest way to get a hold of me is through probably through Instagram. So my handle on Instagram is, uh, Dr. DMD, and it's my handle on TikTok and on YouTube as well. So that's how you can find me. And my website is aesthetics.delightmd.com. And between all of that, somebody can get a hold And yes, I do.
Is Dr. D just the letter D? Dr. D, the letter D?
No, D-E-E.
Okay, D-E-E. Dr. D-E-E, M.D.?
Yeah, M.D. Yeah.
Okay, great. And you're on Facebook, and I find, you know, I track you on Facebook and all that. So yeah, check her out. Really proud of the work you're doing. You know, we've had the opportunity to kind of stay in touch over the last couple of years, and it's been fun to really watch your development and growth. And, uh, I know you're tapping into something really, really great, and it's going to be wonderful. So good for you.
Thank you. Thanks for helping me out.
Yay! Anytime, anytime. All right, folks, again, check her out at Dr. Dee MD. That's D-E-E MD. That's Dr. Dee MD on Instagram. And follow her, check out her videos. And, uh, you never know, maybe she'll be coming to a town just right down your street, helping other doctors do the same thing in their neighborhoods, in their cities. For helping women of color with their aesthetic issues. So, Dee, thank you so much.
No problem.
All right. Thank you so much for listening. If you liked this episode, take a moment and share it with your fellow medical professionals, or post a positive comment and rate it on wherever you just listened. Now don't forget, you can get a copy of my book, The Anatomy of a 7-Figure Medical Practice, for free. Just pay $7.95 in shipping and handling. Plus, you'll get over $1,197 in free bonus material. Simply go to srpmedicalmarketing.com/book. That's srpmedicalmarketing.com/book. Thank you so much, and we'll see you next week.
