From NHS GP to CEO: Dr. Obi Oji's Inspiring Journey

So we got there in the end. Today is another day. We're back again at the studio for Money Wise Doctors and we've got a really special gentleman today. We'll call him the Duke. He's certainly not the Duke of Cornwall, but he's the Duke somewhere up in. Up north. He's a fantastic writer, he writes prose, he's a medical doctor, a gp, but he's much more than that. He's also the CEO and founder of Time Wash, which is it sounds at the beginning when you look at it sounds like a car wash. But it's not just a car wash. It's a special arrangement that allows doctors and healthcare professionals to be able to book car wash to get their cars washed while they are still at work or at home at their convenience. When I go to car washes, but I haven't seen a Cowboys that has an app until I saw Time Wash. So Time Wash is a special arrangement. I'm sure that I haven't done full justice to your portfolio. I know you've written a book or maybe two, but I'm going to let you introduce yourself, Dr. Obi, and tell us a bit more about what you do.

Hello, My name is Dr. Obiora Oji. I'm sure I probably wouldn't have said it any better than you have just because it's me. I would have to say a bit more. But yeah, I am a gp. I am the founder of Time Wash which is the first NHS based on site eco friendly car care solution. So like Andy said, what we do is we provide on site washing for NHS staff. We just have to pre book and then we'll sort out every detail and at the end of your shift you have a clean sparkling car to go on to. Wow. I am also a writer, I have a couple of books under my wings. I've got another one, hopefully in the next couple of months. The things I'm passionate about is really about providing solutions, finding things that can be fixed, looking at where people are struggling and finding a way to sort them out with intuitive thinking. So I can at least spare a second to say how well you've done with your money wise doctor. It's growing in lips and bounds and clearly I'm sure we will be able to get something.

Thank you very much. I can see, I can see, I can see you're being called in the background. There are people that want your attention so I appreciate it.

All right, so currently we are at Levante, it's a Spanish town, I think the most popular the most popular name would be the Benidorm brand.

I think it's closer to Benidorm.

Yeah, it's a cool downtown. It's just day one so I, I don't really have a lot that I've seen but yeah, we've got a few more days to be able to explore.

The city and then you probably have warmer temperature there. This is what Dukes do. Once the snow starts falling, they escape.

Yes, it was snowing at the time we left the uk so but it's different. It's a bit chilly but there's some sun so it's a good mix.

That's a welcome break. That's fantastic. I mean you, you work hard, you're hard working guy, you deserve the break and everything. Right. So let's, let's delve in and basically. I know, I know you've mentioned you do time wash. You, you've got a couple of books. One of them is right here on my shelf to Air is Woman. Did I get that right?

Yeah, absolutely.

And you write more than your books. You do a lot of useful, short, funny, entertaining stuff. You write online. But I'm interested in going back a bit in terms of before you got to this point where you have all these things going on. Right. I'm interested in where did your journey start, your journey of entrepreneurship. I mean you're a doctor and you, you do all these things because an average doctor tends to just focus on, you know, the world and you know, try to locum and all of that, but you're doing a bit more. Where, where did this all start? Have you always been that way or is that something that got sparked at some point?

Yes. It's an interesting question because personally I've had to do some introspection maybe a few weeks back to say what was it? What was the game changer for me? Where did I start to feel the need to do more? And I think it does date to maybe well in medical school, in the early years of med school. I've got some form of historically business minded parents so I think that was again an extra boost. My mom did run a grocery store and at some point I remember I insisted that we had we start to sell kerosene at the time. So.

All right.

And she, she asked me to, to invest in that aspect of our business. So I got some money, I bought a few liters of kerosene and then I had the marketing up to myself. So at the time I put out a notice, buy your sweet kerosene here. And people were like, There's odd things like that that I think got me a bit more vested in investing and in. In business as a principal. So I carried it through medical school. Some of the people who know me for quarterback, they probably will remember that I did run a. Well, a provision store again, in medical school.

Oh, okay. You had a provision store while you're in med school?

Yeah. Okay. It's. It's not the most conventional, but, yes, I think I'm more fulfilled when I'm meeting needs.

Okay.

Medicine has its role. I know it's a bit more holistic, but in terms of meeting the key needs, human existence, food, water, security, shelter, basic things where I can help, basic needs. I would usually invest myself to do that. It does give me a special sense of fulfillment.

That's amazing. That's amazing. I mean, that one is going to stick to my head now. Sweet. Kerosene. I know I never said this, but most people don't know that. When I was a teenager, I was selling kerosene while preparing for my job to get into medical school. One of our mutual friends who have sadly passed where we met, he came to buy kerosene. Yeah, but my kerosene was not sweet. Yours was sweet. Yeah. Yeah. So what I can pull out from that is that obviously it didn't just start from nowhere. You started, I mean, a lot of entrepreneurs, medics, and I find that whatever side hustle they do, they started a while back, but it didn't stop at that. You continued, even to the point where you're creating new stuff. I know you got time, Wash. When I did a bit of preparation for this podcast, I found out that you also got an E commerce store that you run with your wife. An E commerce business. So you're meeting. You're meeting me from various fronts. Yeah. But at the end of the day, one big question that most people ask is you're a gp. And I know you're not just like a gp, like me, who goes to work every now and then to keep their license. You're an active gp. How do you balance this with your family life, with your, you know, your businesses? How do you find. How do you find. How do you find the time to do all of that? Okay.

So, yeah, that's something that I have had to explain over time. Really. I'm lucky that I have a wife who understands how my mind works. So I've got support, massive support on the home front because that, that takes a chunk of the dress away. If you've got someone who understands your.

Vision that always helps. SHOUT OUT so.

So, yeah, I'll give her the credit for that. But beyond that special support that she provides, what I find myself doing in life, you do have to prioritize, you do have to say, what. Where is your passion most and what do you have to do to be able to make your passion sustainable?

So, absolutely.

My passion, especially at this age, is more in creating opportunities and solving problems. The medical bit of my personality, obviously, is still there. I still have to do the job, I still have to provide some significant care to my patients and that's, again, indispensable. So it's balancing these two. One of them I do, because I love to do, another one I love to do and I have to do it. So it's just marrying both and truly for everyone. If you. The only thing you don't find time for is what you don't love. So it's just doing what you love, really, and using the hours of the day.

So the striking thing you said there, the only thing you don't find time for is what you don't love. I mean, one would think you're on holiday, you're abroad at the moment. And then I'm also sort of like, in between meetings and all that stuff, we're finding time to do this stuff. Maybe. Maybe we love. Maybe we love. We love getting in front of a camera. Maybe we love talking to ourselves and giving people unsolicited advice over the Internet, like 1,100 subscribers. Like our unsolicited advice. Yeah, true.

There's no doubt. There's no. There's no loss. It's a win. Win. You don't know who's going to be listening, you don't know whom you're speaking to. So hopefully someone picks one bit or the other from what we do.

Absolutely. So. So the Duke, that's an interesting name. How did that name come about? Was that when you came to the uk, people looked at him? The name. The name fits quite well. I mean, for my audience, who don't know you or they haven't heard you speak, or they have. They might not understand, but the name seems to rest quite well on you. How did that name come about? Yeah, how did the name. Did you come about?

All right, so it's. I think it was just timing. What was that movie that was. We had the Duke featuring. Let me remember now.

I think I know the one. I think I know the one. Is that Bridgerton?

Bridgerton, yeah. Yeah. So it was Bridgeton and the very popular character they had there The. The Duke who. It did seem. It seemed like he had quite some. He did. It did look like he was well liked. So, yeah, yeah, coincidentally, obviously the lduk did. They were looking for Duke up and down.

That's interesting.

But it was more of jet and banter, really. It was just me catching queues, like I often try to do online, so. And somehow I said it. I said it so often that it started to.

It stung. Now, I would think of you. We think of you first as we do before we think of you as Dr. Obi. That's fantastic. So let's get into here. Moneywifedoctor.com obviously you knew we were going to talk about money. When we get here, we're not probably going to go into relationship advice. That's not what we do. We talk about doctors, doctors finances, doctors and businesses, how doctors can maximize their finances. So let's start in terms of the business you do. We mentioned a few, but could you tell us a little bit more about what, what, what businesses you do or any interesting investments you've done so far? I think we'll start with Time Wash and then we'll go down the line for the others that we don't know about. All right.

So clearly Time Wash is the one that I have given the most exposure to because it's, it's a startup, so it's not like I've gone to invest in an already existing business. And because we did have a bit of a niche, it was easy to try to target who exactly we built it to and then try to sell it to them. And because it is a company that is looking beyond their presence, there is some futuristic tendency to it. So it's probably still early days, but we've got our eyes on the, on the. On the journey. So, yeah, we're building Time Wash to be able to replicate it across the UK and beyond. Keep staying. So it's still very early in that process, bro. Yeah, yeah. So that's one business.

Yes. Just sizing for someone who doesn't understand, what does Time Wash do? What makes it different from other car washes?

Yeah, so there are a few things that make us unique. The fact that we employ eco friendly washing solutions. So we're working with high pressure steam washers. We are on site on NHS car parks. So basically we have staff who come to work like any other day and then if they've been booked to get a wash done, we sort out their cars while they're at work. This we do without making a mess of the environment, without leaving any sodas or water across the parking lot. And obviously, the key thing is the timeliness. So we've got. As in the name, Time Wash. We try to stick to the time that those people are booked into Wash. So clearly, if you've got a shift that takes you from eight to two and you've got a slot for one, the expectation is that your car will be done at the time you booked in for. And you.

You don't.

We wouldn't be the reason why you leave work late. So it's. So that. That's. That's the difference. That's the difference between it and the regular hand car wash or any other.

Car wash. That is fantastic. That is fantastic. I mean, I'd like to have my car washed while I'm doing this podcast or. Or while I'm. I'm seeing a patient, rather than having to drive my car to the car wash and then go out for a walk and then come back. So that's fantastic. We'll have a link to Time Wash in the show notes for those who want to check it out, which we will soon send a delegation to the Duke to convince them to set up some Time Wash franchises in the southwest, down in Cornwall and Devon. It seems they started from the north, but we want them to give us some consideration because the NHS hospitals here could actually do with some Time Wash. All right, let's go to the next one. I know, I know you're a man of many hearts.

Well, yeah, the other thing is perhaps not as high key, but obviously I've got a few interests in real estate in the uk, so. And back home in Nigeria as well. So these are all right, expected to be passive income, but. Yes, it does, it does, it does. It's, it's, it's. It's a gradual thing. I think you only carry as much as you can carry at a time, but clearly.

Absolutely.

I understand the power of real estate, I understand the prospects it holds, and I try to use some portion of what my income is to invest in that area. So.

Investment. I. I know you're being very modest, the Duke. Yeah. Because some. Someone, a JPA colleague, said he visited you and after he studied his new house, which is a fantastic house, by the way. His new house I've been to a few years ago now look like a toy house, because you've been to your mansion, so I know you have some investments.

Well, you people can say what they like.

We all live in houses.

We all. We have. We've got accommodation. That's the Most important.

Yeah, we all live in houses. That's lovely. Do you want to tell us a bit about this e commerce business? What, what is it you guys sell? If you want to tell us. The shop. Yeah.

So we've got an online profile where we sell some kids gadgets. This is mostly piloted by my wife. So we're selling writing tablets which we've had made to specification from abroad and then we've got them on ebay.

Wow.

I think she's got another as well. But yeah, again, it's nice. Well, it's, it's, it's just one of the things on the side, you know. I strongly believe that money is best working for you. It's best you, you, you put it in something that can eventually yield something. So I try to sell it across board.

I mean it's, it's nice to have multiple streams of income because part of the joy I find, I find that the joy I get from practicing medicine is being able to go as much or as little as I want to do it and knowing that it's not my sole source of income. It's interesting. You have an E commerce shop. I remember four or five years ago when I was a junior doctor, when I was a tr, you know, we launched an E commerce store as well because then obviously junior doctors in the UK don't get paid that very much and that is part of why the strike I'll say can be quite justified. So I, I needed to have that additional source of income. So that was probably why I started an E commerce store until today. The E commerce stuff runs now and I put in like zero effort into it. But the funny bit is that money wise doctor, which is all free and doesn't make any money, takes me so much time compared to the E commerce stock which pays for itself. Well, you shouldn't be surprised.

Like I said, the early days are usually going to be demanding of your time. So for money wise doctors it's early days. You're taking up new challenges, you need to build a structure.

Yeah.

It's something all across board.

Yes.

Over time, hopefully if you stick to the dream long enough, there is no reason why you won't get to that point where you're looking back and say zero effort. So much income.

I suppose part of it is my wife will ask me, is this money wise doctor, is it a business or a hobby? Just because she sees how much I enjoy doing it and she says it spares her having to hear all about finance and economics and all that because she's had it, she's had it for many years since we've been married. She's now become a money wise doctor herself. So she said, yeah, it's good. I have a blog or podcast, I can tell people all these ideas so that if I tell it to a thousand, two thousand people out there, then she doesn't have to hear me talk about how you can optimize your taxes and make sure you're not paying too much or make sure you're getting your best returns from the stock market. So I love, I love, I love that, I love that you've got like those multiple sources of income and all that. Right. But it's, I don't imagine it was like that from the beginning. I'm sure that you landed in the uk like many people don't know if you came in with inheritance or a big pot of money. Can you tell us what the journey was like? Yeah. What was the journey like from, from the beginning, from the plot period.

Yeah. So it's a funny story. Six years, seven years back. It was a different, a different scenario. Clearly we've had to do, we've done our time, the building process, the making mistakes, learning from them, going again, trying to play by the book, falling afoul in certain cases and learning. I think the, the most important in all of this is the process and the experiences you get as you grow. So it hasn't always been easy. Even now I'm sure it's not terribly easy, but it's, it's, we can look back and say, yes, we are not where we used to be and something to show that we, we aren't where we used to be. So yes, it's good.

I, I, I can imagine some people do different types of job in the uk. When people tell you the jobs they've done, especially those that came in as students, you'll be surprised when you see them. But, but you said we are not where. You're not where you wish to be yet. Obviously you're still on the journey. But also if you look back, you're not where you used to be because where you are now for some people is like a big, they're looking at it and like, oh, if I can get to the duchy, if I can get to where the Duke is, I would have made it. But what, you realize that when you get there, you realize that there are levels to this thing.

There's many more challenges, many more things to conquer. So it's, I think everyone should enjoy where you are. It's, it Gets better with time for those who are new to the system, or maybe you're not so new, but you think it's been you running from villa to post.

Yeah.

Enjoy the time, the journey. It's a journey. Use the experiences. You get to make better choices. And it's the choices that actually make the difference, really. So it does get better for most people, but you do need to put in the time.

You need to put in the time. Yeah. Things are not going to magically align. You need to build the networks, build the relationships, learn what you need to learn. So you need to get certified. Especially as an immigrant, get certified. You know, you might have been like a chief consultant or a senior engineer back in your country before you came, but you still need to learn what you need to learn. You. Before. Before we came on the podcast, you were like, oh, yeah, we're still on the journey. And I. I think I. I was telling you something about being on the bus stop. You're saying, oh, yeah, we're at the bus stop. And I said, also at this top, but it's not my business. So it might be at the pay stop, some people at the airport, some people at the bus stop. And, you know, and there was important is that you're looking at where you were, because most times people are thinking. And that is part of why a lot of us, it took us a while before we started creating content or telling people what we do. You find out that what you take for granted, what you already know, that you get like 10, 20 people calling you every week, how can I do this? How can I do that? Because you're thinking, I'm not yet there. I'm not yet a billionaire. And I'm thinking, oh, yeah, just, you know, it sounds like I'm trying to say I've arrived, but basically, you're teaching us your own experience. You're teaching people what you already do. And I say with most people, find it very valuable. Find it really valuable. Right. Okay, so what's next? I know, I know you're thinking of at some point starting to create video, audio, content and. Yeah. Do you want to tell us a bit more or is this still under wraps?

Well, this is the first time I'm talking about it, so I can say that.

The first.

Yeah. So it's. It's. To be honest, I said to prepare for this maybe two years ago, just after Kovid, I wanted to do a podcast. I got a few materials, got a few equipments, but it didn't seem quite right. I didn't have the, there's a degree of, of comfortable you need to be before cameras, before you need to, before you get going. So I would say I've been doing the inside job of myself, trying to improve that aspect of me. I'm happy to write. I can write without being asked to, but to speak in front of cameras, get, be live, be recorded, that's a different kettle. So I've worked on myself to some extent. I'm still very juvenile, still going to make the rookie mistakes. But yes, I'm looking to produce something in the Next. Well, hopefully 2024. Discussing the IMG's journeys. Yeah, discussing my journey, looking at the entrepreneur journey. So it's mostly a podcast, a YouTube channel to, to discuss, discuss people maximizing the potentials that they are. So it would be uplifting, it would be realistic because we'll be looking at real life scenarios and we'll be taking advices, however seated, to improve everybody's experience.

Well, well, I can't wait. I can't wait for you to go live. I'm going to be one of your subscribers. I can, can, I can fully, I'll say resonates with me. I've been writing for a, for a long time. I've been an editor in chief and I've always been writing, funny enough, when I was my early 20s, 21, 22, I'll be in seminars, conferences. I'll be on, you know, like I'll be on TV and radio and all that. But when it came to pointing a camera to myself, you know, it's different when you're on stage and I, I really hesitated for a very long time. No, I don't want, no, I'm not, I'm not one of those social media, content creator, social media influencer, blogger. Oh, look at me. Oh yeah. But at the end of the day, like, you know, people taking information in different ways and why, why I still write. We still write our newsletter every week, Money wise doctor Weekly. We send out our newsletter to thousands of subscribers every week. I was still right on the blog, but once I started doing video, I was like, oh, I should have started this long ago. All you need to do is to do one. And the first one who cares is going to be bad. The quality might be great. We're not yet at the zenith, we're still doing stuff. But after a while you find out that if you just keep improving and the second thing, you realize that nobody really cares. Your neighbors or your friends, they don't really care that you're on video. Maybe Sometimes. This was Obi after medical school in uk. Decided to now be on camera and trying to make jokes.

My dad rang me. My dad rang me like three weeks ago. So I had this video where there's one of the YouTube content creators came around to my time. Wash hurts.

Yeah.

Did a video of me doing cars. Well, my dad ran me, says amongst our, you know what is now.

Calling.

Him to ask him. No. Is it? Yes.

This is. This is the journey. Right. When you're building, I can imagine that, let's say McDonald's. If you watch that movie, entrepreneur or the. The founder, sorry. You find out at the beginning, you're cooking the burgers, you're doing stuff by yourself. When it blows up and becomes a multi million pound franchise and it's global, people, nobody remembers at that point, you have to do. You have to do what you had to do. Yeah, yeah. Well, I don't mind. That's fantastic. I mean, thank you for taking out the time. I know you're on holiday so it should be relaxing fully. I suspect they're going to have you back maybe when. When we start your channel and we've got some more. We can go into some more integrity. We'll probably have better equipment then at that point as well. Or not equipment better. Better technical know how of videos and all that. And you. You even be more camera native at that point. Yeah. So do you have any parting words or things you'd like to tell to, you know, our audience?

All right, so I would like to again say how wonderful your. Your channel is.

All right.

I'm very serious because.

Thank you.

Nobody likes to talk about the details when it concerns money. Me inclusive. I. There are times I've had meetings maybe with an accountant and I keep deferring it because I have an idea what.

They'Re going to say and I know.

I'm not going to like it.

Yeah.

Money is. Not everybody loves money, but not everybody wants to know the details.

No.

So you found that vacuum and you're filling it quite extensively. So just keep at it. Same thing I've got to say to everyone, consistency eventually pays. It will consistency good. You will get lips and bouncing. Good. So just keep at it and I'm sure in a 6 months, 12 months time, it would be a different story.

Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. We really appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Now. Now, when we want to find you. I'm still aware that for hospitals in Cornwall and Devon, we don't have a time wash yet. But let's say where Are you located? Where are your front. Where is Time Wash looking at if people wanted to? Because we've got about a thousand subscribers now and vast majority of them are doctors. Where can they use your services? Where can they find you?

Yes. So we are currently based at the Northeast Hospital. We are just at the main Vistas car park which is opposite the A and D. And you. It's a conspicuous hot we're using. It's got the Time Wash brand all across it.

Nice, nice. And you have a website as well, isn't it?

Yes. So you can easily find us on www.timewash.org. you obviously choose whatever services you want and the time and the payments. All of that you can do on the website and on. Yeah.

Wow, that's amazing. So we're going to put that in the show notes WW www.timewash.org so not.com go to that blog and you get enough. Yeah, go and check them out. I haven't used it personally but I've had really, really fantastic testimonies.

Very excellent reviews.

Yeah.

Pick us up on trustpilot.

Yeah, so far, yeah, you guys have got really good reviews and who wouldn't want that? Sort of like being able to go to work, get that convenience of having your car washed. I'll pay for that as well. Happy? I'll happily pay a bit more than I pay for my regular hours to have that done. Well, well thanks. Thank you so much for joining us today and thank you for sharing your wisdom, your experience and your insights with us. And when you start your channel, let us know. We're looking forward to coming over to learn and support you in any way we can.

Well, you know, you're my bottom in that regard.

It's okay. All right, thank you. All right then. All right. So. All right. Thank you. Right. So yeah, thank you for joining us for that interview with Dr. Obi. Obviously, if you want to get more insights on finances for doctors, healthcare professionals invite you to visit www.moneywisedoctor.com. if you're looking to buy your first house, some advice in terms of getting the right mortgage, finding the right mortgage advisors. So go over to www.moneywisedoctor.com on the home page I'll be able to download a free book that will give you the step by step guide on how to go about it. Right. And of course, if you want to make sure you continue to get notified when we release new content like this or when we release new content that could be helpful on finances, click subscribe and click the notification button. To make sure that you are notified anytime we release new content. All right, then. Bye. Bye.