Episode 0072: Tanya Beaubrun

You're listening to the Business and Life podcast, where seven days a week, proven entrepreneurs share their success stories, failures, and give you true value on how you can build a great business and an awesome life. With your host, Mike Olivas.

What's happening, guys?

Today we're talking to Tanya Bobern, a.

Family physician specializing in functional and integrative medicine, as well as a certified wellness and lifestyle empowerment coach, motivational speaker, and author. Dr. Bobin has dedicated her career to helping people feel their best in their bodies so they can live happily and healthy lives, rediscovering their body joy. Tanya, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me. It's great to finally meet up.

Absolutely. Yes. Thanks so much for jumping on. Tell our listeners something interesting about yourself.

I am a lover of sunrises.

That's awesome.

I get up early in the morning to get to see the sun rise out of the ghetto. You know, it fuels me. It sustains me. So I think that that is something interesting because this morning I actually got up early to watch the sun come over the horizon. So as an island girl, that really fuels me.

That is a great way to start the day, I'd assume. Right.

And it is.

I do the same thing with the beach, my beach walks. I have my coffee on the water. I live in Puerto Rico, but when I didn't live in Puerto Rico, I was in Southern California and I would do the same thing. I was very adamant about that just because it's. It's so easy for people. Like you're an island girl now. I live in an island, and so I didn't grow up on the island. But it's so easy, for example, your fellow islanders, to take that for granted. Right.

I will tell you that I did for many years and was away for a few years and missed it terribly. So once I got back home, I tried to take it in as often as I can.

Good, good. Absolutely. Which island?

St. Lucia.

Oh, awesome. So tell us a little bit about your company, the name of it, of course, and what it kind of brings to the marketplace. What it is, what does it do, I guess.

Well, the company, I have a number of them, but the one that's recent and dearest to my heart is Satya Integrative Medical Services, which is really the home of my functional and integrative medical practice. And that is housed within my other baby, which is the Rodney Bay Medical center, which is one of the premier family medicine urgent clinics on our island. So after about over 20 years of practicing traditional western medicine, I felt called to do something more. And I took what was supposed to be a one year that turned into a three year surgery study leave to delve into the study of functional and integrative medicine. And that's my passion right now.

Wow. So tell me who that serves, let's say statute of Integrated Medical Services. Who does that serve? What do they do for your clients or your patients?

I guess the goal of statute Integrated Medical services is really to help my patients, both male and female, but primarily female, live longer, healthier and happier. And as you may, some of your listeners may know, functional medicine is really what we call precision medicine or personalized or root cause medicine. Traditional medicine is really based on treating symptoms and treating a disease, whereas functional and integrative medicine is really based on treating the individual who happens to have a particular imbalance that's manifest as a disease. So that is, I treat everybody. It's a family medical practice. So whoever comes in is treated and managed with a unique cocktail of healing modalities.

Okay, great. And so if you're going to give our listeners some great advice today out of your findings and the law of averages, let's say in medical world is there, what do you find is the biggest issue health wise with patients? Does it come with their personal deficiencies that they didn't know about or is it a root cause, like something along the lines of diet? That can probably help.

I think what's fueling the epidemic of chronic disease and dare I say cancer is really inflammation and as you get older, stress. So I think we have not yet tapped the potential of the effect of inflammation on our bodies from very young newborns are tested. When you test the umbilical cord, the levels of toxins in the blood is really scary. And if we are born in this era facing toxins from birth, then there is no way we stand a chance of living longer, healthier and happy if we do not start addressing the causes of inflammation. And yes, diet is one of the main causes, as is stress. Environmental pollution is one.

Wow. Yeah, well, I'm sure there's, I'm sure there's many, but yeah, I think those are some great takeaways there. Give me. So you've mentioned you had several companies. Give me a time where you felt this is a business in life podcast and I love hearing just from many different angles of entrepreneurship. You have a medical background, but obviously as your trade and profession. But obviously that doesn't train you to start businesses, does it not? There's not much that does. MBAs don't. So why would A medical practice.

Definitely not an md.

No, not an md you're right.

Not at all.

Give me a time where you felt you've hit, like, rock bottom or. We're close to it, Tanya, and were able to kind of just bring yourself out of it.

Truthfully, almost every once a year, I feel that way. It took me many years. I opened a solo practice over 25 years ago. And we are not trained, as you said in medical school, to think of it as a business. So I think I suffered from imposter syndrome for many years where I just thought I was this doctor tending to patients. And I happened to have bills to pay and staff to manage. And it wasn't up until maybe five or six years into the practice that I owned it. And I said, listen, this is a business and I need to start running it as a business. And I started reading up on. I got some business books and tools. The American Academy of Family Physicians, that group is really good. And they. They would put out the business side of a practice and how to market a practice and run an efficient practice. So I learned a lot from them. But truthfully, I think almost once a year, when the numbers go down or there's an epidemic, and I feel that I have not prepared well enough for it. And we're short of supplies because, as you know, on an island, you have to try and think ahead because a lot of our supplies are imported. So if there's an epidemic and you're not prepared for it, you run out of supplies, you run out of medication. You know, you call the pharmacy, and the pharmacy has run out because we didn't anticipate 60% of our population to have a particular disease. So I have now learned that it's part of the business journey. And every time I think I hit rock bottom, I learned something new. And I take it. I take it to the following year, and I learn, I build on those lessons. So I no longer. I think I used rock bottom as a stepping stone.

I think that's a really good point. You mentioned something about learning. We talk about that a lot. I think every entrepreneur says something very similar to what you said, and it's not about the consistency of reading it and failure, way to success and all these different quotes that we read as entrepreneurs and get excited about. When we start living it, you start realizing that the truth behind it, sometimes it takes some time for a lot of our potential, our listeners now that are entrepreneurs and or future entrepreneurs, to realize that there's a failure as a part of it. And it's a process, I guess, and enjoying the journey of it. But it's also, I was talking to one of my employees and he's like, Mike, he was frustrated, but he was, I'm learning. We're all learning. Everyone's learning because we just put this whole new system and process in place for one of my companies. And he was really saying the word learning because I know I've kind of tried to push him towards, away from we're failing, but we're learning. So even though some of the things were really, we're failing on a lot of this stuff and it's fine. But I was like, he's really scratching me where I itch. Because you're right. I was like, yes, we are learning. And that's a really good thing. If you're not learning, you're probably not trying anything new. Right. You're staying stagnant.

Yes.

And that's definitely important to keep evolving as a business and keep trying new things, whether it's your system and processes or products or services or whatever it might be on refocusing. So why do you know, speaking of entrepreneurs that are listening, why do you think a lot of them out there, in your opinion, fail? Why do you think a lot of them just give up?

I think they give up too soon.

Yeah.

I think part of it is I think if you truly believe in your product or your services that you're offering, you stay the course and you roll with the punches. And it took me a while to realize, listen, this is my profession. This is what I chose to do and I choose to do every day. And I have to roll with the punches basically. And I do what I have to do. There are days when the numbers don't add up or in medical practice, you know, you just something happens and it makes you feel really depressed. But I counter it with the times that, you know, you get the correct diagnoses or there's camaraderie in the office and we have such a great time. My team and I are always laughing. So I think I have learned and it's over 25 years to just roll with it. And if you're new out there and you're starting out or you've started recently and you're thinking of giving up. If you truly believe in your product and in what you are offering, I urge you to get help, to get advice. But stay the course. Stay the course.

We're going to dive into our guests experiences in business and life after this quick message. Life Nation. Are you struggling with growing your business and hitting goals? Or are you over the nine to five grind, finally ready to take the dive into entrepreneurship? What are you waiting for? Go to michaelevas.com to set up a free no obligation coaching call today. That's M I K E O L I v a s.com I can help you. It may be the best call you've ever made.

That's a really good, I think it's a really good point in terms of the passion aspect, what you chose to do, but realizing that most people, if you're a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of people out there will say and books that you'll read that if you, if you're doing it just for the money, you're probably not going to make much of it and it's probably eventually going to just kind of fizz out because you got to have more than that to drive you. Right? And then you just mentioned something that I thought I love and I think that everyone should get some great value out of which is, you know, when you find, when you find the bottom root issue with the client and you're able to heal and, or help. I'm sorry, clients say clients. I'm thinking business mind, but from a patient, right? That's what makes you feel good. And Tony Robbins says it all the time. Like people choose a feeling, not a dollar amount. Right. It's a really, really cool thing to think about when, if you're starting a business out there and you're listening or if you have a business, start thinking about that feeling, right. And how you got there and reverse engineer that feeling. And I really feel that the money will come if you're able to kind of get that feeling more and more. Like the feeling of accomplishment, the feeling of service, the feeling of selling whatever it might be. But something that feels good with it has to be attached to the business because if not, it's going to feel crappy all the time because there's too many freaking trials and tribulations to get there. It's always going to feel like it happened.

It happened a few years, just a few years before I decided to go off and study. And I was, there was a lot of questioning and soul searching and I realized that I was going into work and not feeling, I wasn't feeling good, I wasn't feeling fulfilled because I knew there was something more. But I wasn't able to leave at the time. And I follow Marianne Williamson and Gabby Bernstein and with A Course in Miracles, there is this concept of the holy encounter. And I made the Choice to interact with each person, whether it's a patient, a supplier, my members of my team, to leave them feeling better than when they first came into my presence and to find something good from that encounter. And after about three or four months, I realized that I literally floated into work because what it was no longer a choreograph, because I looked for the good in every interaction I had with everybody. And I looked to see how I could make their life better, how I could serve them in whatever way, whether it was to make them smile, even if it wasn't a patient. Somebody came in, I paid them a compliment. And at the end of my day, as I reviewed my day and looked at, there were so many, I call them mini moments of gratitude because I had chosen to serve my clientele, my patients, my team, in a new way. And I learned to serve myself in a new way. And that was really an eye opener for me.

That's awesome. I think when you start reverse engineering that feeling and that excitement and realizing that doesn't have to do anything with P. L's usually right, it's pretty awesome. Tell me what you're excited about within your business and your industry right now.

The advent of functional and integrative medicine within my practice is exciting. We're seeing patients leaving more fulfilled, or we're getting testimonials from patients that for the first time in several years, they're shedding the belly fat or they've lost the weight that they've carried for far too long. Most importantly, they're feeling better about themselves. And my signature process is called the body joy process. And body joy is about embracing all of who you are, accepting your past, the past imperfections, and making that truly a stepping stone to become the best version of yourself. And we're seeing that they are what we call rediscovering their body joy, you know, embracing themselves and becoming the happiest, healthiest versions of themselves and then serving their families, their workplaces, their communities in an even better way because they feel better. And most importantly, because of what we're doing, they are better. You know, they're. Well, their health has been optimized. So they're better able to serve whomever they desire to serve.

Absolutely. I mean, if it's not. If you're not focused on, number one out there, listeners. And what are you focused on? I mean, if you can't. Health 100% equals success and progress. And like you just mentioned, Tony, I think that's really important to kind of throw out there to how does this resonate like I'm listening to somebody that's in the medical world and I, I'm doing sales. Well, here's how it resonates. It's one, Tanya's in business. She's had businesses right to her message is very simple of making you feel better and get better. And when you just, you just are better. When you feel better, you're more confident, you're on top of it, you're selling better. You're actually kind of like hitting on all cylinders, right? How many times have you been tired and groggy and not feeling healthy and jump on a conference call and forget to say the word that you're looking for kind of deal? It happens all the time. Right? I've been there too. I get it. But it's like, listen, sleep, health, progress, success, all that comes together. But it starts at number one. And if you're not, if you're not optimal, then you're not going to be able to optimize any kind of business and processes that you're trying to do within your life. I think that's such great, great advice. How are you currently, this is about business in life. How are you currently built the life that you want to live? You've obviously built businesses. You are talking to me from a university right now, which is awesome. You're able to do that, right? Not from an office. That's awesome. So tell me a little bit about that and some of the journeys that you've been able to build out, how you kind of have your own life and how you actually build your businesses around it.

Well, at first I had to ditch the myth as a working mother about this beautiful work life balance. And it's not a scale where you teach or taught her. It's more about building the foundation. And you know that the stones, the cones that go up. And I always tell people it's about building a foundation of health, of body, mind and spirit, and making a choice to make my health a priority. And it wasn't always like that. I was the proverbial working doctor mom and I was wife and I was doing it all and being it all. And I wasn't serving myself. My health was deteriorating and I was so busy taking care of everybody else that I'd left myself behind. So I had to make the choice to put my health, my wellness first and take a good hard look at where I was feeling. So I was not practicing what I was preaching. And once I stepped and I owned it, I had to own it. And it wasn't easy. It's many ugly cries. But I think the choice that I made to put my health and my family first, it's always been that my family has always been the priority for me. And I chose to build my business around that so my patients knew that my priority, my family, and especially my three kids. So I would drop my children to school every day, and I would leave at a certain hour to pick them up, and then I would come back to work. So there was a certain time when I sort of took a break and stepped up because I felt it was really important that I be there for my children at the critical stages of their development. I also, maybe I was forced because of health issues, to take time off. I now take one day off to tend to my needs, my personal needs. So I time batch. So there are certain days when I will see patients in the office. There are certain days when I will serve my community. I have a TV show that I do, and there are certain days where I know whatever personal things I have to take care of is on that day. And once I started designing my life like that, things seemed to flow and I became more flexible. So if I have to go into the office on the day that I'm supposed to be off, I go in. But once I sort of start my day knowing that today is Friday, so this is what I'm going to be doing on this day, but I'm flexible enough to be able to do that. And I know there are some people listening out there who'd say, well, you know, you own your business, you get to do that. And I acknowledge that. I acknowledge that I am very lucky to own my business and to have built my business to the point that I can do that. But it wasn't always that way. It wasn't always that way.

Absolutely. And I think that listeners that want to build a business and. Or that are listening to that are likely entrepreneurs. 1. I love to push the entrepreneurship. That's why I started the podcast. I think there's so much about building the life that you want to live and really reverse engineer, like you just mentioned it, designing your life. That's a great takeaway. And I mean, too many people just live. Live their life day to day and don't take the time to just simply take a notepad out and say, how would I design the life that I want to live? And it sounds wild, but you can put a. Put a line right down the middle and like, what do I like to do? And what do I not like to do? And Right. And how do I get other people to do what I don't like to do? Because there's people out there that like to do that kind of stuff, like spreadsheets, like calls, like emails, like things that, you know, and then making sure you master your craft by doing what you do best on the days that you want to do those things. And I think that's really awesome that you've been able to. Been able to kind of compartmentalize your life a little bit, where it's, hey, I, you know, I see patients this day, I help out the community this day, and all those things have a really cool feeling behind them, because it's making you feel like you're doing what you do best and what you're professional, which I think is amazing. And more people need to do that out there. If not, they're going to spin their wheels and they're going to be on that. Third question I asked is, why do you think people quit? They start going down that rabbit hole of just, there's too much to do. It's because you're just doing too much that probably doesn't need to be done. There's a lot of minutiae out there in the entrepreneurial world that doesn't turn the wheel as much as we'd like to. So that's really great advice. My last question for you is, out of all your successes and failures in business, what is the one piece of parting advice that you'd give to the business and life nation out there listening today?

Follow your heart and speak your truth. I think I know deep down that I was meant to be a physician to heal patients, and that's my truth. I no longer deny it. I no longer play small. This is who I am, and I own it. It's not the nicest job. It's not necessarily the job that's going to make me the most money. And I'll be honest here, that physicians are not. All physicians are rolling in the extra money. It's the myth. But I get the payment in seeing the patient whose baby was successfully delivered because we saw her through her antenatal crisis, or the woman who came in and told me I'm a hot mess six months later, is thriving and is telling me, please don't leave. Don't stop doing what I'm doing. Because she feels so much better. She's more excited about life in general. She's lost the weight. She's just. She's vibrant. That is because I spoke my truth and I followed my heart and I think if more of us do that, even if you're stuck in a job right now, there is a part of you that can speak your truth and live that in that crappy job, you know? And I try to tell people there's something good about everything you do and find out what your calling is. Because each of us, I think it's. In fact, I know each of us has a calling that we're born with. And it is our destiny to live out that calling and use our talent to serve the world in whatever way we desire. And it doesn't have to be big. It doesn't have to be on an international scale. It could be simply you serve your family or you serve your co workers and be the best, healthiest, vibrant, happiest version of yourself. And that means that you know who you are, you know your core values, and you live your truth.

That's awesome. Speak your truth and follow your heart. Life Nation out there. Thank you so much, Tanya, for your time and obviously thank you for what you do. Keep fighting the good fight and it sounds like you have a great day.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Life Nation.

You've got to remember that in order for things to change, you must change. In order for things to get better.

You must get better.

You just got better by hanging out with me, Michael Lebas and the business and Life Nation. So come back tomorrow because I'm here dropping sound bombs seven days a week, baby. If you'd like to subscribe, please do so you can take action and execute.

See you tomorrow.