IAM2374 – Family Medicine Doctor Focuses on Lifestyle Change For Long-lasting Health

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi is double board-certified in Family Medicine and Integrative and Holistic Medicine.

She completed her family medicine residency at Georgia Regents University and a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona under Dr. Andrew Weil.

Dr. Bindiya grew up in an entrepreneurial environment, with her parents owning businesses, which influenced her desire to become a business owner.

She emphasizes that entrepreneurship requires patience, hard work, and the ability to trust the process.

She prioritizes lifestyle changes and long-term health improvements over short-term medication use, focusing on sustainable solutions.

Dr. Bindiya discusses the importance of self-care, including maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating well, exercising, and sleeping enough to stay healthy into older age.

Dr. Bindiya encourages people to take the leap and pursue their dreams, whether in entrepreneurship, writing, or any other passion.

In addition, she highlights the importance of patience and believing in the process, offering advice to younger versions of herself to trust that everything will fall into place.

Website: Dr. Bindiya MD

LinkedIn: Bindiya Gandhi, M.D

Instagram: drbindiyamd

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Dr. Bindiya Gandhi Teaser 00:00

So I see patients from kids to adults, from simple medical conditions like thyroid issues to chronic things like diabetes, high blood pressure, trying to get them off medications.

I deal with a lot of cancer patients, a lot of females, women, health. I deal a lot with fertility patients helping a lot of females help them get pregnant.

But the just of it is we do it in a very natural way and I'm all about a lifestyle change so I preach it takes a little longer sometimes, but let's get to the root cause.

Intro 00:29

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:56

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today.

I have Dr. Bindiya Gandhi of Revive Atlanta MD. Dr. Bindiya, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 01:07

Thank you for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:08

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Dr. Bindiya so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Dr. Bindiya Gandhi is double boarded by the American Board Family Medicine as well as the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Physicians.

She completed her family medicine training from Georgia Regents University Medical College of Georgia in June 2014.

She completed her undergraduate training at the University of Georgia with a Bachelor's of Science in Biology and psychology in 2004 and her doctor of Medicine at American University of Antigua College of Medicine in 2010.

She completed an Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona with Dr. Andrew Weil in 2016.

She also completed functional medicine training with the Institute of functional medicine in 2017. Dr. Bindiya, it's awesome to have you on. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 02:01

I am. Thank you for having me.

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Gresham Harkless 02:03

No problem, no problem. And the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 02:10

So I think I've always wanted to be a business owner. I think it's just always been instilled in me. I grew up and my parents were business owners, so I think that had a very big part of it, just wanting to be by myself and being, running my own business, it's kind of hard when you work for someone else.

And I learned that really early on with my dad, watching him working for someone else, than how much freedom he had when he had his own business. So I knew from probably very early on that that was kind of the route I wanted to take.

Gresham Harkless 02:40

No, I appreciate you sharing your story, and it's always interesting to hear how I always, figure out if entrepreneurs are born and made.

But the fact that you've been able to kind of grow up in that environment and you've been able to understand, like, what entrepreneurship is, what that looks like, and being able to adapt that into what you're doing now is awesome. You learn that from your parents?

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 02:57

Yeah. Yeah. I think, honestly, being an entrepreneur is hard. Like, sometimes I'm like, what did I get myself into? Like, I could just work for someone else and have a steady paycheck. Like, I don't even have to think about it.

But then I remember, okay, this is why I'm doing this. So it's nice to have worked in corporate world, and it's also nice to be able to do this.

So I encourage everybody to explore all options. So you know what the other side of the fence is, because you will always question it and wonder, are you doing the right thing?

Gresham Harkless 03:24

Exactly, exactly. And just like you, I always felt that the best way to find out what you wanted, do what you should do, what you kind of is, like your passion or gift is to kind of try out multiple things. And if you know both sides, then you know how to make the right decision.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 03:36

Yep.

Gresham Harkless 03:37

And I know we touched on a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about your practice and what it is that you're doing.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 03:41

So I practice integrative and functional medicine, so I am family medicine doctor. That was my primary residency, and then I did a fellowship in integrated functional medicine.

My job is to intertwine Eastern and Western medicine. I like to get to the root cause of the problem.

So I see patients from kids to adults, from simple medical conditions like thyroid issues to chronic things like diabetes, high blood pressure, trying to get them off medications.

I deal with a lot of cancer patients, a lot of females, women, health. I deal a lot with fertility patients, helping a lot of females get help them get pregnant.

But the just of it is we do it in a very natural way. And I'm all about a lifestyle change. So I preach, it takes a little longer sometimes, but let's get to the root cause.

Let's fix your lifestyle and that's going to keep you healthy in the long run versus a quick fix. I don't like medications. I don't like the quick fix.

Gresham Harkless 04:31

Absolutely. And especially in this day and age, and definitely correct me if I'm wrong, it seems like everybody's always looking for the quick, the fast, or whatever.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 04:38

Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 04:38

And you kind of seems like you're preaching more like lifestyle changes, long term changes you can make.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 04:43

Yeah, exactly. Because what I've noticed in practice is the lifestyle changes, the habits that you form and make are going to be long lasting.

And that's what's going to take you to the next level. That's what's going to keep you healthier. Your health is an investment, and I tell patients that.

And like a diet, if you do a quick fix, like, guess what happens after you complete that diet? You'll go back to eating crap. Right. Like nothing is a quick fix.

Gresham Harkless 05:08

Exactly. Yeah. I've always heard that. And like, your car, you got to make sure you go get your tune up and everything all the time so it runs correctly.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 05:14

Exactly. Same concept. Yep.

Gresham Harkless 05:16

Awesome. Awesome, awesome. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call like your secret sauce.

And this is what you feel kind of distinguishes you or your organization apart, but what do you feel kind of is your secret sauce.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 05:25

So our practice is kind of unique in the Atlanta area. I'm probably one of the only doctors that takes insurance, which is kind of a newer model.

Most of the integrative functional doctors in the area and most of the integrative functional doctors I know in general do not take insurance.

So this is kind of, I would like to say, is my secret sauce. This is something new that I'm trying out and hopefully this works.

But yeah, that was probably what differentiates us from other practices and other people doing the same thing.

Gresham Harkless 05:52

Nice. Was there anything that kind of prompted you to want to try to maybe take insurance?

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 05:57

So, my whole thing was I wanted to reach a group of people that probably wouldn't be able to get this kind of care if they didn't have the financial means.

So that was kind of what I wanted to do. And I mean, the way I look at it, majority of patients nowadays have insurance and they want to be able to use it.

Insurance has its pros and cons, so sometimes it's great and sometimes we have a lot of limitations, that we're. We're trying it out. And so far, so good.

Gresham Harkless 06:22

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, definitely appreciate you for doing that, especially with a lot of ways that people don't realize that they can do certain options.

And now you've opened up the opportunity for people to be able to do that. So definitely appreciate you for doing that.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 06:34

Yeah. There's a lot of patients that come to me that have been seeking this kind of medicine, but can't afford to pay the 600, $700 out of pocket for the initial consult.

So it's nice to be able to help a nice middle class that interested in the lifestyle changes. So my patients are very educated, they're very knowledgeable about supplements, nutrition, health and meditation. So it's nice to be able to help everybody.

Gresham Harkless 06:59

Absolutely, absolutely. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack.

And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 07:10

So I honestly am going to tell you I start off my day a couple ways. Two things I do every day. Meditate.

That's something I do. And give gratitude for what I have in life, that's just something I do. That's my personal practice. It can be something as simple as giving thanks to my patients.

When I see them in person or even before the day starts, I'll say, I'll be like, I'm so grateful for my patients today, because if it weren't for my patients, I can't keep the doors open.

And so different things like that, I'm grateful for my staff, showing them gratitude, but also telling myself that I'm grateful for them.

So different things like that are super important because your mindset can make you or break you.

And that I cannot stress that enough. That's why I always like to start my day off, meditating, getting to the right frame of mind.

Sometimes on the way to the office, like, you're stuck in traffic and you're already having, like, blimps in the day, and you're like that. That puts like a hamper on your mood in your day.

But you know what? Like, I get to the office, I get into my personal office, and I just, like, recollect myself, recollect my thoughts before I see my first patient, because that energy will last the whole day.

And it affects. That energy also affects, my relationship with my staff, my relationship with patients and everything else.

So having that, like, starting your day off, like, just giving gratitude for what you have is only going to leave your life more abundant and more full.

Gresham Harkless 08:30

Absolutely. No, I definitely think that's a phenomenal practice because a lot of times in this day and age, like we talked about, with the quick fix, people are also looking for the outside thing or I need this or I need this or I don't have this or I don't have that.

But really, sometimes if we look around, we can be very grateful for a lot of things we have.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 08:46

Yes. Yeah. It's all in front of you.

Gresham Harkless 08:48

Exactly, exactly. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 08:59

Gosh,that's a challenging one. It's for me, my biggest thing is I would tell my younger self to literally be patient. I knew I always wanted to be a doctor. I always knew I wanted to be a business owner.

I think if I just had more faith in myself when I was younger, it would happen, and I think I did all this worrying and all this, running around in circles.

If I just trusted the universe, it would have fallen into place. And I think that's probably what I would, I would tell myself and my 20 year old self wouldn't have understood that.

Even today, like if I said trust the process, like, but honestly, trust the process, believe in yourself and all will work out.

Gresham Harkless 09:37

Absolutely. Yeah. That's very hard, especially for high achieving people, people that want to accomplish a lot. You always want to do it yesterday, if not yesterday, the week before that.

But you got to kind of remember that there's a process and anything that is worthwhile creating, it takes time to build. So.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 09:53

Yes, yes, for sure.

Gresham Harkless 09:54

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO.

And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So I want to ask you, what does being a CEO means to you?

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 10:05

Honestly, that's a hard question. Being a CEO means so much more. I don't think I really understood what being a CEO truly meant until I became a CEO.

It's a lot of work, a lot of heartache, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it's so rewarding. You have the autonomy, you have the ability to control your own schedule.

You have the ability to leave the office early if need be, or work around your schedule for whatever, but it's truly rewarding.

I don't know if I answered your question fully, but for anybody that's on the fence, I would say go for it.

You have nothing to lose. Yes, there are times that you doubt yourself. There are times that you question it. There are times that you're like, am I doing the right thing?

Like, am I good enough? Like, will this work out? There are all those questions and anxiety that come with any change in career, but it's so worth it and so rewarding at the end of the day. So anybody that's on the fence, just do it. It's now or never.

Gresham Harkless 11:04

Exactly, exactly. Just like Nike said, just do it. Don't think about it too too much, and just go out and do that. So I definitely agree with that and I appreciate you for giving that definition.

And now I wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know. And then, of course, how they can get a hold of you and reach out to you if they have any.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 11:21

Well, I mean, honestly, I think the only thing I would say is for everybody right now, like, anybody that's interested in pursuing whatever dreams or careers, just do it like it's it.

Whatever it is you want to do, whether it's to be an entrepreneur, to write a book, to start your own podcast, whatever it is the time is now.

Don't hesitate. Just jump into it and do it. One thing I will share is from a medical aspect, take care of yourself. The things that you guys do now in your 20s and your 30s will affect you in your 70s.

So take good care of yourself now. Remember, there is no quick fix in life. Hard work does pay off.

And even if that means, in regards to your health, so if that means going to the gym every day, eating well getting seven to eight hours of sleep, all that stuff, when you're 70, you're going to appreciate because all these habits of life carry on forever.

So I can't stress that. Stay healthy now. Invest in yourself right now. When you're 70 and 80, you won't be on 10 different medications. You know why?

Because it's easy for you to follow. You've been doing this for so many years. It's natural for you to stick to it.

Gresham Harkless 12:30

Exactly, exactly. That makes perfect sense. So I truly appreciate you again for all the awesome things that you're doing. And if people want to reach out to you, what's the best way for them to do that?

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 12:38

So you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @drbindiyamd. So it's D R B I N D I Y A M D. That's my handle. And you can always go to my blog drbindiyamd.com. So yeah, you can always catch me there. I write a lot of blogs, I contribute a lot of articles to different websites and stuff, so you can catch me on there.

Gresham Harkless 13:06

And yeah, awesome, awesome, awesome. And we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes as well, just so that you can click through and follow up.

So again, I truly appreciate you for everything that you're doing and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Dr. Bindiya Gandhi 13:16

Thank you so much and thank you for having me today.

Outro 13:19

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast, powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Want to level up your business even more? Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and watch videos at CBNation.co.

Also, check out our I AM CEO Facebook group. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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