IAM1674 – Business Owner Helps Clients Improve on Self-Care and Patient Experience

Claudia Cometa Teaser 00:00

For some people it's the young entrepreneurs who are hustling and doing their thing but also neglecting themselves, neglecting self-care. And they are now realizing I'm having these symptoms, I am going to the doctor, I'm not getting the answers and I need help because this is not my full-time job. I am not a healthcare professional and I have a hustle that I'm doing, and I simply don't have the time to be Google MD. So I need somebody to walk me through this mess.

Intro 00:27

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:54

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. And if you've been listening this year, we're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes under certain categories or topics that we think are gonna be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

This month is going to be about not forgetting about the human part of business. Often we forget about the human part of life. We often forget about the human part of business. So look for self-care tips, fitness, burnout, purpose, biz, and personal, personal branding, motivation, drive, success, understanding your why, and of course, how important customer service is. But at the heart of it, it's all about, remembering the human part of business. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I am CEO podcast.

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 Claudia Cometa of Peace Advocacy Group. Claudia, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Claudia Cometa 01:51

So great to be here with you, Gresham. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:54

No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I want to do was just read a little bit more about Claudia so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Claudia is a pharmacist turned business owner who lives her life purposefully and passionately. She worked for over a decade as a clinical pharmacist, then was quickly forced to see the healthcare system from the patient's side after her father was diagnosed with lymphoma.

It was this year-long struggle that shifted her course permanently. She now is on a mission to help others find clarity in their own healthcare journeys and ultimately seek true wellness, which integrates mind, body, and spirit. Claudia, are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

Claudia Cometa 02:30

Absolutely. Can't wait.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 02:32

Awesome. Let's do it. So, I know I touched on it a little bit, but could you tell us a little bit more on what I call your CEO story and what let you start your business?

Claudia Cometa 02:39

Yes. So I worked as a clinical pharmacist for about a decade and a half, which basically means that instead of being in a retail setting, I wasn't your Walgreens pharmacist. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I was working on the front lines with the actual medical team in a very interdisciplinary way. I was basically in the trenches with the team and the patients, and so I had a very intimate feel in that primary care setting. For the most part was relatively happy with what I did, but not really happy with the brokenness of the medical system.

As many people feel the same, even if they aren't part of the system, they see that there is a brokenness in it. And I didn't really see that in detail until I went through the year-long journey and struggle with my father when he had lymphoma. We were then the patients and I became his advocate just out of sheer, of course love for him, but also out of the fact that I was the only one knowledgeable in my family who was able to do that. And seeing all of the brokenness firsthand really was discouraging to me, but then turned into a passion that I needed to do that for other people. People really just simply don't know what they don't know very much. Like if I go into an auto mechanic to help with my car, I have no idea what you're saying to me. And yes, go ahead and do that.

Although an acceptable way of being in an auto mechanic's office. The consequences of it being your car is a little bit different than the consequences of it being your life or that of a loved one. So I switched courses. I have become basically a patient advocate, but I also like to just, turn myself, I'm not really big into defined identities because what I do and what I am for my clients, is so much broader, but I am basically a source of light for others on their journey to their own true wellness. And in some ways that means a lot of help with Western medicine and in some ways that really just means a lot of mind and spirit work as well.

Gresham Harkless 04:29

That makes perfect sense. And I definitely appreciate you. Sorry, obviously you had to go through everything with your father, but I know that a lot of times people that have, all the insight and the expertise that you do, sometimes will hold it as power sometimes. Even with mechanics like you just mentioned they'll use like kind of big words that people don't understand just to hold that power. But it's great to hear somebody like yourself that has that expertise. And unfortunately, of course, had to experience that with your father, but you didn't just help out your father. You decided to turn that into an opportunity to help out so many other people that kind of feel helpless in a lot of situations like that.

Claudia Cometa 05:02

Absolutely. Yeah. And it was something that opened a door to me that I didn't know was going to be opened, but all of my experience from before in the world of clinical pharmacy was absolutely necessary for me to take that leap. So I am a huge believer that the universe will work its way, the way it's supposed to work its way, and this is where I'm supposed to be.

Gresham Harkless 05:22

Absolutely. It always finds a way to do that. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper. I know you touched on it a little bit. Could you tell us how you're serving the clients and some of the things that you're doing to support them.

Claudia Cometa 05:30

Yes, so I basically walk my clients through the muddy waters of the medical system, and so what that can look like is so variable from person to person. For some people it's the young entrepreneurs who are hustling and doing their thing but also neglecting themselves, neglecting self-care, and they are now realizing, I'm having these symptoms, I am going to the doctor, I'm not getting the answers, and I need help because this is not my full-time job. I am not a healthcare professional and I have a hustle that I am doing and I simply don't have the time to be Google MD. Right? So I need somebody to walk me through this mess.

And then in other cases, it could be the adult children of their parents, their parent generation who they know that they need some help with where they're at, but they don't know where to go either because our parents' generation, it was very much a you listen to authority and you do what they say and you don't question anything. And so they need somebody to come in a very educated way, ask the right questions that need to be asked.

And then there are the others who come to me and ask me if I could be their life coach. And that's where the other pieces comes in. The mind and the spirit. And I have done all of that work for years even before my dad's diagnosis. And I completely understand that wellness is a state of being not just a state of the body. And so there are a lot of pieces to what I do, but the majority of the clients that come to me are coming to me because they know that they are not getting the answers that they need from the medical system, and they simply need somebody to walk that journey with them.

Gresham Harkless 06:59

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I find, and you can definitely let me know if I'm correct or on record in this, is that a lot of times people just want to be heard and they want to have somebody listen to them. And the fact that you have, all those, I guess you call  them tools at your disposal where you have so much expertise in different pieces that you're able to make that connection or make the right prognosis or analysis of exactly what a person might need.

Claudia Cometa 07:20

Yes. There are just so many pieces that are missed based on a system that largely does not have the time or resources to do what it needs to do for people. And so that's where kind of I come in, like, let's put all the pieces together and get on the right path. And it doesn't mean that I make those medical decisions for them, but it means that I'm basically that guiding light. Because people, again, they simply don't know what they don't know, and it's their life. And so it's an important consequence.

Gresham Harkless 07:46

Absolutely. And Google MD, as you said, is not a replacement for that. So, definitely. Thanks for doing that, and reminding us of that. So, you might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this is what you feel distinguishes you or your organization and sets you apart.

Claudia Cometa 08:01

Yes. So a lot of the times when there are advocates involved, they are employees of a facility and so their primary interests are of the facility of which they're employee of. And so I am a private advocate and wellness coach, and so number one is my interests are only those of my clients. I do not take insurance. I do not involve insurance. Everything is cash paid directly to me, which means I have zero interest other than the best interest of my clients. And the other piece to that is what we've mentioned, which is my background in the education that I have.

So a lot of times advocates come from other very important fields. It's just a different position than me. So sometimes they're nurses, sometimes they're social workers, all of which are super important. However, I do feel that my background in clinical pharmacy, meaning that I worked alongside doctors and I am knowledgeable on medications, which a lot of the times can be helpful, but can also be very harmful and can be most of what the problem is, to begin with. That knowledge and background definitely help me.

And then the third piece is the work that I have done in both mindset and spirit, those pieces just simply are not combined in any type of comprehensive, holistic approach for people in their wellness journey. And so I really combine all of that together and that's me.

Gresham Harkless 09:19

There you go. That's a great secret sauce. And being able to combine all of that is definitely something that, I, don't think I've ever heard. What you hear very often is being able to combine, especially a lot of the mind and body as you touched on, but the expertise and the knowledge of knowing the pharmaceutical system in and of itself, and some of the drugs and things like that, and what their potential side effects might be and if they should work or just whoever works with you has a full picture of exactly what's happening and what could potentially happen when they take whatever.

Claudia Cometa 09:48

Yes, absolutely. There's just so much lack of knowledge and it's not that you have to have a degree in it. It's not that you now have to go and become a pharmacist, but you really do need to tap in and be resourceful and that's where I come in, is being resourceful enough to find me so that I can help you.

Gresham Harkless 10:03

Awesome. So 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 something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Claudia Cometa 10:12

My absolute favorite book right now for entrepreneurs and really anybody is The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer. Now you have to be in that mindset to go there, but, he is a very spiritual person, but it is his story of surrendering rather than trying to pull from the universe, trying to make things happen, trying to control everything around him. It was about his extreme success, but it came from a place of surrender.

And so I know a lot of us as business owners or anybody, even if you're an employee, there's a lot of attempts to control. We envision ourselves in a certain place. We make certain goals and we want to control everything around us to try to get to that place. And this book will shift your mentality more, it did for me than any other piece of literature, I'm not a huge podcast listener to anything that I have listened to or read. Really huge shift for me to begin that process of surrender.

Gresham Harkless 11:12

Nice. Now I wanted to ask you now 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?

Claudia Cometa 11:21

Yes. And it really ties back into the concept of control, but, how I really feel now that I wish my younger CEO self felt was that, the goal should not be to find and get clients, but rather to do the work you do in the absolute best way you can do it. And the clients are already looking for you because the fact that you have the fire within means that you're supposed to be doing this and the clients will come if you focus on your work and the value of your work in the marketplace, rather than I need to get my next client, where am I gonna get my next client?

And I think that it's a hard lesson to learn and sometimes it requires experience to learn it. But if I could impart that wisdom on my younger CEO self, I feel like it would've taken away a little bit of that just stress right out of the gate, where are my clients? Why aren't they knocking on my door? And just focusing on the work that I do instead.

Gresham Harkless 12:20

Yeah, absolutely. So now I wanted 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 and quote CEOs on the show. So I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Claudia Cometa 12:31

Yes. So I really believe a CEO is a vision caster and way maker, which means I think that a CEO has to cast that vision for the team that they are managing or working under. I am actually a solopreneur, but if I did have a team, my goal would be to cast that vision that I have. So that we are all in the same boat, all paddling in the same direction, and that they are invested in that vision, but also the way maker, meaning I've got to find a way to give them that journey, to give them that path to walk, to come with me, and to ultimately deliver to our clients what our intentions are.

And so I feel like there are two pieces. Then the third really important piece, I feel like is being a human being more than a human doing. So I think that hustle comes as the CEOs are hustling, they're doing, they're working, they're in meetings, they're this, they're that. When I really think that sometimes slowing down and just being with, even if you don't have a team, just being with who you are as a business person if you do have a team, being with that team, listening, observing, getting the feedback that you need to support them in the best way.

Because ultimately you've got to have a great team under you just to provide the service that you need to the clients. And so that's what I would say. Vision caster, way maker, and human being.

Gresham Harkless 13:45

Awesome. I love that three-part definition. And I think a lot of times too, even with your clients as well, sometimes they're coming to you to lead them to the right path, especially for you because they don't have that expertise. So a lot of times, a lot of those three-part definition overlaps with them.

Claudia Cometa 14:00

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 14:01

Nice. So Claudia, I truly appreciate your time. What I want to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best they can get a hold of you.

Claudia Cometa 14:10

Yes. So, my main piece of advice, even though I am not a 10-year veteran of being a CEO, most of my life has been as an employee and CEO is more of a recent journey for me I cannot emphasize or encourage enough the concept of self-care. So even though there are times when hustling is necessary and working hard is necessary, and we all work hard in our businesses, your body is working really hard for you, doing a lot more than you give credit for, with your heart pumping, your lungs are breathing for you and there can be a tipping point. So don't forget to care for yourself in the midst of caring for your clients and for the other people who might be on your team or on your journey.

So self-care is such an important piece of this, and you can find me on social media. So Instagram, I am at wellness with Claudia, and my website is, peaceadvocacygroup.com. I also have a podcast that is called Minding Wellness, and we talk about all topics related to wellness that goes from mind, body, to spirit. So those are the main ways.

Gresham Harkless 15:17

Awesome. We'll make sure to have those links in the show notes as well. But thank you so much for your time today and all the awesome things that you're doing and reminding us to put on our oxygen masks because in order to help out others we got to make sure that we're taken care of as well. So I appreciate you for that reminder. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Claudia Cometa 15:33

Absolutely. Thank you. You too.

Outro 15:35

Thank you for listening to the I am CEO podcast, powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]