IAM2220 – Certified Pharmacist and Creative Talent Passionate About Advocating for Healthy Lifestyle

Title: Transcript - Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:19:01 GMT

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:19:01 GMT, Duration: [00:12:19.58]

[00:00:00.12] - Dr. Mona Vand

And I think that kind of human connection makes people just trust me, especially because I don't just go around making everything like rah rah. This is gonna be a miracle. This is gonna work perfectly. I think keeping it really real is what people appreciate.

[00:00:13.78] - Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups and CEO's without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is to I am CEO podcast.

[00:00:38.92] - Gresham Harkless

Hello hello hello. This is Gresh from the IM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today at Doctor Mona van of drmonavand.com dot. Doctor Mona, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:48.84] - Dr. Mona Vand

Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be on.

[00:00:51.03] - Gresham Harkless

I'm thrilled to have you on. And what I wanted to do was read a little bit more about Doctor Mona so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Certified pharmacist and creative talent, Doctor Mona Vond covers everything, beauty, health, fitness and overall wellness with a modern twist in pharmaceutical science. While most pharmacists believe in filling prescriptions, Doctor Mona advocates for and believes in a healthy lifestyle. She aims to teach her dedicated followers that medication is only part of the equation for maximum health and emphasizes that wellness stems from diet, exercise and mindset. Ultimately, she strives to make the world a healthier place, one smart decision at a time. Doctor Mona is based in LA and has been featured in NBC, the Telegraph, the Doctors and more, as well as completing several partnerships with brands including Loxiton, Thrive Market, Saqqara, Life, Fabfitfun, Uma Oils, Fabletics, Suwasu, and more. Doctor Mona, are you ready to speak to the imceo community?

[00:01:50.34] - Dr. Mona Vand

I'm ready.

[00:01:51.46] - Gresham Harkless

All right, let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

[00:01:57.59] - Dr. Mona Vand

You know, I, it's funny because I don't always even think of myself as a CEO necessarily, because when I started my business and brand, I didn't really know what I wanted it to be. I just knew I wanted it. I wanted to give myself the option to do many things, if that makes sense. Like I wanted to give myself the option to have like creative control overdem over any job that could come, whether it was write a book, whether it was be on a show, start my own brand, start a product. I just knew that building leverage around my personal brand would give me the opportunity to do that. So that was kind of my focus.

[00:02:29.81] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. And it's fine that for a lot of entrepreneurial type people that are super ambitious and have a lot of things that they want to be involved in, but they kind of start out by building their own personal brand first and then kind of because they're true to themselves, kind of, everything just kind of manifests itself from there.

[00:02:45.75] - Dr. Mona Vand

Exactly. Because, you know, it wasn't like I saw, you know, and maybe if you, if your dream was to own, like, an ad agency or start a production company, if you had that one focus, that was yours. Just for me, I liked the idea of doing different things, but I knew that I loved health, wellness, skincare. I knew that it was like, you know, my background and what I had studied for six years. So it just made sense to see where it would go and then give myself the option to do all sorts of things.

[00:03:10.15] - Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. That makes perfect sense. And, and now I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper and hear how you're helping to support, like, these clients and these people that are following. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

[00:03:19.09] - Dr. Mona Vand

I'm sorry, what was the question?

[00:03:20.25] - Gresham Harkless

Could you tell us a little bit more about how you're supporting the clients that you're working with, people that are following you and engaging with you? How are you helping to kind of support them from a product and service standpoint?

[00:03:29.53] - Dr. Mona Vand

Yeah, you know, I think that really just what I try to do is give them backed up data for everything I say. Like, instead of just giving random advice, I like to say, think of, like, you know, what I learned, what my education really taught me, and how I've actually applied it in real life, but then really humanize it and just kind of show how I've used it in my life, how the experience has affected me. You know, oftentimes people will ask me. I find people ask me questions about everything because they assume that I'm just a health expert on everything, and I'm definitely not. So I always like to make sure I tell them, like, you know, I'm still doing trial and error with it, so I'm testing it out. I'll let you know. And I think that kind of human connection makes people just trust me, especially because I don't just go around making everything like, rah, rah, this is going to be a miracle. This is going to work perfectly. I think keeping it really real is what people appreciate.

[00:04:17.00] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Especially I can imagine, like, when you're talking about somebody's health encompasses so many different things anyways. And like you mentioned, the beauty, health, wellness, and fitness. But being able to kind of be upfront and honest with somebody that if you do x, y, and z, that this will happen and not kind of sell them, I guess, a dream, so to speak.

[00:04:33.64] - Dr. Mona Vand

Mm hmm, exactly. Just, just kind of, like, just making it more realistic. Like, another thing I've always talked about is, like, I do really believe that everyone's different, so I can share what works for me and I can share what can work for some people, but I think making everyone believe that one diet is going to work for everyone or one way of living is going to work for everyone isn't necessarily realistic either.

[00:04:53.29] - Gresham Harkless

There you go. That makes sense. There's no one size fits all in health, which a lot of people sometimes make it out to be. So I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be something you feel kind of distinguishes you or your brand or set you apart. So could you give us an example of a secret sauce for yourself?

[00:05:08.22] - Dr. Mona Vand

Yeah, I think for me, as having an expertise in something I think a lot of bloggers or influencers will talk about. A lot of people love living well and wellness and health, but they don't have a specific expertise in one thing. So I think kind of narrowing down on that for me has really been helpful. And even though I started in the health and wellness space, it always evolves and grows, can go into more lifestyle and fashion or whatever you want, but as long as, like, you're rooted at that one thing, that's your expertise. Whereas me, I think it's pharmacy and health. I think that's always been kind of my secret. Like, what sets me out and what.

[00:05:45.08] - Gresham Harkless

Makes me different than someone else, that makes sense. And I guess, do you find, like, there's a certain time when you figure out that you do and can branch out, or do you find, like, that just kind of happens organically as far as, like, different projects?

[00:05:57.12] - Dr. Mona Vand

Well, what's funny is, like, I, that's even something I still struggle with just to be totally real. I, you know, I don't want to branch out too much because I've always, I always have the impression that people want to follow me for a certain reason, and that's why they change me, and I always want to give them that value that they, like, you know, have been supporting me for, from the beginning. But it's a lot of times my community will be like, oh, we want to see, like, I'll always do polls, like, do you want to see more personal stuff or do you just want health content? And they always want more personal stuff. And I just, now I'm kind of trying to, like, ease into it, but I still try to tie it all back to wellness. And maybe that's something, as time goes, will grow. But I really did want to take at least, at least a few years to really establish. And then maybe once people are genuinely invested in you, then I can share, like, more of my personal life, what I care about, travels. But I tried to really earn their respect and, like, really their time, because you have to earn people from people that are following you, looking at your content, like, that's a privilege, you know, for them to actually give me the attention that I'm looking for and actually have them read the content that I'm putting out. So I tried to make it as valuable as possible for a long time, and then, you know, maybe slightly branch out.

[00:07:02.74] - Gresham Harkless

Now that makes perfect sense. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And. 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 as a business owner.

[00:07:16.68] - Dr. Mona Vand

Definitely calendaring, which is funny because it's something that I've always wanted to do and, like, kind of struggled with. And I now have an assistant, Julia, that works with me, and she's massively helping in that department. So having everything in my calendar is huge. And then I think routine. I actually find routine so important. And, you know, when people ask me, like, why I still wake up early, even if I don't have to be up early that day, or, like, why I like to stick to, like, a certain regimen, it's not because I want to, like, suffer discipline. It's just that my energy and my personality functions better on routine. I think there's some people who don't and some people who like to just maybe stay up really late one night or, you know, sleep late one morning, and as long as they're getting the job, one getting the job done, I think you just have to find what works for you. So, for me, having a consistent routine, I feel more grounded, and I just, like, feel more stable and, like, in control of the day. So that's been, if I don't, if I kind of go off at one day, or I may be sleeping a little bit later. I just, like, really genuinely feel off for the day, so it just doesn't work for me.

[00:08:17.63] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I've heard that a lot from, you know, a lot of successful people is just, you know, that routine, the consistency as well, kind of manifests itself in all your actions. So all of a sudden, you know, you're doing all the things on a consistent basis, largely because you took care of, you know, taking care of your routine in the beginning of the day or throughout the day. So that that kind of sets the standard.

[00:08:35.35] - Dr. Mona Vand

Yeah, I can't believe how much it makes a difference on my day. It really does.

[00:08:38.75] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this might be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

[00:08:49.87] - Dr. Mona Vand

I guess to just keep practicing patience because at like, year one and two and even like the beginning of three, I was really frustrated that nothing was working. And then finally things just, like, start to click and, you know, that's really not that much time. And, you know, I think seeing for other people, maybe it happens quicker, maybe it takes longer, but just being patient and appreciating every step along the way, that probably would have saved me some headache.

[00:09:12.50] - Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes sense. I think anybody who's extremely ambitious and really going after their goals and dreams and have high goals, sometimes you want it earlier than it comes, but you kind of have to respect the process and start to love the process, so to speak. Exactly, absolutely. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition for what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote unquote, CEO's on the show. So I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:09:38.12] - Dr. Mona Vand

What does being a CEO mean to me? I guess being a CEO means kind of just being. Being in charge of your brand, your life, your business, everything really falls back on you. And that's something I've learned along the way, too, is even though I've started to build out this amazing team who, you know, can handle different things and who, you know, are better than what I do at certain things, like, you know, YouTube editing, or whether it's someone who's your assistant for calendaring, at the end of the day, you're still in charge. Even though that person might be the best at it, it's still your company and your brand. So you just have to make sure you're always on top of it. And you can't really get mad at anyone else. If something goes wrong, it's all on you.

[00:10:12.37] - Gresham Harkless

There you go. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. The buck stops with you whenever you're a CEO. So, Doctor Mona, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I want to do is 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 also how best people can get a hold of you, follow you and get in touch with you.

[00:10:29.10] - Dr. Mona Vand

You know, I think just, I really work hard to put out quality, like consistent content all the time. You know, we're constantly working to see like, what the next step is. I think one piece of advice would be, sometimes when you are in it, you keep thinking, okay, what am I going to do next? What am I going to come out with something? I think it's important to let the let it happen when the time is right versus just rushing out a product or rushing out. You know, the only product I ever came out with really was my online course. And, you know, it was really special. We put a lot of work into it. And even now when I'm thinking of my, my next thing, like anything I put out will just be really from the heart and something that's really quality and something that we put a lot of time into versus just kind of busting out like, oh, here's nutrition plan. He's a few years of fitness plan. I think when you see that from the outside, you assume that you're not doing enough, but to just focus on like the quality of your work and then it shows when you actually are ready to just let it out. And as far as where to find me across the board. I'm doctor Mona Vand. So it's Dr. Mona Vand. V a N D. So it's on Instagram and YouTube and website and most of my content lives on Instagram and YouTube.

[00:11:32.20] - Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Doctor Mona. And then what I'll do is we'll make sure we have those links in the show notes just so that anybody can follow up. But again, I appreciate you for taking some time out and all the awesome things that you're doing and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:11:43.61] - Dr. Mona Vand

Thank you. You too.

[00:11:44.88] - Intro

Thank you for listening to the imceo podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at Imceo Co imceo is not just a phrase. It's a community. Check out the latest and greatest apps, books and habits to level up your business at Ceohacks Co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkness Junior. Thank you for listening.