IAM222- Family Medicine Doctor Focuses on Lifestyle Change For Long-lasting Health

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 Bachelors 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.

• CEO Hack: Two practices- Meditate and give gratitude for what I have in life
• CEO Nugget: Be patient, have faith in yourself and trust the process
• CEO Defined: You've nothing to lose so do it, it's worth it

Website: http://drbindiyamd.com/about-me/

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/DrBindiyamd/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drbindiyamd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbindiyamd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbindiyaMD/

Full Interview

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

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 0:27

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham 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.

Bindiya Gandhi 0:37

Thank you for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:39

No problem. Super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was 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 of Family Medicine as well as the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Physicians. She completed her family medicine training at Georgia Regents University/Medical College of Georgia in June 2014.

She completed her undergraduate training at the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology in 2004 and her Doctor of Medicine at the 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?

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Bindiya Gandhi 1:31

I am! Thank you for having me.

Gresham Harkless 1:33

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.

Bindiya Gandhi 1:41

So I think I've always wanted to be a business owner. And 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, you know, running my own business. It's kind of hard when you work for someone else. And I learned that really early on with my you know, with my dad watching him working for someone else, then 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 2:10

I appreciate you sharing your story. And it's always interesting to hear, I'm how I always, you know, figure out if entrepreneurs are born and made, but the fact that you've been able to kind of grow up in that environment, you've been able to understand, like, what entrepreneurship is what that looks like, and being able to adopt that into what you're doing now is awesome. You learned that from your parents.

Bindiya Gandhi 2:27

Yeah, yeah, I think honestly, being an entrepreneur is hard. But sometimes I'm like, What did I get myself into? Like, I could just, 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, you know, in a 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 2:54

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

Bindiya Gandhi 3:07

Yep.

Gresham Harkless 3:07

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.

Bindiya Gandhi 3:11

So I practice integrative and functional medicine. So I am a family medicine doctor, and that was my primary residency and fellowship in integrative 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 you know, from kids to adults from you know, 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's health, I deal a lot with fertility patients, helping a lot of females get you to know, help them get pregnant.

So, the gist of it is we do it in a very natural way and I'm all about a lifestyle change. So I preach you know, it takes a little longer sometimes but let's get to the root cause let's fix your lifestyle and that's gonna 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 4:02

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 fast or whatever.

Bindiya Gandhi 4:08

Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 4:09

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

Bindiya Gandhi 4:13

Yeah, exactly. Because you know, what I've noticed and 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 gonna keep you healthier. You know, 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 4:38

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

Bindiya Gandhi 4:45

Exactly. Same concept. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 4:46

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. What do you feel kind of is your secret sauce?

Bindiya Gandhi 4:55

So I'll it's our practice is kind of unique. In the Atlanta area. I'm probably one of the only doctors that take insurance, which is kind of a newer model than 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 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 5:23

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

Bindiya Gandhi 5:27

So, you know, 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, the majority of patients nowadays have insurance and they want to be able to use it, you know, insurance has its pros and cons. So sometimes it's great. And sometimes we have a lot of limitations, you know, we're trying it out. And so far, so good.

Gresham Harkless 5:52

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.

Bindiya Gandhi 6:05

Yeah, there's a lot of patients that come to me that you know, have been seeking this kind of medicine, but you know, can't afford to pay the 600$ or 700$ out of pocket for the initial consult. So it's nice to be able to help a nice middle class that is interested in lifestyle changes. So you know, 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 6:29

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.

Bindiya Gandhi 6:40

So honestly I'm gonna tell you, I start off my day in a couple of ways. Two things I do every day are meditating, that's just the stuff that I do, and giving gratitude for what I have in life. Like, that's just something I do, it's my personal practice, it can be something as simple as you know, giving thanks to my patients, you know what, when I see them in person, or like, even before the day starts, I'll say, I'll be like, you know, 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, you know, showing them gratitude, but also like telling myself that I'm grateful for them. So different things like that are super important because your mindset can make or breakthrough and I cannot stress that enough. That's why I always like to start my day off, you know, meditating, getting the right frame of mind, you know, 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, oh, you know, like that, that puts like a hamper on your mood and your day, but you know what, like, I get to the office, I get into my personal office, and I just, you know, 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 you know, 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, you know, leave your life more abundant and more full.

Gresham Harkless 8:01

Absolutely. No, I definitely think that's a phenomenal practice. Because a lot of times in this day and age, as we talked about, you know, with a quick fix, people are also looking for the outside thing, oh, I need this, I need this, or I don't have this, or I don't have that. But really, sometimes when we look around, we can be very grateful for a lot of things we have.

Bindiya Gandhi 8:17

Yeah, it's all in front of you!

Gresham Harkless 8:19

Exactly, exactly. And now I want 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 happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Bindiya Gandhi 8:29

Oh, gosh, that is that's a challenging one. You know, 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, you know, business owner. I think if I just had more faith in myself, when I was younger, it would happen, you know, and I think I said all this worrying, and all this, you know, 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 tell myself and my 20-year-old self wouldn't have understood that even today, like I said, Trust the process, like but honestly trust the process, believe in yourself and all will work out.

Gresham Harkless 8:29

Absolutely. Yeah, that's very hard, especially for you know, 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, you know, there's a process and anything that is worthwhile creating, it takes time to build. So!

Bindiya Gandhi 9:23

Yes, yes, for sure.

Gresham Harkless 9:25

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is a 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 mean to you?

Bindiya Gandhi 9:35

Honestly, that is, 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. You know, it's a lot of work, a lot of heartaches, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but it's so rewarding. You have the autonomy you have you have the ability to control your own schedule, you have the ability to leave the office early if need be, or, you know, work around your schedule for whatever. But you know, 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, you know?

Yes, there are times that you doubt yourself, there are times that you question it, and there are times that you're like, Am I doing the right thing? Like, am I good enough? Like will this work out, you know that all those questions and anxiety that come with any, 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 10:34

Exactly, exactly, just like NIKE said, Just do it, don't think about it 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 ahold of you and reach out to you if they have anything.

Bindiya Gandhi 10:51

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, you know, start your own podcast, whatever it is, you know, the time is now don't hesitate, just jump into it and do it. You know, one thing I will share is on it 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, you know, in regards to your health. So if that means going to the gym every day eating well, you know, getting seven, 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 you know, stay healthy. Now. Invest in yourself right now, when you're 70 and 80. You won't be on 10 different medications. Do 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 12:00

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?

Bindiya Gandhi 12:08

So you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @drbindiyamd 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. And yeah!

Gresham Harkless 12:37

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.

Bindiya Gandhi 12:47

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

Outro 12:50

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