IAM050 – After Practicing for Over 20 Years, Physician Follows Her Life’s Calling

Dr. Nicole Rochester is a physician, former caregiver to her late father, and the CEO of Your GPS Doc, LLC. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University, attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and completed her residency training in Washington, DC. After practicing medicine for almost 20 years, she left a rewarding career in clinical and academic medicine to follow what she believes is her life's calling.

• CEO Hack: Audible
• CEO Nugget: Performed focused research and take action
• CEO Defined: Using my gifts and talents to help others on my terms.

Website: http://www.yourgpsdoc.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/yourgpsdoc
Twitter: www.twitter.com/yourgpsdoc
Instagram: www.instagram.com/yourgpsdoc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-rochester-m-d-40700812

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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 Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dr. Nicole Rochester of Your GPS Doc.

Dr. Nicole, it is awesome to have you on the show.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 0:39

Thank you, Gresham. I'm so happy to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Awesome. We're happy to have you as well. What I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about your background so that everybody can learn about all the awesome things you've been able to accomplish.

Dr. Nicole Rochester is a physician and former caregiver to her late father and the CEO of Your GPS Doc, LLC. She obtained her undergraduate degree from John Hopkins University and attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed her residency training in Washington DC after practicing medicine for almost 20 years. She left a rewarding career in clinical and academic medicine to follow what she believes is her life's calling.

Dr. Nicole, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Dr. Nicole Rochester 1:21

I sure am.

Gresham Harkless 1:23

Awesome. But I wanted to jump right in and ask you a little to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business?

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Dr. Nicole Rochester 1:29

Well, I was a caregiver to my dad along with my two older sisters for about three years, and my dad had a lot of medical problems including dementia. It was a very, very eye-opening experience for me and seeing the healthcare system, from the patient's perspective and from the family caregivers' perspective was really overwhelming, to be honest with you.

What I discovered over and over again, is that many times, we were only able to get my dad the care that he needed because of my background as a physician. And you know, me knowing that the inside out and my kind of knowing how to escalate matters and you know, particular words to say and what to do. It really bothered me, because not only was I frustrated about our own experience, but I kept thinking about everyone else. And you know, what do all of the other family caregivers who don't have a doctor who happens to be their daughter? And so you know, I just decided that I needed to do something to try to make a difference.

Gresham Harkless 2:32

Awesome. I'm sorry to obviously hear about your father and everything that happened, being able to kind of understand that had you had the kind of advantage I mean, and having that medical background and be able to kind of help out your father, but other people don't have that advantage. So you kind of created something to be able to kind of fulfill that gap so to speak.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 2:52

That's absolutely correct.

Gresham Harkless 2:53

Okay. I wanted to maybe drill down a little bit more and hear a little bit more about like, how exactly you help out those people and what exactly Your GPS Doc does.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 3:02

Sure. So you know, one thing that I noticed as a physician, and certainly as a caregiver, is that most Americans have very poor health literacy. And this is a well-known fact. And health literacy just refers to your ability to take in information, medical information, and then use that to appropriately make decisions. And so I've realized that many people just don't feel adequate, when they are trying to navigate the healthcare system, they're intimidated, there are a lot of hoops that you have to jump through. And having that inside knowledge can be very useful.

And so I help family caregivers and individuals with chronic illnesses, navigate health care, and that can be anything from how to find a primary care doctor to communicate with the health care team when they're in the hospital to helping fight the insurance company when they're denying an insurance claim to you know, helping a family locate an appropriate nursing home and anything in between.

Gresham Harkless 4:04

Yeah, definitely seems like, you know, not understanding exactly all the different things that are going on, you've been able to kind of be that person, they can reach out to you and contact you and then you can kind of take care of everything from there.

Is that correct?

Dr. Nicole Rochester 4:17

That's absolutely right. Yes. I work with clients individually, one on one, but it's also really important to me to reach many because I realized that you know, not everyone's going to work with me personally. So through social media and through speaking engagements and workshops, I have been able to also educate and empower patients and family caregivers.

Gresham Harkless 4:40

Awesome. Yeah, that's huge. Because being able to kind of be empowered to be able to help make those decisions, especially in those difficult moments is very, very important.

So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper into a kind of hearing about maybe your secret sauce or what you feel kind of distinguishes you or makes your organization unique.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 4:56

Great. Well, I think you know, there is a health advocate this whole field of health advocacy is relatively new. But there certainly are health advocates throughout the United States. But what makes me unique is that I'm a physician. There are very few health advocates that are physicians. And I think what also makes me unique is that I, as I mentioned, you know, I'm not only serving clients individually, but I'm really on a mission in Gresham to be the nation's expert for healthcare navigation, I am hoping to bridge the gap between other physicians and healthcare organizations and patients and family caregivers.

And I think I am uniquely positioned to be able to unite those two groups, because it's not only important for the family, caregivers, and patients to understand how to navigate health care. But I also want to help healthcare providers understand the importance of family caregivers and the wonderful wealth of information that they bring to a clinical encounter. And so I'm really, really hoping to bridge that gap between those two communities.

Gresham Harkless 6:03

And that's huge, especially in a situation where, you know, you don't really know exactly what's going on in their environment. But you understand that you have somebody, again, you can lean on and kind of go to that can kind of help navigate that and kind of bridge that gap, like you mentioned, to kind of help you get in the services and products that you need.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 6:20

Absolutely, yeah. And even as a physician, I struggled with this from my own dad. And that's why I know firsthand that it's incredibly difficult. And that's not a time when you want to be you know, confused and lost.

Gresham Harkless 6:33

Yeah, you have enough going on?

Dr. Nicole Rochester 6:35

That's right.

Gresham Harkless 6:35

Awesome. But what I wanted to do was kind of switch gears and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app or book or a habit that you have that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 6:46

I have several hacks, but I think one of the ones that I think has been most important for me in terms of my growth, as a new entrepreneur is audible. I have read so many useful business books, and just personal development books using Audible. It's great because you know, I can do this, when I'm working out, I can do this when I'm in my car when I'm traveling on a plane. It has really allowed me to really, you know, further educate myself in a way that doesn't force me to kind of sit down and turn the pages of a book.

Gresham Harkless 7:20

Yeah, that makes sense, especially being on the go and having so many different things that you're doing to be able to kind of take in that content and to improve and to better yourself, while you're able to kind of like you mentioned workout, or be on the go, that kind of helps out tremendously. So I love that CEO hack.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 7:35

Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 7:36

Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. This might be a word of wisdom or piece of advice that you might have for other entrepreneurs and business owners.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 7:43

Well, I don't know if other entrepreneurs and business owners face this challenge. I don't think it's unique to physicians. But I know that one of the things that I have struggled with is the desire to research and then research some more and then research some more. And so I think my nugget would be to perform focused research and then just go out and take action. I have struggled with that wanting to just learn more and more and make sure that things are perfect before I launched them. And so my nugget would be to do a little bit of research and then just go and take action.

Gresham Harkless 8:15

Yeah, that makes sense, especially in this kind of like business environment. A lot of it is about an action that you take, and you don't want to you know, be a victim of paralysis by analysis, and don't let the perfect be possible. So I think that's a phenomenal thing to kind of keep in mind because we always wanted it to be perfect, but sometimes we just have to kind of take action to do it.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 8:32

So true.

Gresham Harkless 8:33

Awesome. Well, what I want to ask you now was my absolute favorite question, which is kind of like the definition of being a CEO. We're hoping to have different types of CEOs on this podcast, again, the opportunity to kind of learn from each of them exactly like how they would define it. So I want to ask you, how do you define being a CEO, and what that means to you?

Dr. Nicole Rochester 8:51

I define being a CEO as using my gifts, talents, and personal experiences to help others on my terms.

Gresham Harkless 9:00

I love it. I love it. And that's definitely important because I know a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners when they start their business, a lot of times it's about being able to kind of paint their Canvas in the way that they see. And you've been able to sound like do that with your business as well, too.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 9:15

Yeah, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 9:16

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, Dr. Nicole, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was kind of pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there was anything additional you want to let our readers or listeners know whether it be pieces of advice or anything about Your GPS Doc and how best people can get ahold of you.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 9:33

I think my piece of advice to anyone who is dealing with aging or chronic illness or if you are caring for someone who is in one of those categories, is to just advocate for yourself, you know, we physicians can get busy and I know sometimes it can seem like you're being ignored when you're in the exam room or when you're in that lonely hospital room. But it is very, very important that you realize that you really are the expert for your own body and for your own health. And so try to find ways to partner with your physician and the other health care providers so that you can get the health care that you need. And certainly, if you're running into trouble and you're having difficulty hiring a health advocate like myself is certainly one way to go.

And in terms of contacting me, so my website is yourgpsdoc.com. And there's a wealth of free information there I blog, and just try to write articles that are personal to me, most of them are related to experiences that I have with my dad, and lots of useful tips for others in that situation. I'm also on social media as @yourgpsdoc. So I'm on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And certainly, if someone wants to talk more with me about the possibility of working with me individually, they can go to www.calendly.com/yourgpsdoc to book a free 30-minute consult call.

Gresham Harkless 11:07

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, we'll do is we'll have those links in the show notes just so that anybody can follow up with you. And Dr. Nicole I truly appreciate you taking some time out of your schedule, taking the experience with your father, and being able to kind of get back to people that need help as well. So I think it's awesome what you're doing and I truly appreciate you for taking some time out.

Dr. Nicole Rochester 11:25

Thank you. Gresham, thank you so much for the invitation. I appreciate it.

Outro 11:30

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

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Thank you for listening

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