IAM2620 – Medical Student Develops Content to Showcase Lives of Medical Providers

Adam Goodcoff Teaser 00:00
My goal with that visual aspect of Instagram and YouTube is to show there's more to this than just sitting at a desk. You can have fun. You can grow as a person outside of learning all this medical knowledge. The second arm of that prong or idea was, you know, to motivate these students and these healthcare workers.

And like I said, share kind of, you know, what I've learned because I am by no means the, you know, the smartest guy in the room off the bat, but I like to think that I'm one of the hardest workers in the room.

Intro 00:32
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 00:58
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 Adam of The Med Life.

Adam, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Adam Goodcoff 01:08
Thanks so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:09
No problem. Super excited to have you on.
And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Adam so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing.

And Adam is a fourth-year medical student interested in emergency medicine. When he is not studying or seeing patients, he is usually traveling somewhere with his camera. In an effort to motivate and inspire healthcare workers and students alike, he developed the MedLife, a hub for showcasing the lives of medical providers.

His content ranges from study tips to travel hacks and much more, showing that being in healthcare does not have to define your life outside of the hospital or classroom. Adam, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Adam Goodcoff 01:47
Absolutely. Awesome, let's do it.

Gresham Harkless 01:48
So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Adam Goodcoff 01:54
Yeah, so I think it kind of came out of a bunch of failures like a lot of people that start a business I actually started something back in the first year of med school actually, let me take it back even further when I was in college.

I started a blog and that was called the pre-med life and it basically was chronicling and I wasn't exactly a great student in high school and so I wasn't sure that I would even, you know, get into college, get into medical school and, you know, go on from there.

So I figured, let me make this, let me make this blog and let people see what I did from someone who, you know, what I felt like, you know, imposter syndrome shouldn't be there up until,

Hey, maybe I'll get in and people read this and people really connected with it. It was kind of crazy. I had never, really done anything like that. I wasn't really known as like a strong writer and it kind of, you know, morphed into its own thing.

It was on Tblr and, you know, I was super young. I didn't know about monetizing or I, you know, I had really no interest in business at the time.

So I did that and grew that, you know, to a decent size at the time. And when I went to med school, I was kind of, you know, getting, Overworked and didn't have the time that I felt I wanted to commit to writing because I really took time to write those pieces I still I felt like I was reaching a lot of students.

And connecting with a lot of people who you know were not at the top of their class and felt like they still deserved a shot at med school and so I started the you know a YouTube channel called the pre-med life and You know, that was one of my Babies that never really made it.

I put a lot of effort into that. I have actually a partner that I work with and so he does all the editing and I would do, obviously, all the content creation.

And we tried really hard. We had a video or two that got a little bit of traction, but nothing really took off. And between classwork and board exams and things, it kinda just got pushed to the side and unfortunately fell off and never really developed. And we kinda left it.

As I went through medical school, I took kind of an interesting path. I added a year on to teach some anatomy. And during that time, I got kind of some time to reflect and think about what I wanted to do, kind of what I wanted to leave as like a legacy from medical school.

I felt I had learned so much, not only in the classroom, but about being successful, performing well.
I mean, I did not do well in the SATs. I did not do well in the MCAT, which is the Medical College Admissions Test.

I switched that around, I grew from that and my board exams were above average for both our first and second board exams all throughout med school. So I made a big change and I felt like those were things that I could help other people figure out how to do and succeed.

I'm nobody special and so I was kind of motivated and we started the med life, which is kind of the maturation of the pre-med life.

I kind of took what we failed with and built on it and moved forward. And I already knew that audience was there and interested in this information. It was just a matter of reaching them.

And so we did, we launched YouTube. It was, again, it was slow-growing. And my partner in the project here, Josh, suggested that I look at Instagram.

And I had previously deleted the app, wasn't using it for my personal use, but I said, hey, we'll give it a shot.

And so we launched on Instagram and it took off like wildfire, grew incredibly fast. And that's been translating slowly to a growth on YouTube and on from there.

So long-winded answer, but hopefully that kind of gave you an insight as to why I'm kind of starting the med life.

Gresham Harkless 05:27
Yeah, absolutely. No, it's super exciting. I think obviously I see some commonalities between the pre-med life and the med life. So it sounds like you have a trend going on.

But I think that's one of the things that, you know, we always try to remind ourselves of is that, you know, especially in this digital world, but really for a lot of stuff, whether it be business or whatever it is, you know, you have to try.

And, a lot of times you get to learn a lot from trying, whether it does succeed or it's like you mentioned, the failing babies. So whatever happens, but you get to learn a lot from that. But a lot of times, a lot of people are on the sidelines and they never jp out to actually try to do something.

But it's great to hear that you've been able to do that. You've been able to grow and you're still kind of creating.

Adam Goodcoff 06:06
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's that easy. And it's probably one of the most common and we can, I'm sure talk about it later.

One of the most common questions I get on, on Instagram is, you know, how, how do you possibly have time to do this? And, you know, we'll, we'll get into it, but there's, there's no magic bullet.

Gresham Harkless 06:22
Yeah. Yeah. That makes perfect sense. So, I wanted to hear a little bit more on what you're hoping to do with the med life.

I know I touched on it a little bit, you know, when you're reading your bio, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about what people can expect.

Adam Goodcoff 06:34
Absolutely. So right now the goal of the med life is basically to just reach out and connect with those students, healthcare providers.

And I mean really my vision when I started it with, especially with that title was to show that medicine is more than just sitting at your desk. Everyone thinks that, , you go to medical school and you have no life, you don't do anything for two years, three years.

You know, until you're out seeing patients. And, you know, I think that's not true at all. I mean, some of my best memories have been in med school. I've been very fortunate to travel a lot.

I've, you know, met incredible people, had incredible opportunities, and I think it's all how you approach it.

And so my goal with, you know, that visual aspect of Instagram and the YouTube is to show, you know, hey, there's more to this than just sitting at a desk. And you can have fun, you can, you know, grow as a person, Outside of you know learning all this medical knowledge and the second arm of that prong or idea was you know to motivate these students and these health care workers and like I said share kind of You know what?

I've learned because I am by no means that you know the smartest guy in the room off the bat but I like to think that I'm one of the hardest workers in the room and And I think that, you know,

that is something that you can help teach someone, help motivate them and, you know, show them what you did. Because it's not like I sit down, you know, look at something once and boom, I have, you know, an A or a high board score or whatever it is.

I definitely, you know, put in a lot of work, but it pays off. And I think, so my goal was to, you know, get other students doing that because nothing crushes my heart more than seeing students who fail board exams for no real reason, just because of poor strategy or lack of mentorship, motivation, that kind of thing.

That's kind of where the med life is now and I'll just give like a little teaser where it's going I'm looking to kind of expand some content creators.

So it's already in the works. It's moving becoming hopefully November we're looking at but kind of expand out into nursing maybe dental physical therapy that type of thing And capture some more of those audiences because all of those have students that are looking to go into that field.

And you know want to achieve success And so I'm gonna be working hopefully with some experts and creators in that field to get some content for those demographics as well.

Gresham Harkless 08:56
Nice. That's definitely exciting. And especially because I know we talked a little bit offline about, I didn't mention, but I was, the reason I brought up law school is because I was geared up to go to law school.
So something like that, the law life or whatever, you know, related to that would have been amazing because I think I spent a good amount of my college years getting ready for law school when in reality it wasn't necessarily the right path.'

That I think that I should have went down, but having, you know, YouTube channel content, to actually get a real life view into like what you're potentially investing a lot of time and energy into would have been great to see.

And even if I went down that path to have the tips and tidbits that you're providing to be successful would have been even better.

Gresham Harkless 09:37
Absolutely. Nice. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And you might have already touched on this. This could be for you or for the med life, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Adam Goodcoff 09:46
I think again, it's two-prong. I hate to keep using that phrase on you, but it's, , it's two things. I think nber one is the work ethic and it's not to say that everybody doesn't work hard. , you know, there's people out there hustling every day.

Our slogan when we relaunch and we've kind of been, you know, starting to push around a little bit now is hustle, grind, stay humble.

And I really like to try and live by that and, you know, impress upon, anyone who's visiting my page, visiting The Med Life, how important that is, because that's all it is.

There's no, nothing is given to you, and I'm not, like I said, I'm not inherently the smartest guy in the room, and I think hustling, grinding away, putting in those hours, and then that will help you achieve the success, and then that last line, stay hble, is so important, and that's kind of that second prong.

I mean, I get, a lot of times, my Instagram, again, there's always bigger accounts. My account's grown very quickly, and people are always shocked when they get a reply back from me within.

You know, I try and answer everything within a day or two, you know, and they're like, wow, I can't believe you answered me. , and I think it's important. I mean, every single follower on my, you know, all of my social media is incredibly important to me.

I mean, they are the reason that I'm here. They're the reason that I'm doing this is, you know, to help folks.

Gresham Harkless 10:56
Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And, you know, especially a lot of times, like you even touched on, you know, with the scores, the MCAT scores or whatever that might be that someone gets, and it may be lower than they expected, doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of the world.

So I appreciate you for bringing light to that because sometimes we can get discouraged if, whether it be an MCAT score or something in life doesn't necessarily go the way we want, but we can also lean on our effort, lean on our hustle, our ability to grind and stay humble, as you said.

And as you kind of touched on with the brand that you're building as well. I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to 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.

Adam Goodcoff 11:36
Sure. So I think I'll kind of touch on a book that I've read that has really, I guess, helped me change my perspective on especially social media, because I think, again, a lot of folks get lost in this and connecting with the customer and your demographics.

It's the Dale Carnegie book how to win friends and influence people in the digital age the newer version Though I'm sure you know the original still applies I think the title is incredibly misleading It sounds like you know almost coming from a medical background sounds like someone with like psychopathic tendencies.

But you know, it's really the book is more about how to be a good person.

Gresham Harkless 12:13
Nice. I definitely appreciate you sharing that with us. And I didn't even realize there was a digital version of it.

That's, that's pretty awesome that they took that spin. Cause that's a classic book and you know, I guess just as life changes and business changes and you know, relationship change as well. You know, it was great to see that that book evolved and I definitely want to make sure to pick that up.

Adam Goodcoff 12:32
Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 12:33
And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is 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?

Adam Goodcoff 12:43
That's a great question. I think never give up, you know, should be told to everyone. , but on the, on the flip side of that coin, no wind to pivot. I think that's the biggest thing I have learned.

As I've grown a little bit older, no, when what you're doing is not working, know how, you know, be self reflective and, you know, do that weekly assessment Sunday night, Monday morning, whatever it is, and say to yourself, you know, Here's where we're going. Here's what our plan is. Are we on track? What is holding us up?

What's propelling us? And I think that's been really key. We've definitely, you know, between the pre-med life and the med life, one of the biggest differences is our ability to pivot. we're certainly adjusting and making a lot more changes live time rather than just kind of beating against a wall that's not going to come down.

Gresham Harkless 13:35
Nice. Yeah. And that makes perfect sense. I think a lot of times when you, when people think about pivoting, you know, they're thinking that you are giving up on something, but I'm glad, you know, you mentioned that because a lot of times we have an, overarching goal.

And if we're able to do that, that manifests itself in a lot of different ways. So it might be, you know, this way or it might be another way, but by pivoting, you can still reach your goal or overall goal by, by just making a tweak to be more successful.

Adam Goodcoff 13:59
Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 14:00
Nice. And 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-unquote CEOs on this show. So Adam, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Adam Goodcoff 14:10
Sure. I think that's a, that's a really cool question. I think to me, it's being kind of a leader, the orchestrator of the, you know, the bigger organization and, the person who keeps it on the rails, I think, you know, the characteristic of a good leader is being able to recognize the strengths of everyone on the team and play to those strengths.

Gresham Harkless 14:32
Absolutely. Yeah. That's definitely a great visual, especially, being the person that, you know, in front of, , an orchestra. and leading them and understanding the strengths and weaknesses, what somebody does better than maybe somebody else and understanding how to fit that all in together to make a beautiful symphony and a beautiful sound.

So I appreciate that perspective. And Adam, I appreciate your time even more. And what I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best we can find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Adam Goodcoff 15:02
Yeah, I think we covered a lot of stuff here. Certainly have lots of content over on my page, and like I said, I'm really excited about this new avenue. I don't really wanna spill the beans on it yet. We're still kinda getting everything together in beta, but I will say that as far as I know, what we're doing is gonna be one of the first of its kind.

Adam Goodcoff 15:22
I haven't found anything like it out there yet, so I'm, You know super excited for that kind of assembling my team right now, and we're looking to to launch in November so , you know, we'll be reaching hopefully a much more broad audience with that but, yeah, absolutely.

Check out the the content over the Instagram and the YouTube and like I said I mean i'm happy to chat with anyone and it doesn't just have to be medicine. I really believe strongly in what I've done to get to this point.

I don't think that, you know, it just applies to medicine. I think it really applies to anyone who's trying to achieve a goal, you know, overcome a hurdle and, you know, become one of those high performers.

And I think medical school has forced me to kind of find that and, you know, it's not just the Instagram, there've been small things over time that kind of led me to this, this idea where it's like, wow, you know, you can become a high performer with the right things.

I mean, In med school, I developed a photography business. I was actually hired as a contractor by the state.

Gresham Harkless 16:16
Yeah, definitely appreciate your time. We'll have the link to your IG and the show notes as well and a phenomenal rest of the day.

Adam Goodcoff 16:21
Thank you and you as well. Thanks everyone for listening.

Outro 16:24
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at imceo.co.

I AM CEO 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 Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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