IAM2907 – Physician Inspires Those Aspiring to Enter Healthcare Field

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Transcription:

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 00:00
So there's a quote that Mae Jemison, um, said like a while back that has always stuck with me. Um, the quote was, never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination. Never limit others because of your own limited imagination. And that quote rings true to me each and every day, man. Like, I'm a true believer in, um, the only limits that you have are the ones you set yourself.

Gresham Harkless 00:49
Hello, hello, hello.

Gresham Harkless 00:53
This is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Christelle Wikan Kimini of the Black Man MD blog. Christelle, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 01:02
Thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate it, Chris.

Gresham Harkless 01:04
Yeah, no problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Christelle so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Christelle, also known as Dr. Dub, is currently a pediatric resident physician at the University of North Carolina's Children's Hospital, who is also the creator of the Black Man MD blog, a blog designed to not only inspire those who are thinking about entering the field of healthcare, but also crush the negative stereotypes that members of minority communities face on a regular basis. Christelle was born in Boston, Massachusetts, raised in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Miami and earned his medical degree from the Wake Forest School of Medicine. He started the Black Man MD blog shortly before starting medical school and has since then not only continued to share his ongoing story with his readers on a continued basis, but also has highlighted other minority students and professionals in the healthcare field, has shared useful and practical advice as well as positive energy with readers, and has even used his platform to start a scholarship program for high school students. Christelle. Great to have you on. Are you ready to speak to the I Am CEO community?

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 02:04
For sure, man. Let's get it.

Gresham Harkless 02:06
Let's do it. So I wanted to kick everything off with what I call your CEO story here. A little bit more about what led you to start your blog and all the awesome things you're working on.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 02:14
Yeah, man. So first off, I never really thought of myself as a blogger. I never thought I was going to be a blogger. Uh, I didn't go into this, start my blog thinking that I was going to, uh, do big things or anything. It really started when I, uh, uh, graduated from college back in 2015. And I had, I had not gotten into medical school, um, even after graduation from college. And it wasn't until like 2 weeks after I graduated that I finally got my acceptance, my one and only acceptance into, uh, the Wake Forest School of Medicine. And so I was stoked. I was excited, as you can imagine. And then shortly after that, I realized that I spent so much time and energy trying to get into a school that I didn't realize what I was really getting into, like, across my day-to-day basis.

Gresham Harkless 02:55
Right.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 02:55
So I was like, dang, like I don't really know what the day-to-day life of a med student is like. And so I went online trying to kind of see if I could find anything that could help me out. I found a few helpful blogs, but nothing I could really relate to as a young Black male going into medical school. And so I, after just searching like about for maybe a couple weeks or so, I just figured that I could, why not?

Gresham Harkless 03:20
Why?

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 03:21
Why not start something that I'm looking for? Like, why not start, you know, everything that I'm, that I find missing online? And so I initially brushed off the idea at first because I was like, well, I look like a blogger. Like, I'm not a, I'm not a blogger.

Gresham Harkless 03:33
Right.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 03:33
I don't do blogging or anything. But then I thought about it some more and I was like, maybe that's the mentality that people like me in the past had. People that may have wanted to start something like this. Maybe they thought like, man, I mean, I'm not a blogger, so whatever. Let me just kind of like not do it. And so after kind of like mulling back and forth about it, I decided to go ahead and just pull the trigger and like start it in July. And then I made my first post, um, late July, right before my first day of orientation. And then, so I made the website, I got a domain name, made my post, and I didn't post again for about a month. I was about to just drop the idea. I was like, this is dumb. I don't really want to do this. Then like, I don't know, I don't know what came over me. I just, after about a month of my first post, I decided to post again. And then I told myself if I was going to do this, then it was going to be something that I had to stay consistent with. Like I didn't want to do it and just drop it. Like I wanted to be able to really just, you know, post on a consistent basis and really just have content to share with whoever wanted to read it. And so I just kind of made that promise to myself and I went about posted some more, posted on a weekly basis. And I actually, actually didn't share it with the public until maybe like a month after I decided to stay consistent with it. ‘Cause I was nervous about it. I mean, I was sharing a lot of like, um, a lot. It was like, it was almost like it was really personal, like sharing some stuff, you know, my thoughts and whatnot about, um, med school. Um, and I don't know, I didn't know how people would take it. And so like late September of 2015, I decided to just go ahead and make it public. And I figured it would also make me accountable to post more and post more consistently. And so I did that and got an overwhelmingly positive response about it. And so it was, it was really reassuring to kind of see that people really liked it, like what I was doing. And so since then, I mean, I've just been able to, I posted on a weekly basis throughout med school in the past 4 years. And I really wanted to be able to put a positive spin on my medical school journey because there are a lot of things, a lot of, uh, there's a lot of talk about med school, how hard it is and how, you know, how you don't have a life or anything. And I kind of wanted to counter that, show that you can have a life, you can do all these great things while you're a medical student and beyond. And so that's one of the things that I, I wanted to focus on. And, um, ever since I started my blog, I've also expanded it to various sections, uh, such as like my Med School 101 section where I share resources for students who want to go into the medical field. Um, I also have the Health Career Spotlight section that you mentioned a little earlier where I spotlight or highlight, um, minority medical professionals or healthcare professionals or students in the field of healthcare and even starting the scholarship as well. So it's been a really cool thing to be able to do alongside of medical school and now residency journey.

Gresham Harkless 06:21
Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate you for doing that. I mean, I know there's a lot of people that probably listen to this. They're kind of having that, what you kind of spoke to was imposter syndrome where a lot of times we want to create something, we want to scratch our own itch and do something. We're like, you know, who am I to do that? You know, I'm not really, you know, an expert at this. I'm not great at doing this. But it's so funny because a lot of the bloggers, people that blog all the time, started out by not knowing how to blog. They just kept on with it. So a lot of times just having that consistent mindset and doing it day after day after day, that's how you kind of reach the success and start to get things growing. And, uh, you know, it's just great to kind of hear that you doing that. And of course reminding us of that, because I think there's a lot of people that probably listen to this that might be thinking, I want to do, you know, X, Y, and Z, but I'm probably not good enough to do that, or I'm not an expert. But a lot of times you have to continue to do that to make that happen.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 07:04
Yeah, I totally agree. You hit the nail on the head, man. Definitely had imposter syndrome when it came to this blogging world. I was just like, I've never done this before.

Gresham Harkless 07:12
Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 07:13
Yeah. And you're absolutely right. Cause you said, you know, there's probably so many people that were thinking the exact same thing that didn't actually create it. So you decided to do something, you know, different. So I truly appreciate that. And, and so I know you touched on it. Is there, I guess, is there anything additional as far as like what we can find on the blog and some of the things that you're going to, you know, that you're writing about now? But also things that you're thinking about writing on, you know, in the future.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 07:32
Yeah, man, for sure. So as I had said, I, um, I, if you go on the blog, you can find my story as a medical student. Like I have archives, weekly archives of, um, my experience as a med student. And I still post on a regular basis, although not weekly, 'cause residency is no joke. Hard to find time to post as much as I did in med school. But that being said, you'll find my story there, but, and also I have various sections One of them is called Good Vibes, and that's where I have a long laundry list of quotes that I've used in my blog over the past few years. Just have, it's just a lot of positive vibes, positive things in one place to kind of refer to if you ever haven't ever need some kind of uplifting in your day. I also have, I said the Med School 101 section where I share resources with students who are thinking about going into the medical field. Um, I also have this, have this, uh, section called Lifesavers. In Lifesavers, in that section, I kind of shared the resources that I used in medical school. And this is for people in medical school who are like kind of struggling to figure out what kind of resources to use in their studies or whatnot. And by all means, that's not an all-inclusive list I have on that section, but it's just some stuff that could provide a good start for those students. And then I have the Health Career Spotlight section that I talked about earlier where I highlight minority healthcare professionals. which is just kind of give some inspiration and perspective. I have the Desire to Inspire Scholarship, and the Desire to Inspire Scholarship, it, uh, it provides a scholarship for high school students, minority high school students who are interested in beautiful healthcare, who are also doing something to inspire those around them. Um, that's something I started this year and something that I want to continue, um, moving forward because it was just such an overwhelmingly positive response to that. Then I have a section called Black Men in White Coats, and This section is not my— that wasn't my idea. It's just something that I'm sharing from the organization Black Men in White Coats. And they just had this video series where they interview various Black men who are doctors. And so I just decided to get permission, share their content on my blog as well, because I thought it was really helpful for the new learners. In regards to the future, I think that I want to go about writing separate posts just about patient encounters that I had in the past and kind of how that made me feel, just kind of Do that separately. And I'm thinking about doing some kind of merchandise or whatnot, just kind of like, you know, brainstorming and figuring out how I can use my logo, how I can use the motto, the name of the blog to, you know, just put it on merchandise like clothing, bags, stuff like that. I'm just playing around with that. And one other thing I do have on my blog is I have a post called Why I Decided to Become a Pediatrician. Because I was into ophthalmology for a long time, and then I just, I went ahead and switched to pediatrics my third year of med school. And so many people asked me why I decided to do that. So I made a pretty detailed post about why I did that. So you can find that on the blog as well if you would like.

Gresham Harkless 10:23
Exactly. Yeah, that's the ultimate kind of cheat code. So, um, you might've already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and it can be for you or your organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart?

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 10:33
Well, to start off, I'm a Black male blogger in the field of medicine. I think that's, as far as I know, I think that's unique in itself. I still to this day don't know many other Black male bloggers, period. I mean, it's a rarity, like as you may already know. And it's cool just being able to see you do your thing. It's inspiring, man. I'm glad you hit me up. Other things that I feel like sets me apart, I feel like I've managed to stay consistent. Over the past few years, that's something that I've seen. I've seen a lot of blogs come and go over just during my time as a blogger. It's just people have really good ideas, they start it off, they go for a little while, and then they fizzle off for whatever reason, something happens, and they never come back to it. But I think that being consistent is a lot easier said than done. It's definitely tough to be consistent, but I think that if you are, then it allows you to become a really successful blogger. Over time, I also, I've been able to collect a lot of various resources over the internet and kind of compile it into one place. So I think that kind of makes me unique as well. But in regards to like resources, and I've also brought together a lot of the various blogs that touch about life and healthcare, and I put them all in one place on one another page on my blog called Useful Blogs. And so I'll kind of link out 30+ blogs that I found over time that could help my readers. I also, I have a strong desire to focus on the positive aspect of life as a healthcare student and professional. That being said, I still share my— I'm still vulnerable. I still am pretty realistic. I keep it real. But at the same time, instead of kind of focusing on the negative aspect of things, I more so focus on the positive aspect. I'm just kind of like, you know, catalyzing positive thinking in the minds of my readers and stuff. Giving out scholarships. And I also just don't plan on stopping my work with the blog anytime soon. I mean, I'm having a blast just doing what I'm doing. And I know people out there, some people out there are thinking to themselves, how's he doing this? Like, how is he going about doing this whole separate platform while being a resident? I mean, I don't know. If you do something that you truly like, you're passionate about, you love, you just do it. And it brings you joy, it brings you life, and you just I don't know, it just, it feels right.

Gresham Harkless 12:47
Definitely appreciate that. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 12:58
I definitely feel like my phone's my most important resource. I have it with me all the time. I'm like, if I have it with me, why not use, use it to its fullest, like use it to my advantage? And so I actually have a really simple app that I use. It's a notes app. It's that Notes app that everybody has, but man, like, if used effectively, like, it can, it does wonders, man. I use that app like every day, multiple times a day, and I just use it to document my ideas and my thoughts, like, so that I don't ever forget what I'm thinking. ‘Cause I always have like these things that run through my mind, uh, multiple times a day, um, all the time, honestly. And so like, just having that to like document my stuff real quick and just kind of keeping it to the side and like coming back to it at some point in the future. Um, it kind of sparked my, sparked my imagination again.

Gresham Harkless 13:43
Absolutely. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be 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?

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 13:52
So there's a quote that Mae Jemison, um, said like a while back that has always stuck with me. Um, the quote was, never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination. Never limit others because of your own limited imagination. And that quote rings true to me each and every day, man. Like, I'm a true believer in, um, the only limits that you have are the ones you set yourself.

Gresham Harkless 14:15
I appreciate that, that, that, uh, CEO nugget. 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 unquote CEOs on the show. So, Chris, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 14:25
One thing that it means to me is just being able to take on the responsibility of ensuring that your vision is being effectively executed. Um, just Being able to really just, you know, just take on ownership of your vision and just make sure that what you're doing with your organization is what you feel passionate about and like what you really want to provide to your audience.

Gresham Harkless 14:49
Love that definition. Appreciate it. And I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do is 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 people can find out about the blog and all the awesome things you're working on.

Christel Wekon-Kemeni 15:01
Yeah, man. So if you want to find the blog, you can find it at blackmanmd.com. That's B-L-A-C-K-M-A-N-M-D dot com. You can find me on social media as well. My Instagram and Twitter handles are all @therealdrdub, T-H-E-R-E-A-L-D-R-D-U-B. You can also find me on Facebook just using my name, Christel Wekon-Kemeny, C-H-R-I-S-T-E-L W-E-K-O-N hyphen K-E-M-E-N-Y. And my email, you can reach me at inspire@blackmanmd.com. Awesome.

Gresham Harkless 15:35
Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Krista. We will have the links and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you, but appreciate you again for being inspirational, for pushing through and doing what others may not have wanted to do, but I appreciate you for doing that and reminding us that we need to do the same. So, um, I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.