Podcast appearances and mentions of tracy tracy

How much of your team's day disappears into phone calls, faxes, and data entry? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Clark Van Oyen, founder of Cortico Health — a company that has helped nearly 10,000healthcare professionals reduce administrative burden through smart automation and better workflow design.  Clark's journey began with a single pediatric clinic drowning in 800 phone calls a day. After moving booking online, the calls all but disappeared — and the practice grew from 12 physicians to 22 in just 18 months. Today his mission is to isolate, understand, and eliminate anything that pulls providers away from patient care.  You'll hear why scheduling eats up about 40 percent of support staff time, where admin burden hides in plain sight, why AI phone systems fully resolve only about half of patient calls, and the single most valuable habit a practice owner can build: holding vendors accountable for outcomes, not methods. Clark also shares the free fixes hiding on your practice website.  If you've ever wondered whether your practice really needs AI — or just needs the right assessment first — this conversation is for you.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.   Want to keep the conversation going? Join us for a free AI roundtable featuring Dr. Sarah Baldwin, a physician who has used automation to reshape her own practice. We'll talk through how to decide which tools actually earn a place in your practice — and which ones don't. Save your spot on August 18, 2026, Register here at PracticeSuccess.co/SmartPractice  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

You survive a hard season of practice ownership and assume smooth waters are ahead. Then a new stage of growth arrives — a bigger team, a new location, more patients — and suddenly you're right back in the messy middle. In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta turns the tables on Tracy Cherpeski to ask why practice growth cycles instead of moving in a straight line.  Tracy unpacks the difference between cycling back through a hard season and actually losing ground, why new growth tends to restart the hard parts of practice ownership, and how a solo neuropsych practice's growth into a two-location, 20-plus-person team exposed gaps that “we're all adults here” couldn't fix. She also shares a personal story about getting knocked around by ocean waves that became a surprisingly useful metaphor for resistance versus surrender.  If you're a healthcare practice owner in a hard season right now, this conversation is a reminder: it's not regression, it's information.  Episode Referenced   The Alchemy of Change: What Burnout Is Really Telling You About Your Practice, EP 260    Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if the biggest risk in your practice is the one sitting quietly in a policy binder you haven't opened in two years? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski talks with Dr. Natasha Guess, founder of Guess Compliance Consulting, about why healthcare compliance is an operational system — not a legal checkbox.  Born and raised in Guyana, South America, Natasha saw what happens when healthcare structure is missing — and built a career helping small and mid-sized practices in the U.S. and Canada protect their patients and their businesses. She shares the three compliance gaps she finds in nearly every practice, why your vendor agreements deserve a quarterly review, how growth quietly creates new exposure, and the one step you can take this week to strengthen your foundation.  Whether you've been putting off a compliance review or you're not sure where your gaps are, this conversation makes the whole topic feel manageable — and gives you a clear place to start.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What's the single most costly communication breakdown in your practice? Chances are it's happening before a patient ever walks through your door.  In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Danny Bobrow, a healthcare marketing consultant who has spent more than 35 years helping dental and medical practices grow — not just by generating leads, but by helping teams turn those leads into loyal, kept appointments.  Danny introduces the concept of “missed moments” — the small communication failures that quietly cost practices thousands — and shares his Persuasion Blueprint framework built around three Cs: caring, connection, and collaboration. He explains why the first 30 seconds of a phone call can make or break a patient relationship, why enthusiasm is a tool most teams either misuse or skip entirely, and what mountaineering taught him about leading a team under real pressure.  If you've ever wondered why your front office feels disconnected from the care you deliver clinically — or why patients aren't converting even when your marketing is working — this conversation offers a clear and refreshing path forward.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What happens when a growing practice launches a second website to give a new offering room to breathe? In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta turns the mic around on host Tracy Cherpeski to unpack why they built the Thriving Practice Community its own separate website, why it didn't perform the way they hoped, and why they recently merged everything back into one unified brand.  Tracy and Miranda get candid about what the analytics revealed, why a standalone scrolling site struggled with SEO, and the moment Tracy realized that separating her personal brand from the community was working against her, not for her. They also share the eight-week rule they use to test and evaluate any business decision before deciding whether it's working.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Most private practice owners have a feeling they're not being paid what they're owed by insurance payers — but very few can prove it. In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski talks with Brett Spark of Aroris Healthabout why payer underpayment is so common, and why visibility into your payer contracts might be the most overlooked lever for practice profitability.  Brett's path is unique: he spent the first half of his career inside a large regional health system before being recruited into a private practice CEO role. That shift exposed him to how differently independent practices operate — and to a problem almost every one of them shares: not one of his clients has ever had their own contracts, amendments, and fee schedules fully organized in one place.  You'll hear how underpayment happens, what Aroris Health's software does to catch it, and why Brett believes doing something is always better than doing nothing when it comes to your payer relationships.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Are you the one still writing every patient email, every social post, every practice announcement? In this solo episode, Tracy Cherpeski asks the question most practice owners don't want to answer: is that actually your job?  This isn't a time-management talk. It's an honest look at one of the most predictable tipping points in founder-led healthcare practices — the moment when caring so much that you do it all yourself quietly becomes the thing capping your growth. Tracy walks through a real client story (two locations, one human bottleneck), the guilt loop no one talks about, and the root-bound plant metaphor that just might be the most accurate picture of where your practice is right now.  You'll leave with three gut-check questions to test where you actually stand — and a clearer sense of what it would take to finally let the season end.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Private practice ownership comes with a particular kind of loneliness that no one warns you about. In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta turns the mic around and interviews Tracy Cherpeski about what isolation actually costs practice owners, and why so many high-achieving providers resist the very support that could help.  Tracy gets honest about a pattern she sees often: practice owners who don't even recognize their own isolation until someone else names it first. It's rarely a lack of support at home, she explains; it's reluctance to burden the people who already have full plates of their own.  You'll also hear why generic networking falls flat compared to peer-specific community, what visibly shifts in a practice owner's body language once they let their guard down, and why “I don't have time” is often about more than the calendar.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Five missed phone calls could be costing your practice $5,000 to $10,000 a month — and most practice owners have no idea it's happening. In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski talks with Erika Sanchez, CEO of Healthcare Call Center, about the hidden gap between marketing spend and practice growth.  Erika's team, built almost entirely of stay-at-home moms working from home across the country, has helped healthcare practices triple their lead-to-new-patient conversion. She breaks down why nearly half of new patient inquiries come in after hours, why speed to lead can make or break a new patient relationship, and the simple three-question framework her team uses to build trust in under two minutes.  Tracy and Erika also dig into why patients still want a human voice, not a bot, when it comes to their health — and why the disconnect between marketing agencies and front desk teams is one of the most common, and most fixable, problems in healthcare practice growth.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if getting financially clear had less to do with being a "numbers person" and more to do with leading your practice with confidence? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Luisa Alberto, CEO of People First Finance, People First Foundations, and Kindredly — three companies built around making self-employment less overwhelming and more sustainable.  Luisa shares her own path from philosophy student to business finance expert, and why she believes that financial clarity is one of the most underrated leadership tools a practice owner can develop. She breaks down the real cost of doing it all yourself — from missed compliance to the emotional weight of carrying unresolved financial questions — and explains why knowing the difference between a bookkeeper, a CPA, and a CFO could be what stands between a practice you love and one that slowly drains you.  You'll also hear why building your practice to be a sellable asset matters from day one, and what "burnout brain" looks like — and costs — when you're trying to make strategic decisions from a depleted place. Partingadvice: keep going.   Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Find Luisa:  Websites: PeopleFirstFinance.com LuisaKAlberto.com  LinkedIn  Instagram @peoplefirstfinance   Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Something feels off — but you can't quite name it. In this SNACK episode, Tracy Cherpeski joins Miranda Dorta to talk about what Tracy calls "practice identity drift": the gradual, hard-to-see process by which a practice owner's original vision gets buried under the weight of compliance, overcommitment, and reactive patterns.  Tracy breaks down why drift looks different from burnout, why overcommitment isn't just about saying yes too much, and what it actually takes to course correct without overcorrecting. You'll hear about her 90-minute onboarding process, the one-lever-at-a-time method, and a simple three-question framework to help you figure out if — and where — your practice has drifted.  If you've checked all the boxes but still feel disconnected from the practice you set out to build, this one's for you.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if the most powerful marketing tool a physician has isn't a website or an ad campaign — it's themselves? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Ginger Allen, founder of Your Medical Liaison and president of the Florida Medical Association Alliance, to talk about what actually works when growing a functional medicine practice or any independent healthcare practice.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  With 12 years of medical marketing experience, Ginger has seen it all — physicians who invest in $100,000 machines before they have a patient base to support them, marketing companies that take the money and disappear, and the slow grind of burnout that sets in when doctors are trying to run a business on top of practicing medicine. Her antidote: get marketing off your plate, lead with your personal brand, and build a practice where you're the draw — not the decor. You'll hear why functional and integrative medicine requires a fundamentally different marketing strategy, how Ginger helps physicians show up on camera without hating every second of it, and what she's consistently noticed about doctors who make the shift to root-cause care: they're genuinely happier.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Every practice owner has a moment when they do the math — and quietly wonder whether they'd be better off just becoming a barista. If you've been there, this episode is for you. In this solo episode, Tracy Cherpeski introduces the Alchemy of Change: a three-stage framework for understanding why the hardest seasons of practice ownership aren't signs of failure, but of real transformation in progress. Drawing on the medieval concept of alchemy and the surprisingly rich etymology of the word "quicksilver," Tracy breaks down calcination (the burning), dissolution (the messy middle), and coagulation (the solidification of something new) — and explains why you can't skip or force any of them. She also shares what it actually looks like on the other side: not perfection, not done, but a practice that fits the person you've become. And what a guide's real job is in this process — especially during the stage when most people want to quit. If you're questioning the call right now, this one is worth your full attention. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if the biggest obstacle to a thriving practice isn't your clinical skills — it's everything around them? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Damien Adler, co-founder of Zanda Health and a practicing psychologist, to talk about how the right systems can take administrative burden off your plate and give you your practice — and your life — back. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.   Damien and his wife built and ran a private psychology practice for 14 years before selling it, and they learned firsthand how fast admin can overwhelm a growing practice. What changed everything? Building systems so good that the practice ran while they were in Europe for a month. That experience is what became Zanda Health.  In this episode, you'll hear how simple automations can improve patient experience before they even walk in the door, why patients actually judge your practice on things that have nothing to do with clinical care, and how Zanda's AI features handle transcription and charting securely — compliance first, always.  Plus: Damien's one piece of advice for practice owners who feel overwhelmed by where to start.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.   Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Click to Send a Text or Voicemail to MelissaIn this deeply honest conversation about suicide loss and long-term grief, Melissa sits down with Tracy Oeser, MSPsy — suicide loss survivor, grief educator, bereavement coach, and founder of Journey Thru Grief.Nearly 20 years after the suicide loss of her daughter Chelsie, Tracy shares the reality of grieving a child to suicide, what healing actually looks like over time, and how survivors can learn to carry grief while rebuilding life after devastating loss.Together, Melissa and Tracy talk about:• The reality of long-term suicide grief• What changes — and what doesn't — over decades of loss• The emotional phases survivors often experience• Why validation matters so deeply in grief• The difference between surviving and eventually integrating grief into life• Building support spaces rooted in lived experience• The importance of postvention work and honest conversations around suicide loss• Tracy's upcoming Journey Thru Grief Conference and her vision for bringing survivors and professionals together in communityThis episode is a reminder that healing is not linear, grief does not have an expiration date, and no one should have to carry suicide loss alone.About Tracy:Tracy Oeser is the CEO of Postvention Collective, LLC and the CEO and Bereavement Coach of Journey Thru Grief, LLC. She is a passionate advocate for mental health support and by using her breakthrough concept of “The 4 Phases of Suicide Loss,” she fiercely tries to speak for those who have lost family and friends to suicide. Tracy hosts the podcast, “Journey Through Your Suicide Loss” and has been a guest speaker on many different platforms discussing how the suicidal loss of her child affected her. She holds both a BA and MS in Psychology concentrated in life coaching. Tracy is an award-winning author and has received leadership and innovation awards for her work in the postvention field. She serves as a current member of various suicide prevention organizations throughout the United States and is a past board member of the American Association of Suicidology.Connect with Tracy:Tracy's Website: - Journey Thru GriefTracy's Podcast: Journey Through Your Suicide Loss Journey Through Your Suicide Loss | Podcast on SpotifyConference Info: Conference - Journey Thru Grief (Coupon Code: Melissa for $50 off thru June 15, 2026)Social Media: Tracy Oeser (@tracyoeser) • Instagram photos and videosIf this episode resonated with you:Please share it with someone who may need it, leave a review, or simply say your loved one's name today. You are not broken. You are grieving.Disclaimer:This podcast is intended for informational and peer-support purposes only and should not be considered medical or mental health advice.Support the show__________________________________________________________________________

What if the thing quietly holding your practice back isn't a systems problem or a staffing problem — but a grip problem? In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta turns the mic around and puts Tracy Cherpeski in the interview seat for an unscripted conversation about one of the most persistent patterns in healthcare practice ownership: holding on too tightly. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Tracy draws on over 15 years of coaching experience to explore what white-knuckling actually looks like day-to-day, why it's especially hard for high-achieving clinicians to recognize, and what it really means to surrender — not as giving up, but as a powerful, active choice. She also shares a personal shift that changed the way she works with practice owners and created a surprising ripple effect in her clients' confidence and growth.  If you've ever felt like everything depends on you, this one is worth your next commute.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if the biggest gap in your healthcare practice isn't clinical—it's emotional? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with returning guest Phil Johnson, founder of the Master Business Leadership program, for a direct and data-driven conversation about emotional intelligence and why most high-achieving healthcare professionals have barely scratched the surface of developing it.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Phil's work spans 18 countries and 57 years of experience. He breaks down why EQ development is experiential—not intellectual—and why that distinction changes everything. He shares the neuroscience of why change is so hard, what it really means to stop giving away your energy, and what the ROI of genuine EQ development looks like in concrete results.  You'll hear why high IQ and low EQ so often go together, what Apple's hiring strategy reveals about emotionally intelligent organizations, and how the Gallup data on global employee engagement connects directly to what's happening inside your practice right now. If you've been talking about emotional intelligence without doing much about it, this episode is a direct and useful challenge to go further.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn 

What happens when the business of healthcare starts to crowd out the heart of it? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Dr. Peter Kevorkian — President of Life Chiropractic College West and a chiropractor with 42 years in private practice — to talk about the one thing that separates thriving practice owners from burnt-out ones: staying connected to your purpose.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Dr. Peter has spent his career as a voice of conscience for healthcare practitioners, reminding them that they entered this work to serve people — not to be consumed by coding, compliance, and insurance bureaucracy. In this conversation, he shares how he built a predominantly self-pay practice that made a very good living without ever turning a patient away, what patient empowerment actually looks like in practice, and why he believes the healthcare system functions more like a sick care system than a wellness one.  He closes with a message so simple it stops you in your tracks: everyone wants to feel heard, significant, and loved. Lead from that, and everything changes.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Can't Beat Jenn - Tracy (Tracy's answers) 

After more than 18 years in insurance-based healthcare, Dr. Samantha Mekrut made a decision a lot of physicians dream about: she left to build something better. The result is Meristem Family Medicine — a direct primary care practice in Medfield, Massachusetts, where patients pay a flat monthly membership fee, appointments run 30 to 60 minutes, and the administrative machinery of insurance billing is nowhere to be found.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this episode, Tracy sits down with Dr. Mekrut to unpack the real difference between direct primary care and concierge medicine, what it actually takes to make an affordable membership model work, and why eliminating insurance billing overhead is the key that makes it possible.  They also get into Dr. Mekrut's specialty: menopause care for women in midlife. From the flawed rollout of the Women's Health Initiative study to the community library talks she hosts to educate patients without selling them anything, Dr. Mekrut is approaching women's health the way more of us wish the system would.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Burnout is one of the most talked-about topics in healthcare — and still one of the most misunderstood. In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta turns the mic around and puts Tracy in the hot seat for an unscripted conversation about what burnout prevention actually requires. Not the surface-level version. The real one.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Sign up for the Prevention Paradigm Masterclass.  Tracy breaks down why the self-care checklist approach misses the mark, how practice ownership compounds burnout risk in ways that employed providers rarely face, and why real prevention is a structural decision — not just a personal one. She also shares where most practice owners skip the prevention work that costs them the most long-term, and what to do right now if you're already in the thick of it.  This conversation is built on research, grounded in Tracy's CME-based content, and refreshingly practical — no platitudes, just real frameworks for building a practice that doesn't burn you down.  Don't miss The Prevention Paradigm masterclass on April 28th — the link to register is in the show notes. To schedule a consultation with Tracy, visit thrivingpracticecommunity.com.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Sign up for the Prevention Paradigm Masterclass.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if your practice is one of the last true neighborhoods your patients have access to? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Lisa Prior — leadership and change consultant and author of the forthcoming Rubber Avenue: When Work Was the First Neighborhood — for a conversation that reframes where practitioner burnout really comes from.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Lisa grew up in Naugatuck, Connecticut, the world's first rubber town, and has spent years researching how the collapse of company towns and community institutions has quietly shifted an enormous emotional burden onto frontline healthcare providers. She shares her father-in-law's remarkable story of standing up for 750 retirees' medical benefits, why she believes we're at 'a fork in the river,' and what a new social contract between work and community could look like.  This one went places we didn't fully expect — and it's exactly the kind of conversation that helps practice owners understand why this work matters so much, and how to sustain it.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if burnout isn't really about overwork — and has more to do with being stuck at the wrong altitude?  Join us for our upcoming Masterclass, Prevention Paradigm: Catching Burnout Before it Catches You. https://www.tracycherpeski.com/prevention-paradigm   Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this solo episode, Tracy introduces the Altitude Shift: the skill of moving, on purpose, between zoomed-in execution and zoomed-out vision. It's the practice that sharpens your decisions, protects you from burnout, and keeps you connected to the reason you built your practice in the first place.  You'll hear the story of Dr. M — a thriving solo practice owner who couldn't remember the last time she wasn't in firefighting mode. Tracy shares the two altitudes, why most bad decisions come from the wrong one, and a simple audit you can use before any significant choice. She also gets into the neuroscience of why slowing down isn't optional — and the daily practices she architects into her own life to keep the horizon in view.  If you've been running on will power, feeling reactive, or sensing that you've lost the thread of what you're building — this episode is for you.  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

With acquisition offers arriving, reimbursement cuts looming, and colleagues selling, a lot of practice owners are quietly asking: is staying independent even worth it? In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta sits down with Tracy Cherpeski to get her unfiltered take on that question.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Tracy shares her framework for helping practice owners separate burnout from a genuine readiness to sell—and why making a major life decision from a place of exhaustion or fear is never the right move. She talks about what independent ownership actually gives providers that a hospital employment contract can't, why cash reserves and a 12-month plan are non-negotiable right now, and what due diligence looks like if selling really is the right path.  Tracy also opens up about the personal story behind her mission—her daughter's health journey and the independent provider who changed everything—that explains why this work is more than professional for her.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if the biggest obstacle to your health isn't time or willpower—but the fact that nobody ever taught you how to take care of yourself? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Dr. Hannah Brandt, a doctor of physical therapy and founder of Physique Triage, who helps women in healthcare build sustainable fitness and nutrition habits without turning their lives upside down.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment   Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Dr. Hannah lost over 60 pounds herself—and discovered that even with a doctorate, she had to figure out healthy living the hard way. Now she helps other women in healthcare do it smarter. Her approach: find your gaps first. Assess your hydration, movement, and eating before changing anything—then make small, sustainable shifts that actually stick.  In this episode, you'll hear why healthcare providers are conditioned to put themselves last, what a realistic first step really looks like, and why 'okay' and 'fine' are a lot closer to 'great' than most people realize.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What separates a thriving private practice from one that's perpetually stuck? According to Paul Vigario, founder of SurfCT and strategist to over 12,000 healthcare practices worldwide, it comes down to two things: attention and compliance. Getting the right patients in the door, and building systems that keep them—without the owner burning out in the process.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  In this episode, Tracy sits down with Paul to unpack what branding really means for independent practice owners (hint: it's not your logo), why flat revenue is actually a loss, and how awareness—not intelligence—is the true driver of business success. Paul also shares the surprising lessons his wine vineyard taught him about patience, vision, and building something that grows on its own timeline.  If you've been wondering why your practice isn't growing the way you imagined—or you're ready to stop being an operator for someone else's system—this episode is for you.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

If you make good revenue but still feel like there's never enough money in the practice, you're not broken—you're probably just missing financial clarity. In this SNACK episode, Tracy Cherpeski and Miranda Dorta get into one of the most common and least-discussed gaps in independent healthcare: the difference between having a great accountant and having a real financial strategy.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Tracy talks about why even accomplished practice owners avoid their numbers (it's not laziness—it's cultural, professional, and deeply human), what to look for when revenue looks fine but money is always tight, and why she sees money as a tool rather than a moral statement.  You'll also hear about the newest offering from Tracy's team: fractional CFO support for practice owners who are ready to move from financial survival mode to strategic, forward-looking growth.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Most practice owners know they need to market their practice—but far fewer know how to evaluate whether it's actually working. In this episode, Tracy sits down with Cameron LiButti, founder of Bidview Marketing, who brings an engineer's precision to healthcare practice marketing strategy.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Cameron shares how he uses local SEO data to assess competitive landscape before recommending any budget, why results realistically take 6–12 months (and what changes that timeline), and why your front desk team is a critical piece of your marketing success—not just your operations.  He also covers the costly pattern of turning marketing on and off without giving it time to work, why rural and urban practices need entirely different strategies, and how newsletters consistently hit 50%+ open rates when they lead with relationship over promotion.  If you've wondered whether your marketing dollars are doing anything—or where to even start—this is an episode worth your time.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

You were trained to put yourself last. Not explicitly—nobody handed you a brochure. It happened through culture, through modeling, through what got rewarded in medical school and residency and every clinical environment since. And by the time you opened your own practice, you were running yourself exactly the way the system trained you to: straight into depletion.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this solo episode, Tracy Cherpeski names what most providers already feel but rarely say out loud: the conditioning that made you extraordinary in the clinic may also be what's driving your burnout. She breaks down why early-stage burnout looks nearly identical to excellence, what it costs the practice when the leader is operating from last place, and what genuine sustainability actually looks like in a thriving independent practice.  This isn't about working less. It's about leading smarter—treating your capacity as a real variable, building structures that don't require superhuman endurance, and finding the kind of community that actually getsit.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn 

Perfectionism can feel like a strength—until it starts quietly costing you time, momentum, and peace of mind. In this SNACK episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Miranda Dorta to talk about one of the most persistent challenges for practice owner CEOs: knowing when good enough actually is good enough.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Tracy shares her 80% rule for getting things out the door, how the Time Leadership Quadrant helps clarify what belongs on your plate (and what doesn't), and why celebrating incremental progress is often more powerful than holding out for a perfect outcome. She also draws the line between high standards—which are non-negotiable—and perfectionism, which is really just rigidity in disguise.  Plus, Tracy shares a real-time story from a current client opening a second practice location: how letting go of control and trusting her lead clinician created a launch so strong they were nearly fully booked before the doors even opened.  If you've ever wrestled with handing something off, sitting with a decision too long, or holding your team to a standard that's more about fear than excellence—this one's for you.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What if the most healing thing a healthcare provider can do has nothing to do with a diagnosis or a prescription? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Dr. Fred Moss—a psychiatrist with 46 years in the mental health system who believes that human connection, not medication, is at the heart of all healing.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Dr. Fred is the founder of Welcome To Humanity, a coaching practice that helps people undiagnose, unmedicate, and step away from conventional mental health models that treat discomfort as pathology. He shares why he calls himself an “undoctor,” how diagnoses can become identity traps, and why discomfort is a feature of being human—not a sign that something is wrong with you.  In this episode, you'll hear about Dr. Fred's journey from childhood communicator to psychiatric rebel, his work in prisons, orphanages, and homeless shelters, and why he believes anyone can practice the art of genuine healing through connection. Tracy shares a personal aha moment that will resonate with any provider who's questioned the limits of conventional care.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

If you opened your practice to help people heal but spend most of your day checking, correcting, and redoing your team's work, this episode is for you. Tracy explores why this pattern isn't a team problem—it's a leadership identity problem rooted in your clinical training. The same precision and thoroughness that makes you an exceptional clinician can quietly erode your team's confidence, initiative, and desire to stay when applied to every aspect of how you manage people.  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this solo episode, Tracy walks you through three practical shifts you can implement immediately to change how your team experiences you as a leader—without upending everything you've built. You'll learn the critical difference between managing micro details that genuinely need your eyes and micromanaging the people you hired to be competent professionals. Plus, Tracy shares a powerful client story about a practice owner expanding to a second location and the coaching conversation that shifted everything.  Whether you're struggling with delegation, dealing with team turnover, or realizing that your clinical instincts might be holding your practice back from its next level of growth, this episode offers a clear, compassionate path forward.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

If you're a healthcare practice owner who's ever been told to “just pick up the phone and start calling,” this episode is for you. Cold calling has been a go-to tactic for decades, but for independent practice owners trying to build trust-based patient relationships, it can do more harm than good.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta interviews Tracy Cherpeski about why cold calling falls flat in healthcare and what actually works instead. Tracy breaks down the key difference between cold calling and cold outreach, why 82–86% of patients start their journey online, and how to attract your ideal patients through relationship-first strategies.  You'll hear practical alternatives including community involvement, referral partnerships, and intentional digital marketing—plus why the instinct to get out there and connect is actually a good thing when it's properly redirected.  Whether you're opening a new practice, expanding your services, or rethinking your growth approach, this conversation will shift how you think about patient acquisition.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Marketing your healthcare practice doesn't require expensive campaigns or overwhelming social media strategies. In this episode, Kurt Hoffmann, founder of Abra Marketing, explains why consistent, authentic marketing is part of your mission as a healthcare provider—and how to make it manageable when you're already stretched thin.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Kurt shares his journey from healthcare marketing to the music industry and back, bringing fresh perspective on what really works. He addresses the overwhelm practice owners feel and offers practical advice: pick one or two channels that feel natural, show up consistently every month, and remember that your patient experience is your marketing.  We discuss why focusing your marketing on specific services actually expands your reach, how to respond to negative reviews in ways that improve your reputation, and why human connection is becoming your biggest competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.  If you're struggling with how to grow your profitable medical practice without adding more to your plate, this conversation offers permission to start small and stay consistent.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

What happens when a policy leader, a strategic CFO, and an AI innovation specialist all arrive at the exact same conclusion about healthcare leadership - independently? You get validation of what Tracy has been teaching for years.  In this episode, Tracy breaks down her recent roundtable with three heavyweight experts: Marc Chow (CEO of Santa Clara County Medical Association), Aaron Gold (strategic CFO), and Stephen Fogg (healthcare marketing strategist and AI specialist). Despite approaching practice management from completely different angles, they all confirmed the same fundamental truth.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  The consensus: Choose what needs the most work. Break it down to a simple, implementable task. Build from there.  Whether you're dealing with Medicaid cuts, prior authorization burnout, financial pressure, or innovation overwhelm - the methodology is the same. You don't need more information. You need clarity on what to prioritize and a simple next step you can actually take.  Tracy shows you exactly how Stephen Fogg's four-quadrant framework maps onto the Time Leadership Delegation Quadrant, why complexity is the enemy of implementation, and what to do this week to start future-proofing your practice.  Resources mentioned: Roundtable replay + downloadable highlights doc, Time Leadership Quadrant  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Running a profitable medical practice requires more than clinical excellence—it demands financial clarity that most healthcare providers were never trained to achieve. Many practice owners find themselves caught in a frustrating paradox: their accountant tells them they're profitable, yet their bank account tells a different story.  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this episode, Tracy sits down with Sean Healy and Keith Campagna from Accounted For LLC to explore the critical difference between cash flow and profitability. Sean and Keith have spent seven years developing a comprehensive approach that goes beyond traditional bookkeeping to include insight extraction and strategic coaching specifically designed for private practice owners.  You'll learn why hope isn't a strategy (but your gut instincts are usually right), how to quantify your actual profit needs based on your specific goals, and why asking for help is one of the most strategic moves a practice owner can make. Keith shares a powerful client story about finally sleeping better after gaining financial clarity—a reminder that understanding your numbers impacts far more than just your bottom line.  Whether you're struggling with cash flow management, trying to make sense of your practice finances, or simply want to build a thriving practice without constant financial stress, this conversation offers practical frameworks you can implement immediately.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page

More than half of healthcare practice owners report burnout, and the traditional response—working harder, seeing more patients, adding more services—keeps them trapped in a cycle that never delivers the freedom they imagined. In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta interviews Tracy about the 10x practice owner mindset and why sustainable practice growth requires subtraction, not addition.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Tracy breaks down the core problem keeping practice owners stuck: the belief that they're responsible for doing everything, even when they have capable teams. She introduces constraint-based thinking with a powerful question: "If I could only show up two or three days a week, would the practice continue to grow?" For most practice owners, the answer is no—and that reveals exactly where the mindset shift needs to happen.  In this episode, you'll discover:  Why subtracting is the key to multiplying your practice  The first thing to eliminate when reducing your clinical time  How one psychologist maintained billable hours while working less by focusing on high-level cases only she could handle  The smallest mindset shift that creates the biggest ripple effect  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Dr. Kenneth Pierce didn't just fill a geographic gap when he opened Veterinary Vision Center in underserved Shreveport, Louisiana—he identified a nationwide crisis. The shortage of veterinary specialists means general practitioners often lack access to expert guidance for complex cases, leading to stressed veterinarians, suboptimal patient outcomes, and frustrated pet owners facing long drives and high costs.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  His solution, Vespecon, offers unlimited virtual face-to-face consultations with specialists across all veterinary fields through a membership model. This empowers general practitioners to deliver specialist-level care locally while building confidence and strengthening client trust.  In this episode, we explore how Vespecon's model creates wins across the board: veterinarians gain knowledge and confidence, pet owners save money while getting better outcomes, and specialists extend their reach and impact. Dr. Pierce also discusses the business advisory services Vespecon now offers—recognizing that practice owners need support beyond clinical knowledge to truly thrive.  Whether you're in veterinary medicine or any healthcare specialty, this conversation offers insights about leveraging technology to bridge access gaps, the importance of asking for expert support, and how comprehensive practice support prevents burnout while improving care delivery.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Dr. Shelina Jaffer's physician burnout journey is textbook—until it isn't. This London-based GP normalized stress and physical symptoms for months before a moment of emotional darkness forced recognition: this was advanced burnout. Her recovery story and the creation of Haven Within offers a roadmap for healthcare professionals seeking sustainable wellbeing.  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Shelina shares the classic burnout progression many physicians experience: taking work everywhere, dismissing new health issues as "just stress," and pushing through until the body demands attention. Her immediate physical improvement after changing roles highlights how directly occupational factors impact health. But full recovery took three years—a timeline that challenges quick-fix wellness approaches.  Today, Shelina works with organizations and universities through experiential programs focused on respect, trust, and reconnecting with inner wisdom. One university student's feedback captures the impact: "You taught me to be bold." This episode explores why organizational culture matters more than wellness perks, how limiting beliefs hold professionals back, and why the shift toward human-centered healthcare is accelerating globally.  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

In this candid SNACK episode, Miranda turns the microphone around and interviews Tracy about her recent speaking tour across California. Tracy spoke at multiple events with the Santa Clara County Medical Association and Fresno Madera Medical Society, teaching burnout prevention at the CME level—and what she learned surprised even her.  You'll hear about the practice owners who started their own practices after burning out in large integrated systems, the generational divide that's causing friction in healthcare workplaces, and a surprising discovery: residents in California can unionize, but attending physicians cannot.  Tracy also shares her perspective on why burnout prevention programs often miss the mark by putting the onus on individual physicians when burnout is, by definition, a workplace problem. Plus, she poses a provocative question she asked a room full of employed physicians: What would happen if 50% of you walked out?  This episode offers fresh insights on systemic healthcare challenges, the commodification of healthcare, and what Tracy is learning as she builds the Thriving Practice Community.  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

If you're a healthcare practice owner who made New Year's resolutions this January, only to watch them crumble by February, you're not alone—and more importantly, you're not failing. After nearly 16 years of coaching highly credentialed business owners, Tracy Cherpeski has seen the same pattern: resolutions fail not because practice owners lack discipline, but because resolutions themselves are fundamentally flawed for creating sustainable change.  In this episode, Tracy breaks down why traditional resolutions set practice owners up for failure and offers a strategic alternative that actually works. You'll discover the real science behind habit formation (it's not 21 days), understand how your nervous system responds to change, and learn the three-pillar framework successful practice owners use to create lasting improvements.   Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Key topics include: the 66-day reality of habit formation, why willpower fails but systems sustain, four critical mindset shifts for sustainable change, how your personal approach to change mirrors your practice leadership, and practical questions to ask instead of making traditional resolutions.  Whether you're struggling with boundaries, delegation, or exhaustion despite working harder than ever, this episode provides strategic thinking tools to make 2026 different.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Healthcare unions are gaining momentum in hospitals and health systems, and if you're a private practice owner, this shift creates a significant opportunity for you. With 25% of physicians in hospital-led organizations actively considering leaving, experienced doctors are looking for alternatives to systems that have burned them out—and many are turning their attention to private practice.  In this SNACK episode, Tracy and Miranda explore what's really driving the unionization movement (inhumane expectations in large systems where physicians lack the protections nurses and residents receive), why younger physicians initially choose employment over ownership, and most importantly—how practice owners can position themselves to attract this wave of talented physicians seeking autonomy.  Tracy shares specific strategies for making your practice attractive to seasoned providers: tiered partnership models, profit-sharing arrangements, and creating genuine autonomy rather than just another employed position. This conversation goes beyond basic hiring advice—it's about understanding the pain points driving physicians away from hospital systems and showing them what's possible in your practice.  If you're thinking about expanding, bringing on a partner, or scaling your practice, this episode will shift how you think about recruitment and growth.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Starting your own medical practice can feel like stepping into an entirely different profession—and that's because in many ways, it is. Dr. Gina Maccarone, cosmetic surgeon and owner of The Surgeonista in Cincinnati, knows this tension well. After years in general surgery and trauma care, she made the leap to cosmetic surgery and private practice ownership.  Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways.  In this episode, Dr. Gina shares how authentic branding became her competitive advantage. From her signature pink color palette to her clear boundaries around patient selection, she's built a practice that attracts the right patients by simply being herself. We discuss why saying "no" to patients is actually a green flag, how AI and contractors can keep overhead manageable, and why clinical confidence doesn't automatically translate to business confidence.  Key topics covered:  Building authentic brand identity in healthcare  Managing patient expectations in cosmetic surgery  Using technology strategically to reduce costs  The challenge of delegating as a physician-owner  Learning from what you don't want to replicate    Find Dr. Maccarone:  Website  Instagram  Facebook  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page  

Get in touch with Tracy:Tracy's Facebook post that sparked this conversation: https://web.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10231542095164548&set=a.4047128985650Canine Cross Training in Palm City, Florida: https://web.facebook.com/caninecrosstrainingDog Trainer's Lounge: https://web.facebook.com/groups/1188581231610282Canine Cross Training tutorial page: https://web.facebook.com/groups/196270806681463/Get in touch with Caden:https://www.patreon.com/AdventureDogshttps://www.facebook.com/chrissi.schranzhttps://www.youtube.com/@adventure-dogshttps://adventuredogsanarchy.com/caden [dot] cristopher [at] gmail [dot] com... and find my online classes on http://www.considerthedog.com/?via=caden !Shout-outs to others in this episode:Susan FriedmanPat and Glenn on the Canine Paradigm podcastJay JackDylan JonesFenzi Dog Sports AcademyGet curious: sports trainers who successfully play in the major leagues of dog sports who, to my knowledge train "force free" ... and effectively so:Sara BrueskeShade WhiteselDenise FenziSilvia TrkmanSusan Garrett

Practice ownership comes with a unique paradox: the autonomy you fought for also means carrying the full weight of clinical work, business management, and leadership. In this episode, Tracy breaks down the World Health Organization's three-phase burnout framework and reveals why nearly half of all physicians are experiencing burnout symptoms—and what makes practice owner burnout distinctly different and dangerous.  Click here for full show notes  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Episode Highlights  The WHO's three phases of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy—and why recognizing which phase you're in determines what help you need  Why American culture makes Phase 1 exhaustion nearly impossible to recognize (hint: we've been conditioned to see depletion as a badge of honor)  The shocking global statistics: from 43% burnout rates in the US to 66% emotional exhaustion among Portuguese physicians  Why practice owner burnout can't be solved with employed physician solutions—you can't "delegate up" when you ARE the up  Real examples of what each phase looks like: from sitting in your driveway without energy to enter your home, to thinking cynical thoughts that horrify you  The $4.6 billion annual cost of physician burnout to the US healthcare system—and the incalculable personal cost to you, your practice, and your family  Why autonomy alone isn't enough: the protection it provides versus the isolation and weight it creates  Memorable Quotes  "Burnout is not a personal failing. It's a predictable occupational phenomenon with identifiable phases."  "Phase one exhaustion is your prevention opportunity. This is where you still have an easy exit ramp. If you catch yourself and actually address it—not by doubling down, but by making strategic changes—prevention strategies actually work."  "You can't think your way out of cynicism using the same thinking that got you there."  "Your practice will survive a few weeks without you, but you might not survive continuing to push through phase three."  "When you're the owner, you can't just leave. Your practice is your livelihood, your investment, and your legacy."  "You are not broken. You are not weak. You are responding predictably to chronic stress that hasn't been successfully managed."  Closing  Understanding burnout isn't about labeling yourself—it's about getting clear on what level of support you actually need. Whether you're in the prevention zone, need intervention, or are facing a crisis, there's a path forward. Join us next episode as we dive into the strategic prevention approaches that work specifically for independent practice owners.  Tracy's Bio:  Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC (she/her/hers) is the Founder of Tracy Cherpeski International and Thriving Practice Community. As a Business Consultant and Executive Coach, Tracy helps healthcare practice owners scale their businesses without sacrificing wellbeing. Through strategic planning, leadership development, and mindset mastery, she empowers clients to reclaim their time and reach their potential. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Tracy serves clients worldwide and is the Executive Producer and Host of the Thriving Practice podcast. Her guiding philosophy: Survival is not enough; life is meant to be celebrated.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

In this candid snack episode, Tracy sits in the interview seat as Miranda explores the practical reality of AI for private practices. Following Tracy's conversation with David Herman about AI in dental marketing, this episode addresses what practice owners are really asking about AI implementation, where these tools genuinely help, and the critical questions to ask before investing time and resources. Tracy shares insights from a recent burnout workshop with Silicon Valley physicians and offers a framework for thinking strategically about technology that supports—rather than replaces—human connection in healthcare.  Click here for full show notes  Episode Highlights  AI's real role in healthcare: Where these tools genuinely help (administrative tasks, scribing) versus where physicians have serious concerns (primary care AI models)  The "band-aid on a fixed system" reality: Why AI tools can reclaim time but don't address the systemic commodification of healthcare delivery  Implementation without drowning: Tracy's framework for introducing new technology when you're already stretched thin, including the time leadership quadrant approach  Real physician experiences: Stories from Tracy's primary care doctor and Miranda's daughter's cardiologist about AI scribing tools reclaiming 3-4 hours weekly  The marketing-systems connection: Why beautiful marketing campaigns fail when practices lack the infrastructure to handle increased inquiry volume  Questions to ask before implementing AI: What end result you want, how to ensure HIPAA compliance, where volume will come from, and whether your team is resourced for success  Memorable Quotes  "It's not about fear of being replaced, it's fear about causing harm."  "The system isn't broken—it's fixed. One quarter of a degree at a time, the temperature has been increased to the point where it became normalized."  "These people go to school for 8, 12 or more years to practice medicine and are now well paid but not well enough for the amount of hours they put in—business administrators, basically admin paper pushers."  "We want all of our providers to be well rested, to have bandwidth, to not have to be reactive all the time. We want that as patients."  "If we're not going to be human, then what's the point?"  "Our clients do not love slowing down, but it's the way that we can gain clarity."  Closing  AI represents both genuine opportunity and potential pitfall for independent practices. The key lies not in whether to adopt these tools, but in approaching implementation with clear strategic thinking about your desired outcomes, team capacity, and practice ecosystem. Before investing in any AI solution, take time to work on your business from that essential 30,000-foot view—because technology without strategy is just expensive noise.  Listen to David Herman: AI in Healthcare: How Technology Makes Patient Care More Human, Featuring David Herman, EP 207  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Miranda's Bio:  Miranda Dorta, B.F.A. (she/her/hers) is the Manager of Operations and PR at Tracy Cherpeski International. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design with expertise in writing and creative storytelling, Miranda brings her skills in operations, public relations, and communication strategies to the Thriving Practice community. Based in the City of Oaks, she joined the team in 2021 and has been instrumental in streamlining operations while managing the company's public presence since 2022.  Tracy's Bio:  Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC (she/her/hers) is the Founder of Tracy Cherpeski International and Thriving Practice Community. As a Business Consultant and Executive Coach, Tracy helps healthcare practice owners scale their businesses without sacrificing wellbeing. Through strategic planning, leadership development, and mindset mastery, she empowers clients to reclaim their time and reach their potential. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Tracy serves clients worldwide and is the Executive Producer and Host of the Thriving Practice podcast. Her guiding philosophy: Survival is not enough; life is meant to be celebrated.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Healthcare attorney Sarah Covington joins Tracy to discuss why proactive legal engagement saves independent practice owners both time and money. Drawing from her experience in big law, health systems, and her own practice, Sarah reveals the compliance requirements most practice owners don't know about and shares practical strategies for managing the juggling act between patient care and business leadership. From financial modeling that takes the fear out of reimbursement cuts to simple tech solutions that improve both patient experience and team efficiency, this conversation offers a refreshing perspective on building sustainable, thriving practices.  Click here for full show notes  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Episode Highlights  Why practices that engage legal counsel regularly actually have lower overall legal spend than those who wait for emergencies  The ACA compliance requirement that affects practices accepting Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP (and why you need quarterly compliance meetings)  How financial modeling transforms anxiety about reimbursement cuts into actionable business decisions  The power of time blocking to separate clinical work from business management—and why mixing these roles can cross ethical boundaries  Simple efficiency wins: How online patient scheduling reduces errors, improves cash flow, and creates better experiences for everyone  The "hat switching" challenge between clinician and entrepreneur mindsets  Why PCM (Principal Care Management) is often missed in specialist offices and how it can offset reimbursement cuts  Memorable Quotes  "The ones that I see really struggling—most of it is financial, and it's because there isn't that strong financial modeling in place."  "For a lot of practices that I work with, the ones that I see routinely engaging legal actually have lower overall legal spend than the ones that wait for issues."  "If you're feeling burned out, it's not you, it's the system."  "You want to continue providing that really great care for your patients, and you do that by having your doors open."  "Time block. Start time blocking and set aside: these are the hours where I work on business matters, these are the hours that I take care of patients."  Closing  Sarah Covington reminds us that independent practice owners are doing a fabulous job juggling way too many things in a system that creates unique constraints. The path forward isn't about working harder—it's about building the right support systems, making informed financial decisions, and protecting time for strategic thinking. Because when you take care of your business, you can continue taking care of your patients.  Guest Bio:  Sarah Covington's path to healthcare law began in an unexpected place—sitting in a children's hospital during her daughter's heart surgery. While halfway through her MBA, she observed the inefficiencies around her and decided to become part of the solution. After adding a healthcare management concentration to her degree (and ruling out medical school after realizing insides-on-the-outside weren't her thing), Sarah eventually pursued law school to build stronger skills for supporting founding teams.  Following a stint in Big Law that taught her lessons she uses daily, Sarah returned to her passion: healthcare innovation. Today, she works at the intersection of law and healthcare startups, helping founding teams navigate the complex regulatory landscape. Licensed in South Dakota and Arizona, Sarah is dedicated to figuring out the nooks and crannies of healthcare law to make the system a little better for the next generation.  Find Sarah:  Forward Slash/Health Website  LinkedIn  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Financial planning expert Anjali Jariwala joins Tracy to discuss the unique financial challenges physician practice owners face and why comprehensive planning requires both personal wealth management and business strategy. With her background in tax and financial planning plus personal ties to the physician community, Anjali offers insider perspective on navigating the complex transition from residency to high earnings, building sustainable businesses, and creating alignment between personal values and professional goals.  Click here for full show notes  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Episode Highlights  The physician financial transition challenge: Why going from minimal resident income to high earnings overnight creates both financial and emotional complications that most physicians aren't trained to handle  Personal before business: Anjali's approach of spending 2-3 months on personal financial planning before touching business finances, and why this sequence creates better long-term alignment  Accountant vs. strategist: The critical distinction between historical accounting and forward-looking financial strategy—and why practice owners need both  Growth barriers decoded: How to recognize when your practice has hit a growth ceiling and what changes are typically needed to break through  The guilt factor: Why physician owners struggle with asking for help or outsourcing tasks, and how to reframe these decisions as strategic investments  Building your professional team: Beyond your clinical team, you need accountants, tax specialists, financial advisors, and attorneys—here's how to leverage them effectively  Know your numbers: Why practice owners must understand their books better than anyone else, even when outsourcing bookkeeping functions  Time as currency: Calculating your hourly rate and using it to make smarter decisions about which tasks to keep versus delegate  Memorable Quotes  "At the end of the day, money is a tool. We have emotions that get tied up in it, but we really need to unwind the emotion from the fact that this is just a tool."  "For many practice owners, your personal finances are so interconnected with the business that I want to have clarity on what you want to achieve personally. So then when I go into the business, we can align everything up to meet those goals."  "Part of it is identifying what are your strengths and where are your weaknesses, and then who are the people that you can plug in to help you with those weaknesses so it's not hindering your ability to grow."  "We spend so much time working in the business because we want to provide good care and take care of our clients and patients, that we don't focus enough time on working on the business."  "There's sometimes feelings of guilt to ask for help. Part of it is really coming at it from a standpoint of: I need help, it's okay to ask for help, and I shouldn't feel guilty about asking for this help because it's going to make my life better, my family's life better, and all the people who work for me better too."  Closing  Anjali's message about releasing the guilt around asking for help really resonates. As practice owners, we often carry this sense that we should be able to handle everything ourselves—but that mindset actually limits our growth and our impact. Whether it's financial planning, operations support, or strategic guidance, building the right team of trusted advisors isn't a weakness—it's how you create a practice that truly thrives.  Bio:  Anjali Jariwala is the founder of FIT Advisors, a financial planning firm serving physicians and business owners across the US. After working with Fortune 500 clients at distinguished firms, Anjali launched her own practice to help clients understand that money is a tool for reaching financial goals—while acknowledging how emotions impact financial decisions. Her expertise in tax and finance has been featured in CNBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, USA Today, and Business Insider. Beyond financial planning, Anjali is also a children's book author. As a South Asian mom, she wrote Why We Eat With Our Hands to highlight day-to-day cultural traditions and increase representation for children who look like her daughter. Whether through financial advising or children's literature, Anjali is passionate about helping people feel empowered to build the lives they want.  Find Anjali:  Website  LinkedIn  Instagram  See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

In this candid snack episode, Miranda interviews Tracy about the research behind their white paper, "Unlocking Potential: A Business Blueprint for Practice Owners." Tracy reveals a startling discovery: the largest burnout studies—including the AMA's 18,000-respondent survey—systematically exclude private practice owners, focusing exclusively on employed physicians in large systems. This two-year-old research remains urgently relevant as healthcare continues evolving post-COVID. Tracy shares surprising insights from provider interviews, explains why the distinction between working in versus on your practice matters, and offers realistic expectations for reclaiming your time through strategic business planning.  Click here for full show notes  Download the White Paper: “Unlocking Potential: A Business Blueprint for Practice Owners”  Episode Highlights  The Missing Data: Why major burnout studies exclude independent practice owners and what this means for healthcare policy  Lower Burnout Rates: Evidence that practice owners experience slightly lower burnout rates due to greater autonomy—but remain at significant risk  COVID's Impact: How the pandemic intensified an already urgent workplace crisis that the WHO identified as early as 2019  Refreshing Candor: The surprisingly honest conversations practice owners had about their biggest frustrations (insurance companies top the list)  Working In vs. On: The critical difference between clinical tasks and strategic leadership—and why the 10,000-foot view matters  The Long Game: Why meaningful time recapture takes 3-6 months of consistent effort and why it's worth the investment  Healthcare Is Different: Why business principles apply to medical practices with crucial distinctions that generic business advice misses  Memorable Quotes  "I don't believe to this day, even two years on, that the data is actually very clear about practice owners."  "The burnout rates are lower because practice owners have more autonomy, comma, and they're still at risk at pretty much the same rates."  "Practice owners are the redheaded stepchild of burnout research."  "What surprised me was how candid they were as soon as we could get them to talk."  "Business is business, comma, and it's just different in healthcare. And we get that because we work in it with you."  "Everything you're doing now, if it's going to be an adjustment, it's going to take time to come back, but it's so worth the investment of time and energy."  Closing  This conversation underscores why advocacy for independent practice ownership remains central to our mission. When research systematically overlooks a segment of healthcare providers, policies get shaped without their reality in view—and that's exactly when practice owners need the most support. Download the white paper to validate your experience and discover practical strategies for sustainable growth.  Download the White Paper: “Unlocking Potential: A Business Blueprint for Practice Owners”  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Miranda's Bio:  Miranda Dorta, B.F.A. (she/her/hers) is the Manager of Operations and PR at Tracy Cherpeski International. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design with expertise in writing and creative storytelling, Miranda brings her skills in operations, public relations, and communication strategies to the Thriving Practice community. Based in the City of Oaks, she joined the team in 2021 and has been instrumental in streamlining operations while managing the company's public presence since 2022.   Tracy's Bio:  Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC (she/her/hers) is the Founder of Tracy Cherpeski International and Thriving Practice Community. As a Business Consultant and Executive Coach, Tracy helps healthcare practice owners scale their businesses without sacrificing wellbeing. Through strategic planning, leadership development, and mindset mastery, she empowers clients to reclaim their time and reach their potential. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Tracy serves clients worldwide and is the Executive Producer and Host of the Thriving Practice podcast. Her guiding philosophy: Survival is not enough; life is meant to be celebrated.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page 

Independent healthcare practices are at a critical crossroads. Based on original research from Tracy Cherpeski International's white paper "Unlocking Potential: A Business Blueprint for Practice Owners," this episode reveals the time crisis threatening independent practice ownership—and the surprising wave of change on the horizon. Tracy shares data showing that practice owners spend up to 35% of their time on administrative tasks, while 80% dream of a future with more strategic freedom. But there's hope: with proven time leadership strategies, practice owners are reclaiming 5-10 hours weekly and building sustainable practices that support both exceptional patient care and quality of life.  Click here for full show notes  Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment  Episode Highlights  The shocking data on how much time practice owners lose to administrative work weekly  Why physician practice ownership dropped 13 percentage points from 2012-2022  The emerging wave of young and mid-career physicians choosing independent practice ownership  Dr. Noah's story: From drowning in admin work to reclaiming his practice and his life  The "garden sunlight" framework for understanding strategic time allocation  What's at stake if we don't support the next generation of practice owners  Proven strategies that help owners reclaim 5-10 hours per week  Memorable Quotes  "The biggest threat to independent healthcare practices isn't private equity buyouts or declining reimbursements—it's how practice owners are spending their time every single week."  "Medical school teaches you how to diagnose and treat patients. It doesn't teach you how to build systems, delegate effectively, or think like a CEO."  "Your time as a practice owner is like sunlight in a garden. If you spread it too thin across every single plant, nothing grows particularly strong."  "We're at an inflection point. And the question is: will these courageous physician entrepreneurs have the support, resources, and business knowledge they need to succeed?"  "Independent healthcare practice ownership doesn't have to be a path to burnout. With the right approach, it can be exactly what you envisioned."  Resources  Download the full white paper: "Unlocking Potential: A Business Blueprint for Practice Owners"   Register for the November 18th Time Leadership Masterclass (Open to everyone!)   Learn more about Thriving Practice Community membership.  Tracy's Bio:  Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC (she/her/hers) is the Founder of Tracy Cherpeski International and Thriving Practice Community. As a Business Consultant and Executive Coach, Tracy helps healthcare practice owners scale their businesses without sacrificing wellbeing. Through strategic planning, leadership development, and mindset mastery, she empowers clients to reclaim their time and reach their potential. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, Tracy serves clients worldwide and is the Executive Producer and Host of the Thriving Practice podcast. Her guiding philosophy: Survival is not enough; life is meant to be celebrated.  Connect With Us:  Be a Guest on the Show  Thriving Practice Community  Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy  Tracy's LinkedIn  Business LinkedIn Page