Latest / Coffee Playdate Podcast with Dr. Olga Deengar / Just Start: Dr. Manpreet Samra A Transplant Nephrologist Built a Flexible Life She Loves Ep 29
Transcript
- Coach Olga MD: Welcome to the Coffee Playdate Podcast. I have a very special guest with me today, Dr. Manpreet Samra. Welcome. Manpreet: Thank you, Olga. I appreciate it. Coach Olga MD: Manpreet, do you drink any coffee? Manpreet: So I've actually tried to drinking coffee and have started drinking tea. So I'll drink either Indian tea or matcha lattes. Coach Olga MD: Oh, why did you make that transition? Manpreet: ⁓ to get better sleep. I realized I was just really sensitive and I've been trying to do this just as an improvement in my overall health because you know if you don't have health like nothing else really sits the way it should so it's really helped in improving my sleep. Coach Olga MD: Yes. I love that. Very good. We're gonna play a couple of games. The first one is a rapid fire questions game. I'll ask you to choose between one of the two answers you just go with your gut instinct. You don't need to give any explanations. Ready? First question, ⁓ evaluations or post-transplant follow-up visit? ⁓ ⁓ Manpreet: Ready. pre-transplant evaluations. Coach Olga MD: How about preventing kidney disease progression or managing end stage kidney disease? Manpreet: preventing kidney disease progression. Coach Olga MD: prevention is the best cure. medical center life or private practice life? Manpreet: private practice life. Coach Olga MD: last one, ⁓ an online telehealth business or growing an in-person practice. Manpreet: scaling online telehealth practice. Coach Olga MD: Amazing. love it. Now the next game is called Take a Sip. We're going to take a sip from our coffee cups if our answers match. The first question is, say and figure it out later or plan every step before you start. Say yes. ⁓ too. to yes. Manpreet: Okay. Say yes. Coach Olga MD: Next question, speaking on big stages or teaching small intimate workshops to women physicians. Manpreet: Small intimate workshops. Cheers. Coach Olga MD: Me too. I like that a lot. Cheers. one. you prefer city life ⁓ quite suburban life? City life? I'm gonna go with suburban life. ⁓ the last question is for your next travel adventure would you rather go to Southeast Asia or South America? Southeast Asia for me. ⁓ ⁓ sip. ⁓ Manpreet: City life. No sip. South America. No, sir. Coach Olga MD: Alright, so Menpreet, tell me a little bit about yourself and your background. Manpreet: Yes, absolutely. So I am based in Chicago. I'm mom to two littles a eight-year-old son Dylan ⁓ a four-year-old daughter ⁓ Mia who would correct me immediately and say she's four and a half. I ⁓ am a and married to an attorney and I grew up in California and I've lived in India as well for some part of my life. ⁓ I'm trained a transplant nephrologist and I like consider myself a serial entrepreneur. Coach Olga MD: And why do you consider yourself in the serial entrepreneur? Manpreet: because I have tried and failed and succeeded at so many business ventures. Coach Olga MD: What was one of your first business ventures that you embarked on? Manpreet: So one of my first ones was with my husband, ⁓ where both him and I, before we had children, after we were married, two apps. One was a charity app where you could donate services, money or goods to charities of your choice. And we did this deep dive into Chicago charities. And then the second app that we worked on was a tool to order your food while you're at the airport. We love to travel and we found, you know, sometimes you only have like 20 minutes before your flight goes and you just want to order your food. And so those were probably some of our first first entrepreneurial ventures. Coach Olga MD: And what happened to those? Manpreet: I have counted them as fantastic learning opportunities. ⁓ The apps did not go anywhere. They're still alive. I mean, they're still alive on Apple, but did not go anywhere. One was called Air Eatz with a Z, and their app was called Seva, which is a Hindi word for ⁓ service. Coach Olga MD: Yes. It's always good to go through those learning opportunities because you don't want to make those same mistakes when you're scaling a bigger business, for example. tell me more about the businesses that you currently have. Manpreet: Exactly. Yeah, so currently, so I started a company called Teletransplant I provide ⁓ telehealth services to transplant programs around the country. So I am licensed currently in 41 states. I can be licensed in 50 plus 1 DC if I wanted to. I'm just holding off on that. And I'm slowly scaling. So I'm bringing on other transplant nephrologists. And there's 250 kidney transplant centers. So I'm slowly making my way through them, collecting my yeses and celebrating the nos Coach Olga MD: Amazing. If you don't mind me asking, how many nos have you gotten in comparison to the yeses so far? Manpreet: I've gotten like eight to ten no's. Coach Olga MD: Okay, all right. And how did you kind of get through that those moments? Were you upset about it or did you think about them in a different way? Manpreet: No, I just expected them. I mean, it's part of scaling your business. Everyone's not going to say yes. Everyone's not going to be aligned with what you're offering. And here's a really big thing that I've learned along the way that sometimes it's not the right timing for that program. you've planted the seed and whenever they need you, they'll come back to you. Coach Olga MD: Very true. Is there any other business that you're working on currently? Manpreet: Yes, so Trifecta MD ⁓ another business that I've started with my business partner, Paula Lee Valkov. She's a by training. what this is, a women physicians investing club. We're like angel investors. ⁓ We invest in company startups. ⁓ And we specifically focus on women and minorities because women and minorities get less than 2 % of all investment dollars. So right now between family and these two companies, that's what I'm focusing on. And I'll add that I also got my MBA, what is it, maybe six, ⁓ years ago. Coach Olga MD: very little. Manpreet: it's helped, I don't think it's necessary. Coach Olga MD: And why do you say that? Manpreet: Because a lot of the things that you're learning, you're either learning as you go or you're learning from your communities. Coach Olga MD: Do you feel like communities have been a big part of your journey? Manpreet: ⁓ huge. Absolutely. So since starting Sunny Smith's EWP back 2020, I think that was probably the start of ⁓ community And I've been in multiple communities since then. ⁓ I think really helps because it helps with accountability. It helps in learning new ideas. ⁓ If you're up against a wall, really helps provide different perspectives to get through, to push through. and to go on to the next step. Coach Olga MD: Amazing. I'm also a big supporter of communities. I think there's so much power and value meeting like-minded physicians, especially women in the field ⁓ are trying to come up with new ideas or even form a collaboration. There's ⁓ so many opportunities that come out from communities. Manpreet: Okay. Coach Olga MD: So what do you think has been kind of the biggest benefit of running your own businesses? Manpreet: Flexibility and lifestyle. And you know, they're kind of one in the same thing, but I would say that's it. And I had shared before we started recording, I was on a podcast with Dr. Faryal Michaud and her podcast is called Living Intentionally and this was a few years ago. And she had asked me, you know, if you could do anything in the future, what would it be? And at the time I was a W2 employee, you know, working eight to five on call 24 seven. And I told her, I would want to slow travel around the world and possibly do a program called Boundless, Boundless Life, in which you can go live with your family, kids are in like a summer camp, there's a workplace for the adults, you can find furnished housing. This was a few years ago and fast forward July 2026, my family and I are gonna spend a month in Spain. Coach Olga MD: Wow, I ⁓ Manpreet: because I have my own business, because of the flexibility and because I can design my life the way I want to. Coach Olga MD: That is incredible. What a huge accomplishment. I'm so happy for you. is great. is maybe one mindset tool that you've gained on your entrepreneurial journey? Manpreet: Thank you. ⁓ there's so many. I would say... I would say you are enough. I know that sounds like... of hokey pokey but a lot of times we get in our own way and we may say but I don't know how to do xyz and the truth is like you you are perfectly capable of doing it I mean my goodness if you could get through medical school and strenuous residency fellowship training and attending there is nothing in this world that you cannot do. Coach Olga MD: That is so true. We are like super humans. I love that. Manpreet: Thank you. Coach Olga MD: Now, is there a challenge that you've come across on your entrepreneurial journey? And can you tell me a little bit about how you overcame that? Manpreet: Yes, so this may not be the exact question you're thinking, but this is the first thing that came to mind, so I'll share it. You know, so it wasn't exactly an entrepreneurial challenge, it was more a personal health challenge, which really just led to my current life. So three years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I'm now NED no evidence of disease. But going through that with a five-year-old and a one-year-old and a full-time job, in fact, I had started a brand new kidney transplant program. And it was almost like my third baby. And going through that and going through treatment, I think that the challenge that I faced during that was knowing that... I don't have to do everything and that it's okay to rest. And so I'd say my biggest challenge was not knowing how to rest and not giving my body and my mind time to rest. And it took something like having breast cancer and having going through the treatment to say, you know what, like slow down. You don't have to go at this pace of 150 miles an hour. Let your body rest, let your mind rest, let everything catch up. Be there for yourself, be there for your family, and everything else will still be there. Coach Olga MD: I'm so happy that you shared that. It's a very personal story, but it really does make a difference when you're going through a big health challenge to to come out of it even stronger in a different person. And ⁓ can have different meanings for different people and for you. It really ⁓ you to slow down. And I'm so grateful that you shared that. Thank you. Now what is one piece of advice that you would give to someone who's starting out in a similar space as you? Manpreet: The advice I would give is just start. Don't get in your own way. Don't think you have to read like a hundred books. Don't think you have to go through courses. Don't think you need anything. Just start. Take one step and then schedule the steps you're going to take. And when you look back six months later, you will amaze yourself at how much progress you've made because there's nothing you can't do. Coach Olga MD: Yes, I love that. Starting is the best way to do this because something that you get done, small task that you have been thinking about and you're like, ⁓ but I gotta read this book ⁓ make it better. Maybe I can build on it this way. But if you just start and it's not perfect, that will still get you farther than not taking that action in the first place. I'm glad you brought that up. Manpreet: Yes. Coach Olga MD: Is there a book that you have that you would recommend for our listeners today? Manpreet: Yes, so many. will share the one that I've read most recently and that is The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel. And I know you asked for one book, but his first book, The Psychology of Money, is fantastic too. And I feel like it ties in really nice being an entrepreneur and having that entrepreneur's mindset ⁓ putting ⁓ priorities in the correct place and living your life accordingly. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's very important to build your life with intention. Focus on the things that align with your values and the things you just love to do every day. If you're passionate about it, you will be so much more successful in your pursuit whatever area you decide to go into. So thank you for that book recommendation. All well, that's all the time that we have today. ⁓ Thank you so much for joining me, Manpreet. It's been a pleasure and I hope to have you on a future episode. Manpreet: Thank you so much Olga, I really appreciate you having me and thank you for creating this podcast and you are an example of what is possible. So I hope everyone can see that. Coach Olga MD: Thank you.