Latest / Coffee Playdate Podcast with Dr. Olga Deengar / The Silent Epidemic Ep 24: Why Connection Matters for Physicians – Dr. Chrystene Nguyen
Transcript
- Coach Olga MD: Welcome to the Coffee Playdate podcast. Today I have a very special guest with me, Dr. Chrystene Nguyen. Welcome! Chrystene Nguyen: Hi, so glad to be here. Thanks for having me. Coach Olga MD: It's great to have you. I always like to start off by asking my guests if they like coffee and if so, how do they like their coffee? Chrystene Nguyen: Ooh, that's an easy one. I am a total coffee lover. So I used to say a little, yeah, you know, I used to say a little creamer for my coffee, but now it's actually like the opposite. I totally love flavored coffee. You name it. Hazelnut, toffee nut, even lavender. So yeah. So my lattes, lattes are my go-to drink for sure. I got influenced by of the physician in this coffee brand, and it's all in one. It's called Strong Coffee. And it has like a mix of like ⁓ coconut creamer and your nootropics and everything all in one. And so it's convenient. All you have to do is pour water and it's ready to go and taste is wonderful and doesn't give you the jitters. Coach Olga MD: amazing. I have to try it all in one. Okay. So Chrystene, we're going to play a couple of games. The first one is a rapid fire questions game. I'm going to ask you to choose between one or the other answer and you don't have to give Just go with your. There we go. First one. If you had to do it all over. Alone without any help. Would you rather build a meeting or build a community? Chrystene Nguyen: Okay, sounds good. build a community for sure. Coach Olga MD: Next one, love were prescription, ⁓ you choose meaningful daily micro moments or occasional grand gestures? Chrystene Nguyen: Definitely mini micro moments. think those are much more special. Coach Olga MD: Yeah. Next question is, if you had to pick, you pick 1 million users ⁓ or 10,000 truly lives? ⁓ Chrystene Nguyen: ⁓ without a doubt, truly transformed lives. So I think at the end of the day, that's what truly matters. Yeah. Coach Olga MD: Okay. And the last question for this game, perfect verification system or perfect user experience design. Chrystene Nguyen: easy, perfect user design. Coach Olga MD: our next game, we're going to take a sip if our answers match. So make sure you have your cup ready. And the first question is, your date. Is it a cozy brunch ⁓ or late night movie? Chrystene Nguyen: I sure do. ⁓ I would say a cozy brunch. Coach Olga MD: Cozy Branch, me too. Chrystene Nguyen: Cheers, yay. Coach Olga MD: Next question. Would you rather have your partner bring you coffee on call nights pick you up post call with snacks ⁓ zero questions? Chrystene Nguyen: really both great options, but I'll go with the latter. Pick me up with some snacks. Coach Olga MD: gonna have to say bring me coffee on call nights. Next question, would you rather have growth through social media and content or word of mouth success stories? Chrystene Nguyen: Definitely word of mouth success stories. Coach Olga MD: Me too. Cheers. Chrystene Nguyen: All right, we'll do to that. Cheers. Coach Olga MD: Okay. And last question, do you like strawberry or chocolate ice cream? Chrystene Nguyen: I'm gonna go for chocolate. Coach Olga MD: Chocolate, me too. Cheers to that. Chrystene Nguyen: Cheers Coach Olga MD: Perfect. So Chrystene, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself? Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah, certainly I'm a family and lifestyle medicine physician. based in Southern California I previously worked in primary care, but I'm currently in ⁓ urgent care and telemedicine right now. During COVID, unexpectedly I started a Facebook group called White Coat Romance. And from there expanded and grew into the White Coat Romance app, which is free and on the Store and Google Play. And then more recently, I started the White Coat Mingle. It's a sister platform. And the difference being that White Coat Romance is for single healthcare professionals and students, and there's trusted circle of friends. And White Coat Mingle is for social and professional networking that is beyond dating. Coach Olga MD: That is amazing. I don't know how you have all this time do such creative projects and work on those things. But love to know what sparked the idea behind White Coat Romance in the very beginning. Chrystene Nguyen: You know, certainly it was really born out of a need, you know, during COVID, you know, there was so much loss and tragedy and, you know, there's so much uncertainty and the whole world felt like it was turned upside down literally like overnight. Because at that time I completely isolated myself from family and close friends, like working in urgent care, you having this high risk for COVID exposure. And then from there, it sort of kind of grew. And I think it was sort of like this need that was among this community. And from there, as you learn from your community and you get more ideas and it expanded and so many people wanted me to be like a matchmaker. ⁓ I didn't want to be one. And then he's like, all right, I'll just start an app. then, you know, and then that took off from there. And so that's how the journey started. And it's actually, I feel like I'm like this accidental entrepreneur. Coach Olga MD: an incredible matchmaker, Chrystene. You definitely helped a lot of people's lives. mean, connecting them through your platform and helping them find each other. What do you think are some of the barriers that physicians have when it comes to dating on an app? Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah, mean, certainly it's really tricky. First of all, it's our time. We're just so busy. We have very limited time, you know, and we certainly, of course, can't date our patients. And when you try and ⁓ out and meet people, it's really tough because, There's a lot of scammers and professionals out there and you feel like you could easily be targeted. so when talked to lot of physician friends, ⁓ I ⁓ like, what title did you put on there? And even mine was like vague. I work in health care. Or others have said, I work in medicine. And very few people really actually put their title out there. and then, you can go out and meet people in the wild, know, and it's, it's hit or miss. And I think a lot of us are, pretty open, but certainly, it would make our lives a lot easier. And, when it comes to who we're looking for in alignment with our lifestyle and also our goals and our aspirations, it would be nice to, have a curated space where you could meet other professionals that, other like-minded professionals. And so I think that. I've noticed that tends to be the interest among a lot of our physicians and healthcare professionals that I've talked to. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, definitely. It's really hard to meet people organically nowadays, I feel. you have more time, like you said, that's one of the barriers and physicians very busy. We have a lot of ⁓ hours we put in, not just at work, but also charting and things that come up ⁓ So it's to stay connected. What do you think important about creating this type community? ⁓ Do you think relationships and are or should be a priority for physicians? Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah, I certainly I think this is something that I mentioned earlier, it's a silent epidemic that hasn't been talked about. It's, this epidemic of loneliness and chronic loneliness. And research has shown that it's actually comparable to smoking about 15 cigarettes a day. And that's quite staggering, when I learned about that. And so it's such a big part of our health. we tend to focus on mostly physical health, but we forget that ⁓ this huge aspect of connection, and social connection. really is not like just a nice to have, but it really is essential to our health and our well-being. And if we, ⁓ need especially being, physicians, ⁓ being healthcare professionals, it starts with us, right? the analogy putting on the oxygen mask on you first before you help other people. Coach Olga MD: Absolutely agree. Chrystene Nguyen: And it starts with us. And if we have that community, we have that social connection, we have those supportive relationships in our lives, ⁓ I think we would be even better physicians. And ⁓ it with taking care of us. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, we definitely have to always remember to take care of ourselves. Sometimes they say physicians are the worst patients. It's hard remember to exercise, good relationships, have that support network in your life. I definitely believe that it's very true. Chrystene Nguyen: should have probably said that in my TV as well. Yeah, and I feel like it's, you know, it's really time to, you know, stop putting ourselves in the back burner. You know, we take care of so many people around us. We take care of our patients. We take care of our family. ⁓ we're last And by then we're like depleted. it's really, you know, we're so overdue to change this narrative. And I want to be part of this conversation and part of the solution to help. Physicians connect and being a community builder and helping physicians and other healthcare professionals part of these intentional communities that are truly supportive. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, you're doing an amazing job for sure. Chrystene Nguyen: ⁓ you're very kind. Thank you. Coach Olga MD: So I wanted to ask, going from the white coat romance, how did white coat mingle come about? Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah, so, you know, it's been a good number of years. I started White Coat Romance, the Facebook group in of 2020. And then the White Coat Romance app came a few years later. And then happens over time is that, you know, a lot of the community members have moved on, you know, they've either found partners, they've gotten married. ⁓ And, you and ⁓ we actually some success stories. You've got like four marriages from ⁓ White Coat itself. ⁓ And ⁓ I would be like, Hey, you know, I kind of nudged them. It's kind of time to go. And they don't want to leave, you know, and it wasn't that they were wanting to be part of the community because they were looking for someone else. It could be simply like, Hey, do you have any recommendations for this particular physician? Do you, you know, it could be a healthcare related question. It could be a non-healthcare recommendation. could be just like, you know, getting together and having a travel buddy, getting together and going for a hike or going for a happy hour. And, and so I was like, hey, you know, and that was just the one rule is that, know, you remain the community of your single. But beyond that, they're like, well, Chrystene, can you create something for us? And I've had a lot of friends, even the ones that weren't even part of white coat romance to begin with. And so that's how White Coat Mingle came about. And I started it initially as just in-person networking and I hosted a number of them. ⁓ And I'm now been on this path to create an app so that ⁓ our greater community beyond the community that I was planning events for could be part of this community. And my whole goal with White Coat Mingle is to be able to help the healthcare community and beyond connect in a way that's easier, faster, and really the emphasis would be on real time connections. So I think that was a piece that I really wanted to focus on, especially like no longer being part of the COVID quarantine, that we all really, really do crave that real connections, even if virtual, but ideally, lot of like in-person events and we all know how magical and amazing it is right and being at these events know, the other thing I heard was that would really surprise me, especially among my ⁓ friends are partnered and married was, you know, they're like, do you know how hard it is to make friends? You know, if you work outpatient, it's really, really hard to like make new friends. And I've had this discussion with a number of my married friends. And so I think that was the other major why behind White Coat Mingle, you know, having this like sister platform. Coach Olga MD: going to change gears a little bit here. I want to ask about any type of mindset shifts that you had as you were building these communities. Can you tell me about one? Chrystene Nguyen: there's been so many. ⁓ But I right now, the one really resonates with me is basically the mindset to focus less on the outcome ⁓ and more on the journey. So when I I was very much focused about, to that specific destination, right? It was if I built this, when this works, When I get there, over time, I realized this mindset was really taking away from the experience, This, journey so far has really, in quotes, forced me to grow in many ways, way beyond that I ever expected. And it wasn't always for sure. ⁓ like, for example, ⁓ just getting more comfortable on the ⁓ like I did my first pitch fest at PIMDCON And so that was very, very nerve wracking, learning how do you be on social media? How do you, ⁓ and so now like I have, you know, six social media platforms and I work with my virtual assistant, learning about automations and learning about AI. And we all know how crazy that all is. And that's a continual learning process. And I think, most important of all, is all the incredible people that I've met along the way. ⁓ like you, right? Having this opportunity, I'm truly honored to be here with you, ⁓ to And that's priceless, And I would have never had this opportunity, and it's taken ⁓ my life on a whole path, ⁓ And so I think I'm really all trying to embrace the journey and all the ups and downs and... I certainly won't sugarcoat it. There's been a lot of, downs as well as, the ups, but, I've gotten so much of it already. And so I really, working on appreciating the growth and the skills and ⁓ the evolution from the journey itself and not from some future outcome. And certainly it's a work in progress without a doubt, but that's sort of the biggest mindset shift that I'm focusing on right now. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, it's all about the journey, not so much about the destination. That definitely resonates with me too. Amazing. Now you mentioned there could have been some challenges along the way. Is there a specific challenge that you can think of and how did you overcome that? Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah, I mean, certainly a lot of it is really mindset, you know, kind of related to ask question. And a lot of it is just really internal. ⁓ if you focus on, ⁓ you know, solving the real human problem, and not focus on the business model and making those real human connections over time that progress will lead to the clarity ⁓ and the clarity and the progress will lead to the ⁓ action through the action that all that will unfold. ⁓ and you to have the conversations and have the connections and having the collaborations being part of other teams and bringing more people have the skillset, who don't have the skillset that I do. ⁓ And that's sort what unfolded over time. ⁓ having that belief in yourself, you know, is really also a big part of this. ⁓ You know, we certainly are, you as physicians, we are trained problem solvers. So that ability is within us, you know? So ⁓ we just have to be more about it. And it's certainly tough, right? Because as physicians, like a big part of our training is the acting, right? It's the doing, it's the certainty. But as entrepreneurs and when you're building something, it can be very uncomfortable. And so I say embrace, embrace the uncertainty. And really, if you focus on the why and let that be your North Star, you know, your path will unfold over time and the how will become more clear. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, absolutely. feel like once you know your why, all of the other things like how you get to do this app, how do you get to build it, everything comes together. It's kind of like this energy that you're bringing forward and steps actually end up manifesting themselves. So when you're attracting that energy, ⁓ able to know what the next step is for sure. This how we build momentum. Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah. Coach Olga MD: And what is one piece of advice that you would give someone who's starting out in a similar space? Chrystene Nguyen: Yeah, I would say, I think, you we hear this a lot, but it definitely rings true is really just get started. No matter how small it's, you know, one little step will lead to the next step and the next step. And it's so easy. And I was definitely stuck in it. And I still get stuck in it in times. And I have to remind myself it's, the analysis paralysis that we often hear about. And it's so easy to just like, Oh, I'm going to research this some more. I'm going to read this some more. I'm going to. look at this, I'm gonna, know, X, Y, Z. But really, it's when you get started that that would be really the way to go because you gain a lot and you learn a lot in that process of that doing. And as I mentioned earlier, to really talk to your community, the people that you serve and that really helps reinforce like what you're doing, what you're trying to build and also just to get feedback, right? going on the right path. I think it's so easy when you build something, when you create something that you think that this is what is needed and what people want. ⁓ and there, I say just get and that will lead you. And a lot of those why's sometimes you or may not know it upfront will start to like unravel and reveal itself. Like you really need to see the whole And it may just be that next step, and you will get there. It's sort of my ⁓ biggest And ⁓ I'm going add one more plug to this is don't underestimate the power of networking. Networking is powerful as you and I both know, right? It could be one conversation. ⁓ It could one connection. It could be one introduction. ⁓ And that really completely change the ⁓ trajectory of path that you're on and what you're trying to achieve. and the real human problem that you're trying to solve the impact that you want to make. Coach Olga MD: Yes, Amazing. Is there one book recommendation that you have for our listeners today? Chrystene Nguyen: Gosh, you know, there's so many books, but the one that I'm going to mention today is called 10X is Than 2X by Benjamin and Dan Sullivan. this book is really amazing in that, it's really focused it always seems like counterintuitive, the recommendation is to less. So we're rather than adding. And by doing less, actually get more from it. And so idea is to strip away from things that no longer serve you and to focus on what truly matters. And it always you permission to simplify rather than to keep on hustling and hustling and hustling. I think it also all ties back into some of the things I mentioned earlier. about your why. if you haven't read it before, ⁓ or you may and I would love to hear your feedback on ⁓ it. So Benjamin and he also has another new book coming out that is in my audible that I can't wait to read. Coach Olga MD: Yeah. Yeah, I love Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan. are amazing authors together and 10x is bigger than 2x. It's one of my favorite books as well. It really helps you to focus the big picture and not just be focusing on the tiny daily tasks that you have to do, but just think about why you want to do it, what's your vision, what's your mission, and how can you get there a lot faster. Well, thank you so much, Chrystene. It was a pleasure having you on the podcast today. I hope to have you on a future episode. Chrystene Nguyen: Thank you so much. That was so much fun. I'm truly honored that you invited me to be here and I look forward to seeing you again in person sometime soon. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, absolutely. a great day.