Latest / Coffee Playdate Podcast with Dr. Olga Deengar / Coffee Playdate Ep 22 From Dermatologist to Lifestyle Influencer: Dr. Bonnie Koo’s Next Chapter
Transcript
- Coach Olga MD: Welcome to the Coffee Playdate podcast. I have a very special guest with me today, Dr. Bonnie Koo. Welcome. Bonnie Koo: Hi, thanks very much for having me. Coach Olga MD: Bonnie, do you drink coffee? Bonnie Koo: I do. Coach Olga MD: And how do you like your coffee? Bonnie Koo: Well, it depends if I'm having regular coffee or an espresso drink. Right now at home, I only drink espresso drinks because I have a machine. But when I drink regular coffee, just with milk, no sugar. Half and half, I should say. Coach Olga MD: And what about your espresso? do you like that? Bonnie Koo: ⁓ I drink a flat white with whole milk. Coach Olga MD: ⁓ wow, okay. Perfect, I love cappuccinos. It's like my go-to. All right, so we're gonna play our first game. It's a rapid fire questions game. I'm gonna ask you to choose between one answer or the other. You don't need to give any explanation as to why you're choosing one over the other. ⁓ go with your gut instinct. So first question is budgeting or investing? Bonnie Koo: Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Coach Olga MD: you Bonnie Koo: no context, so I'm like, well, it depends, but ⁓ start with budgeting. Coach Olga MD: Good. How about investing in yourself or investing in your business first? Bonnie Koo: yourself. Coach Olga MD: How about a telederm consults or recording your podcast episode? Bonnie Koo: Hmm. podcast. Coach Olga MD: last question is ⁓ clients one-on-one or hosting a money mindset retreat? Bonnie Koo: hosting the retreat. Coach Olga MD: Awesome. Next game is take a sip. So the same concept, but this time we're both answering the question. And if our answers match, then we take a sip from our coffee cups. First one is planning ahead or making in the moment decisions. Planning ahead, me too. Cheers. Bonnie Koo: planning ahead. Yeah. Coach Olga MD: Next one is credentials or confidence. Bonnie Koo: Ooh, confidence. Coach Olga MD: confidence. You can always get credentials later. ⁓ Bonnie Koo: You too. Yeah. Coach Olga MD: Next question is creating a skincare product or learning a new language. Bonnie Koo: That's hard. creating a skincare product. Coach Olga MD: gonna go with learning a new language. And the last question is making pasta at home or eating out at a restaurant? Bonnie Koo: making pasta at home. Coach Olga MD: I'm going to say eating out. perfect. ⁓ Bonnie, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Bonnie Koo: ⁓ sure. So obviously I'm a physician. I'm a dermatologist by training. I took a bit of a detour from practicing medicine to starting an online business, primarily rooted in financial education and personal growth. And so what's interesting about this recording, Olga is I am literally in the midst of changing everything. Coach Olga MD: so what do you mean by changing it? ⁓ which direction do you see your business going? Bonnie Koo: So I think I'll be retiring coaching for the most part. And, know, felt weird saying this, ⁓ but I was just texting some friends actually recently, like, I'm just going to own it. Like I, I am an influencer. I don't know any other word that I can use thought or whatever, And you know, there are, I'm going to be doing consulting and brand partnerships, but really it's lifestyle. I feel like I'm becoming more of like a lifestyle and combining dermatology knowledge, skincare. I'm 48. on perimenopausal, all those things, all the health things that are now like more on top of mind. I have an eight-year-old son with ADHD and we don't do traditional schooling. And so these are just topics that are really important to me right now. And I know I have a lot to share and I know people need to like know what I'm doing specifically, but this is information that I know people need. And I'll still talk about money, obviously, because I think it's all related, right? So yeah, I literally just updated my Instagram bio like a week ago, so it doesn't say whatever it said before that was more money focused. And so that's kind of the direction I'm going. I actually just joined Betsy Grunch's, do you know Betsy? She's Lady Spine So she just started, it's starting in a week. She created a four week mastermind program to help health professionals grow their personal brand and influence. Coach Olga MD: incredible. That's totally different from what you were doing before. ⁓ Bonnie Koo: I, it, it's interesting. Like it is, but then in some ways it isn't. I feel I've always shared my life to some degree. And we know with what I do. ⁓ so I think it's just doing it more. That part actually scares me because it's going to require me to be in front of the camera more, which on one hand, I'm like, I'm used to speaking and things like that, but this is going to require more than I'm used to. And I've definitely noticed I have some. some fear, fear of being judged, know, the usual. And so it's gonna, it's gonna be, I've decided it's gonna be a fun challenge. Coach Olga MD: Absolutely, and you're going to grow so much from it too. And you look amazing for 48 by the way. So how do you think your definition of success has evolved over time? Because now you're going through this transition in your business. Maybe your definition of success is also changing with that. Bonnie Koo: Yeah. ⁓ thank you. You know, traditional definition of success is status and money achievements, basically. And it's not that that's not, that's still not part it. But I think, I think success ⁓ really is Are you happy? you feel like your life is meaningful? Do you feel like you're making a meaningful impact? Do you feel like you have great people in your life? And do feel like you've reached your potential? I think that's kind of like what I, but you know, the money and the achievement stuff is nice too. I think, I think it kind of all goes together, you know? Cause if you have lots of money and achievements, but you're dead inside, like that's not success, you know? Or you're not taking care of yourself. It's really. Coach Olga MD: Absolutely. Bonnie Koo: kind of the whole package. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, of course, because if you have more money, then you can grow more and you can do other things that bring value to people. But I think the more important thing is like, are you feeling fulfilled in your own life? And like you mentioned, are you aligning with what's important to you? I think that's much more important. Bonnie Koo: Yes, alignment. think that's such a great word because I think that's what I was feeling the last few years, like something just wasn't aligned. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, good. I hope this takes you in a new direction and brings fulfillment to your life, for sure. Now, the past, as you were creating WealthyMomMD, what kind of mindset shifts did you have to have going from being a dermatologist to building your own business? Bonnie Koo: Yeah, me too. That's a good question. You know, the, for me, starting the business and running it wasn't particularly difficult from a mindset perspective or even a doing perspective. think the part that's. The part that's difficult and continues to be difficult, I think in any business is being okay with the ups and downs and like not tying your sense of worth to the success of the business. I think that has been the most challenging part for me because the actual, I mean, I'm an action taker. think most Type A physicians ⁓ So that part wasn't a problem. I think it was really like, encountering my first quote unquote failure, I think that was the hardest part. So I guess the mindset shift, I feel like I'm still learning this lesson is that, you know, really being able to see it as unwanted result, but not because something's wrong with me, if that makes sense. Because when you're in that mindset, you can't problem solve. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, that totally makes sense. Yeah, everything just kind of shuts down and you don't have the clarity that you need to move past this challenge. Now, can you tell me a little bit about a challenge that you faced during your entrepreneurial journey and how you overcame that? Bonnie Koo: Mm-hmm. Exactly. let's see. I'm which one? ⁓ I I think the biggest challenges I've had was maybe like not making the money that I wanted or. Coach Olga MD: too many. Bonnie Koo: Yeah, I feel like that's sort of, cause like there's other challenges like people, like hiring the right people, staffing is, one of the hardest parts of being a business owner. But I think, yeah, like when you're projecting something and it doesn't work out, meaning like you don't make the number of sales that you want because. you know, money is needed to run the business to not just pay myself, but to pay my assistant to pay for the services that we're paying to keep the business afloat. And I think that's still been like challenging for me to, cause you have to I guess kind of be okay with it until you build a certain level of stability in the business and, build like a business emergency fund and all that kind of stuff. Like there's all these structures that have to be in place to kind of mitigate risk, Coach Olga MD: you get any ⁓ degree or any business background to start up your business? Bonnie Koo: like an MBA, but I did take courses on how to run a business, how to, you know, grow an email list. like all the different parts that come with an online business. did take classes on that. Yeah. Coach Olga MD: Did you find those helpful or did you think that maybe mentorship was the more useful ⁓ in ⁓ of business growing? Bonnie Koo: Probably both, but like, I think the learning was very useful. Like it's funny, like when I think about where I was when I first started versus, mean, I really enjoyed learning it. and so I definitely, and I feel like the programs I took were high quality. then, then I started having entrepreneur friends and then you can talk about it with them as well. So I think, I think it really is probably both. it's like, you don't know how to run a business, so you need to learn how to do that. And there is like best practices, so to speak, you know, ⁓ and there's like, you know, you kind of need to know what a funnel is and, Coach Olga MD: Bye. Bonnie Koo: And things like that. I'm actually, this is like so random, but it just popped up, you know, like a lot of people say like, ⁓ I'm doing a webinar. And they're saying that to someone, maybe they want to invite. I dunno, I just hate that name. I feel like that's more of an internal name. And so I always say like, I'm doing a workshop or a class That's just like one example of like many like random things that I've like picked up along the way. Coach Olga MD: Do you still host any workshops? Bonnie Koo: I haven't in a while. think ⁓ ⁓ do one soon. I'm still going to ⁓ my ⁓ money course. And so I think I'm going do a live class and then record it and then turn that into an evergreen funnel. Coach Olga MD: I hope that you get to do more workshops in your new direction of your business, and the new ideas that you have as an influencer. That would be awesome. I know! We have to just Google some synonyms or ask AI. Bonnie Koo: There's gotta be a better name for that or maybe just like embrace it, you know? ⁓ Well, know, it's funny because, ⁓ you know, we saw each other recently when we were, was at date with destiny, you were hanging out with us and, ⁓ Tony Robbins says like, none of us have control. You know, we have influence, like, you know, we're, most of us are control freaks and we can't control things. We can't control outcomes. We can't control people for sure, but we can influence. And I remember him saying that and I'm like, how did the word influence just get such a bad rap? Because all of us are influencers to some degree. and guess the influencers, you know. have more influence because they have more reach. guess that's how I see it. But then like, you know, some of the influencers are, you know, in my opinion, and probably yours don't influence for the good, especially the ones who are seeing all sorts of nonsense when it comes to health. so I think I actually think more doctors need to get into the influencer space so that we can use our expertise versus someone who just researched and had their N of one experience and they think that's the gospel now. Coach Olga MD: Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that. There's a lot of people who don't have the medical training or the background and yet a lot of people still listen to them because they have a million plus followers and they're saying just nonsense about all sorts of things. For sure. Bonnie Koo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Coach Olga MD: ⁓ Is there like a daily habit or something that you do on a daily basis that helps you be more productive or increases your performance in your business? Bonnie Koo: You know, I don't think I stick to any specific habit, but I do know the days where I take time to have my caffeinated drink on the sofa, not on my phone. And, know, we're, I'm talking mainly Monday through Friday when I get my son ready for school. I think just taking a few moments before the chaos starts. if I journal on top of that, usually this is after I've dropped them off, not before. If I spend some time journaling or meditating or doing some reading like that, that's always helpful. I just feel like it's very grounding. And the days I don't do that, I definitely notice. Coach Olga MD: a really important habit. ⁓ Bonnie Koo: But it's simple. think I tried to create like, not even elaborate or fancy daily habits, but I think I thought like, I need to have, I don't know. I guess maybe I did think I needed something complicated, but I've just found that I don't stick to it. So maybe I'll just make sure I drink it on the sofa for like a few minutes. without any inputs, you know? Coach Olga MD: Yeah, without any interruptions, just having those few moments to yourself in silence. And is there ⁓ one piece of advice that you would give anyone who's starting out on a similar journey? Bonnie Koo: Silence is key, yes. Hmm. Well, the one that comes to mind because I'm sort of going through this is like just allowing yourself to be a beginner and not be great at something. Like I literally just started posting maybe just a week, starting a week ago or two weeks ago, stuff that is more in line with what I just talked about. I don't think they're terrible, but they definitely don't feel natural. Like I remember when I first started my podcast, like I would like script it very heavily and. I think I sounded like a bit like a robot the first few episodes and then you get, then it gets easy and you're more conversational and you're, it's, know, more natural, authentic, more free flowing. So I think. Really just allowing yourself to be a beginner and not be great at something. And think that's, I can be really hard for people who are used to excelling all the time, you know? Coach Olga MD: Yeah, you want to try to be like a perfectionist, but the more important thing is to just get it done. Just get that video out there. Just get the post out there because people are still going to love it. Yeah, we tend to be our biggest critics. Are some things that you like to do outside work? Just some fun hobbies that you have? Bonnie Koo: Mm-hmm. I like going to yoga. I do like cooking, I do make pasta at home. I haven't in a while, but I just kinda got into freshly milled flour. And so I've been making pizza. And it's to do with my son, get son involved. We bake bread together So like, and then. I don't know this is really a hobby, but I do like getting people together. I mean, this is not just like within my business where I host things, but, ⁓ you know, just organizing a dinner or something, Coach Olga MD: Yeah, exactly. like planning events. Do you like small events or more bigger scale events? Bonnie Koo: think it depends on what it is, but I think right now I'm focusing on smaller ones mainly cause I'm new, new ish and I've been here for a year and a half, but I still feel like I don't know anybody. ⁓ And I think the type of events I want, I want them to be more intimate, you know, cause after a brunch or dinner, it gets a certain size. Like you only talk to like one or two people. So I think six is kind of like the limit for dinner where you really want to have. know, conversation that kind of most people are involved with versus just like a bunch of side conversations. Coach Olga MD: you have a book recommendation for our listeners today? Bonnie Koo: Well, I'm reading a book now that I think is fascinating and I think everyone can benefit no matter what you do. It's, the book is called cues, C U E S like body cues, ⁓ by Vanessa van Edwards. And she's a body language communication expert. So, ⁓ just talks a lot about, yeah, the body cues. And I I'm only on like chapter two, I think, but the part that she talks about the most is like, she defines charisma as having the perfect balance between. being warm and being competent. It's like that balance. and so you're, lean too much warm or too much competent. And she has this like little chart and it's like too warm, too competent, charismatic. And then the other quadrants, the danger zone, ⁓ calls it. Coach Olga MD: Thank Bonnie Koo: I think it's going to be helpful for anyone who ⁓ wants to command, not even like power and respect, but just, you know, the people that people admire because they're They have great charisma and they're kind and they're competent. That is something you can improve. It's natural for some people, but just because it's not natural to you doesn't mean you can't learn to do that. Coach Olga MD: Yeah. Yeah, well for sure. I feel like COVID hindered a lot of that learning because we were kind of hidden away from everybody. We didn't have as much social interaction as we would have. I think our communications skills have suffered. Yeah. sure. All right. Well, thank you so much, Bonnie, for being on our show today. It was a pleasure having you. Bonnie Koo: Well, especially for the younger people, yeah. for sure. Thank you so much for having me. Coach Olga MD: and hope to have you on a future episode again.