Kc Rossi 0:00
Have you ever just felt off but your primary care physician says you are just fine? My guest Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. knows that it's not all in your head, and is on a mission to empower people to cultivate abundant health. So in this episode, we're going to be talking about how to prioritize your top goals to thrive. Why dialing in the fundamentals is key. The role nutrition plays in success, scaling tips, post pandemic, and ways to navigate emotional boundaries with your team. I loved my time with Dr. E. She is so practical and loving. It's a beautiful combination. I know you're going to catch a spark of motivation, gain clarity, and have an opportunity to step into your holistic journey. Enjoy.
Kc Rossi 0:57
Are you ready to scale your business in a way that's aligned with your soul and profitable? I'm Kc Rossi, a Business and Leadership coach. I've been a full time entrepreneur for 30 years and love business. I help conscious leaders increase their impact and optimize their lives. Join me each week for tips and deep conversations on cultivating confidence, increasing your visibility, elevating your vibration, and leading with purpose without burning out. Let's go!
Kc Rossi 1:31
Hi, Efrat, I'm so excited to have you here.
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 1:34
I am so excited to be here. Yeah. Awesome.
Kc Rossi 1:37
So tell our listeners a little bit about what you do and who you serve.
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 1:42
Oh, okay, great question. I'm pausing because I have four different businesses. So I serve a few people. Let's start with EG healthcare, eg healthcare is a primary care practice. That is for pediatric adult and geriatric here on Staten Island, and we serve over 20,000 people. And what's unique about us is a we're awesome, and we provide great care. But we also have affordable prices for people without insurance. And that was really important for me philosophically. And from that grew, the new method new is spelled with a K, where for so many patients, primarily women 45 to 65, who are just feeling off, and just feeling like things weren't that weren't how as it should be. And they go from doctor to doctor, and they're told everything is fine, everything is fine. Even insinuated it's in their head, which is why the title of my book is it's not in your head. And it turns out that it's everything's not fine. And it just needs to be looked at differently. So the new method came from that, and we could dive into that, as well. And then I also have an education company for nurse practitioners, if any nurse practitioners listening, it's designed to help nurse practitioners kind of get on top of their clinical game. It's like a bridge between school and the real life. And then lastly, I have a medical scribe company, which again came out of the fact that I really wanted to connect with my patients. And I felt that if I'm sitting there charting, and not giving my not engaging with my patients, that the patient didn't have a good experience, but at the same time, who is going to do all the charting. So I found it a medical scribe company, which other providers now use. That's it, I'm done.
Kc Rossi 3:27
That's amazing. Holy smokes. So I'm sure you know what's top of mind as far as when people are listening to this is running one business is challenging enough with lots of ups and downs, we know that success isn't a linear path. So what's it like juggling four?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 3:45
You're gonna have to ask my wife. What's it like being married to someone who's juggling four. I think like, I'm sure all your listeners are aware, it's prioritizing. Not everything can get done at the same time. Let me start before that is prioritizing yourself first, which means making time for your workouts and your meditation and knowing that that's not a selfish thing because the health of your business starts with you. And then and then prioritizing your family or whoever you consider family or friends. Because if you don't have that, because you're so busy at some point you're going to be like what's it all for and you'll get burned out. And then you look at the business and prioritize is not everything is a level one. And not each business is going to be the same level. Some businesses are meant to be seven figures and some businesses are meant to be smaller. And so prioritizing your goals and then prioritizing how you're going to attack it. I think that's the name of the game and a lot of faith.
Kc Rossi 4:43
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. So a couple of things. The meditation that's that's been a non negotiable for me since 1990. And then the workouts I can definitely use some some help on for consistency. I get my daily walk in so that's a good thing. But are they non negotiable for you like, is it something where you just don't do your day without doing those two things?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 5:08
It's non negotiable to the point where when I opened up my practice the hours, I will not have early morning hours, because I have to do that first. So my morning start, and the date could be crazy, as you can imagine, with four businesses, but even with one, right, it's the non negotiables are waking up in the morning. And it's not a long meditation. It's small, it's more, it's more about my intention for the day, and then a workout and then having coffee with my wife. And that sets the tone for the day. Now, every once in a while, is there a meeting that's not in my hands? Sure, every once a while, my traveling short, but generally speaking, these are non negotiable.
Kc Rossi 5:45
That's amazing. So the demographic that you mentioned, like women, 45, to 65, and they really are our listeners, and many of them have struggled with burnout in the past, or they're trying to prevent it, or they're really on the edge not really having that magic or that juice in life. Like something's kind of off their business is kind of going well, but they could be scaling more, especially when they're comparing themselves to other influencers online, where it's like, gosh, I've been doing this X number of years, I should be looking like why. So in that, when you talk about those fundamentals, and they are so simple, and yet they're often overlooked. What advice do you have for those high achieving women that just don't be all 100% on their game, but also don't have the fundamentals dialed in as of yet?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 6:39
Yeah, so Oh, my God, so many good things in there. So many good, good. You know, if you looked at your business, all your listeners there, and you're like, my business isn't working, what would you do, you would go back, you would break it down into pieces, you know, I'll give you an example for business, then I'll bring it back to personal because I know that since you're entrepreneurs, you're all thinking this. So recently, a few years ago, our wait time was too long, I didn't want my patients waiting, I thought a half hour is obnoxious to say, and but everyone's moving fast. Everyone's doing no one's sitting there, like not doing anything. So we broke it down into pieces. And it turns out that the most basic things had to be changed, such as the sound silly, the handing people a urine cup, when they're in the waiting room waiting, they could already take care of that, as opposed to at the end, and now they're backing up the flow. So just streamlining some of our forms. So that it's not a three page form. It's a one page form. So we there was the fundamentals that overall impacted our wait time. And now it's back down to significantly less than a half hour, because you're never going to suddenly create an hour in the day, right? But if I can shave off a minute here, a minute here a minute here. That's how we did it. So I know that I'm when I'm saying this to all your entrepreneurs there. You know what it's like to go down to the basics, right? Maybe I need to train my front desk better or maybe right. So it's clear to you. It is the same thing with your health. I don't think that you're, you know, there is no magic chef coming to cook your meals for you. Okay, you were like, well, if I had a chef, like so was so celebrity I would look like them to they're not coming? Well, maybe if they are, God bless you. Even if you can afford a personal trainer, they're not during the workout for you. And when they're not there, it's still on you. So that magic is not happening. So we have to go back to the basics. If you are not feeling well. And you are being told that everything is fine, you're going to primary care and everything is fine. Don't believe them? If you're not feeling well, that is your body telling you something. Let me tell you what I mean by that. When you go to primary care. Everyone is well meaning I'm sure your doc is amazing. This is not anti medicine or anti your doc. But when we're in primary care, and I practice primary care for many years, there is a list of tests that we do. We're looking for disease if you don't have disease, goodbye, have a nice day. You don't have diabetes. I'll see you next year. You know, you don't your cholesterol is fine. I'll see you next year. Yeah, but my my memory is not on point. I'm having a hard time focusing on my have aches, I have pains, I'm tired at the end of the day, well, everything is fine. So just know that that is your body telling you that something's up that's like your employees kind of telling you, hey, you know, things aren't really working with this phone system. You can keep ignoring it. But that phone system eventually is going to crash. Right? So if you're not feeling well, and you're like wow, in my 30s in my 40s I felt so much better. It must be because I'm 50 Incorrect. It's an actual something your body is telling you. It's time to look at the basics, what's going on. If you're going to wait for it to be a disease, you have the diabetes, you have hypertension, that's you waiting for crisis at work and you know that you don't operate that way. So don't wait for the disease like oh, okay, all along. I was cooking diabetes. Yeah, but we could have stopped it right now. So I really, you know, when I can dive into more, but nutrition, nutrition, nutrition, nutrition, that's where it begins. And and so that doesn't mean you have to eat a kale salad every day. Gotta hate kale and I always say kale because I can't stand. But it does mean, you need to look at your plate. Because your plate is likely full of things that are slowly making you sick. It's slow, it's not like you're eating 1600 Donuts a day, it's slow. And this is not a weight conversation at all. Because I That's my very goal with my patients. This is like a symptom conversation, um, aka making. So if you're eating, let's just say sugar, a little bit of sugar day a little bit. If I told you to have a little bit of mercury a day, you'd be like, No, I don't think so. I'm like, but what's like, one little bit of mercury day you're like, Well, no, I know that in a few years, I'll have like neurotoxicity. It's the same thing here. If you keep eating the refined sugar slowly, a little bit, I'm just having a little dessert and having a little bit over time, you're going to feel the toxic effects. And you're going to want to start undoing that. And it was a really long answer.
Kc Rossi 11:10
No, that's great. That's awesome. And so I feel like most of us have some idea or a handle, whether it's through our own education or just like, you know, through the rise of the health movement, holistic alternative complementary, like all of those things that maybe were in our primary care, yet, we still don't 100% adapt it. And so I'm wondering, in your opinion, what do you think the root cause of habit resistance is?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 11:42
I think when it comes to food, I think there's a true denial that what you're eating is causing your symptoms. For some people is denial. For some people, it's a lack of knowledge. And let me give you an example. skin issues, psoriasis, eczema. Anytime you go to a doctor, they're going to give you cream. It's clear, I should put cream on my face. No one's ever gonna tell you hey, did you ever consider that the fact that you're eating dairy could be the quality some of them, it's not even there was no connection. So then I remove it from dairy. And if I told you your psoriasis, clear up without it without dairy be like sign me up. So I'm going to tell you this people who have brain fog, people who have trouble memory, memorizing things, people who are having difficulty concentration, that's something called neuro inflammation. If I told you that your diet is causing the neuro inflammation, and you believed it, you will be like, Oh, my God, Sign me up. What is whatever it takes my focus, I think there is a disconnect between really accepting that the things that you're eating that are not so bad, because like you said, we're kind of sort of on point, they're not so bad. I'm not at the McDonald's drive thru every day, I'm not so bad. So it's really if you really understood the connection between what you're putting on your plate every day. And again, it's not a weight issue, not talking to you about calories. If you really understood that that is the reason you are feeling X, I think you would adopt it faster, saying what happened overnight, without the faster so what I do in my patients is we do a like a list of symptoms in advance of what's the reason we have this really cool software and we quantify it before headache for the for a headache, I have skinny should have joint pain, then we fix up their nutrition. We do the questionnaire again. And then like oh my god, my knee pain went away. It was a four, now it's a zero, then they cheat on their diet. I hate to say the word cheat, but just for the point of this conversation, right, they're off, they're off, and I hate the diet also. So they're off on their nutrition. They're off on the nutrition, and the aches come back. Now they're beginning to understand, oh my God, when I have gluten just as an example. My my joint pain and they're starting to make that connection. This is why I work with my patients for at least 12 months because it takes time to build a connection. But the time weren't six months, six or seven. They already know. When I eat the thing. My knees hurt. When I eat the thing. I can't concentrate at work as well. So I think to answer your question of why are people adopting it, because I don't think they realize that it's worth it.
Kc Rossi 14:17
Yeah, absolutely. What's coming to mind is just that we are programmed to move towards pleasure and away from pain. And without that connection, that short term gratification is the pizza is the ice cream. That's that's the pleasure even though long term, that's the pain. But until we make that connection or prove it to ourselves, we just keep like going with the flow. Plus it's fun. Plus, there's the whole cocktail of history of like, you know, dopamine and everything like oh, boy, you know, like we get to do this.
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 14:50
Plus, it's social.
Kc Rossi 14:51
Yeah,
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 14:52
It's social, right? Going out is social and having the thing is social. Yeah, you're right. And so and, and by making those connections, ultimately what I do patient's by making those connections for them. Of course, initially we were were restrictive initially. But then once we loosen up making the connections we like, Okay, this weekend, I'm going to all my friends and I want to do the thing I want to enjoy the cocktail, I want to have the bread, whatever it is for you, for you, by all means do, but then no. And then you kind of know, okay, well, that's what's happening on Saturday. So I'm going to really be on point, you know, Monday to Friday, because I really need to be able to run my marathon or run my business. So you start to learn how to manage all of it, all the pieces, you know, when you want to enjoy yourself, and what to plan the next day, it's not a good day to plan an interview. If you if you like really enjoy yourself, because you're just not your answers are not going to be on point. So the goal is to make those connections, and then Pete and teach people how to live a real life because you can't just be restricted forever. That's, that's just on Instagram. It's not real.
Kc Rossi 15:52
Yeah, it's a suffering trip. So I really love this balanced approach and getting to know your own body not subscribe to something else that may work for somebody else in some other person's body. So I love that. Behind you, you have remember why you started and I am very passionate about being so connected to our deep why? Because I do you think that that is kind of the the GPS to our life in our day. So what is your deep why?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 16:20
There's there's a few my first and foremost, why is my wife. So she's my wife for everything. That's personal, but on a more global scale is to help and empower others. And I know that sounds so trite, but it really is right. So when I first started eg healthcare, it was like, Well, how do I make sure people access care? Well, I don't have to be, you know, expensive for primary care. And so we've created that. And then when it opened up, when then when I realized I have all these women who the end men, but primarily women, women tend to tend to be less listened to in the medical world, who really were struggling, I was like, I have to create something for these women. And then I created that to help people. What I found most surprising, and I think many of your listeners will this will resonate with them is that the business itself became a platform to help my employees, my team. I never saw that coming. Because I never thought I would have employees, I thought it was just going to be me. Right? It's been interesting to see that offering someone employment, helping them move up in life, how that's helpful. We have, we have programs in the office where we give micro loans because sometimes, you know a lot of these people are living paycheck to paycheck and their car falling apart can really destroy them, getting a micro loan that they can pay off through their salary can really be helpful. Helping people get through school, the team itself helping each other when someone's struggling, if there's a situation at home, hey, we got your back, dropped the kids off, we'll help you watching the plan the business become a platform internally for the team has been amazing. And not what I thought when I started this, it was all patient centric. But I realize now it's it's become the team centric as well. So yeah, that's that's the why.
Kc Rossi 18:14
That's incredible. So I'm curious what has been maybe a recent or not so recent stumbling block when scaling team?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 18:23
Ah, the post pandemic employment know that everyone here is scaling team scaling team. Scaling team has been hard post pandemic, I'm not sure where the workforce went, was this was I it was never a problem. And now it became a problem. So it took adjustment on on my part. And I feel like a lot of my colleagues are having difficulty because they're not adjusting. Let me give an example. Work life balance has always been an issue, for sure. But post pandemic, it's been more of an issue. People got accustomed to certain work life balance, and they're not willing to give it up kudos to them. And I really feel that the younger generation has pushed corporate America to, to reckon with that. Yeah, and many of my older counterparts are really resisting it. And I'm like, my dude, this is the reality. So you can resist it and try to go old school. Or you can roll with it. And so it for so on the one hand, it's hard, it was harder than just the pool of applicants are smaller. But then we have to really modify and understand that this is the new reality. Again, not that our work life balance was crazy before. I mean, it's a 40 hour week. It's not like anyone's doing 80 hour weeks, but it was more than that. It was it was some flexibility in scheduling. And it was making sure like there's a lot of we embed downtime. We closed our office down for lunches and we make sure that there's a lot of stuff that we do as a team out out of have, you know, out of work, so it was creating certain benefits that may be not expensive for the company, but are speaking to our employees. So it was really about becoming flexible in light of this. So if you're struggling with it, yes, it's a reality. But the faster you catch up the fact that this is the new reality, the faster you're going to get your workforce together. But for the first time ever, like because we we scale and hire rather often. It took us most recently, six months to create a new team. And it's never taken us that long. So it's a real issue.
Kc Rossi 20:42
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Not only are you looking ahead, and I think that that is a trait in all good leaders is being visionaries and being proactive, but also that flexibility. You know, what, what are people looking for now? How do we bring this together, so it works for us. And I'm really curious, because I love the fact that you offer the micro loans and help people through school, and then also do team activities outside of the office environment. I'm curious what you do, if you do put boundaries in. So there is that kind of like, personal and work separation, so things don't get muddy, or if that's not your philosophy, and style, and everything's just like, all holistic, I'd love to know that too.
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 21:30
I don't think you can truly scale, if you don't create those borders, like you can only scale so much. I think when we were smaller, that kind of holistic, fully maternal, it works. But as you scale, you, you, just by time, you have to distance yourself from certain people. Whereas before I knew everything was happening in the front desk, I don't even know how to make an appointment anymore. Because you have to be able to delegate if you want to scale, and part of that delegation is automatic, or Korean and boundaries, this is a thing I no longer have to do, and should not be asked questions about. So those boundaries is part of delegation. And then only if you do this, this isn't this, should I be asked this question, why not because I'm less caring, because I'm now putting my energies here. So I think the borders to scale to, to a certain amount, it has to happen. And if you're okay, and some people are okay, they don't want to scale there. And that's if that's where your happiness is here. Because you have this full control and you're saying everything, then that's really awesome for you. But for me, I love scaling. I love creating new things. And part of that is being able to kind of set it never forget it, but set it watch it in motion, and then have it only come certain things come to you if necessary. So in my opinion, you can't scale otherwise.
Kc Rossi 22:54
Yeah, I love that. I think delegation is key when it comes to growth. And it makes sense with the tactical, the tactical and the linear things. What about emotional boundaries, as you start forming these relationships and bonds with your team? How do you navigate that?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 23:11
Yeah, emotional boundaries are really, really important. Especially I am very, very public, like I, you know, have podcasts and YouTubes and Instagrams and, and TikToks. So there's a lot of me out there. And if I did not create an emotional border for me and my inner circle, I think the whole thing wouldn't work. So, you know, there's levels there's levels of intimacy, right. There's your immediate your your family. And then there is a level of intimacy that I have my crew that's been with me since day one. Right? This is these are people who've been with me through some tough times. People have been through me in the pandemic and in the medical world, it just like, like, a quick aside, when March 2020, hit every one of my colleagues closed and switch to tele, I turned to my team, I said, it's up to you. If you want to go on employment, you can, but if not, we'll stay open and staying open at a time where we didn't know if we're gonna live or die, right? It's not it's not COVID of today, where you kind of over it. It's like, what the heck is this? We have no supplies, the entire team, except for one person who is chronically ill state, we were the only ones open. So this is a level of intimacy with that crew, that is going to happen. But the newer people like you know, who are just joining the team or front desk, I no longer have I can't not timewise but not space wise give that same level of intimacy. That makes sense. That being said, Though I am I still very much add maternal sides everything or feminine side if I may, like the end of every day we talk about wins. I don't think that's something that corporate America does. Right. You know, we we do a lot of kind of You know, touchy feely things that I think are important to make sure that it's not like a clock in and clock out. They don't get the level of intimacy as maybe the crew has been we from day one. But it's also not like this distance clock in clock out. This is a constant check in and making sure that we're everyone's okay.
Kc Rossi 25:19
That's awesome. I love that again, it just it's really resonating balance, you know, and it makes so much sense. So I love that approach. And my one last question is, I'm curious if the level of marketing because I feel like your level of marketing is also different. You know, like, you don't find too many primary care. Doc's on Tik Tok, and doing the social media thing and having a podcast and being a guest on shows. And I'm wondering, the similarities are how that dovetails with the new method.
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 25:54
Yes, so it's mostly the new method that is marketing. It's different messaging. So the primary care messaging, if you go on our Instagram, EGhealthcare, it's really about creating a sense of community for our patients. It's kind of a local feel like letting them know about the team. It's funny, it's witty, and it's just gets it gets, if you come into my office, you actually see a lot of our patients pictures on the walls. So there's just like the sense of like, we're truly not not fake sense. Like, we're part of the community, we're live the community, beloved, the community, the new method is really about the marketing there. If you've gone on a marketing, I'm not really selling anything, except the exception of Facebook ads, I don't really sell anything. It's really about getting information out there to let people know you're not crazy. Now, if ultimately, you choose to come work with us, sure. But it's really about empowering people. Like even in my book that I wrote, the book says, like it's divided up, like, these are the things you're going to do in the beginning. And if you feel great, give the book to someone else. There's no cell in it. Because there's, it's, I've come to appreciate that there are people like we take, we're in New York, and it feels like everyone has access to this information. You kind of know what you know, functional medicine, you know, somebody's holistic, you've heard of gluten free. It's kind of like almost like old news already. But I've come to appreciate that nationally, that is not the case. There are people in smaller communities, who with aches and pains, and they're like, What the heck is going on? I'm constantly being told them fine. I even have women telling me that their primary cares, I tell them that they're fat, and that that's a problem actually using that word. Like my heartbreaks, every time I hearing these stories, so or it's the hormones or what do you want your 60 Like, just so dismissive. So the marketing has been a place from from I just small snippets of information that just it seems to resonate, seen? Tiktok like, Oh, my God, someone's been telling me this all along, like, oh, I never knew this. It's just about empowering. It's just about back to why start. It's about empowering.
Kc Rossi 28:01
Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. How can people learn more about you? What's the what's the best place for them to take a step into your world?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 28:10
So it's the new method, but new is spelled with a K. Like you always knew there was a better way. So the new method on every platform Tiktok, YouTube, whatever you like to consume podcasts website, the new method.com. And if you're in even if you're not sure, do you want to you want to get to know us? And you're not sure if you want to work with us, there's always an option for a free concert with my team, like no strings attached we are, there is never a moment of heavy sales anywhere in my system. So you come you ask your questions, what works for you? It does if it doesn't, it's, it's from God. So the Knew Method everywhere,
Kc Rossi 28:48
That's amazing. I'll make sure to drop the links in the show notes. And Dr. E. If you wanted to leave one last nugget, some bright light wisdom for our listeners, what would you like to share?
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 29:02
Okay, so, as women as humans, it's not in your head, whatever it is, it's not in your head, if that's physical, if you're not sure about a person, if there's something in the back, it's not in your head, it's real. As entrepreneurs, just go for whatever it is, just go for it. Those are my two things.
Kc Rossi 29:24
I love it. Words To Live By. This has been such a pleasure. Thank you so very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your wisdom. We really appreciate it.
Dr. Efrat LaMandre, Ph.D. 29:34
Thank you so much for allowing me to be here.
Kc Rossi 29:37
All right. Until next time, breathe joy.
Kc Rossi 29:40
I hope you enjoyed today's episode with Dr. E. If so you can head on over to www.lovethepodcast.com/brilliance to leave a review for the show. And some listener feedback is coming from Casey from Australia. And she says "Definite 5* podcast." I recently came across Kc and the Women Developing Brilliance podcast and was immediately drawn to binge listen several episodes in one session. I love that. Kc is an incredible host and interviewer and her thought provoking questions, insightful responses, and actionable takeaways make full time well invested. Thanks for your contribution to business, Kc.
Kc Rossi 30:24
Well, Casey, same namesake, thank you so much for taking the time. This is really so awesome. I love to be able to hear how these episodes are landing and that it's actually making a difference. It really does mean the world to me. So if you want to leave some thoughts about the show or a particular guest, or episode, head on over to www.lovethepodcast.com/brilliance.
Kc Rossi 30:51
Thank you!
