August 29, 2024 • 45 mins
Explore innovative strategies for diversifying your healthcare practice with expert Tammy Guest. Learn how to overcome the limitations of traditional one-on-one consultations and expand your professional reach.
This episode offers practical insights on creating multiple income streams, combating burnout, and leveraging your expertise through digital platforms and alternative service models.
Episode highlights:
- The Four P's of practice success: People, Profile, Profit, Peace of Mind
- Recognising signs of burnout and the need for practice diversification
- Strategies for overcoming fear and fostering entrepreneurial curiosity
- Developing e-courses and digital content for passive income
- Balancing traditional practice with innovative service models
- Leveraging personal experiences to enhance client connections
- Exploring hybrid events and community-based health education
- Time management and self-care while diversifying
About Tammy:
Hey There! I’m Tammy Guest.
Business Mentor, Speaker, Author, Facilitator and Freedom-Seeker.
It’s my mission to amplify the mindset, lifestyle and possibilities for change-makers like you so that you can go out there and activate change for your clients, yourself and the world.
My passion lies in facilitating the expansion of possibilities for driven entrepreneurs. Through guided mentoring and immersive experiences, I drive your ability to create a business and a lifestyle that is beautifully aligned to you and allows you the perfect environment to create, innovate, and lead in ways you haven’t been able to.
Connect with Tammy:
Website: https://www.tammyguest.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tammyguests
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tammyguests
Shownotes and references are available on the Designs for Health website
Register as a Designs for Health Practitioner and discover quality practitioner- only supplements at www.designsforhealth.com.au
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DISCLAIMER: The Information provided in the Wellness by Designs podcast is for educational purposes only; the information presented is not intended to be used as medical advice; please seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional if what you have heard here today raises questions or concerns relating to your health
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
This is Wellness by Designs, and I'm your host,
andrew Whitfield-Cook, andjoining us today is Tammy, guest
, naturopath, entrepreneur andmentor, and today we're going to
be talking about how todiversify your income.
Welcome to Wellness by Designs,tammy.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm great, Andrew.
It's so good to talk to youagain.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
So good to chat to you again it's been a long while
to talk to you again.
So good to chat to you again.
It's been a long while.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So let's, if we start can we take a look at just what
happens in traditional practice.
How does it look first?
Yeah, well, before we begin, Idid mention to my youngest today
that I was going to come on thepodcast and they said, oh, so
what are you going to talk about?
I said, oh, diversifying yourincome as a practitioner.
And they said, oh, snooze fest.
(01:12):
And to be honest, when I firststarted to consider like the
terminology of diversifying andthe terminology of income and
all these business terms, manyof us as practitioners have
never actually, you know, hadthat conversation.
We haven't been in thatconversation.
We've been in biologicalconversations, we've been in
(01:34):
physiological conversations,we've been in even, you know,
spiritual conversations with ourclients and things, but the
business conversation can be alittle bit oh, I don't know
about all this.
So I'm hoping we can, you know,start to unpack it a little bit
so that we can be a little bitmore literate when it comes to
(01:55):
our business and set ourselvesup for success even when times
get tough.
And to your question abouttraditional practice, this is
the thing we usually sit infront of one other client, in
front of us across a desk orright next to us in our clinic
room.
We have a one-on-oneconsultation, an initial consult
(02:16):
, maybe a follow-up, and veryoccasionally we have a
supplement or a herb orsomething else that's really
specific for them and then theygo on their way.
And when it comes to the incomeside of things, for that it's
dependent on how many peoplecome in your door, how many
(02:37):
people you can fit in a day andwhat particular access you have
to beneficial medicines for thepeople that are in front of you.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So there's a lot of caps on that type of way of
doing business the traditionalbusiness model, looking at some
(03:07):
statistics on revisitation byinitial clients and that sort of
thing and how to be successful,if you like, in the traditional
business model.
Is part of the issue there thatwe don't set concrete
management goals, if you like,or requests, if you like, from
(03:31):
patients to say, I want to seeyou again in four weeks, this
amount of herbs or whatever.
We'll see you in four weeks.
I want to see you in four weeksat the outlier if everything's
going well, and sooner if thingsaren't going well, because I
want to track you.
Is that part of this issueabout even the need to diversify
(03:53):
?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, so that's probably one of the first places
that we look in a way ofensuring that we're looking
after.
There's four P's really that weneed to look after.
One is people.
We need access to people.
So the amount of people that wesee and what that actually can
(04:18):
look like and how frequently wesee those people.
So that's what you're touchingon there.
Number two is our profile.
Ensuring that people know thatwe exist is really important,
and if we're hidden and don'thave a website, we don't have a
shingle out the front of ourbuilding, those types of things,
then we're not going to be seenor heard and people aren't
(04:40):
going to necessarily refer to usbecause our profile isn't
available for people to accessus.
The third one is profit, andsome people, especially in the
business world, would put thatfirst, but I know, being a
practitioner myself, profit, yes, it keeps our business going
and in the long run, it's thething that actually enlivens our
(05:00):
life, enriches the experiencesthat we can have as a person
outside of being a practitioner.
But profit is really importantas well, and we'll touch on that
a little bit more later, andthe profitability of each of the
things that we're doing isdependent on the people that we
see, the profile that we have,and then the peace of mind that
(05:21):
we have and they have, and sopeace of mind kind of
encompasses duty of care andother things like that, which
gives us a direction to go withclients who are with us to
ensure that we are giving themduty of care, that the herbs
that we hand over are going tolast three to four weeks and
(05:45):
technically we should be doingour best to ensure that they
have access to those medicinesand they're properly cared for
and maintained.
That level of connection andthat level of contact to ensure
a duty of care and a continuityof care while we're, you know,
assessing their symptomology andtheir status so that we can
(06:09):
continue to care for them longerterm.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, Sorry, fourth P .
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Oh, peace of mind.
So we've got in total we've gotpeople, we have profile, we
have profit and we have peace ofmind.
Yeah, so anything that we do inbusiness, we want to ensure
that we've got at least one ofthose at the forefront, a
(06:38):
primary reason for what we'redoing, and then the others tend
to follow, and whether it is theamount of people that you want
to impact, it is ensuring thatyour profile is high enough and
you're getting your message outto enough people that they want
to continue to hear from you oraccess you.
(07:00):
As you know, one of ourprinciples as naturopathic
practitioners is doctor, asteacher, and profile is one of
those ones.
Then we've got profit andensuring that you're not
necessarily putting all youreggs in one basket, for instance
, you're not only just seeingone-on-one clients.
You have another way of doingthat, just in case we have, you
(07:23):
know, another pandemic orsomething random comes up.
We never really had that on thebingo card, but there it was
and having all those eggs in onebasket kind of set back a few
practitioners because therewasn't access to other things.
And then that final one ispeace of mind, and I really feel
like peace of mind, like Imentioned.
It can encompass your duty ofcare, but it can also encompass
(07:46):
your values and why you'repicking particular products,
your values and whether yourbusiness model actually aligns
with the way you love to connectwith people and do business.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Cool.
So diversifying, you know wecould also say future-proofing
with respect to what happenedwith the pandemic.
But with diversifying, you knowthat can be very fearful.
Take us through how you teachpeople to.
I mean, look first, overcometheir fear, but then also get
(08:21):
started.
How do they find what even todiversify into?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
One of the things that I find for the people that
I help anyway and I've mentoreda couple of thousand
practitioners at this stage theyactually have a tendency to
overthink, actually have a lotof ideas about what to diversify
into, and it's actually theflip side of it's harder to
(08:49):
actually pick the one thing toactually take a next step in
diversification than it is tocome up with any, and there is a
fear that the unknown ofdiversifying is a fear, that the
unknown of diversifying whetherit is bringing on a new product
(09:11):
line that you haven't hadaccess to before, whether it is
getting into the online space,getting into the teaching space
Many practitioners who have beenin practice for over a decade
it's now their kind of mentoringtime as well and figuring out
that there is a way of againreaching more people, making
(09:33):
sure that your profile's higher,getting that profit and having
peace of mind All of thosethings are unknown because you
haven't had access to thosebefore, and so it's really easy
to stick with the known accessto those before, and so it's
really easy to stick with theknown.
But generally what we find isthere's a couple of symptoms
that come up when you think oh,I think maybe it's time to you
(09:53):
know, diversify a little bit.
Maybe I could make thate-course, maybe I could do that
speaking gig.
Maybe there's something else inthere.
That timing comes with a coupleof symptoms.
One of those symptoms isknowing it like, starting to
consider it because it wouldn'thave come into your frame of
reference had it have not beenfor you in the first place.
(10:14):
The second one is gettingpurely burnt out.
I see it time and time againthat practitioners have a
tendency to get compassionfatigue, do the same thing over
and over again, and the seasonfor that particular way of doing
business has come to itscompletion.
(10:35):
And then we start to diversify.
And the final one is startingto notice what other people are
doing.
There's a comparisonitis.
Oh, they're doing that, I coulddo that, or I could do that
better.
Oh, maybe I could hop up on astage, maybe I could run a
podcast, maybe I could teach mycommunity about whatever X, y or
(11:00):
Z condition, but I could do itthrough videos or some other
medium.
It's a uh, it's a three-prongedkind of thing that these
symptoms come up at a particulartime and then the fear becomes
less because the curiositybecomes more ah, fear versus
curiosity.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
So okay, fostering curiosity to mitigate fear.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, definitely.
You know when you're in afearful state.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
The curiosity seems rather small.
How do you actually lessen thefear while increasing the
curiosity?
How do you get to that state?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Turn the volume up on the curiosity.
How do you get to that state?
Turn the volume up on thecuriosity.
Just make it louder.
The thing about fear is it'salways going to be there, and I
remember having a conversationlike this a few years back at
one of my conferences.
That fear is always going to bethere, but it's whether you let
it in the driver's seat or youlet it be the passenger with you
(12:07):
along for the ride.
Fear is really great, it'sreally important.
It tries to keep you safe.
It's done a really good job ofkeeping you safe and keeping you
in your comfort zone yourentire life.
But when we push up against ourcomfort zone, fear goes.
Oh, just a reminder, you'vebeen doing it this way for a
really long time.
Don't go thinking you're goingto have to change anything,
(12:29):
because that'll step us outsideour comfort zone and if we let
that, take the wheel or, in mycase, the helicopter, the rudder
of the helicopter.
I also fly helicopters, so Iknow a lot about fear and that
fear can actually overcome whenyou're only listening to it.
But when you start to getcurious about why that fear is
(12:51):
there in the first place, thenyou start to give it a job, sit
it in the passenger seat, tellit it's ready, it's fine.
We're going to try somethingdifferent and then get truly
curious about who you're serving, how you're serving them better
, how you're taking care ofyourself and your peace of mind
better, and how you can actuallymake profit from that.
Then we change the entiredynamic because you're starting
(13:14):
to get curious and finding openquestions and trying to find
answers for those questions inyour business.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Let's take your helicopter analogy.
When you first, for instance Idon't know if you've done this,
but have you practiced a stallmid-flight?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Right A stall where you've landed with no engine.
Yeah, yeah, so you had aninstructor there to guide you
should everything go awry.
How important is it to have aninstructor, a mentor for you
when you're choosing todiversify?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Absolutely.
When you're learning anythingyou know, not just a helicopter,
but plenty of people havelearnt to drive cars if you just
chuck yourself in a car byyourself, how are you going to
know even what a pothole feelslike?
You know not any of the big, youknow crash a car kind of
scenarios even a pothole whenyou start to go oh what is that
(14:12):
dark dip there?
You know.
And when you've got a mentor ora guide sitting with you, they
can literally point out thepotholes and help you start to
notice when patterns areoccurring that you can avoid or
how to handle it when it comesup, and not doing it alone,
(14:35):
especially in that first area orwhen you're trying to change up
something.
So in the helicopter world weget our initial private pilot's
license, but if we're trying tochange it up and go for the
instrument rating on ourhelicopters, we then need an
instructor again.
So, yes, you can absolutely doit alone, but it is scary and it
(14:59):
is hard to do until you getthose skills and get to
understand what's coming up andthen you're able to kind of move
through it and have a bit moreexperience at it.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
You were mentioning peace of mind earlier.
What about looking afteryourself when you are
diversifying?
Because it's going to be addedstress, it's going to be extra
time and learning new things andthat's going to drain one's
energy?
How do you look after, lookingafter your energy and that
work-life balance, which is justso important?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah.
So we had a recent experiencein our profession where many
people are starting to diversifyand change up their
dispensaries withpractitioner-only products and
things like that.
And when even consideringbringing on board and doing the
(15:53):
research for a new product toprescribe to your clients, that
takes time, it takes energy, ittakes effort, it takes research.
We're looking at excipients andwe're looking at quantities and
(16:14):
we're looking at combinations,and when we're trying to even
apply one brand against anotherand when we're trying to even
apply one brand against another,that time could be taken up.
Seeing clients, which gets youmoney right, and a similar kind
of scenario, even if it's notjust changing your products over
, it's changing your incomestreams over from one-on-one to
(16:38):
then creating, say, an e-courseor a program or a package where
you are providing videos orwebinars and teaching people
about their health and theirwell-being.
That is going to take time outof what you would usually, in
your old kind of way of thinking, is actually seeing clients and
(16:58):
helping them and beingprofitable.
The thing about all of those isyou're only doing that once,
once you've done the research toensure that you have peace of
mind about what you're going tobe prescribing your clients
because you've done the researchand you know that you're
confident in those products, oryou have done the one webinar
(17:23):
that's been recorded and thenyou can share it with multiple
people.
You've actually only had to gothrough that experience of
fatigue and a little bit ofworry and a little bit of not
quite sure and taking that timeup once, because then you can
replicate it time and time againand you feel confident in what
you've actually done.
You also learn a lot by eitherdiversifying your product suite
(17:48):
or diversifying your methodologyto work with people.
It changes the way that youhave learnt you're able to pivot
.
It changes the way you'velearnt you're able to teach
people certain things, andmoving forward those things you
know it kind of is exponentialbecause you're building and
(18:10):
building and building on top ofthat change that you've created.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I'm glad you mentioned e-courses, developing
an e-course, developing acollateral if you like, and
investing that time into it.
So can I ask, through your manyyears now of being a mentor and
helping other people to beentrepreneurial, what do you
(18:37):
think the investment in time in,let's say, an e-course, the
investment in time developing ane-course, versus the return on
investment of developing thate-course is?
Do you have any stats?
Have you ever looked at this?
You know really coldly, from amathematical perspective, what
that ROI is.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
So it really depends on the person and it depends on
their situation, but no, I wouldlove to do the stats on that.
That's a really genius idea.
I might write that down.
Thanks, great idea, andrew.
But what we've seen is thepeople who are natural teachers,
and this is the thing.
If you're a practitioner, we'restill all individual, so we
(19:22):
have a unique way of umpracticing and we have unique
strengths and gifts and talentsin the way that we practice, and
some of us are, you know,really empathic.
We'll hold people's hands.
We'll be there in their darkestmoments, um as they cry, as
they pass on, things like that.
Some of us are built to teachand it is again part of our
(19:47):
naturopathic principles thosesix slash seven principles that
we all attribute to and doctoras teacher, whether we do that
one-on-one across the table orwe do that en masse by
continuing to even put out smallsocial media posts and things
like that.
And e-course is a really greatway of creating a container to
(20:12):
hold all of that knowledge andshare that wisdom while you're
not there.
And the thing about that is, ifsomebody has a tendency to have
already taught, created aPowerPoint presentation, done
any type of assignment in theirqualification.
It's very likely that you havethe opportunity to create an
(20:34):
e-course that could be powerfulfor multiple people.
I have seen practitioners thathave spent one weekend recording
the entirety of their courseand then the following month
launch it and sell it for haveenough people buy into that
course for $68,000 worth ofprofit, and to do that it takes
(21:05):
a commitment to do that, but Idon't think we have enough
conversations about that.
It is possible that if you werejust to commit to creating
something that was of value andyou do that once, this course
was made one on one weekend andthen every time that person
(21:26):
wants to share that wisdom withanother group of people, it
comes back up again and, uh, hesells it again, and similar kind
of scenario happens becausewe've continually got people who
are googling health symptomsanyway.
But if you can become a trustedadvisor and create a course that
is actually valuable and usefulfor people, you only have to do
(21:48):
it once and then it isavailable over and over again,
which is very different to usteaching across the table to one
person in front of us and ithaving to teach it again and the
amount of times.
I drew a picture of thegastrointestinal lining and the
gut wall and how iga works in,how probiotics work and how you
(22:12):
know we're gonna have zonulinjust sneaking on through there.
The amount of times I drew thatacross the table and it didn't
occur to me over those sevenyears to actually have recorded
it until right at the end of mytime running a full-time clinic.
And once I did it was thenavailable to so many more people
(22:33):
.
And then packaging that upmeans that so many more people
can have it in a course formatthat's useful for them.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Do you know something from the patient perspective as
well?
How many times do patients weteach patients, if you like,
about leaky gut syndrome?
I shouldn't use that word,that's wrong.
Leaky gut, not leaky gutsyndrome.
There's no syndrome.
Thank you, brad Leach.
So having a leaky gut, havingintestinal permeability,
(23:04):
hyperpermeability, I'm beingcorrect.
And then that's just in onesmall snippet of information,
even though you've explained it.
Their vernacular is that theygo home.
Somebody like their partnersays what's wrong and they go.
The naturopath says I've gotholes in my gut, yep, can be a
(23:25):
different Japanese whispers,chinese whispers.
So having a collateral that onecan revisit, ie purchasing an
e-course provided by anaturopath, gives them a
relearning experience when theyforget what was learnt in the
initial space.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Absolutely so.
It's a win-win situation.
And there's so many times thatwe have clients that come to us
and go.
Why didn't we get taught thisat school?
I've heard it from so manypractitioners that their clients
come in, and I definitely hadit personally as well.
Why didn't we get taught thisat school?
And I want to teach my kids andI want to, but they, like you
(24:09):
said, don't have the words forit, don't have the terminology,
don't have the ease in which weall have a way of explaining
these things that resonates withour particular clients, and
that's why they come and see usand finding that as a you know a
container whether it's ane-course or you sell it as a
(24:31):
package or you have a group thatyou take through an
understanding of their journey,of their particular condition.
We're seeing a big rise inperimenopausal education at the
moment, and some of the coursesthat I've seen on it are
fantastic because they're takingpeople from this unknown.
What am I going to do?
I don't quite understand thesesymptoms.
(24:53):
Are they symptoms ofperimenopause?
I can't possibly be here yet.
Is it, isn't it To?
Ah, maybe it is.
Ah, there's something I can doabout it.
Ah, there's something I can donutritionally.
Ah, there's something I can dohormonally.
Ah, there's something I can dofrom a stress and lifestyle
perspective.
And you're taking people fromthat unknown sorry, known of
(25:16):
what they're doing to into thatunknown area and making it
become known for them.
And if you can take them as agroup especially this
perimenopausal kind of crowd, atthe moment they're not feeling
alone in it, and so that's kindof the next stage after you've
created a webinar or an e-course, you can actually create a
hybrid style package or programthat you can collect a group of
(25:41):
people and take them on thejourney of actually starting to
understand, setting them littlegoals, setting them actionables
and getting them to start tocollectively move through it so
that they don't feel alone inthis health journey that you're
taking them on.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
So what other ways can we diversify, though?
We're talking about e-courseshere, but some dash paths.
For instance, they mightdiversify from the traditional
orally ingested supplements tomaybe using a piece of equipment
like pain management, forinstance for instance,
(26:23):
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
What other ways, though, can we diversify?
What have you seen?
So I could go on for dayswhether it is product-based or
service-based, so that's a gooddelineation to start off with.
Product-based, we generally see, traditionally, that people
will have a herbal dispensarydispense out, but we're starting
to see a lot more compoundingof nutritional compounds, which
(26:48):
is creating personalizedmedicine instead of, or as an
adjunct to, some of our alreadypre-made supplements from our
practitioner only brands.
Then we have creating your ownmedicines, and so we're starting
to see a little bit of are-embracing of the more
(27:10):
traditional balms and salves andpessaries, and even sniffer
boxes for people with colds andflus, and having different herbs
and menthol and things likethat in these, and so we're
seeing a bit of a resurgence ofthat homesteading type of
remedies.
Then, as you mentioned, paindevices, things like USB heat
(27:38):
packs, tens machines, othermachines that are going to
enable you to have immediatetesting.
On-site testing is another wayof connecting with people and
diversifying what you're doing.
From a product base, then froma service base, we start to see
a lot more in the one instead ofone-to-one, we see a lot of
(28:03):
one-to-many type of services.
So we're starting to see eBooks, downloadable PDFs.
We're starting to see webinars,one-off trainings.
Then we're going into theeCcourse space programs, which
are hybridized packages ofseeing clients multiple times.
(28:26):
We're starting to see peoplewriting books.
It's so much more accessible ifyou have a book hidden in there
.
If you're a practitionerlistening, you have a book
hidden in there.
The old publishing model isbeing broken up at the moment
and so there is hybridizedmodels of writing books.
We're seeing speaking.
We're seeing appearing onpodcasts.
(28:47):
We're seeing creating your ownpodcast that then have you know
off the back end of that sellinge-courses and other things and
then in the offline space.
So there'll be people listeninggoing.
I don't do any of that stuff onthe internet and that's totally
cool because that's all comingback around where we connect to
our communities, which meansagain, we're creating groups and
(29:11):
group programs out and we'respeaking in.
You know we really wanting toconnect when speaking at live
events and off the back of thatwe're creating smaller group
programs or VIP experiences likeretreats and conferences and
(29:32):
events, and we're starting tosee some really nuanced events
where a lot of natural healthpractitioners are connecting
people in wonderful naturalspaces, whether it's going to
hot springs and having a weekendaway or having a day retreat at
their particular clinic orhaving something out at a winery
and other places.
We're starting to see somereally interesting ways people
(29:55):
are connecting and diversifyingto get the message out about
health and wellbeing, to get themessage out about health and
wellbeing.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
That's an interesting thing you say about the venues.
You know, normally we say I'mgoing to be holding a course and
it's going to be at my place,and here you come to me.
Now it's the practitionersgoing to the people.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yes, absolutely.
And you know, when you thinkabout it from an adult learning
perspective, being in adifferent environment really
impacts the way that ourneurology works.
So the way that we'reconnecting synapses and new
ideas is in a peaceful, moredifferent space.
It's going to change the waythat we're thinking and it's a
(30:36):
great thing to be able to bepresent to so many more
practitioners hopping up onbeautiful stages.
I've literally been seeingpeople appearing at wineries or
stunning wedding venues thatturn into you know these women's
events and beautiful herbalflower arrangements and things
(30:58):
like that, and it's reallybecoming permeated in our
culture that natural health,herbs, nutrition can be a
lifestyle choice.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, so I was going to ask about keeping pace with
trend.
You know we've seen an onlinetrend, but I totally get your
point.
That we've seen after COVID ispeople want to reconnect
personally Interesting thing.
So that you know, for instance,years ago when I used to work
with a commercial entity, whenwebinars were just coming on,
(31:30):
trying to get somebody to attenda webinar was like pulling
hen's teeth.
Now it's gone.
I won't say it's gone back to,but it's much more accepted that
webinars are going to be a partof it.
But there are practitionersthat really have a demand for
that one-on-one or that personalcontact.
So companies, for instance, areproviding hybridised events and
(31:54):
it just seems to be the newblack, do I say?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Absolutely, and I think there's something that's
shifted since the pandemic.
Not only were we forced to go totelehealth and forced to go to
other options like webinars,tele-seminars, et cetera.
There is a level of inclusionand diversity awareness that
(32:19):
means that we are making thingsaccessible.
By we, I mean I run conferencesas well, so making things
accessible to neurodivergentpeeps, making it accessible to
people in rural areas whowouldn't usually be able to
access that level of connectionthrough conferences, making
(32:43):
things accessible to people,people who don't have the income
to fly to a particular area, sothat hybridized version where
you still have people in personwho really want to connect.
And we have a very empathicnurturing profession, so we do
want to be around people, butalso we have a lot of learners
(33:04):
and people who do live remotelywho want to be part of that as
well, and so we are in a reallygreat space to be able to
provide all of that now, becausetechnology is kept up with that
trend as well.
So we're able to kind of dothat in a way that we haven't
been able to before, and I thinkpractitioners who are
(33:25):
considering running their ownevents need to kind of have an
awareness that that is somethingthat you can do too, and it
becomes a much more inclusiveexperience in a way that we
haven't seen before.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Yeah, Can I ask about what?
About when things don't goright, when things really just
are not right for you to go thatway?
There's the old adage aboutnever give up.
Keep going, whatever come whatmay.
However, I'm reminded by a talkon, indeed, that topic.
(34:02):
You know, keep going.
But what I noticed of thespeaker, and he was on a climb,
an ascent to Everest, and theyhad a landslide sorry, a snow
slide, but they had an avalanche.
And what happened was this guywas kept on going, kept on
(34:23):
wanting to turn back but forcinghimself forward, but there was
a stage where he turned arounddown and when he turned back,
his friends ahead of him weregone in the avalanche.
He lost his friends Right,Horrific, but what's the point?
Is the point to keep going?
(34:44):
I don't think so.
I think the point of that isthat every now and again, we
need to reassess where we're at,and there's no shame in going.
You know what I really suck at,that I should not be doing that
.
I should be doing thisAbsolutely, and that
reassessment is part of it.
So when is it the point to saylisten, this isn't working, I
(35:08):
need to do something else?
When do you teach people?
Or how do you teach peopleabout stopping?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, so I love that you've brought this up.
It's something that many of usbecause we want to excel and
we've been throughqualifications where it is
rewarded that we excel at thethings that we're learning and
that we're researching and thatwe're trying to do that we have
(35:38):
a tendency in our profession toget burnout, and that burnout
can come in the running oftrying to chase after a dream
that may not be the one that'smost in alignment for us and in
doing so that changes everything.
(35:59):
Because you aren't there forthe people, you don't get the
profit.
You aren't there for your peaceof mind and your profile.
You know you go into hiding,you turn into a little you know
a little cave person, and thething about that is one know
(36:19):
that you're not alone in doingit.
Two, if you're starting todiversify and you don't want all
your eggs in one basket, butyou don't want one egg in each
basket, to enough that you'reholding all of these eggs and
all of these baskets and it onlytakes one moment to drop one
basket and the egg andeverything falls to poo.
(36:40):
So there is somewhere inbetween.
That will feel good for you,but if you do find yourself in
that zone, like you said, thatthis climber found themselves in
, that there is an intuition, anudge things aren't working the
way that they were workingbefore.
What I tend to talk to mymentees about is that that's
(37:05):
there for a reason or a season.
And so if you have been tryingand trying and trying at a
particular diversificationwhether it is an e-course or
whether you've been trying torelaunch something or push and
it's not working the way it didbefore and you're feeling burnt
out and you can't figure out why, and then all of the patients
slow down and all of that kindof stuff stop, and all of that
(37:30):
kind of stuff stop.
And what I really love is aradical sabbatical, so taking a
whole weekend off not thinkingabout work, or take a whole week
and if you've been in practicea long time, a radical
sabbatical actually means takinga whole month off Just block
out your calendar, let it go.
And then let go of eachdifferent part of what's
(37:55):
actually causing the tension inyou so energetically in your
mind.
Let go of the e-course, let goof the launch, let go of the e,
you know, let go of thosetreatment plans.
Let go of all of them.
Put them all on the ground andunpack that backpack you've been
carrying around with you, thatluggage, that baggage just drop
(38:15):
it all down, take a breather andthen take each one up about at
once at a time and start to lookat it for what it is.
Is it giving me peace of mind,is it giving me the
profitability, is it giving methe people connection that I'm
looking for?
Or is it giving me the profilebuild that I need?
(38:37):
And if it's not, just pop itdown again and pick up.
The next thing Is this andgoing through the lens of that
in each different one, becauseit can be so overwhelming
sometimes with all of thedifferent things that you could
diversify in, and carrying allthat around is actually going to
cause you to stop anyway andstand in your own way.
(38:59):
So strangling it's not going tohelp.
So, taking that breather,looking at each for the benefits
that they have as well as thechallenges, and then it's okay
to lovingly let go one of theprojects that isn't working for
you anymore, you have permission.
Just let it go and somethingelse will come through for you
because you've made space for it.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Yeah, I know there are people, because I know
they've told me that you've beenscreaming at them to write an
e-course.
I won't say screaming, butyou've been screaming at them to
write an e-course.
I won't say screaming, butyou've been constantly at them,
and these people have aparticular expertise in a
particular condition whichreally needs education.
(39:46):
Good education.
I'm going to be podcasting oneof them today after you, indeed.
Good education, I'm going to bepodcasting one of them today
after you, indeed.
So how do you, in your courses,teach people, encourage people
to say the time is right for you, and it's not about if I can
(40:09):
change the focus, if you like.
Instead of saying this is goingto get me a return on
investment later on, I have todo this for me and blah, blah,
blah.
Rather than that, it's actuallyto be of service, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Because what they're?
Speaker 1 (40:22):
going to be doing is teaching so many other people
about their expertise.
Is that part of what you teach?
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Yes, absolutely.
It's basically the only reasonwe all got into the profession
was to help somebody, not tohelp everybody, to help somebody
.
And if what you have to say, inthe way you have to say it
because of your experiences andyour particular knowledge and
(40:53):
your way of describing things,helps one person, it was worth
it, like the whole thing wasworth it, because that one
person has the opportunity tochange something and, by chance,
tell somebody else and theymight have to change have the
opportunity to change as well,and that ripple effect is just
(41:15):
by you showing up, sharing inyour authentic way, in a way
that's helpful, and that rippleeffect starts with you actually
sharing.
It doesn't start with yourhidden powerpoint presentation
that you're never going to showanybody on your computer.
It doesn't start with thelittle idea that's been spinning
around in your head since thepandemic that you wanted to
start a podcast or a vlog orthat e-course.
(41:38):
It doesn't start with all thosethings hidden.
It starts with you showing uppretending that little person is
in your camera on your computeror in your camera on your
computer or in your listening toyou in their ear, and you just
speak to that one person.
It's bound to change something,and it just won't change unless
you show up for it.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Yeah, it's really interesting.
You know you talk aboutexpertise from personal
experience and somepractitioners usually orthodox
might denigrate that, but it'sreally interesting.
Time and time again I see inthe orthodox literature how an
experience of an orthodoxpractitioner has changed once
(42:20):
they become a patient.
Yes and have to receive the careReally interesting.
So you know, for instance, if afemale doctor developed
polycystic ovarian syndrome, howtheir experience would change
of their expertise now thatthey've got both that medical
(42:41):
training and the experience of apatient.
I mean, it's just mind-bogglinghow often I'm seeing it.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
And there's something to be said about the head and
the heart.
We are head people in that weare full of knowledge, uh, and
some of us are full of wisdombecause of the experiences.
But the, the heart piece comeswith sharing your story, sharing
it from um real depths of.
And I have that exact examplein my own life this past two
(43:13):
years, andrew.
My understanding of what it isto be a woman in perimenopause
came through having to have ahysterectomy because some
interesting things were found inmy peritoneal cavity.
And in doing so, I don't wantsomebody else to suffer, and in
(43:33):
doing so, it's not just becauseI understand the anatomy of the
uterus and the ovaries, it'sbecause I don't want somebody to
suffer the way that I did.
I want them to find out quickerand easier, with less pain and
with more ease and with moreempathy and more compassion.
And in sharing my story, itcould change somebody else's
(43:55):
life.
And I feel the same aboutpeople creating trainings that
exist for that head and heartreason.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Tammy, I love your head and your heart and indeed
you show it every time we speakand and when I see you on stage
teaching others and and sharingyour experiences and sharing how
they can better themselves andtherefore better the outcomes
for patients, and I think that'sreally what it's all about.
Tammy Guest, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
(44:27):
We're going to be putting upsome interesting things.
Can I ask a last question?
Where can we learn more?
Have you got courses that youteach people on this?
Speaker 2 (44:38):
I do.
I have a library of courses.
If you go to tammyguestcom,there's a lot of opportunities
to interact, whether it's freemini courses that I have
especially for new practitionersor those more seasoned
practitioners coming and joiningour membership so that we don't
(44:59):
have to do it alone, or I dohave a couple of conferences
coming up, so you can see it allon that website.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Beautiful Tamagmy guess.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
thank you so much for sharing thank you, not just
your wealth of expertise butyour heart love it thank you so
much and thank you everyone forjoining us today.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Remember you can get all the show notes to today's
podcast and the other podcastson the designs for health
website website.
I'm Andrew Whitfield-Cook.
This is Wellness by Designs.
This is Wellness by Designs, and I'm your host,
andrew Whitfield-Cook, andjoining us today is Tammy, guest
, naturopath, entrepreneur andmentor, and today we're going to
be talking about how todiversify your income.
Welcome to Wellness by Designs,tammy.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm great, Andrew.
It's so good to talk to youagain.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
So good to chat to you again it's been a long while
to talk to you again.
So good to chat to you again.
It's been a long while.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So let's, if we start can we take a look at just what
happens in traditional practice.
How does it look first?
Yeah, well, before we begin, Idid mention to my youngest today
that I was going to come on thepodcast and they said, oh, so
what are you going to talk about?
I said, oh, diversifying yourincome as a practitioner.
And they said, oh, snooze fest.
(01:12):
And to be honest, when I firststarted to consider like the
terminology of diversifying andthe terminology of income and
all these business terms, manyof us as practitioners have
never actually, you know, hadthat conversation.
We haven't been in thatconversation.
We've been in biologicalconversations, we've been in
(01:34):
physiological conversations,we've been in even, you know,
spiritual conversations with ourclients and things, but the
business conversation can be alittle bit oh, I don't know
about all this.
So I'm hoping we can, you know,start to unpack it a little bit
so that we can be a little bitmore literate when it comes to
(01:55):
our business and set ourselvesup for success even when times
get tough.
And to your question abouttraditional practice, this is
the thing we usually sit infront of one other client, in
front of us across a desk orright next to us in our clinic
room.
We have a one-on-oneconsultation, an initial consult
(02:16):
, maybe a follow-up, and veryoccasionally we have a
supplement or a herb orsomething else that's really
specific for them and then theygo on their way.
And when it comes to the incomeside of things, for that it's
dependent on how many peoplecome in your door, how many
(02:37):
people you can fit in a day andwhat particular access you have
to beneficial medicines for thepeople that are in front of you.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So there's a lot of caps on that type of way of
doing business the traditionalbusiness model, looking at some
(03:07):
statistics on revisitation byinitial clients and that sort of
thing and how to be successful,if you like, in the traditional
business model.
Is part of the issue there thatwe don't set concrete
management goals, if you like,or requests, if you like, from
(03:31):
patients to say, I want to seeyou again in four weeks, this
amount of herbs or whatever.
We'll see you in four weeks.
I want to see you in four weeksat the outlier if everything's
going well, and sooner if thingsaren't going well, because I
want to track you.
Is that part of this issueabout even the need to diversify
(03:53):
?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, so that's probably one of the first places
that we look in a way ofensuring that we're looking
after.
There's four P's really that weneed to look after.
One is people.
We need access to people.
So the amount of people that wesee and what that actually can
(04:18):
look like and how frequently wesee those people.
So that's what you're touchingon there.
Number two is our profile.
Ensuring that people know thatwe exist is really important,
and if we're hidden and don'thave a website, we don't have a
shingle out the front of ourbuilding, those types of things,
then we're not going to be seenor heard and people aren't
(04:40):
going to necessarily refer to usbecause our profile isn't
available for people to accessus.
The third one is profit, andsome people, especially in the
business world, would put thatfirst, but I know, being a
practitioner myself, profit, yes, it keeps our business going
and in the long run, it's thething that actually enlivens our
(05:00):
life, enriches the experiencesthat we can have as a person
outside of being a practitioner.
But profit is really importantas well, and we'll touch on that
a little bit more later, andthe profitability of each of the
things that we're doing isdependent on the people that we
see, the profile that we have,and then the peace of mind that
(05:21):
we have and they have, and sopeace of mind kind of
encompasses duty of care andother things like that, which
gives us a direction to go withclients who are with us to
ensure that we are giving themduty of care, that the herbs
that we hand over are going tolast three to four weeks and
(05:45):
technically we should be doingour best to ensure that they
have access to those medicinesand they're properly cared for
and maintained.
That level of connection andthat level of contact to ensure
a duty of care and a continuityof care while we're, you know,
assessing their symptomology andtheir status so that we can
(06:09):
continue to care for them longerterm.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, Sorry, fourth P .
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Oh, peace of mind.
So we've got in total we've gotpeople, we have profile, we
have profit and we have peace ofmind.
Yeah, so anything that we do inbusiness, we want to ensure
that we've got at least one ofthose at the forefront, a
(06:38):
primary reason for what we'redoing, and then the others tend
to follow, and whether it is theamount of people that you want
to impact, it is ensuring thatyour profile is high enough and
you're getting your message outto enough people that they want
to continue to hear from you oraccess you.
(07:00):
As you know, one of ourprinciples as naturopathic
practitioners is doctor, asteacher, and profile is one of
those ones.
Then we've got profit andensuring that you're not
necessarily putting all youreggs in one basket, for instance
, you're not only just seeingone-on-one clients.
You have another way of doingthat, just in case we have, you
(07:23):
know, another pandemic orsomething random comes up.
We never really had that on thebingo card, but there it was
and having all those eggs in onebasket kind of set back a few
practitioners because therewasn't access to other things.
And then that final one ispeace of mind, and I really feel
like peace of mind, like Imentioned.
It can encompass your duty ofcare, but it can also encompass
(07:46):
your values and why you'repicking particular products,
your values and whether yourbusiness model actually aligns
with the way you love to connectwith people and do business.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Cool.
So diversifying, you know wecould also say future-proofing
with respect to what happenedwith the pandemic.
But with diversifying, you knowthat can be very fearful.
Take us through how you teachpeople to.
I mean, look first, overcometheir fear, but then also get
(08:21):
started.
How do they find what even todiversify into?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
One of the things that I find for the people that
I help anyway and I've mentoreda couple of thousand
practitioners at this stage theyactually have a tendency to
overthink, actually have a lotof ideas about what to diversify
into, and it's actually theflip side of it's harder to
(08:49):
actually pick the one thing toactually take a next step in
diversification than it is tocome up with any, and there is a
fear that the unknown ofdiversifying is a fear, that the
unknown of diversifying whetherit is bringing on a new product
(09:11):
line that you haven't hadaccess to before, whether it is
getting into the online space,getting into the teaching space
Many practitioners who have beenin practice for over a decade
it's now their kind of mentoringtime as well and figuring out
that there is a way of againreaching more people, making
(09:33):
sure that your profile's higher,getting that profit and having
peace of mind All of thosethings are unknown because you
haven't had access to thosebefore, and so it's really easy
to stick with the known accessto those before, and so it's
really easy to stick with theknown.
But generally what we find isthere's a couple of symptoms
that come up when you think oh,I think maybe it's time to you
(09:53):
know, diversify a little bit.
Maybe I could make thate-course, maybe I could do that
speaking gig.
Maybe there's something else inthere.
That timing comes with a coupleof symptoms.
One of those symptoms isknowing it like, starting to
consider it because it wouldn'thave come into your frame of
reference had it have not beenfor you in the first place.
(10:14):
The second one is gettingpurely burnt out.
I see it time and time againthat practitioners have a
tendency to get compassionfatigue, do the same thing over
and over again, and the seasonfor that particular way of doing
business has come to itscompletion.
(10:35):
And then we start to diversify.
And the final one is startingto notice what other people are
doing.
There's a comparisonitis.
Oh, they're doing that, I coulddo that, or I could do that
better.
Oh, maybe I could hop up on astage, maybe I could run a
podcast, maybe I could teach mycommunity about whatever X, y or
(11:00):
Z condition, but I could do itthrough videos or some other
medium.
It's a uh, it's a three-prongedkind of thing that these
symptoms come up at a particulartime and then the fear becomes
less because the curiositybecomes more ah, fear versus
curiosity.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
So okay, fostering curiosity to mitigate fear.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, definitely.
You know when you're in afearful state.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
The curiosity seems rather small.
How do you actually lessen thefear while increasing the
curiosity?
How do you get to that state?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Turn the volume up on the curiosity.
How do you get to that state?
Turn the volume up on thecuriosity.
Just make it louder.
The thing about fear is it'salways going to be there, and I
remember having a conversationlike this a few years back at
one of my conferences.
That fear is always going to bethere, but it's whether you let
it in the driver's seat or youlet it be the passenger with you
(12:07):
along for the ride.
Fear is really great, it'sreally important.
It tries to keep you safe.
It's done a really good job ofkeeping you safe and keeping you
in your comfort zone yourentire life.
But when we push up against ourcomfort zone, fear goes.
Oh, just a reminder, you'vebeen doing it this way for a
really long time.
Don't go thinking you're goingto have to change anything,
(12:29):
because that'll step us outsideour comfort zone and if we let
that, take the wheel or, in mycase, the helicopter, the rudder
of the helicopter.
I also fly helicopters, so Iknow a lot about fear and that
fear can actually overcome whenyou're only listening to it.
But when you start to getcurious about why that fear is
(12:51):
there in the first place, thenyou start to give it a job, sit
it in the passenger seat, tellit it's ready, it's fine.
We're going to try somethingdifferent and then get truly
curious about who you're serving, how you're serving them better
, how you're taking care ofyourself and your peace of mind
better, and how you can actuallymake profit from that.
Then we change the entiredynamic because you're starting
(13:14):
to get curious and finding openquestions and trying to find
answers for those questions inyour business.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Let's take your helicopter analogy.
When you first, for instance Idon't know if you've done this,
but have you practiced a stallmid-flight?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Right A stall where you've landed with no engine.
Yeah, yeah, so you had aninstructor there to guide you
should everything go awry.
How important is it to have aninstructor, a mentor for you
when you're choosing todiversify?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Absolutely.
When you're learning anythingyou know, not just a helicopter,
but plenty of people havelearnt to drive cars if you just
chuck yourself in a car byyourself, how are you going to
know even what a pothole feelslike?
You know not any of the big, youknow crash a car kind of
scenarios even a pothole whenyou start to go oh what is that
(14:12):
dark dip there?
You know.
And when you've got a mentor ora guide sitting with you, they
can literally point out thepotholes and help you start to
notice when patterns areoccurring that you can avoid or
how to handle it when it comesup, and not doing it alone,
(14:35):
especially in that first area orwhen you're trying to change up
something.
So in the helicopter world weget our initial private pilot's
license, but if we're trying tochange it up and go for the
instrument rating on ourhelicopters, we then need an
instructor again.
So, yes, you can absolutely doit alone, but it is scary and it
(14:59):
is hard to do until you getthose skills and get to
understand what's coming up andthen you're able to kind of move
through it and have a bit moreexperience at it.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
You were mentioning peace of mind earlier.
What about looking afteryourself when you are
diversifying?
Because it's going to be addedstress, it's going to be extra
time and learning new things andthat's going to drain one's
energy?
How do you look after, lookingafter your energy and that
work-life balance, which is justso important?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah.
So we had a recent experiencein our profession where many
people are starting to diversifyand change up their
dispensaries withpractitioner-only products and
things like that.
And when even consideringbringing on board and doing the
(15:53):
research for a new product toprescribe to your clients, that
takes time, it takes energy, ittakes effort, it takes research.
We're looking at excipients andwe're looking at quantities and
(16:14):
we're looking at combinations,and when we're trying to even
apply one brand against anotherand when we're trying to even
apply one brand against another,that time could be taken up.
Seeing clients, which gets youmoney right, and a similar kind
of scenario, even if it's notjust changing your products over
, it's changing your incomestreams over from one-on-one to
(16:38):
then creating, say, an e-courseor a program or a package where
you are providing videos orwebinars and teaching people
about their health and theirwell-being.
That is going to take time outof what you would usually, in
your old kind of way of thinking, is actually seeing clients and
(16:58):
helping them and beingprofitable.
The thing about all of those isyou're only doing that once,
once you've done the research toensure that you have peace of
mind about what you're going tobe prescribing your clients
because you've done the researchand you know that you're
confident in those products, oryou have done the one webinar
(17:23):
that's been recorded and thenyou can share it with multiple
people.
You've actually only had to gothrough that experience of
fatigue and a little bit ofworry and a little bit of not
quite sure and taking that timeup once, because then you can
replicate it time and time againand you feel confident in what
you've actually done.
You also learn a lot by eitherdiversifying your product suite
(17:48):
or diversifying your methodologyto work with people.
It changes the way that youhave learnt you're able to pivot
.
It changes the way you'velearnt you're able to teach
people certain things, andmoving forward those things you
know it kind of is exponentialbecause you're building and
(18:10):
building and building on top ofthat change that you've created.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I'm glad you mentioned e-courses, developing
an e-course, developing acollateral if you like, and
investing that time into it.
So can I ask, through your manyyears now of being a mentor and
helping other people to beentrepreneurial, what do you
(18:37):
think the investment in time in,let's say, an e-course, the
investment in time developing ane-course, versus the return on
investment of developing thate-course is?
Do you have any stats?
Have you ever looked at this?
You know really coldly, from amathematical perspective, what
that ROI is.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
So it really depends on the person and it depends on
their situation, but no, I wouldlove to do the stats on that.
That's a really genius idea.
I might write that down.
Thanks, great idea, andrew.
But what we've seen is thepeople who are natural teachers,
and this is the thing.
If you're a practitioner, we'restill all individual, so we
(19:22):
have a unique way of umpracticing and we have unique
strengths and gifts and talentsin the way that we practice, and
some of us are, you know,really empathic.
We'll hold people's hands.
We'll be there in their darkestmoments, um as they cry, as
they pass on, things like that.
Some of us are built to teachand it is again part of our
(19:47):
naturopathic principles thosesix slash seven principles that
we all attribute to and doctoras teacher, whether we do that
one-on-one across the table orwe do that en masse by
continuing to even put out smallsocial media posts and things
like that.
And e-course is a really greatway of creating a container to
(20:12):
hold all of that knowledge andshare that wisdom while you're
not there.
And the thing about that is, ifsomebody has a tendency to have
already taught, created aPowerPoint presentation, done
any type of assignment in theirqualification.
It's very likely that you havethe opportunity to create an
(20:34):
e-course that could be powerfulfor multiple people.
I have seen practitioners thathave spent one weekend recording
the entirety of their courseand then the following month
launch it and sell it for haveenough people buy into that
course for $68,000 worth ofprofit, and to do that it takes
(21:05):
a commitment to do that, but Idon't think we have enough
conversations about that.
It is possible that if you werejust to commit to creating
something that was of value andyou do that once, this course
was made one on one weekend andthen every time that person
(21:26):
wants to share that wisdom withanother group of people, it
comes back up again and, uh, hesells it again, and similar kind
of scenario happens becausewe've continually got people who
are googling health symptomsanyway.
But if you can become a trustedadvisor and create a course that
is actually valuable and usefulfor people, you only have to do
(21:48):
it once and then it isavailable over and over again,
which is very different to usteaching across the table to one
person in front of us and ithaving to teach it again and the
amount of times.
I drew a picture of thegastrointestinal lining and the
gut wall and how iga works in,how probiotics work and how you
(22:12):
know we're gonna have zonulinjust sneaking on through there.
The amount of times I drew thatacross the table and it didn't
occur to me over those sevenyears to actually have recorded
it until right at the end of mytime running a full-time clinic.
And once I did it was thenavailable to so many more people
(22:33):
.
And then packaging that upmeans that so many more people
can have it in a course formatthat's useful for them.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Do you know something from the patient perspective as
well?
How many times do patients weteach patients, if you like,
about leaky gut syndrome?
I shouldn't use that word,that's wrong.
Leaky gut, not leaky gutsyndrome.
There's no syndrome.
Thank you, brad Leach.
So having a leaky gut, havingintestinal permeability,
(23:04):
hyperpermeability, I'm beingcorrect.
And then that's just in onesmall snippet of information,
even though you've explained it.
Their vernacular is that theygo home.
Somebody like their partnersays what's wrong and they go.
The naturopath says I've gotholes in my gut, yep, can be a
(23:25):
different Japanese whispers,chinese whispers.
So having a collateral that onecan revisit, ie purchasing an
e-course provided by anaturopath, gives them a
relearning experience when theyforget what was learnt in the
initial space.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Absolutely so.
It's a win-win situation.
And there's so many times thatwe have clients that come to us
and go.
Why didn't we get taught thisat school?
I've heard it from so manypractitioners that their clients
come in, and I definitely hadit personally as well.
Why didn't we get taught thisat school?
And I want to teach my kids andI want to, but they, like you
(24:09):
said, don't have the words forit, don't have the terminology,
don't have the ease in which weall have a way of explaining
these things that resonates withour particular clients, and
that's why they come and see usand finding that as a you know a
container whether it's ane-course or you sell it as a
(24:31):
package or you have a group thatyou take through an
understanding of their journey,of their particular condition.
We're seeing a big rise inperimenopausal education at the
moment, and some of the coursesthat I've seen on it are
fantastic because they're takingpeople from this unknown.
What am I going to do?
I don't quite understand thesesymptoms.
(24:53):
Are they symptoms ofperimenopause?
I can't possibly be here yet.
Is it, isn't it To?
Ah, maybe it is.
Ah, there's something I can doabout it.
Ah, there's something I can donutritionally.
Ah, there's something I can dohormonally.
Ah, there's something I can dofrom a stress and lifestyle
perspective.
And you're taking people fromthat unknown sorry, known of
(25:16):
what they're doing to into thatunknown area and making it
become known for them.
And if you can take them as agroup especially this
perimenopausal kind of crowd, atthe moment they're not feeling
alone in it, and so that's kindof the next stage after you've
created a webinar or an e-course, you can actually create a
hybrid style package or programthat you can collect a group of
(25:41):
people and take them on thejourney of actually starting to
understand, setting them littlegoals, setting them actionables
and getting them to start tocollectively move through it so
that they don't feel alone inthis health journey that you're
taking them on.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
So what other ways can we diversify, though?
We're talking about e-courseshere, but some dash paths.
For instance, they mightdiversify from the traditional
orally ingested supplements tomaybe using a piece of equipment
like pain management, forinstance for instance,
(26:23):
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
What other ways, though, can we diversify?
What have you seen?
So I could go on for dayswhether it is product-based or
service-based, so that's a gooddelineation to start off with.
Product-based, we generally see, traditionally, that people
will have a herbal dispensarydispense out, but we're starting
to see a lot more compoundingof nutritional compounds, which
(26:48):
is creating personalizedmedicine instead of, or as an
adjunct to, some of our alreadypre-made supplements from our
practitioner only brands.
Then we have creating your ownmedicines, and so we're starting
to see a little bit of are-embracing of the more
(27:10):
traditional balms and salves andpessaries, and even sniffer
boxes for people with colds andflus, and having different herbs
and menthol and things likethat in these, and so we're
seeing a bit of a resurgence ofthat homesteading type of
remedies.
Then, as you mentioned, paindevices, things like USB heat
(27:38):
packs, tens machines, othermachines that are going to
enable you to have immediatetesting.
On-site testing is another wayof connecting with people and
diversifying what you're doing.
From a product base, then froma service base, we start to see
a lot more in the one instead ofone-to-one, we see a lot of
(28:03):
one-to-many type of services.
So we're starting to see eBooks, downloadable PDFs.
We're starting to see webinars,one-off trainings.
Then we're going into theeCcourse space programs, which
are hybridized packages ofseeing clients multiple times.
(28:26):
We're starting to see peoplewriting books.
It's so much more accessible ifyou have a book hidden in there
.
If you're a practitionerlistening, you have a book
hidden in there.
The old publishing model isbeing broken up at the moment
and so there is hybridizedmodels of writing books.
We're seeing speaking.
We're seeing appearing onpodcasts.
(28:47):
We're seeing creating your ownpodcast that then have you know
off the back end of that sellinge-courses and other things and
then in the offline space.
So there'll be people listeninggoing.
I don't do any of that stuff onthe internet and that's totally
cool because that's all comingback around where we connect to
our communities, which meansagain, we're creating groups and
(29:11):
group programs out and we'respeaking in.
You know we really wanting toconnect when speaking at live
events and off the back of thatwe're creating smaller group
programs or VIP experiences likeretreats and conferences and
(29:32):
events, and we're starting tosee some really nuanced events
where a lot of natural healthpractitioners are connecting
people in wonderful naturalspaces, whether it's going to
hot springs and having a weekendaway or having a day retreat at
their particular clinic orhaving something out at a winery
and other places.
We're starting to see somereally interesting ways people
(29:55):
are connecting and diversifyingto get the message out about
health and wellbeing, to get themessage out about health and
wellbeing.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
That's an interesting thing you say about the venues.
You know, normally we say I'mgoing to be holding a course and
it's going to be at my place,and here you come to me.
Now it's the practitionersgoing to the people.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Yes, absolutely.
And you know, when you thinkabout it from an adult learning
perspective, being in adifferent environment really
impacts the way that ourneurology works.
So the way that we'reconnecting synapses and new
ideas is in a peaceful, moredifferent space.
It's going to change the waythat we're thinking and it's a
(30:36):
great thing to be able to bepresent to so many more
practitioners hopping up onbeautiful stages.
I've literally been seeingpeople appearing at wineries or
stunning wedding venues thatturn into you know these women's
events and beautiful herbalflower arrangements and things
(30:58):
like that, and it's reallybecoming permeated in our
culture that natural health,herbs, nutrition can be a
lifestyle choice.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Yeah, so I was going to ask about keeping pace with
trend.
You know we've seen an onlinetrend, but I totally get your
point.
That we've seen after COVID ispeople want to reconnect
personally Interesting thing.
So that you know, for instance,years ago when I used to work
with a commercial entity, whenwebinars were just coming on,
(31:30):
trying to get somebody to attenda webinar was like pulling
hen's teeth.
Now it's gone.
I won't say it's gone back to,but it's much more accepted that
webinars are going to be a partof it.
But there are practitionersthat really have a demand for
that one-on-one or that personalcontact.
So companies, for instance, areproviding hybridised events and
(31:54):
it just seems to be the newblack, do I say?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Absolutely, and I think there's something that's
shifted since the pandemic.
Not only were we forced to go totelehealth and forced to go to
other options like webinars,tele-seminars, et cetera.
There is a level of inclusionand diversity awareness that
(32:19):
means that we are making thingsaccessible.
By we, I mean I run conferencesas well, so making things
accessible to neurodivergentpeeps, making it accessible to
people in rural areas whowouldn't usually be able to
access that level of connectionthrough conferences, making
(32:43):
things accessible to people,people who don't have the income
to fly to a particular area, sothat hybridized version where
you still have people in personwho really want to connect.
And we have a very empathicnurturing profession, so we do
want to be around people, butalso we have a lot of learners
(33:04):
and people who do live remotelywho want to be part of that as
well, and so we are in a reallygreat space to be able to
provide all of that now, becausetechnology is kept up with that
trend as well.
So we're able to kind of dothat in a way that we haven't
been able to before, and I thinkpractitioners who are
(33:25):
considering running their ownevents need to kind of have an
awareness that that is somethingthat you can do too, and it
becomes a much more inclusiveexperience in a way that we
haven't seen before.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Yeah, Can I ask about what?
About when things don't goright, when things really just
are not right for you to go thatway?
There's the old adage aboutnever give up.
Keep going, whatever come whatmay.
However, I'm reminded by a talkon, indeed, that topic.
(34:02):
You know, keep going.
But what I noticed of thespeaker, and he was on a climb,
an ascent to Everest, and theyhad a landslide sorry, a snow
slide, but they had an avalanche.
And what happened was this guywas kept on going, kept on
(34:23):
wanting to turn back but forcinghimself forward, but there was
a stage where he turned arounddown and when he turned back,
his friends ahead of him weregone in the avalanche.
He lost his friends Right,Horrific, but what's the point?
Is the point to keep going?
(34:44):
I don't think so.
I think the point of that isthat every now and again, we
need to reassess where we're at,and there's no shame in going.
You know what I really suck at,that I should not be doing that
.
I should be doing thisAbsolutely, and that
reassessment is part of it.
So when is it the point to saylisten, this isn't working, I
(35:08):
need to do something else?
When do you teach people?
Or how do you teach peopleabout stopping?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, so I love that you've brought this up.
It's something that many of usbecause we want to excel and
we've been throughqualifications where it is
rewarded that we excel at thethings that we're learning and
that we're researching and thatwe're trying to do that we have
(35:38):
a tendency in our profession toget burnout, and that burnout
can come in the running oftrying to chase after a dream
that may not be the one that'smost in alignment for us and in
doing so that changes everything.
(35:59):
Because you aren't there forthe people, you don't get the
profit.
You aren't there for your peaceof mind and your profile.
You know you go into hiding,you turn into a little you know
a little cave person, and thething about that is one know
(36:19):
that you're not alone in doingit.
Two, if you're starting todiversify and you don't want all
your eggs in one basket, butyou don't want one egg in each
basket, to enough that you'reholding all of these eggs and
all of these baskets and it onlytakes one moment to drop one
basket and the egg andeverything falls to poo.
(36:40):
So there is somewhere inbetween.
That will feel good for you,but if you do find yourself in
that zone, like you said, thatthis climber found themselves in
, that there is an intuition, anudge things aren't working the
way that they were workingbefore.
What I tend to talk to mymentees about is that that's
(37:05):
there for a reason or a season.
And so if you have been tryingand trying and trying at a
particular diversificationwhether it is an e-course or
whether you've been trying torelaunch something or push and
it's not working the way it didbefore and you're feeling burnt
out and you can't figure out why, and then all of the patients
slow down and all of that kindof stuff stop, and all of that
(37:30):
kind of stuff stop.
And what I really love is aradical sabbatical, so taking a
whole weekend off not thinkingabout work, or take a whole week
and if you've been in practicea long time, a radical
sabbatical actually means takinga whole month off Just block
out your calendar, let it go.
And then let go of eachdifferent part of what's
(37:55):
actually causing the tension inyou so energetically in your
mind.
Let go of the e-course, let goof the launch, let go of the e,
you know, let go of thosetreatment plans.
Let go of all of them.
Put them all on the ground andunpack that backpack you've been
carrying around with you, thatluggage, that baggage just drop
(38:15):
it all down, take a breather andthen take each one up about at
once at a time and start to lookat it for what it is.
Is it giving me peace of mind,is it giving me the
profitability, is it giving methe people connection that I'm
looking for?
Or is it giving me the profilebuild that I need?
(38:37):
And if it's not, just pop itdown again and pick up.
The next thing Is this andgoing through the lens of that
in each different one, becauseit can be so overwhelming
sometimes with all of thedifferent things that you could
diversify in, and carrying allthat around is actually going to
cause you to stop anyway andstand in your own way.
(38:59):
So strangling it's not going tohelp.
So, taking that breather,looking at each for the benefits
that they have as well as thechallenges, and then it's okay
to lovingly let go one of theprojects that isn't working for
you anymore, you have permission.
Just let it go and somethingelse will come through for you
because you've made space for it.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Yeah, I know there are people, because I know
they've told me that you've beenscreaming at them to write an
e-course.
I won't say screaming, butyou've been screaming at them to
write an e-course.
I won't say screaming, butyou've been constantly at them,
and these people have aparticular expertise in a
particular condition whichreally needs education.
(39:46):
Good education.
I'm going to be podcasting oneof them today after you, indeed.
Good education, I'm going to bepodcasting one of them today
after you, indeed.
So how do you, in your courses,teach people, encourage people
to say the time is right for you, and it's not about if I can
(40:09):
change the focus, if you like.
Instead of saying this is goingto get me a return on
investment later on, I have todo this for me and blah, blah,
blah.
Rather than that, it's actuallyto be of service, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Because what they're?
Speaker 1 (40:22):
going to be doing is teaching so many other people
about their expertise.
Is that part of what you teach?
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Yes, absolutely.
It's basically the only reasonwe all got into the profession
was to help somebody, not tohelp everybody, to help somebody
.
And if what you have to say, inthe way you have to say it
because of your experiences andyour particular knowledge and
(40:53):
your way of describing things,helps one person, it was worth
it, like the whole thing wasworth it, because that one
person has the opportunity tochange something and, by chance,
tell somebody else and theymight have to change have the
opportunity to change as well,and that ripple effect is just
(41:15):
by you showing up, sharing inyour authentic way, in a way
that's helpful, and that rippleeffect starts with you actually
sharing.
It doesn't start with yourhidden powerpoint presentation
that you're never going to showanybody on your computer.
It doesn't start with thelittle idea that's been spinning
around in your head since thepandemic that you wanted to
start a podcast or a vlog orthat e-course.
(41:38):
It doesn't start with all thosethings hidden.
It starts with you showing uppretending that little person is
in your camera on your computeror in your camera on your
computer or in your listening toyou in their ear, and you just
speak to that one person.
It's bound to change something,and it just won't change unless
you show up for it.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Yeah, it's really interesting.
You know you talk aboutexpertise from personal
experience and somepractitioners usually orthodox
might denigrate that, but it'sreally interesting.
Time and time again I see inthe orthodox literature how an
experience of an orthodoxpractitioner has changed once
(42:20):
they become a patient.
Yes and have to receive the careReally interesting.
So you know, for instance, if afemale doctor developed
polycystic ovarian syndrome, howtheir experience would change
of their expertise now thatthey've got both that medical
(42:41):
training and the experience of apatient.
I mean, it's just mind-bogglinghow often I'm seeing it.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
And there's something to be said about the head and
the heart.
We are head people in that weare full of knowledge, uh, and
some of us are full of wisdombecause of the experiences.
But the, the heart piece comeswith sharing your story, sharing
it from um real depths of.
And I have that exact examplein my own life this past two
(43:13):
years, andrew.
My understanding of what it isto be a woman in perimenopause
came through having to have ahysterectomy because some
interesting things were found inmy peritoneal cavity.
And in doing so, I don't wantsomebody else to suffer, and in
(43:33):
doing so, it's not just becauseI understand the anatomy of the
uterus and the ovaries, it'sbecause I don't want somebody to
suffer the way that I did.
I want them to find out quickerand easier, with less pain and
with more ease and with moreempathy and more compassion.
And in sharing my story, itcould change somebody else's
(43:55):
life.
And I feel the same aboutpeople creating trainings that
exist for that head and heartreason.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Tammy, I love your head and your heart and indeed
you show it every time we speakand and when I see you on stage
teaching others and and sharingyour experiences and sharing how
they can better themselves andtherefore better the outcomes
for patients, and I think that'sreally what it's all about.
Tammy Guest, thank you so muchfor joining us today.
(44:27):
We're going to be putting upsome interesting things.
Can I ask a last question?
Where can we learn more?
Have you got courses that youteach people on this?
Speaker 2 (44:38):
I do.
I have a library of courses.
If you go to tammyguestcom,there's a lot of opportunities
to interact, whether it's freemini courses that I have
especially for new practitionersor those more seasoned
practitioners coming and joiningour membership so that we don't
(44:59):
have to do it alone, or I dohave a couple of conferences
coming up, so you can see it allon that website.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Beautiful Tamagmy guess.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
thank you so much for sharing thank you, not just
your wealth of expertise butyour heart love it thank you so
much and thank you everyone forjoining us today.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Remember you can get all the show notes to today's
podcast and the other podcastson the designs for health
website website.
I'm Andrew Whitfield-Cook.
This is Wellness by Designs.
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