Welcome back to the Scale Your Small Business Podcast with your host, Jillian Flodstrom. Today’s guest took the leap from 20 years in a traditional career as a successful medical doctor to a non-traditional career as a successful coach and business mentor for wellness entrepreneurs. Dr. Kim Foster is here to chat with us about her mentality as she made the transition to coaching.
Making this change took a long time, Dr. Foster admits. It was like jumping out of a perfectly functional airplane without a parachute. Since she was 17, she knew she wanted to be a doctor, so her biggest fear was stepping outside the lines. She recognized that she was stepping away from financial security, the lifelong just job security, and the respect that comes with being a medical doctor. There was going to be scrutiny, and she knew it. What kept her stuck for so long was her identity being tied to this profession.
Dr. Foster handled the feedback and questioning she encountered. She felt like she was betraying her education and the people she served. In fact, she kept this entire transition to herself for as long as possible. She felt like she wasn’t giving herself permission to live the life she wanted.
The difference-maker was this mental shift: I cannot live my life thinking or worrying about what other people think. Through coaching, journaling, and meditation, Dr. Foster understood that she wasn’t burning it to the ground, she was taking what she had and building on it.
Of course, there was fear that came with the transition, but Dr. Foster points out that we can follow that fear to motivate us and drive us to out next goal. If you’re fearful of something, that means there’s something big on the horizon.
Freedom and security are two core principles Dr. Foster lived by, but at some point, she realized that she was sacrificing her happiness for security, and that needed to change. It wasn’t just about coming to terms with the risk, it was about trusting herself. It was a commitment to making it work no matter what. She was relentless in her goal and flexible in her approach.
Now, Dr. Foster works with people in all stages of business scaling, helping people who are from healthcare, like doctors and nurses and physiotherapists and social workers build a foundation for their businesses. Dr. Foster mentions that so much of business is people–understanding what motivates people, what speaks to people, and what really connects with people. Her mentality is this: if I can help the helpers, who then go out and help a whole bunch of people, then I’ve made so much more impact.
You can learn all the business strategies that you want in the world. But if you don’t have your mindset on right to implement and to actually take that action and to face the fear and do it anyway, then this is not going to help you, Dr. Foster says.
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