Changing Your Mindset as a Leader with Camysha Wright

Kris Plachy: Welcome to Season Three of the Leadership is Feminine podcast. I’m Kris Plachy, and I’m so happy that you’re here. In this season, we’re doing something different. One of the things that I believe to be true is that there is so much unsourced beautiful wisdom in the everyday person. I really like to talk about what I call obscure wisdom. That means these are things that people know, that unless we meet them at a cocktail party, or at a barbecue, or sitting next to them on a train, we don’t hear about it.

And these aren’t celebrities, these aren’t people who’ve written bestselling books yet, these aren’t people that are on the circuit that everybody else is learning from. These are everyday women, who are CEOs, building, dealing with, working through all the pieces and parts of running a company. And I want to bring my beautiful clients, and their wisdom to your ears, because I know that you’ll find it to be validating, and insightful, and hopefully also some fun. So, without further ado, let’s get started with this week’s amazing personal client and guest on Leadership is Feminine.

Welcome, everybody to the podcast this week. I’m so delighted to share this time with… well, for me, because I get to share this time with Dr. Camysha Wright, but so do you, which is good news because she’s amazing. And I use the word “delighted” on purpose because I simply enjoy you and I’m honored to get to work with you, to be honest. So, for everyone who is listening, Dr. Wright, would you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do and who you are?

Camysha Wright: Absolutely. So, my name is Dr. Camysha Wright. And I have a practice in Plantation, Florida. I do Head and Neck surgery, Otolaryngology, otherwise known as Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT).

Kris Plachy: Yeah, we all know that one. Otolaryngology… say it again.

Camysha Wright: So, the long term is Otorynolarynogy. But you can just say Otolaryngology.

Kris Plachy: Okay, got it. Yeah, just rolls right off your tongue. That’s why we call you ENTs, by the rest of the world. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your practice. How long have you been in business and all the things? You’re in Plantation, Florida, yeah?

Camysha Wright: Yeah. It’s funny, I finished my residency in 2009. And I didn’t start my own business, right out of residency, I actually went into another group. I didn’t really feel at the time ready to just go and venture off on my own, I really wanted to make sure I had some support. So, I started with a small practice at Port St. Lucie. And I was with them for about four years, and then just decided I wanted to live in a slightly different part of the state. Plantation is a little bit further South, it’s closer to Fort Lauderdale. And I had an opportunity arise where I could just start my own practice, which was a little daunting, because I didn’t really think I could do that on my own initially, but I decided to accept that challenge. And then, in 2013, started my own practice.

Kris Plachy: That’s so crazy. We’ve talked about this, you and I, and I have several other clients who are physicians, and there’s just really no training for you at all, when it comes to starting a practice. Did you get any training in that in school?

Camysha Wright: No, you don’t, and that was the daunting part. And that’s why initially, I wanted to start with someone who has been doing it, because, they’ve been doing it for so many years, I can learn from them. And I do, and we’re still friends, and so forth, I can still bounce ideas off of them as well. But you don’t get that training, you’re taught all about medicine, you’re taught all about how not to hurt anybody, obviously, but the ins and outs of running your own practice, running your own business, it’s just not something that’s highlighted during your training.

Kris Plachy: It’s interesting too as I’m listening to you, because I actually really enjoy my doctor, dentist, veterinary clients. Because typically, this is really true for most businesses. But if I’m just looking at you all, specifically, it’s typically very consistent, very similar problems, right? Office Manager, maybe isn’t doing… and I’m not saying that was your problem, but just in general, there’s the administrative part of the business. And then there’s the tech part of the business, if you have support technicians, or MAs or all these different roles. It’s funny as I’m listening to you, because I think that’s probably true. Most young physicians go work in a practice. And since most physicians don’t have any business training, or business management training. It’s like everybody keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

It’s like you learn from someone else who learned from someone else we didn’t really learn, right? And so that’s why, because there are some just really consistent challenges I think that we see in medical practices in general. And that makes me wonder like, oh, that’s interesting, if it’s not just insidiously being repeated without anybody ever really noticing, which, of course, will change for you.

Camysha Wright: Yes, in the training, I now know other things.

Kris Plachy: You know other things, you are a CEO. Okay, so when you said it was daunting, I’m curious, what was the most specific thing, when you thought about hanging a proverbial shingle with your name on the door? What was the most daunting part?

Camysha Wright: It’s just that we come from a point in our lives where we want to succeed, you always want to do well. And I just didn’t feel I knew the ins and outs about business. You have to have someone who collects your bills, someone who is doing all the charges and so forth, you have to pay people, you have to get your team together, and then manage them well. And while I’ve managed other residents, I was chief resident, and so forth, I know how to deal with people and lead people, it is different when you’re their boss, and I didn’t have that type of exposure.

So, you just muddle through it a little bit because you don’t know all the right things to do. And the HR issues, you’re not taught that. I’m a planner, so when I was trying to think all these things that I needed to have checkboxes, I was concerned that I wouldn’t know all the things or I will mess up and make a mistake. Which now I recognize that you can make a mistake, and it’s okay, you just have to learn from that and come up with a plan.

Kris Plachy: Try something different next time. That’s good. I have to say that one of the things that I find so impressive about you is, first of all, just in the work that we’ve done together, because you have a very busy practice. And over the past year that we’ve known each other, you’ve had to make a lot of decisions about your business and your team. And you’ve really stepped in to moments and decisions that were challenging in the moment, but really helped you grow as the woman who’s leading this business.

But I want to couple that with, you know, I guess I want to brag about you a little bit. You’re so incredibly accomplished in what you do. And I don’t even know all of your highlights, but you’re the current President-Elect for your Florida State...

Camysha Wright: Otolaryngology.

Kris Plachy: ENT Association. Is it an association?

Camysha Wright: Yes.

Kris Plachy: And that’s a three year commitment, right? Because it’s the elect year, the year that you’re serve and then the year after that. You have a young family with a little boy, you’re also involved in some really cool scientific research study about allergies – if I remember correctly, which I don’t know if we’re supposed to talk about it, is that very top secret?
I don’t know.

Camysha Wright: It’s okay, you said all the right things.

Kris Plachy: I said it perfectly. And then you’re also the allergy expert for the entire medical group that you’re a part of, is that right?

Camysha Wright: I’m in this medical practice called ENT and Allergy Associates of Florida. And we have 65 doctors, now we’re up to about 80 plus doctors. And so the way it works is that there are different pods of us where you practice your own individual practice, but we all operate under one tax ID. So, it helps when it comes to negotiating insurance contracts. We try and keep things uniform. So, when we’re doing certain things like say, allergy evaluations, and testing and such, I’m the allergy director for the group of the 80 different practices to make sure that things are kind of, you know, if they have a question, they can come to me and I can help them address that or help to give additional training with the team that works underneath me to help out.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, and you have a practice where you treat patients every day.

Camysha Wright: Yes.

Kris Plachy: And surgery.

Camysha Wright: Yes, I love surgeries.

Kris Plachy: Your favorite. And aspirations to do more.

Camysha Wright: Yes. I want to open another branch sometime.

Kris Plachy: So, what I love first of all is all of it, you’re brilliant and talented and driven clearly. But one of the things that we often hear from women who run businesses – and I’m sure it’s not just exclusive to women – is “I don’t have time, I don’t have time to invest in this leadership stuff. I don’t have time to figure out my systems to help the team.” I’m just curious what your brain does with those decisions in the moment, because you are quite busy. We just talked before, the pre-show, that you have your guitar behind you because you’re going to do your guitar lesson after this podcast interview. So, you’re making time for things that you love also. So, what is your frame of mind around that? How do you make that work?

Camysha Wright: I think that’s one of the reasons why I found you because I was doing so many things and I was trying to run my practice and it was going okay, but there were a lot of people problems, from day to day, it will be daunting trying to figure out how to find a solution. So, it’s funny, I started listening to your podcast, and I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, this is what I need. Oh, I could do this? I can do that?” And it helped me really open up my eyes for just different things about managing people, even the verbiage, how you say things, how to be able to just have conversations with people in an appropriate fashion. It opened up my eyes.

And then I feel like you have to make the time for things that are important to you, it can be super annoying to have to go through and think about protocols and coming up with all these standard operating procedures at first. But once you get it done, then you don’t have to worry about it, it’s done. So, the biggest thing for me, it’s just understanding how to just do the work on the back end. And I still have to do work even now. I’m constantly having to change my practice and things like that, but I don’t find it so daunting, where no one can handle this.

I think I talked to you about it in one on one of our calls, I was losing like half my team, almost at the same time, but I didn’t freak out about it because I have a plan we’re going through, and we’re constantly are looking to hire people always. So, it will always work out, and I totally believe that.

Kris Plachy: I’ll always remember you, because when you first started in How to CEO, you would come with your scope, it was like you were just frantically going from patient’s room to the call, and then you had to go back. And I can see the change in you just energetically. It’s been really, really powerful to watch. And it’s just such a gift to yourself. I say this to my kids a lot too and I try to remember it to me also, like I have some bills to pay because I’ve been traveling. So, I know that my future self will be so grateful, if I could just sit down and get all that done, because then I don’t have to think about it anymore.

And oftentimes we forget, we don’t take care of our future selves, we just were in this scurry of a moment. And we can’t get our hands around something that really, if you just take two hours, you could probably get it all finished or all banged out parts of it. So, I just think that’s impressive, because a lot of people use that, “I don’t have time.” And of course, my reply is always, “You don’t not have time, because it’ll catch up to you no matter what.” You have the advantage of seeing some other physicians, I’m sure who probably even have bigger practices than you who haven’t invested in the leadership and management part of their business.

Camysha Wright: It’s true. I was talking with a colleague of mine who works for another physician, and they were having conversations between the two of them, and then some of the things that that person was telling me that the individual was speaking to them about, I wouldn’t have managed that way. What that person told me is that, their boss, don’t like confrontation, they don’t want to deal with this. And the boss basically told him that. So, when she has an issue, she’s like, “Well, how do I deal with it?”

They don’t do the one-on-ones, they don’t go in and have a clear expectations that are communicated. So, when these miscommunications occur, there’s nowhere for them to go. And it’s like, I wish that I could speak to the boss sometimes, to coach them on how to run their team a little bit better. But I would have done the same thing had not a year ago, I found your program and figured out how to do it better.

Kris Plachy: Yeah. Well, that’s really common, is a lot of physicians are like, “No, no, I’ll just hire a practice manager or office manager, and they’ll deal with all of that.” I think that can work if you have a really amazing office or practice manager, but that’s just getting lucky. That’s not actually cultivating something on purpose. So, what would you say as you’ve paved this road for yourself, is your vision going forward? What do you think is possible for you?

Camysha Wright: The vision for my practice is to practice healthcare with a balance of grace, empathy and innovation. So, whatever I go through, my one-on-one, when I do my interviews, we always say those things. I’ve been doing these little videos to try and market my practice and so forth, so we always say that. So, that’s my long term vision for how I want to run my practice. But I honestly would like to see myself grow, I want to open up a secondary location, a little bit north of here.

It’s funny, before we started this podcast, I was doing this little one-on-one with one of my team members and they were like, “Oh, how’d you get into EMT?” and I was like, “Oh it’s just because I loved everything about it, you can see adults and kids and you could do medicine and surgery”. I did my fellowship in allergy, which is great, but I thought about doing it in facial plastics because I’m like all this esthetics and pretty stuff. But I did not do it. But I did a lot of work in that in my residency. So, I’m thinking about opening another branch that’s more like a spa, like the pretty things.

Kris Plachy: I think it is a great idea.

Camysha Wright: Yeah, that is my vision, to expand.

Kris Plachy: Well, and because you’ve said you can integrate elements of the facial plastic work into also the spa sort of space, right?

Camysha Wright: Yeah. [Inaudible 17:27] done it, you get the training, and I just didn’t do like say the additional fellowship, but I’ve done so much of it, just in my general practice that you could do some of the elements of it.

Kris Plachy: Yes, really, it’s a great idea. I wish there was more of that, like… this is really, really dumb, but I’m going to say it, because this is a kind of… Like if I, I don’t know, I have fantasies, and I’m going to open this. But I would only open it for me. So, I get my lashes done, I’m very vain about my lashes, it’s fine, I’m over it. And I also get my nails done, right? And I get a pedicure, these are my things.

I don’t do any of the Botox or any of that, but I got to get my lashes and my nails done. And so, I have just been trying to get… this is a dumb example, but whatever. You all are going to agree with me, if you get your lashes done. I’ve just been begging my lash lady, I’m like, “Could you please hire someone who could do my nails while I’m lying here getting my lashes done?” Because I would… seriously, I would pay for it, because it’s an hour to lie there, and it’s so frustrating, because there’s so much I think about that I could do; I could just be getting my nails done.

So, my whole point is like, I think the creativity of putting things together, that yes, I want to get facials, and I want to do all the things, and yes, if we could do a little this here, and a little that there all the time. And you’re like my place that I go, I think it’s brilliant.

Camysha Wright: I love it. I mean that’s what… And I’m listening to your ideas, no, jotting it down just made me to just start thinking about that in the future. So jealous of you with your eyelashes though, because I tried that, and I can’t get it myself, because I have a latex allergy.

Kris Plachy: Oh, okay, wait. So, hear me out, because I did too, I have a latex allergy, so, I had to… I use skin sensitive tape, and there’s sensitive skin glue.

Camysha Wright: I need to get that.

Kris Plachy: Maybe you should try it, you should just call some studios and ask, because I was not getting those. But the first time I did it, I had all this rash from the tape, and I knew, because. I’ve had allergies even from Band-Aids, right? I knew I had that issue, so I went and bought the blue sensitive tape that you get at CVS, and I take it, and then she keeps it now for me. So, don’t give up.

Camysha Wright: Okay, I’m going to try it. My eyes are swollen shut, it was funny, I was talking to my office manager, I’m like, “Oh, I want to get my eyes done for this video recording,” that I had asked. And she’s like, “Don’t. You remember what happened the last time, don’t do it.” Then I went, “No, Kris Plachy told me that I could…”

Kris Plachy: It’ll be fine, I know, I’m like, I’ll take allergy meds, just keep doing my lashes.

Camysha Wright: Me too, I’ll drop something in my eye, it’d be fine.

Kris Plachy: That’s hysterical, oh, my gosh, so funny. Okay. So, what would you say… this is the shameless plug request of the how to CEO program, but what would you say has been the biggest gift for you through this experience?

Camysha Wright: I think the biggest gift for me has just been the change in mindset. Like I have this scarcity mindset, where I just was always worried about what happens if the sky drops, and so forth. And then the pandemic hit, and then it all happened.

Kris Plachy: It did drop.

Camysha Wright: It did, you know? And we’re still here, we’re still strong. So, it was like just learning how to deal with my own mind, you know? Because I find that the biggest thing that you taught me, is that, managing your team is definitely very important, but you also have to manage yourself,. When I’m off or what have you, I see that reflected in my team. So, when I can figure out, like, if there’s something, like one employee is doing one thing, and another employee is doing the exact same thing, but I’m annoyed with the one employee. Well, what is it within me that’s getting annoyed with that employee? So, just changing the way that I see things, and how I analyze a problem, that’s been a huge gift I get from this program.

Kris Plachy: Oh, I love that. And I think that’s so fabulous, because it aligns with who you are, right? You’re a scientist, right? I mean, you’re an empathic scientist, right? And so… Yeah, so when we can see ourselves, and we can separate the way that we think about, or the way that we’re reacting to a circumstance. Instead of just looking at the evidence, like, okay, let’s just look at what’s actually happening, not your story about it. I also agree, I think, it’s a game changer, it’s hard, but it’s a practice, just like anything else. And you’ve come to Hawaii a couple of times too.

Camysha Wright: Yes, I have. I’m going back in September. I’ve extended my trip. I was going to do just the one, and now I’m doing both.

Kris Plachy: Oh, so excited.

Camysha Wright: I’m going to be there from September through October, whatever.

Kris Plachy: I love it, I’m thrilled, because it’s such a gift to yourself, right? So, let’s just talk about that, because you’re a perfect example, right? You came to the first Hawaii retreat, for those of you who are new listeners, I have been doing retreats in Hawaii for 10 years. And every year it was always like, all right, this is what I would hear. “Oh my God, that sounds amazing, but I can’t go. Oh, I could never do that. Oh, I wish I could do that. Oh, but I can’t do. I can’t go to Hawaii without my husband.” And I would just sit there like,” I do, does that make me an evil person?” Anyways, so you came to the first one last year, September?

Camysha Wright: Yeah.

Kris Plachy: And you brought your family.

Camysha Wright: I brought everyone, I brought the two year old, and my mother, like the whole family.

Kris Plachy: You brought your family. I try and encourage people to come alone, but you know, I’m not in charge, you’re grown up, you can do whatever you want. So, you brought your family, and then the next time you came, you didn’t.

Camysha Wright: Yes.

Kris Plachy: And so I’m just curious, what kind of brain change did you have to have? Because the first time, you thought it was a good idea, and the second time, and now it sounds like maybe the third time, right?

Camysha Wright: Yes.

Kris Plachy: What happened for you?

Camysha Wright: I think it’s kind of what you said, I hadn’t started thinking about myself, am I giving myself time? Like, I would feel extraordinarily guilty about trying to just do things for myself, you know? As an empathic person, you feel what others feel, and it’s like if someone’s feeling uncomfortable, or if I’m leaving and my husband’s alone with our toddler, “Oh, how is he going to deal with that? I have to be there to solve all the problems.”

And then there’s been, I guess a change within me, where I was like, “Well, hey, life will commence on if I’m not physically there at all times,” and I think just doing the work, where I just figured out how to make sure that my team was okay. That was the first time that I left my PA alone, and she was a little nervous, I was a little nervous, but it went great, she did wonderful. And I recognized that my team could survive without me…

Kris Plachy: Oh, that’s good.

Camysha Wright: My husband, he survived without me. And we just figured out how to… For me, I had to think through how I could do it, so I got a support system at home to help him out. So, he had some downtime too, and then I felt less guilty about my time.

Kris Plachy: I love it. I hope other people listening will really hear this. The reason I started doing the Hawaii retreat years ago is because I saw this in myself, that we could become so depleted, unknowingly, right? Because love doesn’t feel depleting. So, when you’re loving people, when you’re loving your son, when you’re loving your husband, when you’re loving your staff, when you’re loving your patients, that doesn’t feel depleting, right? But, the long-term effect of a lot of loving everyone else and not loving you is depleting. And the one person, this whole ecosystem that you’re a part of, you’re the center of it.

Camysha Wright: Right.

Kris Plachy: The business, the family, the organization that you’re now…the association, you are in the heart of this. And so, if you’re not healthy, emotionally, mentally, physically, energetically, it doesn’t go without you. And so, I think the more women that come, I just want to keep teaching women like, it’s okay, take a week, stay in a beautiful resort by yourself, sleep in a king size bed alone, listening to the ocean, be your own best company first, because you’re so much better. If you really care about everybody else, right? I’m not suggesting people don’t. But if we really want to support and feed and love others, we have to feed ourselves first.

 

 

Camysha Wright: So, I have goosebumps, I get really, really passionate about it, because I just watch so many women so depleted. Because it’s just, you feel bad about it, you know? You want something for yourself, and it just, you feel extraordinarily guilty about just trying to put more into your own tank. But you shouldn’t, but it’s just….I don’t know.

Kris Plachy: Yeah, we’re sort of a little hard wired, and a little… like I get a lot, I get a lot of… like, not from my clients, my clients are now like, “When’s Hawaii?”

Camysha Wright: Yes.

Kris Plachy: But people in my life are like, “Oh, going to Hawaii again?” You know, little snarky. “Yep, I am.” “Is your husband going?” “Nope, he’s not.” And that’s okay. We do other things, right? And sometimes he goes, but not this time, so... Okay, so what, I guess, you know, I know I could talk for with you forever. So, you’ve built this beautiful business, you have big, big dreams still, which I have to say, one of the things that’s been fun about watching your business get sort of grounded, is how that’s allowed you to expand your vision, right? It’s so fun.

Camysha Wright: Absolutely, yes.

Kris Plachy: But for women who are listening, right, who are running small businesses, or running big ones, what is your big nugget of advice or wisdom that you would want them to hear?

Camysha Wright: I think I said this in our Hawaii trip, as far as like you know, it’s kind of like taking everything like a day at a time, like it only takes a day, remember?

Kris Plachy: You change my life with that, say it out loud. You changed my life, I swear to God that was so powerful.

Camysha Wright: I was like, no, you’re born in a day, you die in a day, you can change in a day. It only takes one day, so, just take it one day at a time. Even if during that day you make a mistake, just start over right then. I feel like for us, it’s just, that was eye opening for me, to recognize that, you know what? Just keep going one step forward, and every day is a brand new store, a brand new fresh start, and life just continue to go on. Your business will succeed, if you try something, and you fail at it, well, then just try something else, you haven’t tried like the thousands and one thing that maybe it will be the ‘aha’ moment, that’ll turn everything, the light bulb on.

Kris Plachy: It could be the thing, like we always talk about. It could be the artery, it’s like the one thing that just like blows it all up, it’s the one higher, it’s the one decision, it’s the one program, it’s the one building, like we know that, right? It’s always the one thing, I agree. So, yeah, you said that, you said that to us in Hawaii, and I had never thought about the simplicity of that. And so thank you, this is where I feel terribly selfish and guilty, because I feel like I learn more from all of you than I could possibly give back, but I’ll take it, that’s how I go.

But you are lovely, and I’m so grateful for your time today, and if anyone is in need of ENT support assessments, where do they go to find you in general?

Camysha Wright: Well, they can find me on Instagram, @camyshawrightmd my website is <a href="http://www.cwmdpa.com/">www.cwmdpa.com</a>, Camysha Wright MDPA.

Kris Plachy: Okay, we’ll put that in the show notes also. So, we’ll make sure it’s in there. And your Instagram, and it’s @camyshawrightmd.

Camysha Wright: Yes.

Kris Plachy: That’s your Instagram, yeah. Okay, yeah, and you do some cute posts there, so if you guys want to go follow her. So, you would be the one I would trust, if I had to get in there and I don’t know, fix a sinus?

Camysha Wright: That’s awesome, I love the sinuses.

Kris Plachy: I know you do, they’re your favorite, which I’ve never heard anyone say ever in my life before I met you, “I love sinuses.”

Camysha Wright: Oh my God, I love the nose, just give me anything nose, anything.

Kris Plachy: It’s so awesome, I love it, and when you have a wonderful nose, so that’s probably part of it. I’ve never really thought about my nose.

Camysha Wright: You have a good nose.

Camysha Wright: It’s all right.

Kris Plachy: Anyway. Okay everybody, thanks for tuning in, and I appreciate your time, and we’ll talk to you next time!