Escaping the Clinic: Discovering Freedom Through Online Business with Katie Bean, founder and owner of the Pre-PA Clinic and Escape the Clinic

[00:00:02] Hey everyone, welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket. So excited that you joined us today for another episode of Founder Stories. Today I've got the privilege of hosting Katie Bean on the podcast. She is a PA and doctor of medical science, the co-founder of Pre-PA Clinic and the founder of Escape the Clinic. Her background is clinical as a PA in multiple specialties, including correctional medicine, emergency medicine, urgent care, regeneration, and emergency medicine.

[00:00:35] She's got the full, just the full coverage. So excited to have this conversation with her around how you and the people you love could have the freedom to live your best and most fulfilled life. So Katie, such a pleasure to have you with us.

[00:00:51] Katie Bean Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be here. And by the way, I love what you're doing. I love your podcast and all the info you're putting out. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:59] Katie Bean Of course, of course. Super pumped to have you with us, Katie. Look, we believe that healthcare innovation is important, but the founder is also very important in that catalyzation of change. So talk to us a little bit about you. What is it that got you into healthcare and into entrepreneurship?

[00:01:17] Katie Bean Sure. So I have been a PA for about 14 years. And as you mentioned, I have worked in multiple specialties, which is the beauty of being a PA. So emergency medicine.

[00:01:28] Katie Bean I worked at a jail system, urgent care. And then I also spent the bulk of my career besides in working full time in emergency medicine, but also full time in academia as well. So I love educating the next generation. That was super fun.

[00:01:40] Katie Bean And about six to seven years into my career, I started feeling a little bit burned out a little bit fatigued a little bit. I don't know, just stagnant. And I thought at that time that maybe I need more education. And so I went back to school and got my doctor of medical science while still working full time, both in the ER and in academia.

[00:02:01] Katie Bean And following that I had hit pretty much the peak of my career. So within 10 years, I had maxed out my formal education, I had maxed out what I could make as a PA. And there was really no room for vertical growth.

[00:02:15] Katie Bean And I thought to myself at that time, like, can I do this for the next, you know, three or four decades until I retire? Or is this even sustainable? And you know, it's not. So all of that to say, I had some pretty gnarly burnout by that point.

[00:02:29] Katie Bean And I thought my next step would be let me open up my own practice. And I thought I was going to open up a med spa. And I was putting all this effort into the steps to open up my own practice and just getting hit with kind of like all these obstacles and resistance. And I'm faith based and looking in on that any of your listeners who are faith based, that is God's way of saying, you know, this is a no, this is a closed door.

[00:02:52] Katie Bean But I kept pushing through and thank God that God didn't let that happen. Because right as my husband and I were doing the financing to open up a med spa COVID happened, and that would have been a financial ruin to have opened up a practice right when COVID hit.

[00:03:07] Katie Bean At that time when COVID hit, like many other providers, I was furloughed from my ER position, which was mind blowing, because when you go into healthcare, you think job security, right? Everybody needs medical care.

[00:03:19] Katie Bean So I was furloughed from my ER position, and I was working in academia still. And I had a pretty significant loss in my life. My little sister who had just graduated PA school, I had actually taught her all the way through PA school. She was in a car accident and didn't survive. And it was obviously, you know, devastating. But it was such a slap in the face because I realized that life is so short and so fragile.

[00:03:47] Katie Bean And the next day is not guaranteed. And you would think that I would know that working in the ER, but nothing quite hits home like when it's somebody who's here close to you. And it's so unnatural to have somebody who's young and healthy pass away. It's just super unnatural.

[00:04:01] Katie Bean So I knew in that like grieving period and realizing that, oh my gosh, life is so fragile. And every day should be lived to the fullest because you're not guaranteed the next day. I knew I could never go back to what I was doing before. I could never go back to the hustling and the grinding and the clinic spending more time working than I do with my own family.

[00:04:19] Katie Bean And so I knew the med spa wasn't going to work. And I had started thinking about some online ideas and a colleague of mine who I worked at this PA school with, we love PA education. We love pre-PAs and PA students. So we started helping pre-PAs on the side and created this side hustle. And it took off and there was a lot of steam and momentum behind it. And then the last card in the house fell and I was fired from my academic position.

[00:04:47] Katie Bean And it's comical because never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that one, I would ever be fired from a position. Like I'm a great employee. I'm super high achiever. And two, that I would ever be fired for doing something good for helping other people. And I remember being called in early for a meeting and the program director is there and the supervisor is there. And they slide this piece of paper, which is a printout of a screenshot of our website across the table. And they say, gather your things and leave.

[00:05:16] You know, we're letting you go. And at that point, like, although I think, you know, of course, it was a little bit of loss there. It was funny because they had basically guaranteed my success. Like nothing lights a fire under you, something like that.

[00:05:29] And not to mention God had just like dropped this gift in my lap because I don't know if I would have had that courage to go all in without the violent shove to go all into my business.

[00:05:41] And so that being said, the business over the past years has grown and thrived and we are serving people all over the world and making an impact. And it's absolutely amazing. And through this time, because business opening an online business has transformed my life so much and created so much freedom and wealth more than I could have ever imagined.

[00:06:02] I am so passionate about showing other healthcare providers that there's another way, not necessarily to, you know, escape the clinic, escape the clinic is born out of all of that. And it's kind of, you know, the name can be a misconception.

[00:06:15] I don't think every provider needs to leave clinic. I love medicine. I love patient care, but I do think providers should have the choice, the choice to either step back, to leave, to pivot, whatever it is, and the opportunity to do that through an online business. And that is how escape the clinic was born.

[00:06:31] Super cool. Well, thank you for the background on that, Katie. Certainly some painful things that happened as well as some catalyzing events, as I'd call them, getting fired.

[00:06:43] There's nothing that'll fire you up more than getting fired. I mean, like, I don't know about you guys, but certainly I think you'd agree.

[00:06:52] And sometimes it's that push that you get from God or from work or from a loved one. And it's up to you if you're going to answer that call. Katie answered that call.

[00:07:04] And she is now creating this ripple effect of change for good because we all know that suicide rates are through the roof on providers, on nurses.

[00:07:17] Mental health is a huge issue in our country. And so we need alternatives. And so, Katie, you have an alternative. Talk to us about escape the clinic.

[00:07:26] What are you guys doing to help providers have that alternative and a different path?

[00:07:32] Yeah. So I show and thank you for all that, by the way, that was very kind. But I show health care providers how to create their own idea for an online business and then grow that into a successful business.

[00:07:45] And all online, all virtual. And so many providers that I work with think that you have to have business experience, that business was going to take forever to grow or that it's difficult.

[00:07:56] And it is none of those things. I have zero business experience. It's something you pick up and you learn along the way.

[00:08:02] And health care providers are so well positioned for owning a business because business really is truly about serving another person who you love to serve and helping them overcome a problem.

[00:08:13] That is what business is. It is serving with radical empathy and helping people overcome something.

[00:08:19] And that's what we do every day as providers and being able to incorporate all of their unique gifts into a business model that can grow, that is not difficult, it's not hard to do, and it's not going to take a ton of time.

[00:08:32] And to just show them that that's possible and you don't have to have any experience to be able to do it.

[00:08:37] That's awesome. And you mentioned early in your chat that there was this friction and the friction was you sort of maxed out your education, you maxed out your earning capability.

[00:08:50] The beauty of entrepreneurship is that it actually is uncapped based off of the value you could deliver to the market. Care to expand on that?

[00:08:58] Oh, so true. So not only serving, but with the internet, you have access to billions of people.

[00:09:07] As opposed to working in clinic where you see 30 patients a day, 40 patients a day, sometimes, you know, 50 or 60 if you're really busy in urgent care or other specialty like that.

[00:09:17] And so you're able to touch and reach so many more people through an online business.

[00:09:22] Yeah. I mean, I love that. And that's why I love business, guys.

[00:09:26] And that's why all of you that have decided to start a business, you're doing it.

[00:09:30] And we all have a role to play in our society.

[00:09:32] And Katie, you're playing a huge role. Talk to us about as you started your business.

[00:09:37] What's a key learning that you've kind of run into that maybe first showed up as a setback?

[00:09:44] Oh, such a great question. So two things.

[00:09:47] One, I am a recovering perfectionist.

[00:09:50] And so I think like many healthcare providers out there, we are type A, we're perfectionists and being able to do it messy.

[00:09:58] So I have a business mentor. And when I really would get stuck because, you know, I wanted things to be perfect and I wanted to serve so much and I wanted to make an impact so much, I would get stuck because I wanted everything to be just right.

[00:10:10] But taking the concept of just do it, do it messy.

[00:10:15] And honestly, people do not care what your website looks like.

[00:10:18] They don't care how perfect your sales page is.

[00:10:20] What they want is authenticity.

[00:10:21] They want someone who can connect with them, who understands them so they feel seen, they feel valued and they want help solving a problem.

[00:10:28] That is what they want.

[00:10:28] They could care less, you know, how great your Instagram is or whatever.

[00:10:32] So doing it messy was a huge struggle that I had at first and then, you know, still am overcoming, but much better at it now.

[00:10:39] And the other one is to be okay with failure.

[00:10:42] And I had such a hard time with this when I first started my first business.

[00:10:46] Again, like we are high achievers.

[00:10:49] Most of your listeners, I'm sure, are high achievers and perfectionists and type A and we do not like to fail.

[00:10:55] But being okay with failure is so important in business and making sure that you don't attach it to it meaning anything about you.

[00:11:05] And so learning that failure was just breadcrumbs to the next great thing or to making something better or to speaking to my ideal people better and to serving them with more impact to use it as feedback as opposed to, oh, I failed at this.

[00:11:20] And then attaching meaning to it as like it meant something about me.

[00:11:23] So that was challenging and still something that I have to work with.

[00:11:27] But, you know, if you can sit in that failure and then work through it and use it as feedback, I can't tell you how many times I've failed in my business, especially early on.

[00:11:36] But pushing through on the other side of multiple failures was thousands of dollars and thousands of people that I was able to make an impact on.

[00:11:46] Yeah, some great messages there, Katie.

[00:11:48] Thank you.

[00:11:49] And ultimately, do it messy, folks.

[00:11:51] Like perfection is the lowest standard.

[00:11:53] Just get it done and iterate and make it better and get familiar with failure.

[00:11:58] You know, one of my favorite quotes is no is actually K-N-O-W.

[00:12:04] And when you get a no, get the knowledge to be able to keep going.

[00:12:08] And that's essentially the message Katie's given us is no whenever you get a no so you could keep moving forward because that's what makes the impact.

[00:12:16] That's how Katie's been able to serve thousands of people, thousands of providers to live better lives.

[00:12:23] You know, out of all the things that you do for providers, Katie, what's one of the things that sort of sits at the top as one of your most successful programs?

[00:12:32] Hmm.

[00:12:34] So with Pre-PA Clinic, it is for sure a digital course that my partner and I created to help Pre-PAs get into PA school.

[00:12:42] And then with Escape the Clinic, it is I love doing one-on-ones.

[00:12:47] I thrive in one-on-one settings.

[00:12:48] I feel like I can really resonate, relate to, connect with the clients to help them create their perfect business idea.

[00:12:56] And with both of those, the greatest thing in the entire world about owning a business, at least in my business, is that helping other people's dreams come true,

[00:13:07] whether that's getting accepted to PA school and then starting a career in one of the best careers, in my opinion, in the world,

[00:13:13] or having the opportunity to start a business and serve in a different way and create freedom of schedule, freedom of income, all of that sort of thing.

[00:13:23] So, yeah, so both of those things.

[00:13:25] I love it.

[00:13:26] Some great, great programs that you have there.

[00:13:29] And the opportunity to live the life that you want is here now.

[00:13:34] If you're a provider looking to make this happen, Katie is your person.

[00:13:39] Reach out to the doctor in the house.

[00:13:41] Yes.

[00:13:42] Because you got a PhD in medicine, right?

[00:13:46] A DMS.

[00:13:47] A DMS.

[00:13:48] Okay.

[00:13:48] So whatever.

[00:13:49] You're still a doctor in my book.

[00:13:51] Reach out to the doctor here.

[00:13:52] Dr. Bean to help you get to that next level.

[00:13:56] Katie, what call to action would you leave our listeners with as they seek to reach their goals?

[00:14:02] And then what's the best place they could reach you?

[00:14:04] Yes.

[00:14:04] So to all the listeners out there, if you are feeling burned out, exhausted, unfulfilled, cold to do something different, make a bigger impact, you know, you want work-life balance, whatever.

[00:14:16] I just want you to know, I want to leave you with that there is another way to do life than grinding and hustling for decades in clinic until you retire.

[00:14:25] Starting a business changed my life.

[00:14:27] It has changed my client's life.

[00:14:29] And it has morphed into something beyond anything I could have imagined is absolutely possible for you to be able to create your own schedule, travel the world, work from anywhere in the world, make a huge impact, make more money than you ever could as a provider.

[00:14:42] All the things.

[00:14:43] And it's easy and you don't have to have business experience.

[00:14:46] And it's so fun.

[00:14:47] And so just all that to say, if you feel called or you have a vision for your life, that it is so possible that you do not have to stay stuck in clinic if you don't want to.

[00:14:58] And the best place to find me is on Instagram.

[00:15:01] My handle is at Escape the Clinic.

[00:15:02] And then my podcast is Escape the Clinic.

[00:15:05] And thank you again so much for having me.

[00:15:08] It's such an honor to be here.

[00:15:09] And this was awesome.

[00:15:11] Hey, thanks.

[00:15:11] And, you know, I almost forgot.

[00:15:13] So I'm glad you told us about your podcast.

[00:15:15] Yes. Katie, I want to give you a chance to kind of tell us what the podcast is about.

[00:15:19] I'll be jumping on in a couple of weeks with you.

[00:15:22] Tell us what it's about, what you cover.

[00:15:24] Yes. And can't wait for that.

[00:15:26] Escape the Clinic podcast is one of my favorite things right now.

[00:15:31] So not only do I drop tips and advice and all that sort of thing for healthcare providers who are in the first steps of thinking about starting a business or who have started to take that step.

[00:15:40] So lots of advice there.

[00:15:42] But I interview different healthcare providers who have started a business and are doing phenomenal things in the world.

[00:15:50] They are just, I mean, they're just making a huge difference, a huge impact and doing great things and just inspiring others through their stories and bringing those providers on and you on.

[00:16:01] And to just show other people what's possible for them and all the opportunities available.

[00:16:07] I love that.

[00:16:08] So, folks, make sure you tune in.

[00:16:09] And Katie, one of the things that we always talk about on the podcast is the four Ms.

[00:16:14] Model, Mimic, Master, and Multiply.

[00:16:16] You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

[00:16:18] And Katie has literally put lists of providers that have done what you want to do.

[00:16:24] So don't reinvent the wheel.

[00:16:25] Model, Mimic, Master, Multiply with her help, her podcast.

[00:16:29] We'll make sure to link it all up in the show notes, link up ways to get in touch with her through Instagram.

[00:16:34] Katie, you've totally added so much value today and we thank you for that.

[00:16:38] Thank you so much.