Gratitude for transitions

This holiday season, I’m filled with gratitude for transition and reinvention.

19 years ago, I left my career as a practicing internal medicine physician. For years prior to that, I’d always felt this pull to work on the business side of medicine, but I never took action because I didn’t know where to start. Then one day, even not knowing my next steps and in the face of uncertainty and skeptics, I left clinical medicine.

Mine has been a non-linear journey of transition and reinvention, ups and downs, highs and lows. I began in the healthcare non-profit world, then moved into the biotech and pharma industry, healthcare advertising, and most recently settled into digital health and health-technology — with marketing and branding at the core of my non-clinical career.

Over and over again, I had to learn things from scratch — from the drug development process to advertising principles to marketing basics and best practices to managing and leading teams. It’s been a thrilling and exhilarating ride, with those inevitable countless moments of self-doubt, fear, and frustration.

I couldn’t have done it without the unyielding support and patience of colleagues and mentors along the way, many of whom took a chance on me when I didn’t have the perfect background with just the right experience. My transitions and reinventions would not have been possible without them.

Then, nearly two years ago, I began yet another transition, this time with my friend Reed Perkins. After our work at companies like Doctor On Demand and Freenome, we knew high-growth, high-potential health-tech companies needed marketing support to help them grow, scale, and become the best versions of themselves — and with marketing partners who know healthcare and health-tech, without the big agency fees and overhead.

With that knowledge, Best Friend Jack was born. Cue yet another reinvention, this time as an entrepreneur and founder of a new business.

Two years later, we’re growing and thriving, and so very grateful to include companies like Covera Health, Luma Health, Prealize Health, and Ora Oncology on our client roster. Special shout out to Reed, with whom I’m lucky to share this journey. It’s not often that you come across people you can wholly trust. People who believe the best about you, even when you make mistakes and have those bad days. For me, Reed is one of those rare people.

And so, this holiday season, I’m grateful for transitions and reinventions, and all the people who have supported and believed in me over the years in pursuing my dreams. Also, in the spirit of paying it forward, I want to invite those who are contemplating transitions to get in touch. Whether you’re a physician who’s thinking about leaving clinical medicine, you’re interested in getting into health-tech, or you want to start your own agency, feel free to drop me a line.

Wishing you all a safe and healthy holiday season!