Leadership, Success & Business | Dr. Harvey Castro

Episode 252

Episode 253 available on page three.

Transcript

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Welcome to The Happy Doc, the voice of fulfilled physicians. Sharing life stories from physicians, health professionals and entrepreneurs, so that you can live your happy life.

[00:00:50] Dr. Taylor Brana: Hello everyone. Welcome to the show. This is Dr. Taylor Brana. And today I’m with Dr. Harvey Castro. Harvey, thank you so much for being on. 

[00:01:01] Dr. Harvey Castro: Thank you. I appreciate you having that. 

[00:01:03] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. Amazing. So, Dr. Harvey Castro, I’ve read up on you a little bit and I have to say you’ve done a lot of work and various areas.

[00:01:13] so I know that you’re an emergency physician and you’ve been doing that for quite some time. Now, what got you interested in medicine? 

[00:01:21] Dr. Harvey Castro: Wow. honestly, I started working at a health food store and my very, very first job, my health food store, the owner said, Hey, I want you to walk down this aisle. And I want you to look at all these vitamins and memorize them.

[00:01:33] And so I literally memorize them and I learned so much about nutrition and the best part of it. I would have the elderly come in and say, Hey, I need three ounces of this arm or 10 ounces of fat. And I would ask them, what are you using this art for? And so before I knew it, I learned all these nutrients and vitamins and how to use them.

[00:01:53] And I actually started my first business at age 16, and I started telling my friends and family what vitamins they needed to lose the way to sleep. And then I started thinking, I’m like, wow, if I could do this for others, what if I knew the science, I became a doctor and started doing more than just vitamins and herbs and using alternative medicine plus medicine combined and becoming a doctor.

[00:02:16] And I thought, man, this would be amazing. And so that’s how I ended up going to med school. I just wanted a little more science. I wanted to know how the body works and how to use nutrition and my alternate medicine background with traditional medicine. And it was just amazing for me. 

[00:02:31] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. So you just kind of have this curiosity, you learn.

[00:02:34] I learned a lot about the nutrition, the vitamins and all those things. And then you took it for me. Now, I’m hearing a little bit already about your earliest sort of entrepreneurship kind of work that you did. I’m curious, even when you were younger than 16, when you were a child, did you ever start to already sell things or build little businesses or is there ever an early interest there?

[00:02:56] Dr. Harvey Castro: You know, it’s kinda crazy. Yes. I guess in theory, my very, very first job I was delivering the New York times in New York city. And I would get extra newspapers to get more customers. And instead of, getting them new customers, I literally would go before school. I’d go to the subway station at the time, the newspaper was 35 cents.

[00:03:17] So I remember selling it for like 25 cents for the New York times. So I get a quarter and I would sell, whatever extra, newspapers I’d have and then make a couple extra bucks every day before going to school. so then at that point I was like, yeah, I was always constantly thinking, how can I do business?

[00:03:33] How can I do things better at a really early age? 

[00:03:36] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah, well, that’s awesome. I had no idea. Of course. I’m curious, at that young age, right. One of the things I think is very hard for people in business, especially when you’re starting out. And I know this from experience is selling, and on top of that, receiving knows.

[00:03:52] Right? So I’m, I’m sure when you are selling, the New York times and all of that, you got told no, a lot. 

[00:03:58] Dr. Harvey Castro: How do you, how did 

[00:03:59] Dr. Taylor Brana: You dealt with that as a kid? 

[00:04:01] Dr. Harvey Castro: You know, that’s a, that’s so true. it’s one of those things that you fear, you fear rejection, you fear change. I try to avoid confrontation to some degree.

[00:04:11] I would have a little sign that said New York times on sale for 25 cents. And I would write 35 and put an X. And for 25, only 25. And so people would combine with like, Oh, just a quarter. And they way I could see them, I don’t have a quarter, can I just have four papers or just, they could see I was trying my best, but I do remember being told no, and I didn’t want to pick up, look at me like, no, and it was kind of hard when you’re a little kid and as adult, it doesn’t get any easier.

[00:04:39] Sometimes it’s harder as an adult, when you’re a kid you don’t know any better. And you kind of do kind of crazy things at times. But when you’re older, it’s kind of hard from a psychological point of view to be told by a peer or someone 

[00:04:49] Dr. Taylor Brana: else. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I mean, look, I, I just think it’s, it’s a very, it’s a process that we definitely aren’t training.

[00:04:57] Then obviously we’re going to go through this business entrepreneurship and all those things in medicine. but I think if we don’t learn that early, it can be really. A difficult thing for some people. just so you know, I actually worked at a call center for awhile and I asked for donations for my university, for the school.

[00:05:14] I went to temple university and I would ask for donations. But as you know, I’m making all these phone calls, cold calling people, asking for donations. I got told no so many times, but after a while, you’re just like, Oh whatever. And then you kind of get used to it. But I was curious because again, As a young, young businessmen.

[00:05:31] Right. So I think these, these, these newspapers, I think that’s, that’s amazing. so let’s fast forward a little bit. You have that interest in Madison and you went ahead and went to medical school. What was your medical school experience like? 

[00:05:45] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah, I was, at the time, this is common now, but at the time there’s a big issue just in problem based learning.

[00:05:51] So there were 24 students in the medical school class and I was one of the 24. That did a hundred percent problem based learning from day one. So it was really nice. I didn’t have to go through DataMine and physiology the traditional way. We learned it through problem based learning. So that was different, and again, it was kind of that fear factor.

[00:06:09] Everybody’s like, what are you doing? Nobody, this is an experiment. Aren’t you scared if they mess this up, that they’re going to mess you up. And I was like, actually, no, not at all. I think this is good. but again, if I let the fear in me get the best of me or get scared, I wouldn’t have done it.

[00:06:24] And so, I always talk about my wife. Why, why, why do you do all these things? Why did you start a business when you’re 16 or why’d you do all these things? While in med school, in med school, I actually would take these cliff notes and make these really strong bullet points and actually sell it to my classmates for different classes and different rotations that we have.

[00:06:45] They actually call them deep pockets series by convey. Cause when we were medical students, we’re one of the big, deep pockets. And I would pull out my notes when I were present and that would have all these factoids or high yield information. but that strong wine made me push myself that way. When I was, I was in med school, I actually had a corner.

[00:07:02] Yeah. Meijer’s bookstore, Houston, Texas. Basically I spoke to the manager and I said, Hey. Let me review your books for free. Let me have my own corner. And at the time bookstore, I called it Harvey Castro’s corner medical student, and I would pick out every rotation and what the top books were and what was selling, what wasn’t and why.

[00:07:23] And I would have a summary that the students would come by the bookstore and read my summaries. Cause this was. Really before the days of the big internet and they would kind of flip through and he would tell me, man, can you print that again for me? Or send me another copy because people are stealing them.

[00:07:36] they really liked this cliff note just of you talking about which books and why. And so again, out of the box thinking I got books basically for free. So if I had this physiology and micro, you name it. I was able to get books and kind of go through which ones I want and I picked three or four and every subject and then kind of reviewed them and then put them on that corner.

[00:07:56] And for years until that company, somebody else came and bought it, I had a little, yeah. Corner called Harvey’s corner for books. and I guess I was in theory, another business. I wasn’t getting paid anything financially, directly. I was getting indirect. Which was amazing. I was getting all these books.

[00:08:11] And so when friends would come over and be like, man, you have like a library or house because I then stopped there. I went to Lippincott Williams when I was McGraw Hill, the big guys, and I actually would have seminars with them and tell them how they should make books and how they should review books.

[00:08:26] So if you look at old book reviews, I’m actually in the chapters of pretests and a lot of the common books. And so they would give me all this information, say, Harvey, what do you think? And I’m like, we need to start going to the digital age. I was pushing them back in the day that back then it was Palm pilot.

[00:08:41] It was the big thing. And I was like, we need to transfer everything into digital. We need to keep up with this. And then back then I was working with Pepin from emergency medicine, just kind of giving them topics and doing review material and helping them with theirs. Materials. So my medical student experience was kind of crazy in that I was working really closely with all the major bookstores, major distributors.

[00:09:07] I had all the authors, not there, all the editor’s phone numbers that I would talk to him and tell him I had to design and had a float through the book and make it easier for the student. and looking back, it was kinda crazy, but actually good because I actually got to influence how the books were being written for me.

[00:09:24] Dr. Taylor Brana: Wow. Did you go to class? 

[00:09:28] Dr. Harvey Castro: You know, that’s a good point. It was all probably learning. So we would have classes and then the rest was like, here, go learn it. So it was quite, Oh, that makes sense. So I would literally open the same chapter in three different books and look at diagrams and how it’s being delivered and how it’s being taught.

[00:09:43] So I literally look at all three, be like, Ooh, this picture right here is. The best, and this is what I’m going to memorize. And then it was kind of, I almost felt like I was cheating cause I had all this stuff, information coming at me and I was really good at looking at pictures and slows and which one explaining I read at different times, different ways.

[00:09:58] I’m like, Oh, this is the book right here. so it kinda gave me an advantage. And since it was all problem based learning as you know, it’s what we do every day. I was really strong with clinical issues of problems. If I could see it and understand it 

[00:10:12] Dr. Taylor Brana: well, it’s interesting. I didn’t even think about it this way, but in some ways you going into PBL probably made it, is it easier for you to 

[00:10:20] Dr. Harvey Castro: continue to 

[00:10:20] Dr. Taylor Brana: develop your entrepreneurial skills and develop your connections?

[00:10:24] And, and I think obviously if you have pure didactics and the lecture material and all that stuff, you wouldn’t have had these, these sort of early. experiences in medical school. And I think it’s just so interesting again, because like a lot of medical students are super strapped for time. They’re only focused on school and they don’t really get the chance to sort of do any of these sort of extracurricular or additional sort of things.

[00:10:47] But I will say that with a caveat, which I think it’s probably, it sounds like it’s part of your personality. You just sort of end up getting into these things through your curiosity. And your, your, your natural way of looking at the world, like you, who, who goes out other way to make these summaries for other students, like you, you saw an opportunity.

[00:11:07] And you just started to like do this because you knew it was gonna be helpful for other students to know more about these books. And then they started asking for more and as you know, with business, maybe there’s an opportunity there. Right? 

[00:11:19] Dr. Harvey Castro: Right. So it just looks like, 

[00:11:21] Dr. Taylor Brana: you know, and correct me if I’m wrong, it just looks like this sort of like naturally something that you do.

[00:11:26] Dr. Harvey Castro: It is, and you’re right. I hate to say it comes naturally, but it’s just the way I see things. I don’t see it as an issue. I see it. Like you said, it’s very scientific, like here’s a problem. Let’s fix it. Let’s address it. But I think one of the key points will be an entrepreneur. I think you have to think outside the box and I love the analogy of.

[00:11:46] Don’t look at things like an adult, looking at it. Like you’re a kid, like there are no rules. The minute you start putting on roles, you start putting limitations and we start putting limitations. You put yourself in a box that you can’t go out of that thinking if you open that box and say, Hey, everything’s game, all of a sudden, the world looks totally different.

[00:12:03] And that’s how I see the things now. Yeah. Truly just look at things differently than most people do in general. 

[00:12:08] Dr. Taylor Brana: Oh, I love that. I’m putting on the spot here, but out of curiosity, has there been a moment maybe recently where you had to use this out of the box thinking and like, can you, can you paint a picture for that?

[00:12:21] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah. You know, I love my team that we have at trusted, ER, it’s a company we started here in Dallas. I remember vividly sitting there thinking, okay, we’re in March, I’m thinking, you know what, the way things are going, this was back then. And I said, We need to add that we have, those are during a board meeting.

[00:12:38] We said, we need to look at this COVID-19 as something that’s not going away, we need to look at this and how can we adapt to this disease now? And how can we do business differently than the next guy? And what can we do? That everybody else isn’t thinking of. And since we’re small, yet big, what can we do for our community to make an impact?

[00:12:59] And so immediately we came up with several things, one telemedicine, everybody was doing, but this was back in March, we said, okay, Let’s create our own testing center, let’s create our own covert outpatient testing center. And so we literally were the first in Dallas to go wow, to the big major businesses and say, okay, we’re going to test all your employees and we’re going to come to you.

[00:13:21] And then we turned around and used all our freestanding and yours in combination with our hospital license and created a covert testing at the ER. And we were one of the first to start testing. in that way. Now obviously now it is common. but that was one of the things that at the beginning, people like, why are you spending all this time and energy on this?

[00:13:38] This is going to be gone by August. And I was like, no, I think this is going to be here for, for a little bit longer. I would say a couple of years, let’s start changing the wheels of how we do business and let’s start looking at things differently. So collectively as a team, we’ve made those changes, which is amazing to look back at.

[00:13:55] Sometimes if you look at things a certain way, a lot of the trends doctors are looking at ER, certain way, we’ve got to do this and that. But if you start looking at it a little differently, you’re able to see the bigger picture and address the issues and some real issues. 

[00:14:09] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah. You know, as you’re saying that, I remember reading your profile a little bit, something that stood out to me about the work that you do is.

[00:14:18] You’re not the type of person to really sit on the sidelines and twiddle your thumbs and sort of think about it. I think, and again, this is something that falls in line with Andrea or ship. You need to see the future and you need to sort of, anticipate and create a vision and then attack it before something happens, right?

[00:14:39] Because the advantage of any business is to be ahead of the curve. and to be the one that’s creating sort of. the opportunities for people. And it sounds like that’s sort of what you did recently. I’m curious, you know that, yeah, go ahead. 

[00:14:54] Dr. Harvey Castro: No, I was gonna tell you, this is kind of interesting, we’re all doctors here on this call and I like that this is our audience, but I know there’s non-doctors but you know, I kept hearing from my colleagues and stuff, friends and watching TV.

[00:15:04] They’re like, man, I don’t want to watch the news. It’s like, that’d be downer, but he’s talking, we’re going to die. And this, that, and I said, you know what? Let me work on that. And so I literally took my MD and said, you know what, I’m going to my doctor a little bit different here. I’m going to be on TV. So I literally spoke to NBC CBS, ABC Telemundo, Univision, without exaggerating.

[00:15:27] I’ve been on TV at least 80 times this year. sometimes I was on the all day, like the eight o’clock 

[00:15:33] Dr. Taylor Brana: or 

[00:15:33] Dr. Harvey Castro: whatever, five, a six and different stations. But my point is this, I use my degree a little bit differently. I use it to educate people, to help them to be very calm on TV, to kind of give that compassion through the TV.

[00:15:46] Cause I said, a lot of this rough news that they’re doing, people are scared. People are home. They want to hear you’re a doctor that can smile and, and, and kind of explain and educate. And I took that strong. Then I took that vowel really, really seriously and said, I’m going here to help others.

[00:16:02] And I’m going to use this media. I called TV a little bit differently. And it worked, people were enjoying my reports and how I would explain things, and put a positive spin on it, you know? And, it was tough cause obviously it’s all not great news, but at the same time, I thought as a doctor, if I could be a leader in the community, this is a way to serve.

[00:16:22] Dr. Taylor Brana: And I love that because look, I mean, and I talk about this on the podcast a lot too, we can’t change reality. Right? We can’t change the current, pandemic, but what we can do is, like you said, especially with your expertise and knowledge, we can lift our community with the right knowledge, with the right tools and, and let them know, what we can do, what is available?

[00:16:45] Where can we still grow even with what’s happening right now. And so I love it. That you’re using, your degree, like you talked about to create those opportunities and to educate, educate the population. now I’m curious, like with the TV and everything, obviously you didn’t start there.

[00:17:03] Right. So what were some of, what were some of the steps that you took in order to start to, not just entrepreneurship and all those things, but what, what made you feel confident to start to grow your career into that kind of public speaking 

[00:17:17] Dr. Harvey Castro: role? Yeah, that’s a tough one. I’m, I’m a, I pushed myself a lot.

[00:17:23] I take pride in things that I’ve never done before. And I look at it and say, you know what? I can either be fearful or I can look to fear and make this a benefit and improve. You know, I remember the first couple of times in residency, I got lucky enough to be on CNN one time and I’m like, Oh my gosh, I’m going to be on CNN.

[00:17:40] This is scary. Like millions of people are going to see me on TV. but then I thought, here’s an opportunity to really grow as a person. And so I think that challenge really pushed me. It really pushed me to say, I’m going to do better. I’ll never forget. I got criticized and criticism is awesome, but I remember getting criticized from someone.

[00:18:02] was close to me in the sense that from a business side of you and said, Hey, you did this, this and that wrong. And, and I was kinda sad inside. I was like, man, this, I feel like I got rejected and I’m trying my best. And so then I said, you know what? I’m thank you for being honest. Thank you for telling me, tell me to work on these things and I’m going to work on them.

[00:18:20] And then luckily for me, a covert hit for me in the sense that I was able to be on CVA easier. And so I really worked on my delivery my time, and now I don’t. Freak out anymore when I’m on TV or when I do something because I actually enjoy it. And it’s, it becomes easier. The more you do it, just like medicine, the more and more you see certain patients more and more.

[00:18:40] You’re like, okay, I got this, I’ve done this a million times. so I think I answered your question there. 

[00:18:47] Dr. Taylor Brana: No, I, look, we’re on live right now and you, you said, let’s do this thing, right? So you’re, you’re up for you’re up for the challenge and it is, it is very nerve wracking, right? Like we can. Say something stupid right now.

[00:18:58] And it would feel terrible. Hopefully, hopefully we don’t. Right. but yeah, it is a little scary to do that. I want to go back to what you said earlier, which I thought was a great statement. you said criticism is awesome and, I think that’s a powerful statement because a lot of people would not necessarily agree with you.

[00:19:17] And in fact, tickets a heart. So not just for professionals listening, not just to physicians, but why do you say that criticism is awesome? 

[00:19:25] Dr. Harvey Castro: Know, I’ll never forget. one of my first jobs as an ER doc for my very, very first job and my first evaluation with the medical director and, and he says, Every time.

[00:19:36] I say anything to you, you take it to heart and you work on it. And literally the next day you’re doing things differently. And I said, honestly, I don’t know what, I don’t know if you don’t tell me I’m bad at X, Y, and Z, then I assume everything is great. So early in my career, I took everything to heart and sometimes that’s the double edged sword, because I would tend to want to be a perfectionist on everything I did.

[00:19:59] I didn’t want to fail anyone. And I think it probably goes back to my why again, but to this point, I look at every criticism carefully. And I tell people, even at the board level, I’m like, Hey, you can pull me on a one on one and tell me, I suck at X, Y, and Z. Actually, that helps me because if I don’t know that I’m failing you, then I don’t want you to not tell me because I’m your boss.

[00:20:19] I want you to tell me that I suck at X, Y, and Z so that I can work on it in a, you and I are doctors. And we’re really good at doctor inpatients patients and differential diagnosis and treatments. But are we good at things that we weren’t trained for? And that’s where we are right now as an entrepreneur.

[00:20:36] You know, all these things are brand new negotiating, buying a business. Uh Holly’s thanks. And so now I’ve taken this criticism and saying, okay, I know I suck at this. I need to work at this. I know I’m really good at this, but I’m going to keep working at it because if I don’t keep working at it, then. I will start slacking again at this problem.

[00:20:54] And some true believer of always reinventing yourself. Like you don’t stop. I had a deep conversation, my son, a couple of months ago, and you know, long story short, he was on . She was so excited. He had something like 3 million hits and I’m like, Hey, I know some people in the media business, I can help you refine and teach you and get you more hits.

[00:21:15] And you know, you can follow this trim. It’s like that. I know it all. You’re going to, I’m going to waste my time with these people. I know I’m probably going to teach them. And I said, son, no, you gotta be humble. You gotta learn. I bet you anything, anyone I put in front of you, you may learn one thing and that one thing might change your life.

[00:21:32] It may move you to another level. So now the minute you think you’re an expert is the minute I know you are starting to go down. And so you say hungry, 

[00:21:41] Dr. Taylor Brana: I love what you just said. It’s totally true. And yeah. I’ll tell you, just, from my experience, for example, with podcasting, like. If I, if I don’t, if I think I know everything, there’s going to be some tool that comes out or there’s gonna be someone that’s doing something else there they’re bringing on their, they’re starting their podcast upset in some way or whatever it is.

[00:22:01] There’s always something to learn in whatever field and life is always evolving. It’s always changing. There’s never a time that it’s going to. So I think that’s really valuable. Valuable point that you said there, you said something again that I think is really interesting. And I want to kind of hone in on this for a second.

[00:22:19] You said that there are things in life that if you just learn one thing, it could take your life to the next level. I’m curious again, you’ve had this great journey, entrepreneurship, all those things. Is there something maybe even earlier on in your journey that you think was kind of the catalyst or really sparked you to take that next level?

[00:22:37] Or would you say there were like little steps. Well, 

[00:22:40] Dr. Harvey Castro: That’s a tough one. I really think, I think I’ve always been a learner always, and I’ve always, and I’m scared to not learn because I did something wrong. So let me explain if I’m as doctors that we are, sometimes we’re treated a little bit differently and sometimes we can make a mistake that is called, like someone that may not be.

[00:23:04] at the MD, maybe a nurse that has more years in us may not correct us, or may not say anything because we’re the doctor and maybe one more, but yeah. To your credit. You’re in residency. And I remember those days, there’s times you do stuff, but you don’t even think, cause you’re already either half asleep or you’re just trying, and it’s nothing against you or me.

[00:23:24] It’s just where human beings, but we’re go, go, go. And sometimes we make mistakes. We’re human. And so early on in my career, I said, I want to make sure that I don’t ever make any mistakes because I intimidated someone. I look at every problem, every one situation with the patient. And I had to do a huddle with my nurses and say, okay, Let’s take this.

[00:23:42] This is this. Does anybody agree? Disagree? Tell me your yes or no and feel free to just speak freely. And sometimes some not, sometimes it’s just all awesome to have that openness, because now I’m getting feedback back from everyone. Whereas, opposed if I was very hard and I’m like, no, I am the doctor.

[00:23:59] You’re not at my level, it would be scary to speak. And sometimes that they come up with or an idea might be a new way of treating somebody that you and I haven’t ever thought of. But yeah, the nurse thought, I’ve done this for 30 years and this is the way it really should be. I’m like, you know what?

[00:24:13] I agreed. So early in my career, I’ve always been really humble to take every information I can and take anything I can from anyone. One especially feels that I haven’t been in and then feels that I’m still in like, ER medicine. That’s a hard field that ‘s always changing and there’s so much information.

[00:24:29] So I think it’s key to just stay humble. 

[00:24:32] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah. And I, at the end of the day, like what you just said, in regards to the question I asked you, it’s, it’s about having that open openness of communication, like being open to listening to people, being open to hearing feedback. Even if you do think that maybe, a little bit more about something.

[00:24:49] You might be surprised. And there’s definitely times where I just, I get, I get surprised by something or an information nurse or staff member that they do know something. And unfortunately, like you said again, on those night shifts on those long shifts, your energy level starts to clamp down and maybe it’s a little bit harder to stay as open.

[00:25:07] but, or when there’s a big rush of patients. Right. But, we do our best. so I want to focus on some of the business building, and the entrepreneurship that you’ve done. and we haven’t really hit that yet. So I’m curious, you’ve built so many businesses, right.

[00:25:25] But. What have been some of those keys? I mean, again, it’s, it might be hard to choose, but what have been some key businesses that you’ve developed and that you think were part of your journey that were really powerful? 

[00:25:38] Dr. Harvey Castro: You know, one thing I must say is it’s important to look at failures and even speak about your failures.

[00:25:44] You know, it’s great when you hit a home run and you do amazing and people are paying you back, but do you spend time and look at your failures? And the reason I want to make sure we talk about this is because I know there’s people out there that may be scared to take the next step or may have already taken a couple of steps and failed and said, okay, this ain’t for me, I’m done.

[00:26:04] And I want people to know that I failed a lot and it feels so much it’s embarrassing, but I think the key is to always get up and learn from your mistakes. Look what you did wrong and make sure you don’t make those mistakes again. And as long as you can look at those mistakes, like a scientist and say, okay, I messed up X, Y, and Z.

[00:26:23] What are the things I did wrong? Now that lesson now, that you almost paid for that lesson, you almost point cool and learned that the hard way, but guess what? You’re not gonna do that again. And you’re going to make sure you do it better. And so I try to cover that because I don’t want people to think, Oh man, he, this guy must’ve been lucky all the time.

[00:26:38] No, no, I really wasn’t. And I think it’s important to share with others that no, I, I screwed up. I stayed out like I had, I was ahead of the curve on some things, maybe a couple of years too ahead of the curve and it failed, but I learned. I learned what I did wrong back then. And that’s why I can be more successful today.

[00:26:57] And so what I’m proud of the most right now, one side of the company I work for is called trustee. Are we my business partner? I finally founded this company about two and a half years ago. And the reason I’m proud of this particular company is between her and I, we, it’s all our mistakes, all the things we did wrong, what other people have done wrong with the business?

[00:27:16] And we created this brand and did it the right way. We literally looked at all the different industries and the freestanding world and why they failed and why they went bankrupt. And literally all our ERs are failed bankrupt buildings that we turned around and made them successful based on the mistakes of others, where we said, okay, these were the mistakes we need to make sure we do X, Y, and Z.

[00:27:36] And so I’m really proud of that because if there’s science behind that, there’s compassion. And the part from compassion that makes me most excited. Now I have more power in the sense that we can do what I want to do in medicine. And me and my business partner are just doing the right thing for our patients.

[00:27:51] And I remember sitting, and I won’t mention the hospital. I remember working at a hospital and the administration administrators said to me, downsize, you’re ordering too many cat scans. Uh you’re maybe you’re, you’re spending too much time with patients. And I was like, Oh, I’m average, if anything, I’ve seen more than that.

[00:28:07] So like, yes, we think you can see even more and make more money for the hospital. And I’m like, okay. That’s not the medicine I signed up for. That’s not why I’m here, I’m here to serve. And so I remember having it out and at the time I was a major partner at this company and they were like, are we, you’re literally walking away from millions here, do not leave.

[00:28:25] And I was like, I can’t, I can’t sleep with myself here knowing that this is not the medicine that I. Want to do. And so I truly, truly hold trustee art to my heart. This is how we wanna treat medicine. This is how we want to treat our patients and how we want to practice medicine. And this is, well, we continue to teach when we traded this culture around how we see medicine.

[00:28:49] And the reason we’re saying seating is because of all the mistakes that were in the past, we put them into this healthcare system called trustee arm, and we’ve elevated and we are making a better product. And I’m really proud of what we’re doing. 

[00:29:01] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah. I mean, I love that for so many reasons. I love that you kind of stick to it, guns and you stuck to your values and so that you want to take care of patients in the right way and do the right thing and provide that compassionate care.

[00:29:13] I think, something that you said, I think is very powerful. And maybe this is true for you is, all of those things from projects, all of that entrepreneurial experiences, all of the mistakes, six, right. It culminated into this, now maybe really great product, but the product actually reflects all of those failures that you mentioned in the beginning.

[00:29:33] So it took. You know, countless and countless failures for you to get there. Maybe someone sees you on this episode right now and is listening to you as like, wow, I want to be like that. And then they think that, after the first failure they’re done, but it sounds like for you that perseverance and that persistence are part of your story.

[00:29:52] Dr. Harvey Castro: It is the, and I haven’t mentioned this, but, I keep saying it, I think a strong, why, why do you do things? Why do you keep pushing yourself? You know, I look at it on paper and the president of a company co-founder of this brand started multiple companies. But yet I’m getting my MBA right now and I’m still pushing myself and I don’t consider that myself there.

[00:30:16] And I don’t think I’ll ever consider myself quote unquote, there. I consider myself like, no, I’m still learning. Okay. Joined my life and I’m enjoying what I get to do. And I’m just going to give it my all. Oh. And you know, when it’s not good enough for when it’s time, I’ll. Look at the next stage, but right now I’m, I’m in this and I’m enjoying it and I’m giving it my heart and soul.

[00:30:37] And I feel like I’m in the right place. but it’s my strong why of how I grew up and my principles and what happened to me as a kid that keeps pushing me to keep. Doing better. I keep telling my colleagues and at the time or meeting them, like I hope and pray that I am better today than I was six months ago.

[00:30:56] And then I was a year ago and I’m going to continue doing my best. You know, this year, one of the themes was being on TV a lot and public speaking and being on camera. And that was a challenge. but I’ve enjoyed it and I’ve taken it in and I’ve learned a lot of things about lighting and onto the press and zoom and all these things.

[00:31:15] But, but it’s been fun. And that’s something common for doctors to learn, but it’s a new way in a way of doing things now. 

[00:31:22] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, Andrew, you’ve been, you’ve been putting in the work, you’ve found me, you’ve been, you’ve been going on so many different channels to really work on those skills.

[00:31:32] So I really have to celebrate the fact that you’re, you’re doing that great work, which is awesome. Now I want to kind of, Oh, you’re welcome. So I want to go back to, you talked about this, why and a common thread I noticed in entrepreneurs is a lot of them have chips on their shoulder and. A lot of us have a deep fire within us.

[00:31:50] And usually that fire comes because of a lot of challenges. And I know that we may be alluded to it a little bit before, but were there any significant challenges in your life that really kind of put that fire in you and gave you that deep purpose to really take your work to the next level?

[00:32:08] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah. You know, I, growing up, I grew up in New York city. My mom had me at 16. That was, my dad wasn’t in the picture. And when he was, he was abusive, my mom had to drop out of high school to educate me and. You know, basically start life. And I think being poor and being on food stamps and poverty and wondering, when’s the next meal.

[00:32:34] And just seeing that, I don’t remember literally walking the streets, coming home from school, finding pennies and any money I would find, I would literally put it on her nightstand and whatever I could do to help. And then I remember thinking I don’t want this when I’m an adult. I want to be the opposite.

[00:32:51] I want to. Do so well that I can actually help. And I want to give people the tools to succeed. I don’t care for the licensed cameras, the MD and all that. That’s awesome. But at the end of the day, say what really matters to me is if I can make a difference. And that’s a strong, painful experience.

[00:33:09] Great trial, looking back that it’s made me a better person and I see the bigger picture. I feel like that was just God telling me, Hey, you need to learn all these, these parts of your life. And I literally, what a better place in New York city to be in the melting pot, it’s the whole world and, and understand it and cultures and different people.

[00:33:27] I think he was grooming me too, to be a great doctor and walk in a room and understand people better. And so I feel like these strong tribulations and trials, if anything, it made me stronger. I look at life differently. I feel blessed to be where I am. I feel blessed to have a roof over my house, the house.

[00:33:43] I feel blessed to have food on the table. And now I’m looking at life more like, how can I serve others? How can I, God gave me all these gifts. And it’d be horrible for me to just take these guests and take it on a vacation. Like, yeah, this is great. What if I took these guests and made something new, made something better, made a new product, contributed to society, and helped people build them up.

[00:34:05] And so now I that’s just who I am. And now if anything, I’m learning more and more than that, this is more, what I need to do. This is my calling just to continue giving to others and helping and motivating. one of the challenges this year, I told myself as well, I am going to write a book and I’ve been working on it for five years.

[00:34:23] And this the book behind me, it’s called success reinvention. And I said, this is the book that I want to give to my kids. And when I die, I want it to be there and they can look at it. And I told him, my kids want to hand it to him. I said, Hey, I want you to read this now. I want you to read it every 10 years.

[00:34:36] I want you to read it again because this book will say something different every time. Cause it’ll be in a different mindset. And so I just, again, I, my goal is sincere is to help and whatever I have and tools, I want to know that I gave my all to society and I did it. And then whatever happens, happens. 

[00:34:53] Dr. Taylor Brana: I love it.

[00:34:55] We’re going to, I’m giving a little applause right here. No, I, it really it’s. It’s amazing. Again, I think there’s, there’s different types of people out there. Some people can take their challenges and convert it into this almost hatred and anger against the world. Why me, why me? And then, there’s a different response that we can have, which is, how do I use this to my advantage?

[00:35:18] How do I use this to give, how do I use this to sir? and you really did take the high road. when it comes to that. And I think, I think you’re just, just a really shining example. You know, the show is the happy doc and I love to have happy doctors, fulfilled physicians, people who are really inspirational and I’m just super yeah.

[00:35:38] Inspired right now. So I’m a, again, I just, I really appreciate you and your time now I do want to dig into your book, but I really do think, and I’m being serious about this. I think we’re just going to need a part two, because I think. The concept around success reinvention. and I really want to even kind of go into the title and, and what that actually means.

[00:35:59] Cause I know, there’s definitely some success principles. I’m sure. You’re you talking about that book as well? but I think, I think we’re going to have to dig into that a little bit later. So for the sake of this episode, I asked you so many questions about different areas of your life.

[00:36:16] Was there something you wished. maybe I asked you something you want to tell the 

[00:36:20] Dr. Harvey Castro: audience. I want to tell the audience, and I know this is kind of crazy, but I mean, this takes every day and lives it to the fullest. You know, you have your dreams and follow your dreams. But I personally, it sounds like a lot of people tell me, Oh my gosh, even sleep.

[00:36:34] Do you even take a break for yourself? I do. And what I want, everybody here is take time for yourself. And I know that sounds crazy to hear it from me. Cause like, wow, you did all these things. How do you do that? I do every day, I made sure that I, I do, I because if I’m going to die that day and I say, did I do something for you for myself?

[00:36:53] And for me, it may be a simple time with my kids. I call them and say, Hey, daddy loves you or just. It’s going on a walk and seeing the sunset and say, man, this is nature. I’m outside, I’m alive, I’m breathing. And I’m just thankful. And I think everyone should take a minute just to be thankful for what they have.

[00:37:11] and take time for yourself, even if it’s just going for a walk or something that makes you happier to spend time, time with your pet, whatever it is, but you have to do it every day. You can get stuck in the rut and work, work, work, and then forget why you’re here. Just make time for yourself.

[00:37:26] And I think that’s so important. 

[00:37:28] Dr. Taylor Brana: I mean, I love it. You know, we’re definitely an, a, unfortunately a burnout and exhausted culture, especially with a lot of professionals. and it’s a, it’s a really valid, valid tip. So whatever recharges you, whatever, lets you light, light back up and get you back into the game.

[00:37:45] Absolutely take that time. I love that. Tip. so Dr. Harvey Castro, you’ve been on the happy dot podcast. I know there’s plenty of ways to reach you. what is, what is the way our audience can reach out to you? 

[00:37:57] Dr. Harvey Castro: I’m actually on everything, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and simple. It’s just Harvey Castro MD.

[00:38:05] So whatever you’re on, @HarveyCastroMD I’m on YouTube. so just. Feel free to like me on LinkedIn or friend me and we can talk. And I’m sincerely happy to, if I have the time and energy, I always will. I will continue to respond to everybody and help as much as I can. For sure. 

[00:38:23] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. Well, thank you so much for your time.

[00:38:25] I appreciate it. And I’m looking forward to talking to you again. 

[00:38:28] Dr. Harvey Castro: Thank you so much. I appreciate you taking time on a Sunday, so thank you for having me on your show. Sincerely, Appreciate it. Thank you. 

[00:38:34] Dr. Taylor Brana: And that’s the episode for today. I want to thank you so much for listening to the Happy Doc Podcast. Again, this is a podcast that is going to inspire you as a physician, as a health professional, as an individual to be fulfilled in your life, so please look out for the other episodes in The Happy Doc. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a five star review on the podcasting application of your choice. You can also reach out to us by emailing the happydoc1@gmail.com. I’ll see you on the next episode.