I'm a part-time A&E Doctor, business owner & creator! I love spending time doing anything active or outdoors & I have a really bad habit of drinking half cups of tea. I haven't always considered myself to be these different things though...
I spent a long while feeling lost, uncertain about my life choices & thinking that I needed to stick to just one thing. After a lot of reflection, personal growth & a few changes, I've started to live a life I love where I'm unapologetically true to myself. During this journey, I've learnt a lot of lessons.
My journey started in academia. I was a conscientious student, high achiever & a people pleaser. I had a love for science whilst resulted in me choosing to study medicine at University. During my life in academia, my entrepreneurial journey arguably started as I began tutoring students in the years below me.
After spending 6 years studying at the University of Oxford, I started my working life as an NHS Doctor. It was around this time that I started to really question my identity, career choices & what I actually wanted to spend my time doing. My journey continued...
As I worked as an NHS Doctor I started a business (read more about this below) with my brother. I came to a difficult decision after completing my Foundation Training (FY1/FY2 years). Do I continue my journey as a Doctor or do I commit to growing my own business? I decided I wanted to find a way to do both & I managed to find one. I quit working as a Doctor full-time & began working as an A&E Locum Doctor on BANK. This allowed me to dedicate more time to working on my business whilst still working as a Doctor.
As a result, I've managed to find my version of work-life harmony. I spend my time divided between working as a Doctor, running my own businesses & pursuing my passions. These include my love for the beach (& sea), training in the gym (CrossFit is my sport) & spending quality time (usually outdoors) with friends/family. Please take some time to view my Instagram content where I share more detail about my journey, the experiences I've had and the lessons I've learnt along the way.
I'm a strong believer in continuous growth & I'll be the first to admit that I am still learning as I continue my journey. However, that doesn't take any value away from the lessons I've already learnt. I want to share these lessons to help others achieve their goals, find work-life harmony & (ultimately) create a life they love!
The lessons I have learnt to date, largely centre around starting a business, changing career & trying to improve my own work-life relationship. As I mentioned above, I share these learnings through my content on Instagram but I have also consolidated my thoughts into various other formats...
I write a weekly newsletter called my "Thursday Thoughts" where I discuss my insights into careers, entrepreneurship & the reality of trying to live a better life. I also write a regular blog, again sharing more consolidated learnings to help others. Lastly, I have also created & put together various guides (& webinars) to help others on certain topics. These include various tools I use to help my keep my different plates spinning, as well as a guides outlining the steps I have taken to overcome certain challenges.... like trying to come up with a business idea.
This leads my onto my (other) businesses!
I have a couple of different businesses, which I have all started with my brother. It really helps having another person to share the work-load & provide a different skill set to me. The first business we started together is a property-tech platform called Doormarked. We help people to buy, sell or invest in UK property by introducing them to a suitable property professional. The main customer we serve are people who need help purchasing their next home or an investment property. Our property professionals provide them with local knowledge, expert advice & their experience when it comes to navigating the property market. This is a business which we have boot-strapped (i.e self-funded) despite initially thinking we would raise SEED investment. We both continue to work on this business which is growing steadily despite seasonal fluctuations in the UK property market.
During the pandemic, my brother & I were experiencing the life of entrepreneurship for the first time and we're finding it a particularly isolating experience (I don't think the pandemic helped with this). As a result, we came up with a side hustle to try to combat this problem... our business Mugshot Monday Ltd was born which sold motivational mugs. These were designed to uplift & motivate other entrepreneurs. This business has since been renamed Not Another Gift Company as we made a pivot selling additional products, including personalised prints designed to celebrate special occasions. I continue to work on this small e-commerce business which is an outlet for my moments of creativity!
I've since shifted my efforts to focus on helping other healthcare professionals navigate their careers with the launch of The Clinical Shift in January 2025. This is a platform & podcast with various resources to help healthcare professionals considering a career change. It's very much a passion project & a business which I probably should have started a lot sooner!
As you can probably tell by now, we've both had a lot of experience starting businesses & turning ideas into reality which is something we also help others to do through The Small Business Toolbox. The reason for us starting this last venture? We've both seen individuals fall victim to online gurus promising tales of fortune through s MLM businesses, MRR (Master Resell Rights) & various other forms of "pyramid schemes". We also love sharing what we've learnt to help others, especially when it comes to understanding the beast of social media & business compliance.
Today, through all these different endeavours I consider myself to be a doctor with a portfolio career (i.e. I don't just work for one employer & instead I have multiple streams of income). This isn't a conventional career path but it is a career path that I want to follow. It allows me to find fulfilment in various different things whilst pursuing a career which truly aligns with my values. It has come with its challenges ranging from those related to starting a business to burnout. I've managed to find ways to overcome these challenges... I am on a mission to educate, empower & encourage others who want to overcome similar challenges. Do you think there is anything in particular I can help you with? Let me know. Similarly, I would love to hear from you if you are following a similar path or facing similar challenges, please just send me an email.
