Suhyun An

Dr. Suhyun An is the Clinic Director, a doctor of chiropractic, and a nurse practitioner at Campbell Medical Group in Houston, Texas. The Campbell Medical Group specializes in providing regenerative therapies, including platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and regenerative cellular tissue therapy, which in many instances have enabled patients to avoid surgery.

Dr. An is an authority on regenerative medicine protocols. She is an accomplished public speaker, published author, and professional to see in Houston for chronic pain and regenerative medicine protocols.

As an undergraduate, she studied biochemistry and biophysical science and then went on to the Parker College of Chiropractic. While she has been a certified chiropractor since 2004, she is also a licensed family nurse practitioner. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Nursing Science from Wayland Baptist University before also completing her master’s at Sanford University.

Where did the idea for your career come from?

I was inspired by my own shoulder injury that I suffered falling off a bicycle. Cycling was something that I used to do a lot on weekends. I was going downhill and fell off my bike and ended up dislocating my shoulder. Long story short, I was told that I was going to need a shoulder surgery. I was able to avoid the shoulder surgery by using a certain type of injections.

I network with various doctors all across the country, and I called around and asked them what I can do to avoid surgery, and someone suggested that I should try that. I didn’t really know much about injections other than it had the potential of helping me. I had been suffering for a good seven months or so, with throbbing, aching shoulders that were keeping me up at night. I was able to recover almost 100% of my shoulder function without any intervention like invasive treatment or surgery. So that’s when I started really looking into options to prevent surgery if possible.

I actually was helped again greatly with another condition. One of my heart valves was not shutting up all the way. It was something that I always had and then as I was getting older and working full-time and going to school, getting another degree, it really affected me. I was drinking a lot of coffee and I was having a borderline AFIB before I turned forty. And, again, that was helped greatly by using these umbilical cord cell therapies.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

I wake up sometime between 3 and 5 am. It used to be 4 and 5 am, but now I have a baby who is seven months old and she often gets me up a little earlier. I am used to working a lot at the clinic during the day, working at night to catch up on emails, working on ideas and also completing tasks on weekends. Well, that’s not possible to do with a young baby and I am adjusting a bit. I need to be available for my staff during the day in the office, so my early morning hours to myself are like gold. The phone doesn’t beep, I don’t get emails arriving in my inbox, just that hour of quietness, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it.

I do love seeing my patients and making relationships with them and caring for them, but I am also very introverted, so that side of work can be very exhausting to me. What I love doing that doesn’t exhaust me, but actually energizes me, is putting together plans and content creation. I used to write monthly newsletters before I stepped back in the office to cover for a staffing issue. I have raving fans from that writing. Ultimately, I’d love to focus my attention on content creation, writing and promoting natural healthcare.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Once I get an idea in my head my mind races so quickly. I took the Kolbe A Index, a personality test and I scored super high as an Implementer. That means I write down what needs to be done: Delegating, planning, organizing. I just write it down and I have the ability to come up with a solution very quickly. Step one, do this; step two, do this; step three, and so on. I can have a manual all written out in no time. For example, when we learned how to do the free COVID testing for the public, all the doctors were struggling to figure out the logistics, but I had it all done and rolled it out in a week-and-a-half.

What’s one trend that excites you?

What excites me in my own practice is that more and more patients are getting sick and tired of taking medicine. They’re becoming more and more open to natural healthcare. I’ve been a chiropractor for almost twenty years and when I started there were still quite a few patients who were always having to double check things with their MD, or thinking what we offered in chiropractic care is quackery, but right now we’re really not getting any of that. People are coming to us because they are so sick and tired of relying on certain medications. The trend of them recognizing that traditional medicine does not always work is exciting.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Getting up in the morning. It’s the bomb. Everyone should do it.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would advise myself to take time off and take care of myself. I had a heart issue that I made worse by not taking care of myself, not sleeping, and working twelve and thirteen hour days. I always told myself if I can’t outsmart you, I’m just going to outwork you. I will not sleep. I’ll be the first one there and the last one to leave. But in doing so I think I hurt my health. I should have said, “Physician heal thyself.” I wasn’t taking care of myself. I gained extra weight. There was a period of time where I was quite overweight. Some of the professional photos and videos I made at the time you can see how different I was, so my advice to myself is work hard but don’t outwork your own health.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Nobody believes that I’m an introvert. I don’t really like talking to people or meeting new people. Running a business and being an entrepreneur is actually the very opposite of what someone like me would do. If I ever went to a medical school, I’d probably become a radiologist or pathologist where I’d never have to see a patient.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Get up super early in the morning and drink moderately or not at all. I know a lot of people don’t want to hear that, but I am not a fan of alcohol. It keeps you from staying sharp.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

I never took my eye off marketing. One of the largest dentistry consultants is named Jay Geyer, and he has a company called Scheduling Institute, and it always stuck to me that there are a couple of things that you never delegate regardless of how large you grow, and one of them is marketing. I took that advice to heart and I never delegated marketing. Even now, the only person who has the sole responsibility for marketing decision and new patient numbers is me.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

There was a period where I lost three key staff members from various departments so I was forced to jump in an take on the roles. That was almost three years ago, and I’m finally starting to get out of it now, but even though it was probably one of the most challenging periods of my life, I really treasure it because it gave me a different insight in how the day-to-day goes in here, the little things that my staff may not realize that they’re doing that they can improve. It helped me step back in here and establish myself as a leader and someone my staff can look up to by working side-by-side with them.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

This is starting to happen, but I would love to see a general medicine/family medicine type of clinic that is a hybrid between telemedicine and in-person patient visits that excels in speed, affordability, and top notch customer service. I would have a family medicine clinic where the patients have the option to talk to the doctor or provider via telemedicine, or they have the option to come in and see a healthcare professional. Too many people are still uninsured and too many people are still not going to their doctors, and there is still a huge gap of millions of millions of people that we can serve. A concept like this would help bridge that gap.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

My staff loves me if I get them a round of Starbucks or buy them lunch. When we have a busy and productive week, I love treating them to lunch and things like that.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

My office is set up with a PC, but I am a big Apple fanatic, and everything outside of my office is all Apple. I just love iCloud and how it syncs my calendars right now. I do use a program called Red Booth which is kind of like an Office Team communication tool that is also HIPAA compliant.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I recommend The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. It spells out the concept that the little things that you do every day will determine the course of your life. That’s the big premise of the book. If you eat that extra Twinkie with every meal every day, within the next 5-10 years you are going to be overweight and it’s because of the little things that you’ve done every day. I highly recommend that book. I bought it for my staff, as well.

What is your favorite quote?

“Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda

Key Learnings:

• Doing things a little bit every day will determine your outcome.
• Don’t let others do marketing for your business. Keep your eye on it constantly.
• Take time off from work for self-care.