Redraw Your Path

Success on Paper Is Not Success In Life | Ep. 037 - Danielle Lindgren

• Lynn Debilzen • Episode 37

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Join host Lynn Debilzen in this open-hearted interview with Dr. Danielle Lindgren on Redraw Your Path!

In this interview, Lynn learns about Danielle’s journey becoming a mother and how that flipped everything for her career as a physician. Their conversation touches on:

  • How the feeling of being overlooked and underestimated can drive you to want to excel and exceed expectations in all ways, setting a higher bar for yourself
  • The challenges of choosing a career path before we’re old enough to fully understand the realities of the world and the consequences of choosing one path over another
  • The wake-up moment that becoming a parent can be, and the impact motherhood can have on career when we haven’t fully conceptualized what it might look like yet
  • How to determine which aspect of life you most identify with when you feel the tension and overwhelm between multiple aspects

Tune in for a dynamic discussion on life and growth!

About Danielle:

Dr. Danielle Lindgren is a mom of 2, a licensed physician, a certified health and life coach and the visionary founder of Linden Branch, LLC, a pioneering health and wellness platform. With a deep passion for holistic wellness, Dr. Lindgren empowers individuals to achieve their health goals through a balanced and comprehensive approach. Holding certifications in health and life coaching, she expertly guides her clients through wellness journeys that address both physical and mental health.

Dr. Lindgren's background as a licensed physician enriches her understanding of health and wellness. She founded Linden Branch, LLC to make high-quality wellness education accessible to everyone, regardless of location or financial status. The platform offers a range of virtual courses at an affordable price all designed to help users cultivate healthier lifestyles. Under Dr. Lindgren's leadership, Linden Branch, LLC is growing into a trusted resource for individuals seeking comprehensive wellness solutions in a convenient and engaging format.

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Connect with Daneille:
Website: https://TheLindenBranch.Com
Get The Wellness Project, 5-Day Energy Challenge, or enroll in courses: https://thelindenbranch.com/our-courses/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindenbranchllc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindenbranchllc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089709354638 


Resources mentioned:

Connect with Lynn:

  • www.redrawyourpath.com
  • www.lynndebilzen.com
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynndebilzen/
Lynn:

Hey friends, I'm Lynn Debilzen and welcome to Redraw Your Path, a podcast where I share stories of people who have made big changes in their lives and forged their own unique paths. I talk with guests about their moments of messiness, fear, and reframing on their way to where they are now. My goal is to inspire you about the shape your life could take. So let's get inspired. Hey friends, I am excited to be here with another episode of Redraw Your Path this week. I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Danielle Lindgren about her journey. I found it so fascinating, just like the sunk cost fallacy that can come up when we, have put so much time into something and, believe we just need to see it out. and so you'll hear a little bit about that in her story. So here's a little bit about our guest. Dr. Danielle Lindgren is a mom of two, a licensed physician, a certified health and life coach, and the visionary founder of Linden Branch LLC, a pioneering health and wellness platform. With a deep passion for holistic wellness, Dr. Lindgren empowers individuals to achieve their health goals through a balanced and comprehensive approach. Holding certifications in health and life coaching, she expertly guides her clients through wellness journeys that address both physical and mental health. Her background as a licensed physician enriches her understanding of health and wellness. She founded Linden Branch LLC to make high quality wellness education accessible to everyone, regardless of location or financial status. I really enjoyed my conversation with her. She was a delight. We randomly have the same connection. She was calling in from the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I had zero idea, where in the world she was. And so that was a really fun thing to figure out. so you can hear some of that energy as well, but, I hope you enjoy the episode and I can't wait to hear from you. Don't hesitate to reach out. Welcome, Danielle, to Redraw Your Path. How are you today?

Danielle:

I'm very good. Thanks for having me.

Lynn:

Awesome. I'm so excited to hear about your path, and how you ended up where you're at. So where I like to start with every guest is, can you share some context about where and how you grew up?

Danielle:

Yeah, let's see. I was an only child, but also kind of not an only child. When I was about two, my parents fostered two of my preteen to early teenage cousins after a family tragedy left them basically orphans. and they were with us from the time that I was about two until about So kind of an only child, but also kind of not an only child. And I grew up outside of a town with a whopping 800 people in the middle of rural Midwest, in a house my dad built from the ground up on land that he purchased from a local farmer. and seeing it that there wasn't a whole lot to get into in the middle of nowhere, I spent a lot of my early childhood outside, usually barefoot, letting my imagination run wild in the woods around our house and down by the pond that my dad dug out with the ducks that we hatched. Or usually you could find me up in a tree. I absolutely loved climbing trees and I would spend hours in the trees. I also took to walking across the top rung of our fence posts, which probably scared the daylights out of my parents. So they enrolled me in gymnastics when I was in my older childhood. specifically around the summer before fourth grade, and my tiny town didn't have gymnastics, so my saint of a mom would drive me an hour and a half one way to attend practices. And, what started out as one day a week quickly turned into a passion that led to her making that drive to the city six days a week for four to six hour practices year round. It definitely kept me busy, kept me out of trouble during those formative years, and I had lots of mom time and distraction free time to finish my homework in the car. My mom is still my best friend to this day. I will say that when an injury took me out of the sport, though, I lost a huge part of my identity and I struggled to figure out who I was, both with my local peers as well as just being a young woman, a late teen, and a lot of the trial and error that most kids had gone through, throughout their middle school and high school years gradually. I sort of went rapid fire through that over the course of about 1. 5 years. And then basically it was just a giant cringe from the age of 16 to 20. That was, that was how I grew up in a nutshell.

Lynn:

Yeah, so like in that time you were like trying a whole bunch of different things, other hobbies that could maybe identify you besides gymnastics? Yeah,

Danielle:

peer relationships and how to interact with my peers outside of, being this gymnast and, Clothes and things that I hadn't really thought about when I was so busy with gymnastics and stuff all of a sudden were just all in my face all the time and I had all this free time that I'd never had before and yeah it's just a giant like you just look back and you cringe at yourself when you think about it.

Lynn:

I feel like that's all of us. just figuring out

Danielle:

Oh for sure.

Lynn:

so hard. When you were like driving an hour and a half for those four to six hour practices, were you, in school at that time or were you being homeschooled or what did that look like?

Danielle:

I was still in just a regular traditional local school, and so my mom would actually drop me off at school because my bus ride would have been an hour long, and I got home so late from my practices that were all the way in the city that it gave me about an extra hour of sleep time, so my mom would drive me to school in the morning every day. And then she would pick me up immediately at the bell ring to make the hour and a half long drive so that I could be in practice and then we'd come home after dark and start it over again.

Lynn:

okay, I'm like putting myself in the timeline. That was before smartphones. Your mom must have brought like actual books to read during gymnastics practice.

Danielle:

So after a while they started to take pity on her because this poor thing was driving all this way and then just sitting and watching me. So they actually ended up giving her a job at the gym to work at the desk. So she could actually do something and produce an income because she also, she couldn't really have a full time job with the schedule that I was keeping. So it, it knocked down gymnastics tuition, which if anyone listening has kids in gymnastics, it's a, super expensive sport and we were not super wealthy. So it was actually an, it ended up being a good situation for everybody.

Lynn:

Wow. That's amazing. And just like a really cool backstory. I'm curious with your, Cousins that your parents, fostered and helped, finish raising. Have they stuck around as, pseudo siblings since that time? Or did you go back to only child feeling after they were out of the house?

Danielle:

Yeah, so I think during my childhood and especially with being busy with gymnastics, it went into the only childhood. but in their adult lives, the boy, it was a boy and a girl. I've definitely kept touch with the boy. He's married, has two kids of his own, and just has made a really cool life for himself. and it's awkward because it's are we siblings? Are we cousins? And so it's, I don't call his kids my niece and nephew and my kids don't call him uncle. I don't call him uncle. But we still have a special bond between us that is different than either a brother or a cousin, if that makes sense. that, that shared unique experience that we had. Unfortunately, the girl that I grew up with, she, because of a lot of things that happened in her childhood before she ever came to our house, she's really struggled in life and we've never really gotten to be very close. in really any capacity. she's got a lot going on and I really, I feel for her. And she had a rough go of it in things that she didn't choose in life. So

Lynn:

That's really tough. and I know family relationships can be really complicated too. And, especially when there's a lot in the childhood happening. so it sounds like grew up mostly an only child, somewhat, not an only child, but like in the gymnastics world, in the little house on the prairie world, which I love, of 800. My home village was 600. So I like totally understand.

Danielle:

Nice.

Lynn:

But so it sounds like growing up with that, like there might have been some expectations or maybe ways that, like you were expected to take or paths that you were expected to take. can you share any of those for you? Or what were some of those pressures that you were feeling? Oh

Danielle:

definitely, I know what you're talking about with the external pressures, things that we don't really choose to be placed on us, but that are at a very young age, and I saw that a lot in medical school with, even some of the cultural backgrounds, there were cultural expectations of people, but I ended up in medical school. For me, I think most of my pressures were actually internal. outside of my parents and family, I don't think there was a whole lot that was really expected of me. maybe, growing up in a town of about 800 people, and a lot of people don't really venture more than a hundred miles outside of that town. There really wasn't a huge amount of expectations for really any of us. But when I was looked over for a Spanish class in elementary school, it ticked me off. And then when I was looked over for the advanced math class in high school, it really ticked me off to the point where I said, well, I'm going to prove myself. I'm going to take two math classes, both the advanced math class And the non advanced math class, just to prove to you that I can get an A in both. And then, that, that kind of just kept with me. And after that, I wanted to further prove myself and go to college earlier. I applied to college when I was 15 and I was accepted full time for the coming year. And, Being that I had to live in a dorm and that I had my first ever relationship two weeks in, I deferred my acceptance to the following year, but I had done it. But for the record, that boyfriend, he broke up with me over email. And then like a week later after I deferred my acceptance, and then he went on the local radio to tell the local world that he got rid of me because I was too boring, so. Never, never switch up your dreams because of a boy, for any young listeners out there.

Lynn:

Yes, lesson noted.

Danielle:

Lesson noted.

Lynn:

absolutely agree with that. And I have known you for not very long, but you are not boring at all.

Danielle:

you! so then when I was in college, when I felt my professors and advisors not really necessarily believing that I could do it, I decided I'm gonna go to medical school. And then, so basically I guess what I'm saying is that a lot of the pressure that I felt throughout my life was more from a lack of pressure and expectations that were coming externally, if that makes any sense.

Lynn:

Yeah. Or they're like, it was a lack of pressure, but also like low expectations.

Danielle:

Right. Being overlooked.

Lynn:

and you were like, no, I'm here. You can see me. I'm going to do well at this. and that, that's probably what drove you to be such a good gymnast too, I imagine.

Danielle:

I think so, yeah. I started late. I mean, fourth grade is technically late for a gymnast, and yeah, I just, I dedicated myself to it. I wanted to prove that I could do it. And I, that, that was a very internal thing. my parents always believed in me and supported me no matter what, and they didn't really pressure me one way or another. I know my dad was very determined that I was not going to be a lawyer or anything in the legal field.

Lynn:

Okay. All

Danielle:

outside of that, I had free reign to be what I wanted to be.

Lynn:

Oh, love that. Love that. okay, so let's fast forward. I know you hinted a little bit at medical school. Let's fast forward and bookend your life. So where and how are you currently spending your days?

Danielle:

Ooh, so far as location, we're a little bit nomadic, as I told you a little earlier. Like right now as I talk to you, we're in our home in the Northwoods of Wisconsin this last year, instead of spending winter here, which I know is super mild because the weather patterns are crazy this year, we actually spent the ski season out in Colorado, where we spent our days being ski bums and enjoying the warm but full aspects of winter. and then we spent spring in North Carolina and then we headed to Europe for a month before returning here for the summer months to hang out on the lake. and we're actually, we're about to head back to North Carolina again very soon where we're going to plan to restart sports and hunker down for a bit and enjoy the fall season in the mountains again. and we've enrolled our kids in a virtual private school to give them flexibility and also it's highly individualized for their needs and we're all just really enjoying this unique life that we've carved out for ourselves. And so far as what I'm actually doing with my time besides, having the fun of the traveling and the different places, I told you already about medical school and becoming a doctor, but I don't actually practice medicine anymore. I actually recently started a virtual health and wellness company where I help people lead a healthier lifestyle.

Lynn:

Awesome. Awesome. Which it sounds like you're like walking the talk too by making sure health is like a central part of your life and you're in places where you can access the outdoors and build fun into your life.

Danielle:

Oh, for sure. That's very important to me, to our kids. we moved up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin when our youngest was, maybe two, and watching her try to run in, full thickness boots. this child isn't gonna know how to run right.

Lynn:

Oh, but she

Danielle:

know isn't accurate at all.

Lynn:

That'll make her stronger

Danielle:

Exactly. She's got strong little leg muscles now from hiking those boots everywhere.

Lynn:

Yes, I love that. I love that. As someone who has recently taken up beach volleyball and learning how to walk in the sand again at the age of 40, I'm like, okay, she must be really strong because walking in sand, very similar to walking in snow. I think I'd pick walking in snow.

Danielle:

Beach volleyball is a hard sport. It is completely different than indoor volleyball.

Lynn:

telling me, you're telling me, cause yeah, it's every day is a learning process. every time I'm out on the court, but, yeah, those legs are getting strong. okay, so Danielle, we heard about like growing up in, a small town in the Midwest. Outdoors, a lot. You talked about, applying to college early, but then like deferring acceptance. Can you talk about the first big way you redrew your path? Or what did life look like up until that point where you redrew your path for the first time?

Danielle:

so I'm gonna start with my first redraw as being, when I mentally transitioned from this doctor mode, this path that I had set myself on.

Lynn:

Okay.

Danielle:

so my first big turn was actually when I had my first child. Leading up to that phase of my life, I had this naive view of the world that I was gonna be a doctor, make all the money, have a pool boy style husband who would dote on me hand and foot, and who was gonna stay home with my kids all day, and Let's keep in mind here that I had to decide this, like, when I was gonna be a doctor and walk this life path before I was even old enough to legally drink alcohol. So I never had really taken the time to think about how this life event of me starting a family would truly affect me and my ideas of what the future looked like. And they were incredibly immature.

Lynn:

Okay.

Danielle:

while I was pregnant, I graduated from medical school and I became an intern. And let me tell you that during pregnancy, I was still fully dedicated. I would stay late to do rectal exams on my birthday. That's the kind of doc I was. And then I actually had that first child. So no longer pregnant, I actually was holding this first child. And I found myself absolutely crying for the last week of that two short maternity leave. over the fact that I was gonna have to leave this precious creature that I was holding, that was holding my whole heart, to go back to this hospital filled with people who didn't really highly value me and put in extremely long hours and weekends for low pay and the stress that it was causing between me and my partner and Honestly, the only way that I could actually fathom going back into that environment for the amount of hours that I was going to have to put in was to literally fly my mother from Minnesota all the way down to Florida, which is where my internship was. I would fly her down to Florida on a Sunday night. And I would fly her back on a Friday night so that she could have the weekend with my dad. It was literally the only way that I saw a path forward in this career, because it had just jolted every idea that I had about myself and what I was supposed to do with my life path. And I didn't, I, it was the first time when I realized that I hadn't really thought about it. I didn't. I hadn't really thought about how it would affect me, how having a creature that was fully dependent on me, that was a piece of me, would change the way that I viewed how my life was structured, and what I wanted for it.

Lynn:

Mm hmm. It sounds like, you had gone to medical school kind of as a, I'm going to prove that I can do that, right? and had you always planned to be a parent?

Danielle:

think I had always planned to be a parent, but again, it was a very superficial plan. It was this, oh yeah, of course I'm gonna be a mom someday, you're this 20 to 21 year old kid that's going to medical school thinking, yeah, of course I'm going to be a mom and I'm going to be a doctor and I'm going to have it all. Like that's going to be me. And I hadn't really, I didn't have the people. my parents obviously, but other peers. That I could, that I really felt comfortable enough talking to what does it look like when you have a family? How does that balance into your life of being a doctor? What time in your training would be best to have a child? Does it matter what time in your training? When is the right time? When is the wrong time? I never really stopped to have those conversations or to even really think about it. It was just, I'm going to have kids. I'm gonna be a doctor. I'm gonna have a stay at home husband. I'm gonna make a bunch of money. We're all gonna be fine, and it's gonna be great. all it was.

Lynn:

And it sounds like your partner was on board for that idea too, right?

Danielle:

Right.

Lynn:

Okay. Can you talk about you said it, it had jolted your identity or jolted you awake almost? can you talk about that more? what does that look like? How did you start to wrap your head around? Oh, this life I thought I was going to live is not. my current path anymore, but then grappling with that. Can you just talk a little bit more about that?

Danielle:

Yeah, sure. I think a lot of people who choose life paths that involve a lot of education, so to become a doctor, just in case people don't know it, It takes four years of college, four years of medical school, and then the length of time of residency. And the specialty that I was going into required five years of residency, one year of internship, then four years of post residency, and then a year of fellowship for most, hiring hospitals. Wanted another extra year of residency. of fellowship time. And I think a lot of people, especially those of us who go into it, straight out of college, we really, like I said, haven't had a whole lot of time or experience. We haven't watched our peers have children. we're all very dedicated to this long path that we have ahead of us, and we know it's this long, almost unending path that's ahead of us. And so our ideas outside of that, or at least mine, in my experience, my identity outside of that was not fully developed. It was just a, like I said, yes, I'm going to be a mom, but that's where it ended.

Lynn:

Mm

Danielle:

have the thoughts around how that would feel, how that would look. And so even when I was pregnant, I was still going gung ho towards this long path. I had, I was graduating from med school, I was starting intern year, and then I had her. And it sounds so cliche, but it was literally a 180 degree flip for me. Because I was now physically holding her, I was feeding her, I was, this child was dependent on me and I never knew how much love would be poured into this tiny creature who could do nothing more than basically cry, feed, and look at me. And it's, it was just, I don't even know how to put into words what I felt in those moments. Especially leading up to having to go back into that long path that was still ahead of me and how much I knew that staying on that path was going to lead to me missing out on in this other part of my life that I hadn't really conceptualized. now that she was in my arms, I was starting to conceptualize What that piece of my life looked like whereas I've never done that before and as I was looking at What motherhood was what being a parent was what you know being a family it was going to be It completely jolted. I mean I was trying to find a way that they both intertwined with what I had thought that I wanted versus what I was seeing and wanting now, and they weren't connecting. I also was at a stage in my life in my career where I had already put in so much. four years of college, four years of med school, now I'm an intern, I'm getting so close. And everyone's telling you, just keep going, it's just a stage, it's just a stage, you'll get through it, but deep down, I just, I knew that I wasn't necessarily on the path that I wanted anymore.

Lynn:

Did you have, thoughts that came up about yourself as you were starting to make those realizations? fear of, fear of, failure or anything like that, or were you feeling okay, like I'm noticing, all right, like I'm noticing I picked a path and I didn't conceptualize what it would feel like to be a mother and now they don't seem to fit well together. And so I'm going to figure it out. what did that look like for you in terms of, in terms of, mental health and in terms of, that, was it a struggle? Wow,

Danielle:

a huge struggle. Like I said, I cried basically every day of my last week of maternity leave trying to figure this all out, and I felt at that point like I had to find a way to weave them together. Yeah. both because of the expectation that I have for myself, because this basically it flipped overnight. I, I had this baby and now I was experiencing this flip. And at first I wasn't sure whether to contribute it to hormones because we're all super hormonal in pregnancy and right after we have a child and, but something just didn't feel like it was, Fully hormonal, but I still felt like I had to find a way to make it work. And so that's where, that's what led to me flying my mom out every week. Cause she's a saint and I love her. only person that I felt like I could trust to come be inside of my home and give this baby the love that I wanted to give to that child and I couldn't be home for. And my partner. let's clarify. He's also in the same position as me. He is, med school doctor. we're going through this together, so we're both running the same schedule. We're, both doing these overtime type jobs in one of the most stressful times of our life and becoming parents for the first time together. So it, there was also I think, a lot of external pressure being a female in medicine and I felt I had to keep going also just because of my gender identity too, is I didn't want to, I didn't want to show a weakness or what I perceived to be a weakness. and I felt like I needed to forge forward because of that idea that I had of being a female doctor.

Lynn:

yeah. So did you do that, or how long did that last, flying mom down,

Danielle:

Oh yeah, so that lasted for, so my first child was born in November and me flying my mom down lasted for the remainder of my intern year. So from like November until June or July, I want to say, I forget the exact cutoff. And we made it work, and she made things so much easier for me. she made me breakfast, she took care of the baby, she took her out on little hiking outings, and there was still this piece of me that hated that I was missing out on everything, and I would still cry, but knowing that my mom was there made it so much easier. so much easier for me to swallow that. but so I, I made it work for a while. And then, after intern year went residency and during residency, we hit another thing because my mom could no, I couldn't just keep flying my mom down. She had a life. She has her own husband, my dad, who wanted to see his wife, my mom too. And so I couldn't keep expecting her to completely upend her life. So that I could finish pursuing my career because I was still another four years out from the end of this path and I had to start figuring some things out on my own. So we actually, got to my second transition point, which I like to call Nanny Roulette. So Nanny Roulette, this started when we hired our first nanny. we hired her after interviewing her, we were on a dual resident budget at that time, and residents don't make the same amount of money as attending physicians by any stretch of the imagination. So here we are, we're buying our first house, we're hiring a nanny who is going to live with us, because we, as residents, we're going to have a lot of call obligations for weekends, for overnights, for all the things that comes with this next phase of our training. And, so we hired this girl and she was young. She was 19, but she had never lived away from her parents before. And She was a Disney fanatic, and I think that maybe she watched Nanny Poppins. Er, Nanny Poppins.

Lynn:

Mary Poppins

Danielle:

Mary Poppins that's what it is. Mary Poppins. Perhaps she, she watched that one a few too many times because we caught her, Meeting up with men in the park and she was on tinder and things because you know She was a young woman and I get that phase of life where she is in a new place. She's a young woman She wants to meet people, but we found out that she was also doing that while taking care of our child, which was not okay And we had also lived in a gated community at that time, and one day the man at the gate told us about this boy that she had brought back to our house without our permission. And I mean I started to feel the pressure of why? Why am I not the one at home right now. why does she get to experience watching my child's first steps while I'm, working overtime at the hospital, not getting to experience all the moments that I wanted to. And there, there came a point where we ended up letting her go and we hired a part time nanny. we were going to try to figure out how to make this work. So she would work during the daytime, a few days a week. And then, and she was a local college student, and she was married. She was very stable. We really enjoyed her. And so we hired this new girl and she would work with us three days a week. And then the other two days a week, we would send our child to a daycare for the daytime hours. But she hated daycare, and I thought at first she was gonna get over it, but she was still screaming every time we dropped her off at daycare six months later, and we just, we couldn't do that anymore, and The nanny that we had hired, she was graduating from college and she wanted to move on with her own life at some point too. She couldn't just be our nanny forever, even though we absolutely adored her. And also during this time, My husband and I were going through the hardest part of our training where we each had to do three months of overnights and we had to do them opposite each other. So that was six months out of the year when I would work the day shift and then he would come on, bring our child to the call room. He and I would kiss and say goodbye to each other and then the other one would get to bring the child home.

Lynn:

Oh

Danielle:

And it was just, It was not what we had envisioned for, and I mean our child was happy, she had so many people around her who loved her, and supported her, and we were so lucky in that regard, but we were absolutely miserable. And then we found out we were pregnant with baby number two.

Lynn:

Okay.

Danielle:

So transition number three.

Lynn:

Yeah.

Danielle:

Pregnancy with baby number two. I couldn't do it anymore. I was not going to restart this process with a second child. our first child was two and a half at this time and I felt like I had given it a solid go. I had tried all the things that I felt. were reasonable before I called it quits on my career that I had worked so hard towards, because I felt like I had to do all those things. Even though I knew that I didn't necessarily want this path anymore, I felt like I had to do all, like, all of the things that were necessary to try to keep going along that path, but I was miserable. My husband was miserable because we weren't getting time together. We were both extremely stressed out at our jobs. Our relationship was suffering because we were just stressed out all the time. And we just decided, and our nanny also told us that she was going to be leaving. And I just decided I'm done. It was just, it was one day I said, I'm done. I'm not going to do this anymore because. We don't actually need the income of two physicians in order to be comfortable. Why am I, why are we putting ourselves and our young family through all of this when we don't need to? And I don't want to personally. And I know that a lot of people don't necessarily feel that way when they're going through. There are plenty of moms who are also doctors who love their careers and identify with their careers. But at that point in my career, I was not identifying with my career. I was not enjoying my career. I felt like I was missing out on everything at home. I liked medicine for the cerebral aspect of it. I love engaging my mind and I still do to this day, but I was not enjoying the path that I was on. And I put in my resignation, and I left.

Lynn:

Wow.

Danielle:

weeks later, I gave them ample warning. I lined it up with when our nanny was going to leave, and I said, We're leaving at the same time, let's do this. And so

Lynn:

That's

Danielle:

Her and I, we walked away from our jobs at the same

Lynn:

Yeah. I'm curious, you said that you felt like you had to continue on the path, that was just like what you had to do. Do you remember, were there any moments of clarity or like conversations you had with people in your orbit where you remember, that moment where you realized, Oh, I have a choice in this or I can do something different.

Danielle:

Yeah, so I actually didn't have a whole lot of support in that way. This was something, and I think that's why it took me so long to come to that choice. Because I didn't really have anyone that I was talking to that didn't want me to see it through and live that career path. I had to redraw my idea of what success looked like. And it was when I realized that even though I looked successful on paper, this great resume of all the things, that success to me wasn't what I looked like to everybody else. It wasn't telling everybody, I'm a doctor, I go to the hospital every day and I operate, or anything along that lines. What I found pride in was I'm a mom. I have these two beautiful babies at home that I get to go home to. And that was the aspect of my life that I found myself identifying more with. And to get to step aside and enjoy that made me have so much more personal satisfaction that I guess me coming to the realization that was where I wanted to be. that was the, where I realized that I had a choice in the matter,

Lynn:

Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like Coming to terms with, you had defined success for yourself as, successful doctor, raking in the money, pool boy husband. I don't know how that was going to work with him also being a doctor, but you had,

Danielle:

that was before I met him.

Lynn:

okay, perfect, but you had defined what success looks like for you, and then you realized, wait a minute, that is not what I want to be. that is not what I want my life to look like in terms of success for you.

Danielle:

Right. it became so much less about accolades and the things that I was doing and more about how I was experiencing my life with my family.

Lynn:

Yeah. Yeah. Which is, it's a really, that's a really powerful realization. And I, I have to give a shout out to my business coach that I've been working with, Kylie Peters. Hi Kylie. because her whole framework is around defining success for yourself. And, as someone who has gone through burnout. Three different burnout cycles in my career and then decided I'm going to start a business, but, didn't have clarity. And also, started going down the path of. Burnout again, that realization that pausing and defining, what is success for me? because that's going to look differently for everyone. it's been a big, aha for me over the last, few months. just figuring that out and realizing that, okay, everybody has their own definition, right? And we often grow up with. Some sort of idea of what that what success looks like implicit or explicit but I appreciate you naming that that was your Pause and realizing that like success for you was Being proud of having two babies at home and being with them and seeing those moments of them growing up. It wasn't about, being a doctor and being super, super wealthy and working 20 hours a day and being proud of that anymore, it sounds like.

Danielle:

Right. And, and that's not to knock on the moms and doctors that do that, because that's great if that's where your identity is, if that's where you're, if you're happy with where you're at, I think that's wonderful. It just, for me personally, that was not where I was at.

Lynn:

Yeah, absolutely. are there any other ways you've redrawn your past? you became a doctor, you went through, it sounds like two years of residency, and you became stay at home mom, or mom that gets to see her kids grow up. Are there other ways that you've redrawn your path since then, Danielle?

Danielle:

Yeah, so I actually went through three years of residency, unfortunately. Fortunately or unfortunately, but, my most recent shift, and my last so far. Who knows how many shifts are ahead of me in life, because I firmly believe that you don't check off one box for life. most recently was as my kids have gotten older. I realized I have so much education and knowledge and I could be doing something with this that maybe doesn't involve me going back into clinical practice. So, while I've maintained my licensure as a physician, I really haven't been using it to this point until I recently started a health and wellness company that's all virtually based. And I get to use some of that knowledge to make courses for people to lead healthier lifestyles because what I did notice in the time that I was in the clinic is that there's this huge gap right now that isn't necessarily being filled and it's when people come into the hospital And they've had a kind of a almost full lifetime of making poor health choices for themselves, whether it's because that's just how they were raised and they don't know better or they, maybe have some mental health issues around, say, food or any other things. and I realized that people were coming in and they would get this diagnosis of what they had, whether like a chronic preventable medical condition, like diabetes type two, or obesity, or some forms of heart conditions. And The doctors are very busy and there's not a whole lot that they can do about that, but the patients are leaving, not really knowing what to do next. they've lived this lifestyle their whole life. They don't know what changes to make. How do they get healthier? yeah, I know I need to lose weight or I know I need to eat healthier, but what does that mean? And so I feel. there's more that could be done in that next step. And so that's why I started my platform, the lyndonbranch. com and the courses that I have associated with that, which are all on demand and virtual. So I pre record them. I do worksheets, I do handouts, I do accountability stuff. and so in that way I get to use both my knowledge of where the health system was, And continues to be. And I can use my knowledge and expertise to now help people lead healthier lifestyles and hopefully get better instead of just feeling lost.

Lynn:

Yeah, that's a really powerful. I just have to say, as someone who, has struggled with like chronic conditions myself and have done like a ton of trying to find all the knowledge and talking with friends who are health coaches and like trying to do all the things. It's really hard. Like it's really hard when you get home and definitely a needed resource. I'm curious. Have you had to reframe that idea of yourself into, as you've become an entrepreneur, and as you've become a founder of a health and wellness company? what does that reframing look like for you?

Danielle:

Oh, for sure. Um, it's been a huge reframe because I don't know a lot about technology. I don't know. I know what I don't know, and that's a lot, in marketing, in sales, in And I didn't really realize that I didn't things until I started. And so I had to reframe my idea of overnight success or just going out there with, oh, I have all the knowledge, so I'm just going to put this out there and people are going to gobble it up. obviously, people want to get better. Here's your solution. That's not how it works. and I guess also with my identity as seeing myself, it's, you It was hard at first because it's hard to switch career paths like that. And when people ask you, what do you do? It's oh, do I just say that I'm a mom? do I say that I'm a founder? Cause I haven't made any money yet. Am I a founder of a company? what am I? And so you, you don't actually network and talk yourself up in that point. And so I've had to reframe the idea of, yes, I am trying to do something for other people. Yes, I am building this company and yes, I absolutely should tell people about it. Because that's the only way that, people are going to be helped by the programs that you're providing and you should be proud of yourself, regardless of if it's where you thought your life would take you or where your life has taken you. Be proud of what you're creating and talk about it, network with it.

Lynn:

I love that. I love that. Cause yeah, it's it's not like a switch is flipped between, yeah, like I have this idea and I'm going to work on it and all of a sudden, like I own a company and I'm ultra successful, right? there's so much gray. People like to make it seem it can be an overnight success. And, all of a sudden you just. step into the shoes of being successful founder and then you feel comfortable talking about it. But I think especially too, as women, we're conditioned to not talk about our successes or our challenges. And I imagine that you mentioned that came up in med school too, right? It's you don't want to appear weak. You don't want to appear vulnerable. and so it's hard finding that balance and seeing yourself as that identity. And then Helping others see you as that identity, too.

Danielle:

Right, for sure.

Lynn:

Yeah. I'm curious, Danielle, what advice would you give to others who are considering redrawing their path?

Danielle:

I say to remember to make your own idea of what success is. For me, that was probably the hardest thing that I had to come to, and it took me years to come to it. But success on paper doesn't necessarily equate to success in life. And if you're unhappy with where you are right now, it's okay to take a step back and re evaluate or to look at where are you and is this where you want to be? And if the answer is yes, Great, stay on that path. Maybe talk to somebody about the little things that are bothering you. But if the answer is no and you don't see yourself moving forward on this path in a way that brings you joy and fulfillment in life, then I think that your idea of what success Maybe needs to shift with you. And I guess my other piece of advice is, if you are struggling with something like that, it's to find somebody to talk to, whether that's a business coach Or if it's, a spouse, or someone that you trust with your innermost thoughts, and just work together to figure out, to really figure out, What do you need to move forward? What would it look like for you to find joy and fulfillment? And then, how can you get there? What obstacles might get in your way? How can you work around those obstacles? And just remember that when you do make a big shift like that, like we just talked about, it's not like an overnight sensation type of situation. Just like you've had to build into your current career, If you redraw yourself in a new career, you might have some building time where you're not going to make a ton of money. So whether you need to stick with that other career while you work on something on the side, or if you're able to have the financial support to just leave and start something new, whatever your personal situation is, it's worth it to find fulfillment in life.

Lynn:

Yeah. And it sounds like It's worth it to step back and pause and really consider, your next steps. Cool. That's really powerful advice. I love it. I've needed that advice. So thank you for that. where can listeners find you and is there anything specific you want to promote or share with listeners right now?

Danielle:

Oh, for sure. so you can find me on my website. It's thelyndenbranch. com and and then also I'm always available via email and it's just Danielle, my name, at thelindenbranch. com. And I'm always happy to field questions and, help people out. am switching over my courses right now, and I currently have the wellness project at a reduced price. That's my main course. It's a 12 session course that's geared toward helping people master their daily habits to optimize their lifestyle. So it's 12 sessions, so it can take you six weeks or it can take you 12 weeks. But I think it's very powerful. it's all led by me. It has worksheets, action steps that are very manageable, and the goal isn't to be someone who goes from Eating a Twinkie every day to going to the farmer's market for all their produce because that's just completely unrealistic. It's all about being realistic and making better choices for yourself, whatever your health goals are. So head over to my website and click on the courses. You'll find it.

Lynn:

Cool. Plus, who eats just one Twinkie anyways?

Danielle:

Right? I mean, come on. Oh, so

Lynn:

that. thank you so much, Danielle. It has been a joy to have you on Redraw Your Path, and I can't wait to share your story. Thanks for listening to Redraw Your Path with me, Lynn Debilzen. If you liked the episode, please rate and review. That helps more listeners find me. And don't be shy. Reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn. And sign up for my e newsletter at redrawyourpath. com. I can't wait to share more inspiring stories with you. See you next week!