Check out this interview with one of my incredible clients Darlene Mayo who is a neurosurgeon, running a ministry, has kids and wrote an ebook in a couple of months.
PREFER TO READ? HERE’S THE TRANSCRIPT OF MY INTERVIEW WITH DARLENE MAYO
Sylvie: Welcome everybody, I'm Sylvie McCraken from sylviemccraken.com, and today I have one of my incredible clients, Darlene Mayo, from helpfortremors.com. Welcome, Darlene.
Darlene: Hi, how are you, Sylvie?
Sylvie: Great, it's great to have you here.
Darlene: Thank you, thank you for having me.
Sylvie: So, Darlene, first of all, why don't we start by you telling people what it is that you do, and you know, how you got to us, how you found us in the first place?
Darlene: Yeah, absolutely. So, I am a board certified neurosurgeon. I've been in practice for about 10 years now, and I've worked at some of the best hospitals in the country, one of the top research facilities in the world, and I thought I was at the top of my game and felt like I had achieved all the goals that I wanted, and then one day I just realized, well, I'm here, but there's more, there's more that I need to be doing. And I am very faith-driven, and one of the things that I prayed about was eventually having children. I was single 45 years of my life, and I wind up adopting two children, and then I'm recently married, and my goals in life, I realized, have changed a lot. Yeah, I have achieved a lot of professional success, but family has now become one of my top values right behind faith.
Sylvie: That's such a, like, I love that, and I wanna just highlight that because I feel like, you know, so many people in your field, whether they're neurosurgeons or other type of, you know, doctors, or nutritionists, or in the healthcare field in general, start out really, you know, with all these career ambitions, and all of these financially-driven ambitions as well, and whatnot, and at some point, you realize, you turn around and you're like, “Oh wait, 10 years just went by. “How did that happen?” So when did that happen for you? At what point did you kinda just look around and go, “I've just been doctoring all day every day for a decade.”
Darlene: You know, it's interesting, I started training at my last job to be a coach, a professional coach, and through that, you do your own personal coaching, and as I'm going through those sessions, I was realizing, wait, this is not aligning with my values right now, so it was a process over the last year, I would say, that I thought about, I actually switched to part time in September of 2017, so a few months ago, and then even that just, it wasn't enough, you know? I was still leaving before my kids were up and getting home after they were in bed, and it just wasn't meeting with my goals. So, I decided to resign at the end of December, and one of the things that my husband and I really wanted to do and what we're doing is starting a homeless ministry, and along those lines, we started writing blogs on Facebook. Now, I was never on Facebook very much, but I happened to be for that, and that's when I saw your program, and you know, what struck me was, “If you're a medical professional and you're looking for passive income, this may be for you.” And I said, wow, that's great, because something that, I guess, made me feel sad about resigning was the fact that I had all of this medical knowledge and I was in practice for 10 years, I trained for I don't even know how many years before that, and I wanted to feel like you're given your gifts to use. And so then when I found out that, you know, you have this wonderful program to write, I said, this is just perfect, and it has to be a Godsend for me because it's writing, which is something I love doing. I can use my medical knowledge, and passive income, so I can run my ministry the way it needs to be run, rather than having to worry about funds for that.
Sylvie: Yeah, no, and I think, I mean, we're having a little bit of an internet connectivity issue, I think, but we're just gonna keep rolling hope that it sorts itself out. Yeah, and I think, I'm glad you mentioned that, 'cause I feel like that's a lot of what, you know, what's coming up for people is in terms of like, A: you know, just kind of finding that they have all of this knowledge to share with the world, but the way you're doing it or the way you're performing, in your case, surgeries, and also seeing patients, clients one on one, which is what most of our clients are doing before they start with us, it really isn't meeting those three main levers, right? Their income goals, meh, maybe, their impact goals, certainly not because there's only 24 hours in a day, and so many clients, or so many patients you can operate on, and most importantly, that freedom, and family, and lifestyle, you know, piece, that component with that model is absolutely impossible, so I think that what you're saying is gonna resonate with a lot of our listeners as well, so I'm so glad you shared that. So when you started with us, did you have a website, did you have an eBook idea already sorted out? What was your situation?
Darlene: Well, I actually had nothing, which was a little bit intimidating when I started, because I was joined into a group with people that had these blogs that they'd been running for years, and they had this email list, and I said, oh my gosh, I don't really have anybody, you know? But I had some ideas. I'm a specialist in my field, so I literally have been doing a few surgeries very, very well for the past few years, and so I looked at the patient groups among those, and through your coaching, figured out what was the best group to target, and the group that I was most passionate about was my patients with a central tremor, and I loved the fact that, you know, those are people that I feel like there's so much you can do to help, but there's very little medical knowledge out there that's good. You know, I would notice that when patients would come into my office, and they would be coming from a point of, “Well, my doctor said I could take this pill, and if it doesn't work, there's nothing else,” and I would say, “Well, no, that's absolutely not true.” And then I ran, I co-lead a support group for central tremor patients, and again, I would have all these questions, and people would be browsing the internet, and they'd say, “Well, what about this and this?” And I'd say, “Oh my gosh, stop, stop browsing the internet.” You know, some of it is good but, and so, I really felt the more I began to explore this topic, I realized, you know, there's a wonderful role. We're providing people some self-help solutions and helping them understand medical speak, 'cause so many patients, they come out and they say, “I have no idea what my doctor just said for the last 45 minutes.”
Sylvie: That's what I'm always telling you guys in the program. Like, “that's too docy, let's bring it back down to plain English”. But yeah, no, I mean, I love that you said that because, you know, you kind of highlighted a point which is, they're searching the internet anyway, right? You know–
Darlene: They might as well find my eBook.
Sylvie: Exactly, right? They're gonna find something, let it be good information, let it be solid information, let it be life changing transformation that you're gonna provide. So there's that, but then the other thing that I love that you highlighted is that you showed up and you were like, “I don't have a website, I don't have an audience, I have an audience of zero, what are we gonna do here?” And, you know, it's so funny that you mention that because, you know, at this point in 2018, that is most of our clients. So, it used to be, and there's still some people that come into our program and they have an audience. Fantastic! But the truth is, most of them are coming to us exactly because they don't have that, right? And like I always like to say, “every single person started with an audience of zero, right? Or an audience of one”, or whatever it is. And so, I love that you mention that because I think that that's one of the things that holds a lot of people back is like, “well, it's easy for Darlene because she must have a massive audience”. That is exactly what people are thinking, so that's fantastic. So cool, so in the program, so in our 8 weeks together, what would say is the thing that you got out of it the most, or the most valuable module, or framework, or whatever?
Darlene: I would absolutely say the mindset work was the most valuable to me. I love every module you've created, the structure of the program has been fantastic, the mindset work that you guide us through, specifically, every week that you do that. I learned so much, and it applied to not only making me successful in writing this eBook, but also in my life, in my relationships, with my children, in getting other tasks done. I do some medical consulting on the side now and I can tell you I am so much more efficient, and so there's no more procrastinating. Dr. Mayo procrastinating does not exist anymore. I get things done, I turn them in early, and it's just such this great feeling of accomplishment, and I loved your Advanced Mindset Minutes too. Those were super helpful. The other content that I think was really important is, and I can't remember if this was in the titling module, or in the topic module, but putting your audience first I think is so key. You know, we all have something we wanna say, right, and things that I, we think that people need to know, but it's about what they wanna know, right? You need to give them what they want, so as I wrote each chapter, and going back through and editing it, I would say okay, is this something my patients would ask me? Is this something that they really wanna know, and then of course, sprinkle in those things that they do need to know, whether they wanna know 'em or not, and really attending to that, and I think making the patient a priority is really a wonderful thing to emphasize.
Sylvie: Yeah, and I think that's great that you mention that, because I think so many people are, you know, focused on, well, how do I just, you know, and we turn people down. Unfortunately, we have to turn people down from, you know, calls with our team all the time that want to do something that has no, you know, that has no, what's the word I'm looking for? That has no real positive impact, it has no ability to change lives, right? So, everyone once in a while we, I don't know how it happens, but someone will sneak in going, “I just wanna make money,” and that's it. That's fantastic. I mean, businesses are financially driven, and of course, the financials are the scorecard of a business. If you're not making money, you're out of business and you're not helping anyone, right? But there has to be, there has to be that life changing component for you to even be able to wake up every day and do what you need to do, right? For you to be, you know, for this to really fill all 3 of those things, the income, the impact, and the freedom, and all of it. So, I'm glad that you mentioned that because I wanna make it super clear, right? There's a lot of things that I'm like, I have no idea how to help you solve that, and that is not something that I'm passionate about, so I have no idea how to even help. It has to be something that does change lives, that does impact your patients or clients, so that's absolutely fantastic. And then also in how you position it, like you mentioned, right? It's a matter of, you know, there's also your system and what you're passionate about, you know, the broccoli and treadmill is my ultimate example, in terms of like, nobody wants to hear about broccoli and treadmill. They want the outcome, they want whatever it is that you're providing, and so that's such an important piece, and I think that that is, so far, the biggest mistake I've seen with people that are fantastic at what they do, they might be great neurosurgeons, they might be great dentists, they might be great whatever, but they're not great marketers, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's just not a skill that you learned in school, it's not something you were innately born with or whatever else, and so they have this fantastic work, whether it's just sitting up here waiting to be put into an eBook, or it's actually already be written, and no idea how to position it. It's just such a small thing, but such an important thing, how to package it so that your patients and clients want and are asking for, right? So that is amazing. So, in terms of in the actual 8 weeks together, how far did you get? What did you accomplish in 8 weeks?
Darlene: Well, my book is written. It's interesting, so I set a deadline for myself, for the eBook launch of March 1st, because it is the start of the Central Tremor Awareness Month, so I wanted to take advantage for that. So, as I was writing, I was realizing, and all these things, of course, my consulting business got super busy right toward the end, which is fantastic, so we have some income coming in, but then, you know, those are deadlines I've gotta meet. It's a business I'm trying to fill too, and I said, well, you know, I'm gonna have to do 5 people's work at one time, so how do I do that? And one thing that you taught me and you taught us in the program is outsourcing, and you know, I'm the kind of person, I like to be in control of what I'm doing. I'm a neurosurgeon, of course I can do everything, right? And then, I think I shared this on one of our calls, my 6 hours trying to build my own website one day and really, you know, I bill a lot an hour for what I do, and here I am spending 6 hours for something that'll take somebody 10 minutes to do that, which is what you teach us. And so, I now have someone editing my book, I have a designer working on the rough draft of my book to at least get design ideas, and I have someone else building a website all at the same time. Meanwhile, I'm kind of polishing the chapters that are not yet to the editor, so I'm gonna meet that deadline, and it's gonna be great, so I'm very excited. And I just, I could not believe that I wrote a book in 2 months. I could not believe that. I mean, I just, you know, who does that? But your program, you have all the tools you need. You have to use them, though, and that's the important thing. You know, I see sometimes people trip up a little bit, and it's, well, you know, did you do the work? Well, no, I chose to do something else. Well then, you're not gonna get the results, so I think that that hard work, it's always rewarded. But you know, having that system in place is so key, 'cause I would've floundered around for 2 years trying to figure out all this stuff.
Sylvie: I mean, 2 years is a long time and a lot of people that would not have been helped, and a lot of income that you would have left on the table, that's for sure. So that's awesome. So yeah, I think that that's, you know, it's just so key that, I mean, not only that you wrote an eBook, but you have kids, you've got, you know, you're recently married, so it's not like you just have, you know, you're a neurosurgeon that's doing consulting, so you have a million things going on, but not only did you write the eBook in 8 weeks, but you also have it titled, you have a cover design, you have like, it's just like, you're dotting I’s and crossing T’s at this point, but it's pretty much done. So that is fantastic, and you know, you have a website that's going up. By the time this interview is up, the website will be up, so you know, it's fantastic. So, I wanna honor you Darlene, because exactly like you said, you know, our system is great, our support is great, if I do say so myself, but the truth of the matter is that–Oh, your puppy is so cute.
Darlene: Oh my gosh, sorry, he's been barking all day.
Sylvie: No, that's okay, he's fantastic, he's adding his 2 cents. But, you know, like if you don't show up committed, like, you know, you showed up, Darlene, you were the perfect example of, like, I'm getting this outcome. There might be hurtles that come in the way, I will figure it out, but you know, this is it, this is happening, I am doing it, and that is ultimately the attitude that you need for the rest of it to work, right? Because whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right? So, you know, and you were a person who, every single step of the way you were like, “Oh, I'm definitely doing this, this is an I can thing, so just show me how.” And that is, like, sure, we can do that, that's easy. So, that is fantastic, so I wanna honor you for that and really, you know, I mean, your kids are so lucky to have you, your husband's so lucky to have you, and your readers of your eBook are so lucky that you really, you know, rolled up your sleeves, and did the work, and made this happen, so I wanna honor you for showing up and doing the work.
Darlene: Thank you so much, Sylvie, I appreciate it, and I certainly wouldn't have done it like this without you, so I appreciate it.
Sylvie: You got it, girl. So is there anything else that you would wanna share with someone who's on the fence about starting an eBook project, or you know, is this even something that they can do, do they have the time, or whatever else? Is there anything you wanna share as a parting note for them?
Darlene: You know, I believe that, when you live your life by making choices according to your values, that that will answer the question for them. Now, you know, one thing I've learned from coaching is a lot of people don't know what their values are, but if you sit down and figure it out, and then you look at this and say, “Does writing this eBook notch with my values?” And for me, absolutely. My top values are faith, family activity, and perseverance, and so it met every single one of them. It also, you know, it allowed me to take different things and put 'em together in a new way, and that's one of my life missions. For anyone watching, take a look and see what are the things that are most important to you? And if writing this eBook meets with those, then you should absolutely do that because then what will happen is you will, the time will make itself. I don't know how to explain this, but you'll be, you know, I would be writing sitting waiting for my driver's license to get done, and you know, you just find time. You create time for it, and if it's something that is that important to you, and remembering that why. I remember when I was going through medical school, there were times I wanted to throw my books against the wall, but I remembered the why, why I was doing it, and it was the same with writing this book, and I remembered my patients, and being able to help them, and being able to make an impact in a way that hasn't been done before, and to me that is just one of the most fulfilling things, so that's all I would say.
Sylvie: Yeah, no, and I think that that's spot-on, because you do need to have an important enough why for when those days where you have to kinda drag your butt to the chair and drag your fingers to the keyboard. You need to have that important why. If the why is sort of like, “Well, let me just see if I can make some latte money on the side,” or whatever. We've seen that before. It's not a big enough why, you know? When the going gets tough, that's not gonna get you in the chair, so if your why is you wanna have that leveraged income, you wanna create that freedom for yourself, for your family, you don't wanna be tied to your desk 40 hours a week, you wanna impact the world with this gift that you have, you wanna package that knowledge and impact these people's lives, and you wanna increase your income, perhaps you're at an income cap with the type of business model that you have. Those are big enough why's. If you have a why like that and if you want to create a leveraged income stream with your knowledge while you're helping people with an eBook, then you know, that's when I would consider it. If you're watching this and you're thinking, “Darlene's story resonates with me. I think I can do this; I think I have something that can absolutely impact the world, and I can make great income while doing it,” and you just are looking for the system, you just need the how, then reach out to my team. They are a fantastic group of people that will help you get clarity on what's not working with your business right now, where you are right now, what you wanna get to. If we can help you bridge that gap, we'll absolutely let you know. If we can't, we'll steer you in a different direction instead, but either way, you'll get massive clarity on your business in just an hour's worth of time. So if that speaks to you, go ahead and grab a call. I'm gonna put the link below. The URL is sylviemccraken.com/Call, and book a call with my team, and we'll see if we can help you out. In the meantime, I will, Darlene, thank you so much for being here. You wanna say bye?
Darlene: Well, thank you so much, Sylvie. I can't express enough to you my gratitude for everything you've done, so thank you.
Sylvie: You got it, girl, thank you so much for being here, and thanks everyone for watching. Catch you soon.
