Thriving Practice with Tracy Cherpeski

Hosted by Tracy Cherpeski

Business Health Fitness EducationInterviews guests

Website RSS feed LinkedIn

Episodes

100

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

About the show

Top 5% globally ranked podcast for healthcare practice owners. Prevent burnout, grow profitably. 215+ episodes, 51 countries. Welcome to Thriving Practice - the business podcast that proves independent physicians, dentists, therapists, and healthcare practice owners can build profitable, efficient practices while actually enjoying their lives. By the Numbers: 215+ episodes featuring top-tier practice owners and healthcare business experts Global Top 5% ranking on Listen Notes among all podcasts 51 countries reached globally 9 seasons of proven practice management strategies Weekly episodes with actionable insights you can implement immediately Hosted by Tracy Cherpeski, MBA, MA, CPSC - executive coach, business consultant, and CME-approved educator with 15+ years specializing in healthcare practice consulting. Tracy brings you successful practice owners, industry experts, and medical association leaders, all united in helping private practices stay private and thrive. Subscribe now and join our community at ThrivingPracticeCommunity.com for ongoing support from practice leaders who've been where you are.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 12, 2026Episode 26210 min

The One-Lever Method: Tracy Cherpeski on Course Correcting Your Practice Without Chaos – A Special SNACK Episode, EP 262

Something feels off — but you can't quite name it. In this SNACK episode, Tracy Cherpeski joins Miranda Dorta to talk about what Tracy calls "practice identity drift": the gradual, hard-to-see process by which a practice owner's original vision gets buried under the weight of compliance, overcommitment, and reactive patterns. Tracy breaks down why drift looks different from burnout, why overcommitment isn't just about saying yes too much, and what it actually takes to course correct without overcorrecting. You'll hear about her 90-minute onboarding process, the one-lever-at-a-time method, and a simple three-question framework to help you figure out if — and where — your practice has drifted. If you've checked all the boxes but still feel disconnected from the practice you set out to build, this one's for you. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

June 10, 2026Episode 26144 min

Market Yourself, Not Your Practice: Ginger Allen on Personal Branding for Physician Growth, EP 261

What if the most powerful marketing tool a physician has isn't a website or an ad campaign — it's themselves? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Ginger Allen, founder of Your Medical Liaison and president of the Florida Medical Association Alliance, to talk about what actually works when growing a functional medicine practice or any independent healthcare practice. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. With 12 years of medical marketing experience, Ginger has seen it all — physicians who invest in $100,000 machines before they have a patient base to support them, marketing companies that take the money and disappear, and the slow grind of burnout that sets in when doctors are trying to run a business on top of practicing medicine. Her antidote: get marketing off your plate, lead with your personal brand, and build a practice where you're the draw — not the decor. You'll hear why functional and integrative medicine requires a fundamentally different marketing strategy, how Ginger helps physicians show up on camera without hating every second of it, and what she's consistently noticed about doctors who make the shift to root-cause care: they're genuinely happier. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

June 3, 2026Episode 26017 min

The Alchemy of Change: What Burnout Is Really Telling You About Your Practice, EP 260

Every practice owner has a moment when they do the math — and quietly wonder whether they'd be better off just becoming a barista. If you've been there, this episode is for you. In this solo episode, Tracy Cherpeski introduces the Alchemy of Change: a three-stage framework for understanding why the hardest seasons of practice ownership aren't signs of failure, but of real transformation in progress. Drawing on the medieval concept of alchemy and the surprisingly rich etymology of the word "quicksilver," Tracy breaks down calcination (the burning), dissolution (the messy middle), and coagulation (the solidification of something new) — and explains why you can't skip or force any of them. She also shares what it actually looks like on the other side: not perfection, not done, but a practice that fits the person you've become. And what a guide's real job is in this process — especially during the stage when most people want to quit. If you're questioning the call right now, this one is worth your full attention. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

May 27, 2026Episode 25942 min

From Pajama Charting to Month-Long Vacations: Practice Management Software That Actually Understands Healthcare Featuring Damien Adler, EP 259

What if the biggest obstacle to a thriving practice isn't your clinical skills — it's everything around them? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Damien Adler, co-founder of Zanda Health and a practicing psychologist, to talk about how the right systems can take administrative burden off your plate and give you your practice — and your life — back. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Damien and his wife built and ran a private psychology practice for 14 years before selling it, and they learned firsthand how fast admin can overwhelm a growing practice. What changed everything? Building systems so good that the practice ran while they were in Europe for a month. That experience is what became Zanda Health. In this episode, you'll hear how simple automations can improve patient experience before they even walk in the door, why patients actually judge your practice on things that have nothing to do with clinical care, and how Zanda's AI features handle transcription and charting securely — compliance first, always. Plus: Damien's one piece of advice for practice owners who feel overwhelmed by where to start. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

May 22, 2026Episode 2589 min

The Grip Problem: What White-Knuckling Your Practice Is Really Costing You – A Special Snack Episode, EP 258

What if the thing quietly holding your practice back isn't a systems problem or a staffing problem — but a grip problem? In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta turns the mic around and puts Tracy Cherpeski in the interview seat for an unscripted conversation about one of the most persistent patterns in healthcare practice ownership: holding on too tightly. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Tracy draws on over 15 years of coaching experience to explore what white-knuckling actually looks like day-to-day, why it's especially hard for high-achieving clinicians to recognize, and what it really means to surrender — not as giving up, but as a powerful, active choice. She also shares a personal shift that changed the way she works with practice owners and created a surprising ripple effect in her clients' confidence and growth. If you've ever felt like everything depends on you, this one is worth your next commute. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

May 20, 2026Episode 25742 min

Stop Giving Away Your Energy: Phil Johnson on the Real ROI of Emotional Intelligence, EP 257

What if the biggest gap in your healthcare practice isn't clinical—it's emotional? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with returning guest Phil Johnson, founder of the Master Business Leadership program, for a direct and data-driven conversation about emotional intelligence and why most high-achieving healthcare professionals have barely scratched the surface of developing it. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Phil's work spans 18 countries and 57 years of experience. He breaks down why EQ development is experiential—not intellectual—and why that distinction changes everything. He shares the neuroscience of why change is so hard, what it really means to stop giving away your energy, and what the ROI of genuine EQ development looks like in concrete results. You'll hear why high IQ and low EQ so often go together, what Apple's hiring strategy reveals about emotionally intelligent organizations, and how the Gallup data on global employee engagement connects directly to what's happening inside your practice right now. If you've been talking about emotional intelligence without doing much about it, this episode is a direct and useful challenge to go further. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn

May 13, 2026Episode 25632 min

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing: Dr. Peter Kevorkian on Purpose-Driven Practice and Burnout Prevention, EP 256

What happens when the business of healthcare starts to crowd out the heart of it? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Dr. Peter Kevorkian — President of Life Chiropractic College West and a chiropractor with 42 years in private practice — to talk about the one thing that separates thriving practice owners from burnt-out ones: staying connected to your purpose. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Dr. Peter has spent his career as a voice of conscience for healthcare practitioners, reminding them that they entered this work to serve people — not to be consumed by coding, compliance, and insurance bureaucracy. In this conversation, he shares how he built a predominantly self-pay practice that made a very good living without ever turning a patient away, what patient empowerment actually looks like in practice, and why he believes the healthcare system functions more like a sick care system than a wellness one. He closes with a message so simple it stops you in your tracks: everyone wants to feel heard, significant, and loved. Lead from that, and everything changes. Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

May 8, 2026Episode 2559 min

What Med School Never Taught You About Running a Practice—And How to Close the Gap – A Special Snack Episode, EP 255

Medical school taught you how to care for patients. It didn't teach you how to run a practice. In this SNACK episode, Miranda Dorta interviews host Tracy Cherpeski about the business knowledge gap that's quietly costing independent practice owners—and what you can do about it whether or not you have a business degree. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Tracy breaks down why the clinical mindset—while essential for patient care—can actually work against decisive business leadership. She shares why the clinician hat and the CEO hat are not interchangeable, what delegation really means (it's not abdication), and the most practical first step for any practice owner who feels behind on the business side. This one is short, direct, and packed with insight that applies whether you're just starting out or years into practice ownership. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

May 6, 2026Episode 25418 min

The Diagnostic Eye: Reading Your Practice's Recurring Problems, EP 254

There's something in your practice that keeps coming back. You handle it, move on — and there it is again. In this solo episode of The Thriving Practice Podcast, Tracy Cherpeski reframes every recurring problem in your practice: those problems aren't malfunctions. They're messages. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Drawing on her background in regenerative gardening and her experience coaching independent healthcare practice owners, Tracy introduces the concept of reading practice problems the way a skilled clinician reads recurring symptoms — with diagnostic intelligence, not just a quick fix. She walks through three categories of recurring "practice weeds," four diagnostic questions you already know how to ask, and a simple Two-Week Data Log that shifts you from reactive manager to pattern-reader. This is part two of a two-part mindset series. If you haven't listened to part one — Episode 247, From the Weeds to the Horizon — Tracy recommends starting there. But this episode stands on its own as a practical framework for any practice owner who's tired of managing the same problems on repeat. Ready to do this kind of thinking in community? Our June TPC cohort is open now. Inquire at ThrivingPracticeCommunity.com Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Is your practice growth-ready? See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page

April 29, 2026Episode 25335 min

You May Be the Bottleneck: What a Telehealth Entrepreneur Wants Every Practice Owner to Know Featuring Paulina Riedler, EP 253

What does it cost when a skilled provider spends their afternoon doing compliance paperwork instead of treating patients? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski sits down with Paulina Riedler — founder of SpaKinect and a registered nurse turned entrepreneur — to talk about telehealth compliance, practice efficiency, and the real cost of being the bottleneck in your own medical spa or aesthetic practice. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. Paulina built SpaKinect 14 years ago after spotting a compliance gap in the aesthetics industry: nurses performing Botox without proper physician oversight, not out of carelessness, but because the existing system made compliance impractical. Her telehealth good faith exam model now serves over 40 states and 42 employees — and has given her a front-row seat to how clinician-owners think about (and often avoid) thinking like a CEO. In this episode, you'll hear about the hidden revenue cost of handling your own compliance exams, why every practice owner should do a time audit, what it means to always be deal ready, and why succession planning isn't just for people who plan to sell. Tracy also shares a shoutout to a team member who proved that great systems are the best insurance policy a practice can have. Read the full show notes, memorable quotes, and key takeaways. See Where Your Practice Stands: Take our Practice Growth Readiness Assessment Connect With Us: Be a Guest on the Show Thriving Practice Community Schedule Strategy Session with Tracy Tracy’s LinkedIn Business LinkedIn Page