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Every day thousands of doctors openly discuss their side hustles in the private Facebook groups. From blogs to coaching services and artwork there’s a myriad of endeavours. Central to the most successful hustles is the clarity of the personal brand behind the business. Jon Michail is an entrepreneurial activist and personal branding expert. He helps doctors and businesses construct and communicate their brand, so they can get attention in a noisy marketplace. In this short post Jon shares examples of successful doctor side hustles and explains the importance of developing a strong personal brand. – Andrew
By Jon Michail
There’s a lot of talk about side hustles at the moment. These micro-businesses are big news, although it is largely assumed that they are a way for people to pursue their passions whilst holding down an unrewarding day job.
That is half true. Yes, a side hustle is the perfect way to pursue your passion, but having one doesn’t mean you don’t also have a successful and satisfying career.
Around the world, the title of Doctor is synonymous with career success. That doesn’t mean there isn’t more to life. That doesn’t mean you don’t have more to give.
Yes, you put a lot of hard work and brainpower into your career as a doctor, however, that is still just one part of who you are. Too often we let our careers define us, especially so if our careers are going well, if we are successful in the world’s eyes. This can be a dangerous trap to fall into. If all we have is our work, then it won’t be long before the detrimental effects on our health start to show.
The happiest (and most successful) doctors I know all have side hustles, or at the very least, interests outside of medicine.
One GP I know is a hobby farmer and was an early blockchain technology investor. Another is a jazz musician with an entrepreneurial bent – mixing business and art.
My muso friend couldn’t imagine life without this creative outlet, whilst the hobby farming GP loves to come home from a day at the clinic to get outside and mend a fence or feed his sheep.
What separates these side hustles from mere hobbies, you ask? They may well start as hobbies, but for the doctors who pursue them, these hobbies have grown into serious and engaging work.
My friend the jazz musician recently travelled to LA to record his first album with a dream team of top-ranking musicians. Whilst the blockchain technology investments allowed my other friend to invest in his own clinic. His side-hustle has actually helped him to grow and improve his day job!
Too often people associate their personal brand with their career, making it very one-sided. The truth is we are all multi-faceted people with dreams and talents that have the potential to enrich our everyday work, but sometimes need an outlet beyond that too.
Richard Branson never said to himself, “I have too many business streams. They’re too diverse and I can’t personally oversee them all. I should really give up on some of them.” No. He just kept building. What he did say, was this,
““Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.””
Continual re-invention, imagination, commitment, branding. This is what the side-hustle requires. Because you don’t want to look back over your life thirty years down the track and find that sure, you are successful, you have money put aside for a rainy day, but you find that your spirit has died within you.
Branson’s brands are diverse. What does an airline have to do with a gym, or a mobile phone company, after all? Yet the Virgin brand never seems incongruent. Why? Because it is Richard Branson’s personal brand as an entrepreneur that holds all these companies together.
Sure, some of Branson’s business brands are “bigger” or spring to mind more readily than others, but every single one has benefitted from the strong personal brand of its creator.
You can learn from Richard Branson’s success by allowing your own personal brand to influence your business too, whether that be your image as the trusted GP, the expert surgeon, or the knowledgeable specialist. Your personal brand will provide structure and direction for your entrepreneurial side-hustle too.
Doctors Who Brand
There are many entrepreneurial medical professionals to learn from as well. You can learn a lot about successful branding from controversial host of The Dr. Oz Show, Mehmet Oz. You can learn from his mistakes as well, but you’ve got to admire the way he has made the most of his opportunities and natural talent for keeping an audience entertained.
How about other celebrity doctors – Dr. Drew Pinksy, or Deepak Chopra?
Then, of course, there are those who gain attention, not because they are seeking fame and fortune, but because of the wildfire spread of their entrepreneurial ideas. Think of Australian plastic surgeon Fiona Wood, whose patented invention of spray-on skin has revolutionised care for burn victims.
Another doctor to be lauded for his research is Ian Frazer AC, who, working with Jian Zhou, developed the first vaccine designed to prevent a cancer, the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer.
Not all doctors remain with medicine, however. Kerryn Lyndel Phelps AM may have gained her leadership experience as president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), but she has since made a successful leap to politics. Her majority victory in Malcolm Turnbull’s old seat of Wentworth surprised many as it had previously been considered a safe Liberal party seat, and Phelps is a progressive independent.
You don’t have to aspire to take the same paths as these doctors, but there is no denying the part successful branding has played in turning their side-hustles and dreams into viable careers.
So What Is Your Personal Brand, Really?
We can tend to overcomplicate the concept of personal branding, but it is really quite simple. As Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
We all understand that people have to know you, like you, and trust you before they will invest in your products or services. That’s your outer image, or personal brand AUTHORITY, and it will need to be driven by your inner image. You need to know, like, and trust yourself before others will.
Your personal brand is developed through your personal branding system. Branding is a professional system that builds from a foundation. It is not ad-hoc.
So if you enjoy your work, but feel like there could be something more, then I suggest that you invest some time working on your personal brand. Do this first, rather than jumping at any passing opportunity that takes your fancy.
Take time to clarify your purpose and your goals. Is your side hustle a creative outlet? A retirement plan? A career switch?
Will your side hustle be related to your work as a doctor – such as writing about and sharing your medical expertise, or perhaps medical research, or teaching? Your side hustle might very well seem utterly unrelated to your current role, such as a move to politics, or investing, or launching a new product but it cannot be incongruent with your true self. It should never be unrelated to your brand.
Invest time and thought into getting your personal brand story right, and you will find yourself with work that satisfies your soul, not saddled with a series of bad business decisions and regret.
About Jon
Jon Michail, Image Consultant | Personal Branding Coach | Business and Personal Branding Strategist | Author | Group CEO and Founder, Image Group International
Image Group International are Entrepreneurial Activists… Rebels With a Cause!
Group International help executives, entrepreneurs, and changemakers to build, grow, and monetise their personal brands, (online and offline) by positioning them to stand out so they attract their ideal clients, connections, and investors.
They are committed to maximising an individual’s personal impact, influence, and value in the ever-changing and disruptive business environment.
Image Group International is recognised as Australasia’s leading personal brand image advisory, with over 29 years of proven results.
