We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Patrick Luo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Patrick below.
Patrick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
While attending a free healthcare entrepreneur seminar, I realized starting a business was simpler and easier than expected. I knew how to help people reverse their Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes from my education, clinical practice, and personal experience. The only thing that was holding me back from launching it was making this about the clients instead of assuming I knew what they needed help with. The first step was to do market research. This involved joining multiple Diabetes Support groups to see what people were struggling with. The next step was making social media content on how I would coach a client to address the problem with a way for people to get in touch with me. This would be done through YouTube posts, Instagram/Facebook Reels, TikTok videos, and blog posts. When people started reaching out to me through emails or private messaging, we would do a discovery call with them to see if we were a good fit for each other. If we connected well, then we would go over the contract and make the payment. If they were not ready to move forward, I would give them other free resources and check in on them in 3 or so months. As long as I had a payment processor (aka Stripe, Venmo, CashApp, or something else), an LLC (many websites are out there to help make one), and a way for people to learn about the services I offer (social media posts), then my business is up and running. I will say, it is not easy. It takes patience to build enough content over time for people to be interested in what you have to offer. But if the offer is good enough, then people will consistently come to support the business.
Patrick, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Patrick & I had prediabetes in 2021. Before my diagnosis, I felt like I was going to pee my pants every 10 minutes even on grocery trips, I had hunger pains that felt like a Swiss army knife stabbed my stomach despite eating an hour ago, felt exhausted even though I got 8 hours of sleep, and remembered how my grandpa died from his Type 2 Diabetes. I thought being put on dialysis, losing my vision, getting diabetic neuropathy, hearing my future grandkids say how delicious their food is that I can’t have, and being in constant pain was going to be my future. But I chose to do something about it. After joining Facebook Support Groups, experimenting with different diets like keto, carnivore, vegetarian, intermittent fasting, and countless “fads” and exercising like there was no tomorrow, I got burnt out and was sick of it. It wasn’t until I decided to focus on the basics of human physiology, exercise physiology, and human psychology that I found the answer. Consistency and moderation. After focusing on making small changes like walking after meals, paring proteins and fiber with carbs, and increasing my strength training, I found what worked for me. When I was able to break my generational curse of Type 2 Diabetes, I decided it was time to help others by launching my business. It started small by posting content on social media, collaborating with other Certified Diabetes Educators, and coaching a few clients virtually. Fast forward to today, I kept my prediabetes reversed for 2 years and counting, helped thousands of clients lower their A1C, and proved the generational curse of Type 2 Diabetes can be broken…… While still eating the carbs people love! I am a Diabetes coach, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Precision Nutrition L1 Coach, One80 System Provider, Foodie, Anime Lover, and Traveler. I guide people with Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes to learn how to eat their favorite foods to satisfy their food cravings and reverse their Type 2 Diabetes or Prediabetes.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
After amassing 36,000+ followers on different social media platforms combined, I learned the key to building an audience is to keep interacting with them. If you have a product that can help people, focus on joining groups on Facebook, Reddit, or any other social media websites where people with the same issues come to share their struggles. Of course, follow the rules of the group and be respectful/ethical. When you know what people want, then it’s time to make content out of it. If it’s someone’s first time building an audience on social media, then the goal is to post on one platform. The first post is going to be bad and everyone starts that way since it’s a skill that people develop with practice. Be consistent with posting. If it’s only once a month, then once a month is plenty. Make sure you watch other people’s short-form content to figure out what you want to practice doing next time. For me, it was learning how to add captions to my posts. I did that for the next 3 months until I felt comfortable with it. Then I moved on to building a better intro so I could catch people’s attention. I did that for the next 3 months until I got better with it and focused on a different thing to work on. It just takes reps and concentrated practice. After all, your favorite music artist most likely published a song they hated, but it turned out to be one of their greatest hits. For long-form content like podcasts or videos, study what other people are doing well, take one thing you like, and practice doing it for the next 3 months. Unlike all the gurus out there, the goal isn’t to be a one-hit wonder. The goal is to make sure your business stays alive for as long as it can.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Owning a business is hard and making sure you have a safety net is crucial. I started my business during my 2nd year of my Doctor of Physical Therapy program. I made the mistake of doing too much at once and when I suffered a foot injury that required surgery, I had to stop the progress I was making with my business. I took out a business loan and student loans to make ends meet and at the time of this post, I put a pause on taking clients and making content to focus on rehabilitating my foot and passing my board exams. However, despite being on break from the business, people are still subscribing to or following my social media accounts, collecting my free resources, joining my email list, and sending me positive support on my journey. The audience I’ve fostered motivates me to return to growing the business when I’m healthy and pass my board exams. I learned a good rule of thumb is to calculate how much 1 month of expenses costs with a safety net and have up to 3-6 months in the savings account. Then, keep working a job while growing the business until the business can generate 1 month of the job’s income for 3 consistent months. Then it would be time to transition into the business full-time. But if someone prefers to balance their job and their business, then do what makes financial sense in your situation. Contacting a financial expert can help too since I’m not a financial expert and I’m just sharing what I would have done differently! So figure out what will work for you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.diabetesmanagementgroup.org/homepage
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diabetesmanagementgroup/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diabetesmanagementgroup
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luopatrick09/
- Twitter: https://www.x.com/DiabetesMG
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@diabetesmanagementgroup
- Other: Private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1373653610106124
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@diabetesmanagementgroup
Image Credits
Volunteering at the Special Olympics FunFitness Event
Jane Inyang, Doctor of Physical Therapy, pictured on the right.