We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Diana Medina. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Diana below.

Diana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

I would like to share the story of my logo for my business.

There are people who influence our lives and deeply change us for the better. One of those people was my aunt Minerva.

When I was young, my parents worked multiple jobs. Tia Minerva would help take care of me and my younger brother while they were away. We were like any group of kids. Energetic, rambunctious, and always getting into trouble. And when we got into trouble, we lied about it.

“Get over here! Look me in the eyes” she’d say. She’d always get real close to us when she did this. “I see a little horsey running across your eyes. You’re lying to me.” and I would run as fast as I could to the bathroom mirror so I could see the horsey in my eyes for myself. That dang horse was always giving me away! Or rather, I was always giving myself away. By running to the mirror to see if there was a horse running across my eyes, she’d know I was lying. Whenever I was telling the truth, I’d stand tall and say “No Tia! Look again! It’s not there!” This worked until I was old enough to realize there never was a horse. Just me, running to the mirror.

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In 2012, I was in my second year of residency at Houston Methodist Hospital. I was one of four residents chosen from applicants to continue my physician training at globally recognized institution. I was training in the heart of the medical center, learning from global leaders in medicine, and I was ready to quit. I’d worked for this career non-stop. I’d worked for years. But I was tired.

By this time, my beloved Tia Minerva had been in the hospital for months. I sat on her hospital bed with her while I broke the news. She gave my good look and deliberately told me “Come here and look me in the eyes.” I did as I was told. “I see a little horsey running across your eyes.”

I was dumbfounded. I tried to stand tall. “Tia, no there’s not. There’s no horse” I managed to choke through my tears. In all her wisdom she shared with me these words: “Dianita, tu haz nadado por aguas profundas para ahogarte en la orilla del mar.” Translation: “You’ve swam across deep oceans to come drown in shallow waters.” I thought of all the work I’d put into this career. I thought of the crystal blue- green waters of the beach that recharged my soul while I was in medical school. I thought of my aunt. My second mother. She believed in me more than I believed in myself. It’s her words that gave me the strength to finish. My aunt passed away one month after that visit in the hospital.

My Tia Minerva loved butterflies. She was strong, brave, and packed a lot of punch in a small package. As I embark on this journey of being a small business owner, I think of her often. I thought of her in the founding of Luminous Health & Wellness. It’s out of the love I will always carry for her, that I designed the Luminous logo as a butterfly with two faces looking at each other – her eyes looking into mine. The colors are that of the ocean – blue and green. Every time I look at my logo and I’m reminded of her belief in me that day at the hospital. I miss her and love her eternally. She would be so proud to see what I’ve accomplished.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a board-certified family medicine physician that offers direct primary care. Direct primary care (DPC) is an innovative model of healthcare that focuses on restoring the patient-doctor relationship. This model emphasizes direct primary care access, affordability, and prevention. We use transparent, flat monthly recurring memberships without any copays or deductibles. It allows for you to have full access to your doctor via HIPAA compliant technology (ie. portal messages, e-mail, virtual video visits and phone call). Its like having affordable concierge-like boutique medicine at your fingertips.

So I’ve taken the plunge to move away from insurance into a membership model of primary care. I was previously practicing in a traditional practice for five years and then left to do urgent care for an additional three years. Although I loved my previous staff, I quickly became burned out in this system. I kept contemplating an alternative career versus changing the way I was asked to practice medicine. I had known about direct primary care (DPC) since 2013 but never dared to depart from my employed position and become an entrepreneur. At least not yet. In 2019, I chose to take a leap of faith, follow my instincts, and follow the path of entrepreneurship. This journey has been challenging and rewarding in so many ways. I get to sit down one by one with the patient and genuinely get to know them. The challenges are all worth it.

My visits are a minimum of thirty minutes, and most importantly, I don’t worry about the time ticking. My office visits are as long as we need them to be! I use this valuable time to get to know my patient on a personal level. Because I no longer work with insurance, I no longer have to worry about coverage in a patient’s policy. My hands are not tied to which medications I can prescribe. My medical license is genuinely free with DPC. I can now focus on YOU, the patient. My mission as a direct primary care physician is to provide you with high-quality care and keep you healthy. People say “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and I couldn’t agree more.

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If you’re unsure if you’re receiving quality healthcare, I ask you the following: When was the last time you were able to talk to your physician directly if you had a question? Have you ever been able to shoot a text, send them a picture, or give them a quick call? Or were you forced to leave a message, or worse, come in, pay an office visit, and get rushed out the door for something simple?

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Having direct access to your physician is not common in a traditional practice. As a DPC member, you can access me from your fingertips via text, video chat, and email. Plus, the membership includes all in-house procedures, discounted labs, and imaging studies. I believe we ALL should have access to quality, affordable health care. It is truly a privilege to continue serving the same community I reside in.

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Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think its important to never loose focus of your “why”, otherwise it is easy to become trapped into comparing yourself with others. It is good to have an open mind because your “plans” will very likely not go as planned. I have a strong support system both professionally and personally. Before making any changes within my business I ask the opinions of my mentors, CPA, close family and friends. The beautiful thing is that you can pivot at any time if a particular change did not produce the outcome you had expected. Running a business sounds so glamorous but it does take a lot of effort and patience to bring your vision to reality.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I’m a auditory learner and prefer to listen to audiobooks. I’ve listened to several books about marketing and how to effectively manage a team. I listen to the My DPC story podcast on a weekly basis to learn about other peoples journey into the DPC arena. I’ve also been very active in the secret Facebook physician groups which have helped tremendously. The DPC community is very generous and I have met some of the pioneers of this movement at DPC conferences and mastermind one-on-one’s.

One of the first books I did read before opening was ” Be Our Guest-Revised and Updated Edition: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service (A Disney Institute Book) “. I make every employee read it and then we discuss it. Basically this book discusses the best practices and key processes that have made Disney well-known worldwide. I take a lot of pride in the amazing patient experience we are able to provide to our patients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.luminoushealthandwellness.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/luminoushealthandwellness
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/luminoushealthandwellness

Image Credits
Maura Campuzano and Victoria Garcia (I used two different photographers)