Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tricia Pingel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Tricia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
This story has so many twists and turns over the years – all of which lead to me realizing the true importance of taking time for my body to heal and recover, rather than power through everything. After years of building my practice from the ground up, birthing two children, managing a marriage, watching my parents & grandparents pass away from possibly preventable conditions (if only they addressed the stress!) I found myself in very poor health – and had to make changes to my own life so that I could best serve others well. Here are some quick one liners about the journey.
I was born with a Type A personality…
I’ve always been an overachiever!
When I was 24 my dad died.
I was graduating undergrad and heading to med school and I powered through…
I didn’t even start grieving for my dad until my mom died when I was 40.
I was devastated when my mom died, but I had a full caseload of patients, and I didn’t think I could take a leave of absence from work…
Once again, I powered through…
I continued to work 10 hour days and do “all the things”.
I thought I could emotionally handle it all.
I thought I was OK because I wasn’t breaking down emotionally at work…
But the stress and my grief were taking a toll on my body…
Unbeknownst to me, my body couldn’t handle that level of stress.
Even though I was an adrenal fatigue doctor, I didn’t understand that!
My body went into adrenal fatigue right under my nose.
I was too busy doing “all the things” to recognize the damage the stress was doing to my body.
Eventually, I stopped being able to do “all the things”…
My hair was thinning, my body muscle had wasted away, and frankly I looked sickly.
My energy and overall health tanked.
When I opened my eyes and realized I was in adrenal fatigue, I knew I needed to make massive changes…
I was terrified that I was on the path to disease and possibly an early death, just like my parents, which is a devastating affliction.
I knew that I needed to commit 100% to restoring my adrenals so that I could reverse my health and find myself again.
And that’s exactly what I did!
I allowed myself to fully grieve the loss of my parents.
I prioritized ME and replenished my adrenals through lifestyle and dietary changes.
I can honestly say that in these past 6 years, I’ve felt better than I’ve ever felt at any other time in my entire life!
I’m turning 47 this year, and I feel like I’m aging backward!
I bounce out of bed every morning and maintain high energy levels until bedtime…
I’m inspired to dance several times a day and be authentically ME!
I’ve reconnected to my youthful, fun-loving self and I truly love my life!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
General bio: Dr. Pingel has helped thousands of people restore their health by showing them how cortisol is at the root cause of their symptoms. She specializes in restoring the nutrition depleted by stress, rebalancing their hormones and helping women change their mindset to repel incoming stressors so that they can return to their happy, vibrant and energetic selves.
-Author of Total Health Turnaround, which has sold over 60,000 copies
-Creator of the online Programs: Total Health Turnaround, Total Energy Turnaround, 7 Day Ultimate Detox and 30 day Walking for Weight Loss.
-CEO of Total Health Apothecary, a supplement line specific to the nutritional needs of those under stress
-CEO of Pingel Progressive Medicine, a Naturopathic Concierge Medical Practice based in Arizona
-Health Blogger, providing the public with reliable, honest and evidence based information from a naturopathic perspective
-Host of FB and IG Weekly Live “Ask Dr. Pingel” where she answers live questions from the public on naturopathic approaches and therapies to common conditions.
Dr. Pingel has appeared on numerous podcast and TV appearance including: The Dr. Axe Show, Ask the Expert with JJ Virgin, News Channel 3/Good Morning Arizona and Arizona Family, News Channel 7/The Arizona Daily Mix with Brad Perry, Good Morning Sunshine with Carey Pena and Brandon Lee, 8 WLA/BLOOM Florida, News Channel 8/Hello Iowa.
She has contributed as an expert to many publications including: Mind Body Green, Prevention Magazine, Yoga Journal, Eat This Not That, MSN.com, Vitamin Shoppe, Health Central, Birdie, Livestrong and more.
It’s no secret that this mom, doctor and hip hop dance enthusiast is known as The Hip Hop Energy Doc™️. Dr. Pingel is commonly found dancing all over social media, cheering on her two boys at football, creating healthy vegan recipes in her kitchen and snuggling her 3 dogs and cat at home with her husband in Phoenix, Arizona. After experiencing her own health struggles and personal loss, she strives in creating a community of positivity, gratitude and living every day to its fullest potential.
My story of how I went into Naturopathic medicine (I was going to be a veterinarian): https://youtu.be/z7f5HkYBKXo
Instagram @drpingel
Facebook @DrTriciaPingel
Other tidbits/fun facts:
– Ford Robert Black Model – runway and print – grew up modeling as my family was the industry. First job was 9 months old. Have continued into my 40s.
– was planning to be a veterinarian – but when my dad died, I moved over toe human medicine to be part of the future of medicine – to help more people take control of their health.
– I practice Hip Hop Dance – love it. If I could so anything it would be to dance all day long. In fact, if there is music playing, I can’t stay in my seat – especially if it’s snoop Dogg.
– I have 3 dogs (2 bloodhounds, 1 French bulldog named piggy), a cat, and 3 fish tanks
– I LOVE Disneyland. It’s freeing to be a kid for a few days.
– I am 6 feet tall but everyone, when they see me on video etc think I am short :)
Working with patients/clients: I went into concierge medicine because I value the doctor/patient relationship. My great grandfather was a physician that made house calls and knew the whole family. This has always been what I have strived for – rather than the “all in one box, just a number” approach to medicine that we have developed. I limit the number of clients I work with so that I can develop strong relationships, spend a large amount of time educating them on what their body is trying to communicate, exploring ALL options and supporting the decision that they feel is right for them after an interactive conversation. I love nothing more to be a part of a life changing health journey with my clients. It warms my heart to see them well. The hardest part of my job (but the most rewarding) is when they no longer need me and can manage their health on their own.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience is my word. I have fallen down so many times in life, both personally and professionally….and stood right back up again. I do not see failure as a fault – I truly think we fail in order to grow…and we can only fail if we takes risks. And we can only take risks if we live without fear.
To share the details of all of my stories would take hours – but I can provide insight into how the trait of resilience has helped me.
when many people fall down, they beat themselves up. I used to do this. And then I would wonder why I failed (fell down) again. After many personal losses and the loss of myself from grief and getting stuck in my own head – I finally figured it out. Resilience is not about pushing and pushing more to get more done…..it’s about mindset. if you change the way you view the world, and the little things that you get worked up over – you’re world changes. You become lighter. You welcome failures and challenges and overcome them in a way that is fun and exciting. You recover from everything = resilience.
it wasn’t until I started really looking at what my hardships have taught me that I started to really thrive in my life and have fun. My new motto is “if isn’t fun, I need to make it fun”. And if it truly can never be fun – I need to hand it over to someone else or ditch it.
I am nor resilient because I have truly overcome the fears, the limitations, and the mindset that things are hard. if you welcome change, things are actually quite easy. We are usually the ones that get in our own way from being successful.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My mom helped me run my medical practice. It was successful, I was working long days – and her cancer started to show signs. She rapidly started to decline. My “right hand person” wasn’t at work. She was at home, sick, wasting away. I spent every moment that I could with her (and these are some of the most pivotal moments in my life connecting with her on another level) – BUT I still worked. I still spent hours at the office, took on her workload. Went home to my young children to care for them…..And when she finally did pass, I was so booked out that I didn’t take time off. I was depressed, malnourished, angry, grieving and not in a place to be giving to others. I started to dislike the people around me. I wasn’t sleeping…..was a mess. But I was “doing it all”. From the outside, people didn’t see the pain I was in. I was in a serious rut – and I couldn’t find a way out.
I was sitting in front of a patient and she was describing her symptoms to me – and she was describing ME. It was at that moment, I realized that I WAS MY PATIENT and I needed help. I decided to change the way I do business and life and made a MAJOR PIVOT. (which by the way was scary – but I dove in)
After loosing so many family members, it finally kicked in that life is precious. That I have control over how I live it and how I give back to others.I recognized that if I am not happy and healthy, I cannot possibly encourage others to do so. I pivoted my business to a concierge model, which lowered my schedule and allowed me to start healing me while still practicing. I looked at my family in a different way – with gratitude. I started to recognize the little things that make me smile. I started dancing again after many years of putting it off because I didn’t “have time”. Dance has healed me and that is why I share it often with others. It’s me connecting with ME through music.
Just these small mindset changes and focusing on what I LOVE to do (dance) changed the path of my career. I started to develop online programs, I started showing up on social media (and the dancing came along with it), I started talking to larger groups….I started to recognize the impact I could have on the future of medicine. I have met some amazing health influencers who I now collaborate with, bounce ideas off of. Running my business is FUN. I have time for my kids, I have fun with my family – I no longer compromise my health in order to serve others and I can serve others on such a higher level.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drpingel.com
- Instagram: @drpingel
- Facebook: @DrTriciaPingel
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tricia-pingel-nmd/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrTriciaPingelNMD
- Yelp: Pingel Progressive Medicine (I think)