Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Myra Ahmad, co-founder, and CEO of Mochi Health, located in San Francisco, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We're the first service that lets you completely customize your weight loss plan using evidence-based treatments and medicine. Patients can go through the eligibility and mix and match services like visits with body-positive board-certified obesity medicine providers, licensed nutritionists, fitness coaching, therapy, and more! All our providers are hired in-house, and visits are conducted entirely virtually.
Tell us about yourself
I was previously a T5 MD candidate and left two months before commencement to focus on scaling up this company. Before that, I was at UCSF and MIT Koch Institute doing research. Doctor's have a huge bias against patients who are overweight. They are often dismissive and fail to provide constructive solutions like referrals to obesity medicine providers (yes, a board-certified specialty!), nutritionists, PT, etc. The patients coming to us have experienced serious trauma from years of these experiences with healthcare. Their trust in traditional healthcare has completely eroded. We're looking to fix that. Our providers are trained in weight bias and have certification in obesity medicine– and are looking to build a long-term relationship with patients to best counsel them on treatments specific to them!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Hearing the stories of patients and the types of things their other providers have told them about their weight. I was shocked and also humbled that they were willing to share their experiences. It's been an incredible feeling to rebuild our patient's trust in evidence-based healthcare options while providing the treatment they've been looking for.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Staying focused on 1 task at a time. I try to reprioritize by listing the top 3 things that would get us closer to our two-week targets and just doing those.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
For women especially: take more risks. I've met a lot of other healthcare founders since making my company, and most didn't spend nearly as much time in healthcare before jumping into it. They were just more willing to take a risk and learn on the go.
The second tip for everyone is to make sure to pick a good co-founder. I spend all day, every day, with my co-founder (Preeti, CTO), and I'm glad we were kayaking buddies before this.
Last would be that regardless of who you are or what company you're trying to make, you will get criticism. Most people don't go down this path, and since it's non-traditional, you'll be met with a lot of skeptics. Ignore them and keep going.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.joinmochi.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/myrahahmad
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myra-a-85404187/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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