Season 7 of the Take Good Care podcast is here! Drs. Williams, Guthrie, and Greene kick off the new season with a discussion on how they cherish home after work with a recap on their time as guests on The Portia Show on FOX 5 Atlanta!
Transcript
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Welcome to Take Good Care podcast, an endeavor that grew out of our love for obstetrics and gynecology. Our aim and mission is to serve as a source of vital information for women of all races, ages, and walks in life. I am Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I’m Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And I’m Dr. Karen Greene. Welcome to our show.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Welcome to this new season of Take Good Care podcast. I’m Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I’m Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And I’m Dr. Karen Greene.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
So at the time of this recording, it’s also at the beginning of a new year. As we said, this is our first recording for this season of the podcast. We also feel that it’s actually a new season for us professionally, personally. This past year, we celebrated a lot of milestones. Our practice turned 40. Our founding partner, Dr. Rosemary Schultz, started this business in January of 1984, and over these first four decades, because we’re not done yet, we’ve had a lot of successes, we’ve learned a lot, we’ve had a lot of challenges. We’ve faced a lot of things personally in our own lives and professionally as medicine has changed and the economy has changed.
And so one of the wonderful things that happened to us last year was that we were given just a wonderful opportunity to be guests on the Portia Show. And so that was an amazing experience, and my partners and I would like to talk about that, because in the process of getting ready for that show with Portia, and she does a lifestyle show that is on FOX 5 Atlanta here in the local market, but it is syndicated, so you can look forward in your local markets. Again, that’s the Portia Show with Portia Bruner.
But in getting ready for that, we decided to talk about what ended up being our transition from what we called from chaos to calm, and what it really was was a discussion about our own two and three decades-long history now in medicine and what things we’ve learned and the challenges we faced. And in the process of doing that, I think it really allowed us to dig deeper into our own thoughts and really be reflective of, “Yeah, we’ve done some good stuff, we’ve had some challenges, we’ve had some lessons.” But I think out of that, we were able to really pull together, I think, some good insight, and so we want to have a deeper conversation about that.
But before we get started with all of that, my partners laugh, because I don’t tend to be very nervous or anxious about stuff, but walking into that studio shook me. As young people say, I was shook. What was y’all’s impressions that you remember from that day?
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I just didn’t know what to expect.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
What was the best part of it for you? What was the worst part?
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Best part for me was doing the show. Like I said, it was such a great experience. Portia was amazing, and just knowing that we could do it, that we did it. So that was the best part of it. Like I said, just like you, I was nervous. I’m thinking TV’s a whole lot different than sitting in our office.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Sitting in our own little personal space …
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Yes.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
… where we control what happens.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Yeah, we can stop it if we want to. We can say, “Okay, wait. Let’s do that over.” But no, it was amazing.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
What about you, Karen?
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yeah, the best part was honestly when it was over, because I was a little nervous because you walk in, it’s like, “Wait, this is live TV.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
You have cameras everywhere.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And the cameras are moving, and we’re going to say stuff, and then you can’t do a second take, you can’t edit it. I guess that’s what they did. And so I was very uncomfortable, and I think I told Portia this later, that I just kind of had to lean into that, that, “Okay, let’s just go with the flow and focus on my breath and just lean into it.” And when it was over, it was like, “Wow, we did that.” So it was different. It was definitely different. It was something, I think, an accomplishment that we can all look back on that we did.
And it also gave us some other ways to look at what we do as a podcast, I think, because she was very particular and very time-oriented, and we’re very particular and very time-oriented, but I think her way of leading our guest into talking and all that kind of stuff, and so that it made it more conversational. I was just amazed and tried not to just stare and watch her act.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Really. Just watch her do what Portia does. So I second all of that. So it was an amazing experience at the time. Of course, it was pre-recorded, so we recorded the episode several weeks before it actually aired. But when we got the air date, it coincided with a staff meeting that we already had planned. So we turned it into a watch party so that the staff could see what we had talked about all that long time. What I did not know, and I don’t want to waste too much time with how I was completely oblivious to the fact that actually Portia surprised us all by showing up to that staff meeting for our watch party. So I felt like Oprah had descended, and I was in a tizzy and spinning in a circle. I’m like, “It’s Portia, it’s Portia, it’s Portia.” And they were like, “Well, open the door. Let her in.” But that was amazing.
So what you see on our set today, and we’re in the process of, as I said, it’s a new season for us in the podcast, but we’re also, I think, changing and trying to innovate and elevate our podcast and our set. So we’re transitioning some things. We have an outstanding production crew with just Eldridge Media that has been with us and has really taken us to another level. So we’re excited about all the things. And so what we’ve displayed today in the studio is that when Portia came to surprise us and to watch us watch her watch us for the staff meeting, she gifted us with some of her original artwork. And so that’s what you see displayed today.
And these pieces, the smaller pieces, she said she hadn’t named those yet, we can name them if we choose, because she feels like they’re her babies. But this larger piece that is displayed, she entitled Portia Under Pressure. And at that staff meeting, she talked about how as women in particular, and as business people and professionals, women are always subjected to all kinds of pressures coming from every direction. But even when you’re in that pressure and under that pressure, things of beauty can be seen, which is what she depicted in that piece.
And so again, we wanted to shout out to Portia that-
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
We thank you.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Thank you, thank you.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Yeah, thank you.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
We appreciate the opportunity, we appreciate her professionalism and her depth of thought, and she really has inspired us to try to take our conversations and our engagement with our guests in the future to try to meet that high bar that she has set, so we wanted to display that piece.
But again, to get more into the conversation about going from chaos to calm, we kind of broke that down into three different areas, going from chaos to calm in your home, from chaos to calm in the workplace, from chaos to calm in your social life or your family life, things that you do outside of the workplace. And so again, that was a thirty-minute show, but again, that was 30 minutes that when you really feedback on that and reflect was distilled from 25 to 30 years of our working and that we really wanted to lean, use your term, Karen, like that, we wanted to lean into that a little bit more before take off into this next adventure, the next maybe not forty years, but the next however many few years into our professional future as well as personal future, let’s really think about how we got here.
And we’re not in any way trying to say we’ve got it figured out and that everything is perfect, and we just calmly going about our days. That is not what we’re trying to say. But I think we’ve learned some things, I do. I think we’ve learned some things by not only going through it, but also reflecting back on how did we get here and what worked and what didn’t work.
As you think about some of the things that both of you in the past, whether it’s with your personal, and let’s talk about the home space. What were some lessons, I don’t want to say mistakes, there are no mistakes, what are some lessons? What are some things, if you can think that happened that when you reflect back on it, says, “Well, that might not have been the best way to handle it at the time. I learned from it, and because of that, I now do things differently or I now consider something else as I’m trying to keep my home life more calm than chaotic,” that you have more calm spaces.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
This was a term that Karen used when we were on the show. I can’t remember if it was you, Mironda, giving ourselves grace.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Yes, it did.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
And for me, prior to a few years ago, we had some milestones in our careers where we stopped doing OB, we went to a four-day work week, but prior to that, I felt like I was on a little …
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Hamster mill?
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Hamster mill, so always going, always going, always going. And so when we started to change our schedules and I was at home, I still felt like I was on that hamster wheel, and I couldn’t stay at home. I felt like I always had to be somewhere, go somewhere, do something, and even put guilt on myself that if I did stay at home, the whole time I’m at home, I’m going, “I feel bad. I slept till 10:00. I should have gotten up and done something I should have …” So in this past year, I can say for me, I’m enjoying my home now. Like I said, I can drive in my house at Thursday and come out on Mondays, sometimes, and it’s just-
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And it’s okay.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
It’s okay, it’s okay. So that’s one thing for me. I’ve gotten off of that hamster mill that I’ve [inaudible 00:11:37]
Dr. Karen Greene:
I think it’s funny that we do kind of divide our lives into you finish residency, you go into private practice, and for us, it’s like all of a sudden, we stopped OB and then COVID. And reflecting back on those different bunches of time, because I had two kids and had them pretty soon after I started practicing, my life was very much revolved around their activities. And so trying to schedule and plan things with them became very difficult, such to the point where I think I was always afraid to not work and spend time with the kids. You know what I mean? I always wanted to be two places at one time, I guess, is a better way of describing it, because I knew that if I took the time off, then that meant my partners had to do the work, or not allowing for that they would take up the slack or they would help me out. Not really even thinking that was possible until much later in my career and as my kids got older that I really realized that.
So in thinking back of how I would’ve done things differently or done things wrong was I probably should have prioritized my family a little bit more in the beginning. And of course, now that I’m an empty-nester and the kids are in college, I really start thinking about that. Was I really present for a lot of the activities, or was I just falling asleep? because I was so tired? Could I have-
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Have both.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Well, that too. And could I have done some of those things differently? I’m thankful that I took pictures a lot of things …
Dr. Mironda Williams:
You don’t remember it.
Dr. Karen Greene:
… because I don’t remember all of it. I feel like it just kind of zipped away. And so for me, prioritizing that home life, and I think for women trying to have a home life and family and kids and a career, the pressure, as Portia says, when you’re under that pressure to do all the things …
Dr. Mironda Williams:
To do all the things at the same time.
Dr. Karen Greene:
… at the same time and trying to do them all at 100%, that just does not work. And that’s what we were trained to do. At least I felt that way.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
That’s the part I was going to pick up on, Karen, I think, and I’m learning more from the younger generation, the company that’s in the studio that y’all ain’t seeing, because what I’m learning from that generation, and we complain about it, but then I think about it, so maybe they’re onto something that we didn’t catch until later, which is they’re like, “This job is okay, but not even that good a job.” And I think there’s some wisdom in that, to your point, because I think for us, the time that we came through our residency was pledging.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Blinders.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Look straight ahead.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Just say we pledged.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Pledged.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Right. You slept when they said sleep, you got up when they said get up, you went where they said you could go. And so you’re put into this mindset of that’s just what you do, and it becomes very regimented. And like you say, Karen, when you’re in residency, some people get married and have families in residency, I’m not saying you’re not doing anything outside of residency, but when you get out of residency and you’re in the “real world,” you’re working, there are other things that start to come in that pull on your time. But because we have been trained to say, “No, no, no. This has to be my priority, and if I don’t attend to this as my priority, I’m a bad doctor.” That’s the guilt trip, dude. That’s the guilt trip. “I’m not dedicating myself to my craft and sacrificing.” That was the thing. I think sacrificing for your job was lauded as the goal.
Dr. Karen Greene:
“I can’t take that time off, because then I’m not doing my job.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
“I’m not doing my job, I’m not taking care of my patients.” And I think the beauty and the wisdom that we’ve now gained 20 and 30 years in is that, “Well, yeah. I can, because I have partners.” I think that’s the other beauty that we’ve been in a group practice. So if I need to go leave, go take care of my mom. Case in point, not even thinking about my mom, just the day before this recording, a situation occurred, there was a family emergency with the extended family.
And I think in the past, I would’ve been like, “Okay, well, I’m just going to stay here, and then I’ll see all the patients and then once I see all the patients, then I’ll,” whatever. And then you’re just doing all this stuff, and, “I just got to just make it work. I’ll just do everything. I’m going to see everybody and take care of everybody.” I was like, “No, I don’t have to do that. It wasn’t even a thought.” I was like, “I got to go. My friend needs me. The office will handle the office.”
We’ve created a wonderful team of leadership team in our office who know how to take that, and we’ve empowered them and we trust them. We trust their problem solving, we trust their ideas. And I can say, “Y’all, I got to go.” My partner’s like, “Well, if there’s a patient on your schedule, if she can’t reschedule, I’ll see her.” And that’s now our norm. 20 years ago, that was not our norm.
Dr. Karen Greene:
We are in a unique situation. I tell people all the time, “I am so blessed to be in a situation where we can think that.” We have grown into this, but I think that the seeds were planted early into the type of individuals that we are that recognize that you have a life outside of work, and it’s okay to take that time off, because that’s important for you. And whether we were trained or not trained, I think we grew into this point in our lives where you’re right, we don’t even think about it, because we made the plan to say, “Okay, this is how it’s going to be, and our lives are important.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Well, home is important. And again, just as a reminder for those who are listening to us, we’re so thankful that you have tuned in wherever you’re catching us on any of your podcast platform, social media, or our website. So again, just as a reminder, you’re listening to Take Good Care podcast and I’m Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I’m Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr.Karen Greene:
And I am Dr. Karen Greene.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And we’re having a conversation, an extended conversation that started in our preparation for our appearance on the Portia Show about from chaos to calm and some of the lessons and some of the things that we experienced. And because of that experience, we made changes in our workspace, but that we also, I think, have looked at things outside of work better, with a better perspective, because we are more than our jobs, we are more than our titles. And home is important, and so for me, I am such a homebody, but I didn’t realize how much of a homebody I am until I had time to be in my home. I said, “I like it here. I don’t have to be out.”
But as a single woman and as a single professional woman, Deanna, I think some of the other pressures that we had, “You need to be going out. How you going to do that? You need to go out. Not going out? What you doing? What kind of hobbies do you have? Where you going?” I’m like, “Okay, I got to be all I can be at the job. I got to be out here in these streets, coiffed and dressed and all that kind of stuff.”
Dr. Karen Greene:
That’s a lot of pressure.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
So I ain’t see my home in the daylight. I was gone in the early mornings, me, not Karen, because Karen is happily married. He’s a wonderful man. But Deanna, I was in them streets. I had a good time. Ain’t nothing wrong with it, but I’m just saying, and we did what we enjoyed, but it was also a pressure, you say, “But you got this.”
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
It’s Saturday night came around, and you weren’t going somewhere. You were like-
Dr. Mironda Williams:
People were looking, “What’s wrong with you?” That’s what they say. “It’s a party.”
Dr. Karen Greene:
I remember I built a house and moved into it in the fall, and so I remember in the spring, I was sitting in my living room and went, “Wow, I haven’t seen this room in the daylight.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
In the daylight.
Dr. Karen Greene:
In the daylight, because the days were shorter, and I just kind of sat there and enjoyed it. I think back on that a lot, and I thought, “What was I doing that kept me so much away from my home, even on the weekends? What was I doing on the weekends?”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And it really hit for me in the pandemic when everybody got sent home, and I was sitting in the middle of the day on the front porch, I was like, “Wow.”
Dr. Karen Greene:
“It’s nice out here.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
“I’m liking it.”
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
Now, my revelation was I got to shower in my own bathroom, because I work out early in the morning.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Oh, you’d always get dressed at the gym.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I would get dressed at the gym or dressed at the hospital, and I would maybe shower in my own bathroom maybe two times a week, two to three times a week, and I was like, “Wow, I like it a lot.”
Dr. Karen Greene:
“I like my bathroom.”
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I had a nice shower.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I will not [inaudible 00:20:52] have it nice. We don’t call it master, but primary, you have a wonderful primary suite. So in terms of really, I think, the point we’re trying to make as we sit here and get a little silly is that whatever home is for you, however home looks for you, that it’s important to try to recognize that, prioritize that, and to make time for that. And then I think also what I have really tried to do is once I appreciated not just where I lived and the home that I’ve been able to establish, but to create in that home what I want.
I think also that happened in the pandemic, because a lot of my friends, because I got rid of everything, so I don’t know what hit me, but something hit me, and I was like, “I don’t like this no more.” Because I was there and I was looking at it, it was the same furniture. I’ve been in this house almost 30 years, so everything in it was the same as when I moved in. And when I tell y’all, I got every rid of everything except for my bedroom set because I needed something to sleep in, and I was giving away furniture. They were like, “Wait, hold up. You all right?” I said, “No, I don’t want it. I want it out of here.”
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
You’re not telling this. Where you going?
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I was like, “Leave them, I’ll leave them.” They said, “What you want?” “I want it gone.” And so literally, everything went out of my house, all the major furniture, except in my bedroom because I needed that and a little area in the kitchen. And it was like when I had nothing in the house but space, it was like, “Oh, that’s what I need to do.” It’s the light. I could really envision, “Okay, now what do I need in my space now?”
Dr. Karen Greene:
Right, because when it’s different, the Joneses have what everybody else has.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
But 20 years ago, that was a different Mironda.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Right. So you looked at it differently and put all those things in there, and now it’s like, “Well, wait a second.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
I couldn’t even see it because of all the stuff.
Dr. Karen Greene:
Right.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And so when I got rid of that, and now I’m crafting a space that meets where I am now. And the other thing that I really tried to do is to, and I’m learning this as well from my younger compatriots, is I don’t really need all that stuff. It’s stuff, and it’s just cluttering up my space. And I found from a mental health standpoint, which is the point I’m really trying to get to as we get ready to wrap up this particular segment, we’re going to continue this conversation, this is just part one, is that as you go from what we’re calling chaos to calm, so much of that impacts your mental health, your emotional health.
And so your environment, and right now we’re talking about your home environment and your home space, really plays so into that. I know in some other episodes, Deanna, you’ve talked about making sure that in your bedroom and stuff, you have created an area and a space that really promotes restful sleep, that you’re making a space that really facilitates you gaining rest. And for me, in my home now, I really want to create a sense of sanctuary, not just a bunch of stuff, I like stuff, but not focus on obtaining the stuff, but what do I need to have in my home space that helps me maintain my mental health and my emotional health?
Dr. Karen Greene:
So when you enter that space, you’re like, “Ah.”
Dr. Mironda Williams:
Exactly. The worst thing you can do is come home and be like, “Ugh.” And sometimes, I don’t even think, because you’re busy lifeing, I don’t think we necessarily recognize that our home space may not be giving us what we need. And sometimes, you just got to take a step back and say, “Wait a second. Is this really what I need now?” It may have been okay before, but is it what you need now?
Dr. Karen Greene:
It’s funny, because my husband has done what you did and just kind of getting rid of everything and me doing stuff. So because he’s home, he gets to see it.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
It’s okay to start over.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And so for me, I just kind of watch it, because the clutter during and the clutter after just bugs me. But as you’re saying these things about, “Okay, now what do I need, what do I want now that all the dust has settled and we’ve mopped a couple of times and there’s not more dust coming out? What do I need to really enjoy my home when I come home?” so that you’re right, I can enjoy it. I should be able to sit and just enjoy. I’ve got rooms that I don’t sit in. Why? I should be able to enjoy those rooms. So just sit down and just whatever I need, I need to still figure that out, I think.
Dr. Mironda Williams:
And it’s okay to be in the place where you are still figuring it out, because we don’t always have to know the answers. And one of the things that we mentioned when we talked about trying to go from chaos to calm in our home is that the whole point of this home environment and trying make a calm space is that whatever you do with however it looks for you is that you want it to be a space that fosters meaningful connections. I think that’s what we really want to get to when we talk about creating a space in our home and an environment in our home. It’s not just for stuff. Whatever it needs to create meaningful connections with family, with friends, with loved ones, and to give yourself a space where you can unplug, disconnect and regenerate and rejuvenate yourself, having that home space that creates that for you is so important. So important.
Anything else, ladies? Well, this is good. We like looking back at ourselves. We can laugh at ourselves. Don’t have any problem with that. Laugh with us. Don’t laugh at us. So thank you.
Dr. Karen Greene:
[inaudible 00:26:51].
Dr. Mironda Williams:
We can be a little humorous. Thank you all for listening. We’re excited. There are many things to come. As you can see, we are live and on the air. You can catch us wherever you get any of your podcast episodes, our website, rosagynecology.com. Again, that’s rosagynecology.com. We also have a YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram. You can find us wherever you need to find us. So we appreciate you, share us with your friends and family. We’re going to continue this conversation as we get back with you again with our next episode on Take Good Care. And so until we meet again, I’m Dr. Mironda Williams.
Dr. Deanna Guthrie:
I’m Dr. Deanna Guthrie.
Dr. Karen Greene:
And I’m Dr. Karen Greene. Take good care.