Founders' Forum
Great business stories and great people come together on Marc Bernstein’s Founders’ Forum! Marc Bernstein sits down with business founders across the country to discuss their lives, successes, lessons, and their vision for the future. It’s all about the success they’ve earned and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. These are American success stories and they’re not done yet!
Your Host, Marc Bernstein
Marc Bernstein is an entrepreneur, author, and consultant. He helps high performing entrepreneurs and business owners create a vision for the future, accomplish their business and personal goals, financial and otherwise, and on helping them to see through on their intentions. Marc recently co-founded March, a forward-looking company with a unique approach to wealth management. He captured his philosophy in his #1 Amazon Bestseller, The Fiscal Therapy Solution 1.0. Marc is also the founder of the Forward Focus Forum, a suite of resources tailored specifically to educate and connect high performing entrepreneurs, and helping them realize their vision of true financial independence. Find out more about Marc and connect with him at marcjbernstein.com.
Are you a visionary founder with a compelling success story that deserves to be shared with our audience? We're on the lookout for accomplished business leaders like you to be featured on the Founders' Forum Radio Show and Podcast. If you've surmounted challenges, reached significant milestones, or have an exciting vision for the future, we'd be honored to have you as a guest on our show. Your experiences and insights can inspire and enlighten others in the business world. If you're eager to share your journey and the invaluable lessons you've learned along the way, we invite you to apply here. Connect with us, and let's discuss the possibility of featuring you in an upcoming episode. Join us in celebrating your success and contributing to the legacy of the Founders' Forum!
Founders' Forum
Breaking Barriers in STEM: Dale Keshishian on Building a Diverse Healthcare Workforce
Discover the hidden power of sleep and its role in problem-solving and recovery as we share personal anecdotes alongside our guest, Dale Keshishian, and special co-host, Jessica Hallahan. Dale, the visionary CEO of HealthWorks Academies, recounts her unexpected journey from managing a medical practice to spearheading a nonprofit that revolutionizes STEM and healthcare opportunities for high school students. Jessica, a dedicated stress management health educator, unveils her platform 'Journey to Yourself,' offering insights into managing stress in our hectic lives.
Amidst the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dale shares how HealthWorks Academies turned obstacles into stepping stones. With the help of a supportive women's executive breakfast group and an advisory board, they pivoted to virtual programs, expanding their reach and impact. Dale's story exemplifies the power of communication and community support in overcoming adversity, inspiring listeners with the potential of expanding educational access to millions of students.
We wrap up our episode by exploring strategies to cope with stress, highlighting the therapeutic nature of DIY projects. From painting rooms to organizing cluttered spaces, we discuss how these activities not only alleviate stress but also provide a sense of accomplishment. Join us as we express gratitude to our guests for their invaluable insights and reflect on personal growth, autonomy, and the importance of a supportive community in personal and professional journeys.
About Dale Keshishian:
Dale is the Founder & CEO of HealthWorks Academies, a talent development pipeline program linking high school students with health science careers. At HealthWorks Academies, we believe that Social Determinants of Health are inextricably linked to Social Determinants of Education. We are committed to fostering students of all backgrounds to learn and engage in health science careers to develop a national workforce that reflects the populations we serve.
Connect:
bizjournals.com/philadelphia/morning_roundup/2015/08/a-looming-crisis-why-we-desperately-need-to.html
healthworksacademies.org
linkedin.com/in/dalekeshishian
This episode is brought to you by HealthWorks Academies; Transforming Healthcare Through Education and Talent Development. Go to HealthWorksAcademies.org to learn more.
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The following programming is sponsored by Marc J Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management or Beasley Media Group. Entrepreneur, author and financial consultant, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing entrepreneurial business owners create a vision for the future and follow through on their goals and intentions. Ang Onorato is a business growth strategist who blends psychology and business together to create conscious leaders and business owners who impact the world. Founders Forum is a radio show podcast sharing the real stories behind entrepreneurship as founders discover more about themselves, while providing valuable lessons and some fun and entertainment for you. Now here's Marc and Ang.
Marc Bernstein:Good morning America. How are you? We're live here in the studio today in beautiful Bala Cynwyd, right outside of Philadelphia, pennsylvania, and it is a beautiful day and I have two beautiful women here with me in the studio today. I feel very privileged for that. Ang Onorato is recuperating from surgery and is not here, so we have Jess Hallahan and we have Dale Keshishian in the studio and I'll formally introduce them in a minute, but good morning to both of you.
Jessica Hallahan:Good morning. Good morning.
Marc Bernstein:And we always start out with a little topic on the show, and today's topic is sleep, because Jessica and I happened to be talking about this a couple days ago. I keep calling her jess she looks like a jess to me, okay, but anyway. So we were talking about the importance of sleep and it became very apparent to me this morning as I slept through my alarm, slept through everything, got a really good night's sleep because I um hadn't had much in the last couple days. So sleep is all important, I know, but I would love for you to expand on that, how sleep enters into your lives and its importance. Go ahead, dale, you want to start.
Dale Keshishian:Well, I think, just from a healthcare perspective, it's the body's way of restoring itself. But I think too that I don't know for me. I do a lot of problem solving when I sleep, you know, when everything is quiet and all the noise is gone. I go to sleep with a with an issue, and I wake up with a solution.
Marc Bernstein:So I get that I meditate twice daily and that's how I do it, which is why I probably that's why my dreams at night are probably more bizarre, because, because I've already worked out the other issues. But anyway, how about you, Jessica?
Jessica Hallahan:Definitely what you said right. There's that sense of recovery. That happens for sure. I think it's also for me in the sense of taking time for me. It's a big boundary for me. So I go to. When Marc and I were talking about this, we talked about how I'm in bed by 8 pm every night and that's my big boundary, that's my me time. So either I'm problem solving or I'm reading, or it's just. It's just that regroup from a lot of different things for sure.
Marc Bernstein:Pretty cool. So let me tell you about Jessica real quick and then I'll introduce Dale. So Jessica Hallahan received her master's in public health at Westchester University and is owner of Journey to Yourself, a speaker and a stress management health educator. Through her career in education, she realized that we all have a common issue. Everyone, at some point or another, struggles with handling stress. Tell, write into me if that's not true of you, if you're listening to the show, but I can't imagine. Through your own life, through her own life journey, jessica, create a journey to yourself. Um, and she, she will be, I'm sure, a frequent visitor to the show and will fill in as co-hosts from time to time.
Marc Bernstein:And dale kasheshian is founder and ceo ofWorks Academies. It's a talent development pipeline linking high school students with health science careers Big need we have for that today At HealthWorks Academies. We believe that social determinants of health or they believe that social I'm reading social determinants of health are inextricably linked to social determinants of education. They are committed to fostering students of all backgrounds to learn and engage in health science careers, to develop a national workforce that reflects the populations we serve or they serve. So I'm reading it as me, because I've sort of adopted this because I love what they do. We are, so I think we're just going to get right into it. Dale, let's just talk about your story, because you have an interesting story how you got there, and it all started with your husband's medical practice.
Dale Keshishian:You know, it was a surprise. When he was finishing his internship and residency, we moved here from Boston and when he said he wanted to open a practice and my background had been in dentistry, and I said, well, no, you don't. And you know, explained to him he was not a business guy, he was definitely a medical guy. But entrepreneurial, the fact that he wanted to do it right, he was not a business guy, he was definitely a medical guy.
Marc Bernstein:You know, I you know, but entrepreneurial the fact that he wanted to do it right.
Dale Keshishian:Well, he wanted to practice medicine and he didn't want other people telling him what to do.
Marc Bernstein:Ah, gotcha, okay, that's how a lot of people become entrepreneurs, but yeah.
Dale Keshishian:But you know he didn't understand the concept of. You know overhead and salaries and you know all of those things before you can take a dollar home.
Marc Bernstein:Right, right Got it.
Dale Keshishian:And um, and he figured, you know, somebody else will take care of that. I'll just you know, I'll just practice medicine and we'll do well.
Marc Bernstein:Let's guess who is that other person? Who's that someone else?
Dale Keshishian:Uh we, he acquired a practice that was 35 years old and wonderful, wonderful practice, a wonderful physician. His wife was the practice manager, so I took that job by default and we thrived in that practice. It was a wonderful experience and my philosophy was if he just focuses on medicine, I'll just do everything else.
Marc Bernstein:Great.
Dale Keshishian:And it was very much a community practice and he was very dedicated to the wellness of his patients. So he was an internist. A lot of the folks that came with us were about 55% geriatric and most of the patients had comorbidity. So they didn't have just one disease, they had multiples. And so it's a dance right to manage all of those different illnesses, you know, and keep people vibrant and as healthy as they can be. And one of the things that he was really clear about was that in order to do that, he had to have great relationships with all of the people that he referred to the lab at the hospitals or the outpatient facilities, the doctors that he referred to, and he made it clear If somebody was really sick they needed an appointment right away and the doctors were very accommodating and when they saw them he would get a phone call. And if he didn't get a phone call and he waited for a letter to come in the mail, he didn't refer to them anymore.
Marc Bernstein:Wow, that's unique amongst medical professionals.
Dale Keshishian:It was, but it really fast-tracked for people to get the care that he needed and he had great relationships with the specialists that he referred to, and first he started a chess club where they met at our house on Saturdays.
Marc Bernstein:Yep.
Dale Keshishian:And that morphed into what we called the dinner.
Marc Bernstein:Right, I'm glad you got there. I was going to ask you about the dinner. I was like, let's go.
Dale Keshishian:Well, you know, babies were such lovely people and you know, when you have relationships with people that you really enjoy spending time with, you want to see them outside of the work environment, outside of the hospital or outside of treating a patient. And I love to cook and I love to bake and there's nothing more that fills my soul than to have a lot of happy people around my table. And so once a month we would host a dinner for the physicians and their spouses and it turned into what we called the dinner and it became a monthly thing. It was always on a Friday. There was a wonderful separation between a busy work week and the weekend and we would have hors d'oeuvres and then we would sit in the dining room and there's no clock and we would have this lovely meal and everybody's talking and laughing and kind of unwinding and by the time dessert came around we'd be laughing till our sides hurt. And those dinners went to the wee hours of the morning sometimes and we just kind of lost track of time. And the dinners were just a wonderful way to break bread and connect with people that we would ordinarily work with. And what happened with those dinners?
Dale Keshishian:You know, I sat around the table after many, many dinners and thought collectively how many patients do these doctors serve, how many lives are touched, how many lives are impacted by these extraordinary physicians who were so dedicated and so knowledgeable and so skilled? And where did they come from? So I asked them what was your almost certain future and what happened? Everybody had a story. Every story had a happenstance.
Dale Keshishian:Well, the other thing was that the hospital system had a physician's dinner every year at christmas time at the crystal tea room, and if you know that space, it's a wide, open space and they were, all you know, round tables of 10 and you could look across the entire room and we used to laugh because every year it got grayer and we just thought, oh, we're getting old, you know, and it was funny. But then, fast forward, we realized that we have an aging problem, that our workforce is aging, and it's not just physicians, it's across the board. And the question becomes you know who's going to replace them? And so I had this thought that, if you know, we have this aging workforce, but their stories all started with happenstance. What if we created the happenstance and expanded the awareness for students to go into careers in medicine?
Marc Bernstein:So this was at one particular dinner. This happened right One of the times at the dinner.
Dale Keshishian:No, the dinner was really the genesis.
Marc Bernstein:Okay, and then it was after the crystal key room.
Dale Keshishian:It was way later, but these were all the seeds that planted way back when.
Marc Bernstein:Okay, so let's talk about your career path from there.
Dale Keshishian:Well, you know, I had been warned by other wives who had preceded me you know, to work with their physicians and said don't do it, You'll never get out. It's like the Hotel California.
Marc Bernstein:You'll never leave.
Dale Keshishian:And um, I did not take their advice. And then and it was great for our family, um, because my husband's schedule was, you know, crazy busy and um, and allowed me to be around for our children you know if they were sick or they had something at school or you know all the afterschool stuff.
Dale Keshishian:we had a full staff. So it was. It was very flexible for me. But when they went off to college I didn't need that kind of flexibility, you know, anymore, and I didn't want the medical practice manager role to be what I did for the rest of my life. I really wanted to do something else. So I was connected with Gap International. I did some work with them around transformational thinking and at the end of the program I walked away with a short-term plan and a long-term plan to position myself, to be able to do something else, and at that point I was really stuck. I was the practice manager, but I was also. We built a multi-suite medical building.
Dale Keshishian:I was the facilities manager, the lease manager, you know, doing all those things, and so I walked away with a short-term plan and a long-term plan. I implemented that and then I went to work for Gap International because I really thought it would be important to bring transformational thinking to health care. They were industry agnostic, they do remarkable work and that was my plan.
Marc Bernstein:Before we go to break. Then something happened where you got together with Warren Buffett's sister, right? That's right, doris? Yes, doris Buffett, tell us about that.
Dale Keshishian:Well, I had this idea that somebody had to do something. There was a gap between industry and education, and we saw, even with my own children and their friends, this gap of you graduate from high school and you're going to go to college, or maybe not to college, but how do you know what you want to do? And we don't do enough of connecting industry with youth, for students to have a broad context, particularly in this $4 trillion industry where the demands are growing so rapidly.
Dale Keshishian:And so I thought, well, I'll start a nonprofit and I'll find somebody else that's doing this and I'll join them that was the plan, and so I left my job at Gap, literally walking out on my last day with my box and my friends waving to me from the glass in front of this beautiful building, and I got a call from the Delaware County Community Foundation to do some volunteer work. So I couldn't say no and I volunteered for a little bit and it turned out that they had a chance meeting with Doris Buffett's administrator and she had started the Sunshine Lady Foundation with funds from Warren Buffett when he was divesting his fortune and needed to create a local presence without opening offices, and so we were charged to do that and they didn't have anybody to do it, so they gave it to me with a small stipend, and I did that for a year and a half and it was my first foray into the nonprofit world and it was an amazing experience to connect with community and be able to provide a really meaningful assistance to families in need.
Marc Bernstein:So that's a great story and appropriate time for a quick break in which we'll hear a little bit more about HealthWorks Academies and we'll be right back on Founders Forum.
Announcer:HealthWorks Academies is a non-profit talent development pipeline program linking STEM education with career awareness and engagement for high school students and youth organizations. Our mission is to create a national talent pipeline that represents the population we serve. We conduct live panel presentations with our corporate partners where professionals share their academic and career journey, Industry trends and career opportunities that students typically would not know. Industry trends and career opportunities that students typically would not know. Our industries represent clinical medicine, biopharma, medical devices, healthcare technology, healthcare business and finance and behavioral health. It's said you can't plant a seed and eat fruit on the same day. We must foster career opportunities for students to lead our health science industries into the future. Reach us at healthworksacademiesorg.
Marc Bernstein:We are back on Founders Forum with our guest today, Dale Keshishian, and our guest co-host, Jessica Hallahan, and we were just talking about I think we were just at the precipice of the beginning of HealthWorks Academies. Let's talk about how that happened.
Dale Keshishian:Sure, well, it was something that I had the idea to do when I was at Gap International, but I had no nonprofit experience. Right, it just happens dance. You know that I had the opportunity to work for Doris Buffett and it was an amazing opportunity and and I'm very proud of the work that we did and and then started started HealthWorks. You know we were very fortunate to have met Mike West from Rothman Institute, who is a big believer in what we were doing and supported us. They're our first corporate founding sponsor and our model was to bring folks into schools and talk about their careers and their academic journey and their career journey.
Marc Bernstein:Particularly in healthcare.
Dale Keshishian:In healthcare, yeah, in the health sciences and across industries, and then to bring students into industry so that they could job shadow and see what a day in the life looks like in different departments and meet different people and get this experience. And then something happened COVID happened, right. And then something happened.
Dale Keshishian:COVID happened Right and we were an in-school program and bringing students into industry. Things came to a screeching halt with COVID and we just thought we were done. And I was part of a women's executive breakfast group that met once a month about 60 members and we weren't going to meet in person anymore, we were going to meet virtually, and it was decided that instead of having speakers come in with 60 people, you know, as members we could support each other going through. You know everybody was going through a tough time going through. You know everybody was going through a tough time and there was just so much uncertainty and, you know it was just such a difficult time for all of us. And so they decided that we would have a member spotlight and we would talk about our business, our issues and where we needed help, and we had the collective wisdom of, you know, 60 members to assist and Dale's going to go first and so, um. So I felt a little bit like a fraud, you know, because we really didn't have a, you know, a viable business anymore.
Dale Keshishian:But I did talk about the mission and the vision and, you know, and the need. You know, 10,000 people a day turning 65, a $4 trillion industry. With COVID, we were seeing the gaps and the disparities in healthcare that were glaring and the need for a population of professionals that represent the populations we serve to help close that gap. And what came from that were some wonderful volunteers stepped forward and we created an advisory board. And the advisory board shifted our model and while schools were getting facile with Zoom and and remote learning and industry always had been we created a model that provides panels, moderated panels, everything's virtual and it's really easy for schools, it's really easy for industries. It expands our reach for schools and youth organizations to anywhere that has a Zoom link for schools and youth organizations, to anywhere that has a Zoom link, and our industry panelists come from anywhere in the country and actually anywhere in the world.
Jessica Hallahan:Oh, awesome, I love hearing your story, so my follow-up question would be about communication. So in a lot of your story you've talked about communication and relationships. How has communication and relationships helped with handling stress by growing your business?
Dale Keshishian:Oh, it's critically important. If there's anything that I learned from COVID, it's the power of community and, you know, just communicating the need. You know where we were, the challenges that we had, and then having really dedicated people and, and you know, brilliant minds, um, that we're seeing things from a different perspective, and that collective wisdom that put us on a different track and and you know, covid was a silver lining for us um, you know, really put us on a. You know, on a path to much greater success than we ever would have been. Um, you know, uh, prior on a. You know, on a path to much greater success than we ever would have been. Um, you know, uh, prior to that.
Marc Bernstein:So you're on a great pathway. Today, Dale, it sounds great. It's really your story. You're like the Forrest Gump of the story in a way, because things keep happening, but I believe good things happen to good people and you had a lot of good things happen to you along the way. Looking out to the future, it's one of the things we like to talk about on the show. If this were in almost November, but we'll say October of 2024, if this were October of 2027 and we're looking back on the last three years, what would have to happen to HealthWorks Academies, which is your nonprofit vision and or your personal life, if you like? What would happen? What would that look like for you the next three years?
Dale Keshishian:It's exciting because by making our programs virtual, we can reach more schools, more youth organizations, and we're always looking for opportunities to impact students in school. But additionally, we're a nonprofit and we want to reach as many students as we can and we have a very exciting opportunity. I can't name the station just yet, but it's an opportunity to have a dedicated series that will reach nearly 2 million students.
Marc Bernstein:You talked about that offline. It sounds very exciting, it is exciting.
Dale Keshishian:And so students from any geographic, social, ethnic, racial background can take a and learn about these industries, learn about these careers. The presenters, you know, represent diversity, so they see people that look like themselves, you know, and and the academic and career journey that and how they forged it. And and not only, not only how they navigated, but a lot of the skills that are developed during that pathway communication, ownership of the whole, commitment to excellence, teamwork, allyship, sponsorship, mentorship, building and maintaining relationships. And they talk about how those competencies advance their academic and career journey. And so it's not just a linear path. It's often convoluted and you can take a different path to move forward and that's fine. But the opportunities to take their wisdom and to learn from what they have learned for high school students is invaluable.
Marc Bernstein:And just specifically one quick thing what does that look like? So, if this station thing happens and it's an online network, I believe, of education, where do you see that in three years? How expansive do you think that will be three years from?
Dale Keshishian:now. We're contracting now for 40 videos a year. That is minuscule. We can do 10 times that very easily. The biggest barrier is funding. The biggest barrier is funding. There's no limit to how many industries, how many careers we can post and organize by industries for students to learn everything, from skills first, where they can graduate from high school, take their diploma and the organization trains them for certification, to postgraduate level education, everything in between.
Marc Bernstein:If this contract happens, though, that will be your funding right, and then it can go crazy.
Dale Keshishian:No we actually have to find the funding for it, so that's our next step.
Marc Bernstein:Ah, anyone listening out there can help.
Dale Keshishian:But it's an amazing, amazing opportunity to connect with almost 2 million.
Marc Bernstein:I know we have about three minutes left and I know Jess has a couple questions for you.
Jessica Hallahan:Yeah, of course. So this is a great follow-up because we're talking about the future. So my follow-up question would be what are your thoughts about your legacies? What legacy are you creating?
Dale Keshishian:Oh boy, you know, when I sat around the table all those weeks for the dinner and was so inspired by what physicians were doing, cutting edge medicine, how they were transforming lives for people to just live their best life. I want to do more of that, I want to be responsible for more of that. It's a little bit like what was the name of the company. We don't make the product, we make it better. You know, we don't do the work, we create the pipeline.
Jessica Hallahan:And my last one. I think it's the best follow up too, because you're talking about the legacy to create your future, all the things in between, but you also talked about the ups and downs and the learnings and the things that you had to do.
Dale Keshishian:So if you could speak to your younger self, what advice would you give? Oh boy, you know I was a shy kid and a people pleaser and that really defined a lot of my life. I would go back and say do what's right for you. You know, I worked with my husband for 18 years because it was what our family needed, because it was what my husband needed. But it didn't have to be that way and I really could have found another pathway. But you know, on the other hand, it wouldn't have been this pathway, you know, I would have had a different career and, you know, a different legacy. Wow. So it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think I would look at my own autonomy very differently as a young person. Amazing.
Marc Bernstein:I find you to be an interesting person because you're pretty quiet. You're a quiet, low-key powerhouse. Yes, there's a lot going on there. Thank you, and it's pretty exciting. Are you a reader? Do you like to read?
Dale Keshishian:I do. You know what I like to do more. I like to fix things.
Marc Bernstein:Yes, as a matter of fact, we were talking offline about how we handle stress, and everyone has their own ways. Talk about that because we have about a minute left.
Dale Keshishian:I think, when you know we live in a very stressful time right now on so many levels. I've painted things in my house, I've fixed hardware, I organize my basement. I've got a wonky shoulder to attest for all the heavy bins, but when I'm stressed I take it out. Physically I don't go to the gym, but I fix things.
Marc Bernstein:So I want to thank Dale Kosheshi and the Fixer for being here today. I want to thank Jessica Hallahan for being here today. It was a delight to have you both here in the studio and we thank all of you for listening to Founders Forum and look forward to seeing you again next week.
