When Dr. Terry Simpson, MD first stated, ‘I turned in my surgical scrubs for an apron’, on TV he was changing the future of the weight loss industry. He was emphasizing the fact that rather than performing surgery on all patients as per their request, he could help them learn to shop and cook in a healthy way and lose weight naturally.
Although Terry considers his Native Alaskans first when thinking of anything weight loss related, this particular statement resonated with people worldwide.
Known by many as the television doctor from Tampa’s Daytime TV show, he is prolific in various other forms of media including Twitter, Facebook, books, speaking engagements and websites. Terry is a true Twitter guru with over 90,000 tweets on his accounts, @terrysimpson & @drterrysimpson.
Terry is a proud member of a number of boards, all of which strive to improve healthcare in a variety of facets. All of these boards base their aim on improving the health of Native Alaskans, an aim dear to Terry’s heart. As the director of the South Central Foundation, they won the prestigious Malcolm Balridge Award in 2011.
Terry has always looked to progress himself, and knowing that weight loss clinics around the world are implementing some of his procedures is a great tribute to Terry and the decision he made to leave Alaska for the greater good of Native Alaskans.
Terry initially thought he would be helping patients lose weigh via surgery throughout his career. What he did not know was that he was not destined to spend a whole lot of time around the operating table. He ditched the scrubs, threw on his cooking apron and got serious about knowing his patients, before teaching them methods of cooking and shopping to reduce their weight themselves, ideally avoiding surgery altogether.
What do you do?
I am a surgeon who promotes healthy weight loss by cooking.
How long have you been doing it?
Since 1991.
What inspired you to do this kind of work?
I became obese after eating at restaurants and was going to have weight loss surgery, but started seeing what my successful patients were doing and realized they were all cooking and I had forgotten to.
How do you earn money? Feel free to be as detailed as you want.
I offer classes online and provide lap band surgery on a very limited group of patients.
Who is your target client/customer?
I work with people who are generally healthy, but who are also obese.
Do you have employees, contractors, or outsourced help? Tell us a bit about your company structure, however big or small.
We have 5 employees who help me maintain a number of websites and keep the day-to-day operations running smoothly.
Could you share a funny story or something quirky about your work?
As a surgeon – I like to say I am on the cutting edge! We deal with people who are learning to cook – the endless stories of kitchen disasters are fodder for a book!
What motivates you – being your own boss, making a lot of money, helping others, or some other reason?
I love helping people and I love being my own boss. When you bring other parties into it, you are influenced by their agenda.
What frustrates you? How do you deal with it?
I was frustrated working with hospitals, so I left them. We forged our own way with it. Otherwise, I go to the local cigar shop and have a smoke!
How do you maintain your/your employees’ morale when things are not going so great?
I find that beating them works quite well! Mainly we have to keep focused – we don’t have patients, we have customers and owners. They come to us with a need, and we are here to help.
Entrepreneurs tend to work a lot of hours on their ideas. How do you keep yourself balanced?
I have a three year old son. He was born when I was 53 – he is the reason I don’t work like crazy.
When you need guidance, where do you find it? Who do go to? Feel free to name more than one source.
There are few people in my business or who have this business model, so I go to people who are experts in customer service. My good friend Masha Collier runs a customer service chat on Twitter.
Are you willing to be a mentor to others who might want to reach out to you for guidance? If yes, how would you like to be contacted?
Yes, and it’s easy to reach me through twitter or Google Plus.