We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Quirk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Five years into working as a pediatric hospitalist, I found myself in a place of burnout without a clear direction forward in my medical career. I knew there was something more, but I wasn’t sure what that meant for me, and I thought about quitting clinical practice entirely. At that time, I was also spending a lot of time with myself as I trained for my first marathon. When I returned home from the race, I wanted to shout from the rooftops that everyone should go run 26 miles, and that it would change your life! I tried to get everyone I knew to start running, to start moving their bodies. I dove into reading about run physiology, began writing training plans for family and friends, and became a certified run coach through the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA). I don’t think it’s any surprise that Mindful Marathon was born out of this period of burnout and tremendous introspection. Running helped me through difficult times in the past, especially through the loss of my father to cancer in 2012, and through the grieving process that followed. I saw how it was helping others through their own challenges. As I began to build the business and help others who were like me, the self-proclaimed “non-runners” out there, I found a balance I was looking for and a path forward to stay in clinical medicine on my own terms.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Getting to where I am today business-wise has not been easy. From the beginning of Mindful Marathon, I knew that I wanted to build a sustainable business and avoid the burnout I experienced in my career in medicine, and so, I’ve let it grow at my own pace. As an introvert, one of the biggest challenges I had early on in building the business was putting myself out there. For me, the challenge was speaking. I was reluctant to get on video, post on social media, or do podcast interviews. The biggest lesson I can share is to continually do things outside of your comfort zone. Similar to running the marathon, small steps taken daily, weekly, and monthly have added up over time. Keeping oneself in action and in forward momentum is the key. As a physician, we never want to make mistakes. In my run coach business, it’s okay that things aren’t perfect, and it’s expected that we change and improve our processes as we go along. I help make running easy and fun for busy professionals. I love helping runners to get started in the sport or to return to the sport after significant time away from it. I’m most excited that I became a race director in fall of 2021, and hosted our first ever, sold out virtual 5k for 100 runners across 22 states! In addition to one on one and group coaching programs, I am looking forward to hosting more race experiences and mindful running retreats in the near future!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I wrote one option for Philadelphia in mind, but I think this is supposed to be about LA! I’ve been to LA several times, so I’ll try to cobble something together. But I’m not a local, so I’m not sure how this will land.

1. Philly Perspective: We would start the day with a run along the Schuylkill River trail. You get a great view of the skyline just outside the city, and then can run along the famous Boathouse Row as you enter the city. We’d have to snap a picture at the Rocky Statue in front of the Art Museum before running toward home! For refueling, we would head to the Reading Terminal Market. In the afternoon, we could tour Independence Hall and Old Town, and then have dinner at Talula’s Garden.

2. LA Perspective: We would start the day hiking to the Hollywood sign and getting a great view of the city from above. We would refuel at Grand Central Market, and the head to the Getty Museum for an afternoon filled with art. To cap off our exciting day, we’d drive to Malibu and have fish tacos on the water at Duke’s!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

May I give two?

1. Ali Novitsky – Founder and CEO of Life Coaching for Women Physicians. Dr. Ali and I met at the hospital where we both worked. A fellow pediatrician, she was one of the only physician entrepreneurs I knew of at the time when I was feeling burned out. We had coffee together and with one conversation, she was able to light the spark that lit my path forward in business.

2. Nneka Unachukwu – CEO of Ivy League Pediatrics and Founder of EntreMD. Dr. Una founded the EntreMD Business School, which I joined in the fall of 2020. Being a part of this amazing community of physician entrepreneurs provides the support, motivation, and accountability I need to keep me in momentum in my business.

Website: www.mindful-marathon.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/mindful.marathon

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mindfulmarathon

Youtube: www.youtube.com/mindfulmarathon

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