When Dr. Carolina Sueldo moved back to South Florida with two kids under three and started looking for a new job, she discovered that almost every major fertility practice in the area had been swallowed up by private equity. So she did something most people told her was flat-out crazy: she started her own.

No investors. No insurance contracts. No staff on day one — her medical assistant quit via email the night before opening. Just her, a virtual assistant in Argentina, and a deep belief that she could practice medicine on her own terms.

In this episode of Super Doc Stories, Dr. Sueldo, founder of Sabo Fertility Center in Fort Lauderdale, shares one of the most honest and practical origin stories we've heard. She talks through what it actually looks like to go from googling "where do I buy an exam table" to paying back your startup costs and pulling a six-figure salary all in year one — and what the sleepless nights, WTF moments, and unexpected credit card scams in between taught her.

We cover:

• Why private equity was a non-starter for her — and what the PE model actually does to a medical practice
• The moment around month six when she finally thought, "I think there's something here"
• Going cash-pay and out-of-network in a market that had never really seen it before — and how she got patients anyway
• Why zero marketing budget forced her to do the highest-ROI marketing possible: Google reviews and in-person referral relationships
• The credit card chargeback scam that cost her thousands in year one and the systems she built because of it
• The village behind Sabo — including a shoutout to Dr. Amy Avazadeh, the Egg Whisperer
• The mindset shift that took 18 months to arrive: getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
• What she would tell her 2023 self: trust your gut, be selective about who you share your vision with, and don't listen to the people waiting for you to fail
• The integrative, whole-person approach to fertility that she could never practice inside a productivity-driven employed model

Whether you're thinking about starting your own practice, wondering if direct care can actually work financially, or just want a refreshingly honest take on physician entrepreneurship — this one's for you.

🌐 Visit Sabo Fertility Center: sabofertilitycenter.com

📲 Follow Dr. Carolina Sueldo on Instagram: @dr.carolinasueldo

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