For Entrepreneurs: Free 3 Day Public Health CEO School to Scale Your Public Health Business
Being ambitious is a great start—but ambition alone won’t build the career, income, or business you want.
In this episode of The Dr. Des Show, Dr. Des explains why so many talented, highly educated public health professionals remain stuck despite having big goals. The missing ingredient? Action.
Drawing from her own experience advancing through the Florida Department of Health, leading grant-writing efforts, securing multimillion-dollar federal contracts, building a multi-six-figure public health business, and investing in professional and business development, Dr. Des shares what it actually takes to move from wanting more to creating measurable results. Pasted text
Whether you're trying to land a higher-paying public health job, move into leadership, secure consulting contracts, grow your business, or reach your next income milestone, this episode challenges you to look beyond your credentials and ask a more important question:
Are you taking consistent action behind your ambition?
🔥 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Why ambition alone doesn't guarantee career or business success
✔️ How investing in yourself can accelerate professional growth
✔️ Why getting into the right rooms is only valuable if you actually participate
✔️ How visibility and preparation helped Dr. Des advance in her public health career
✔️ Why taking on challenging opportunities can position you for leadership
✔️ How Dr. Des approached a competitive public health leadership opportunity
✔️ Why repeating the same strategy after rejection won't necessarily create different results
✔️ How asking for help can strengthen your consulting and proposal strategy
✔️ Why consistency matters when you're building a personal brand or business
✔️ How to get more value from mentorship, coaching, professional communities, and networking
✔️ Why your degrees and accomplishments are resources—but you still have to capitalize on them
💡 The Big Takeaway: Ambition + Action = Results
You can want the promotion.
You can want the $200K business.
You can want more consulting contracts.
You can want to pivot careers.
You can want to become a leader.
But eventually, wanting has to turn into doing.
Dr. Des challenges ambitious public health professionals to examine whether their everyday actions actually match the goals they say they want to achieve. That could mean preparing differently for your next interview, showing up to a mentorship session, asking better questions, getting expert help with a proposal, becoming more visible at work, or consistently marketing your business. Pasted text
💼 For Public Health Professionals Who Feel Stuck
If you're highly educated and accomplished but feel like your career has stalled, this episode offers an important reminder: credentials aren't the end of the strategy.
Dr. Des shares how she positioned herself for advancement by getting into rooms with decision-makers, consistently showing up, preparing for opportunities, taking on additional responsibility, and demonstrating what she could contribute.
When an opportunity for a new leadership position emerged, she didn't simply rely on her experience. She applied, interviewed, prepared branded materials, developed strategies, and leveraged what she had learned from working alongside the person previously responsible for the role. Pasted text
The lesson: don't assume your work will automatically speak for itself. Position yourself for the opportunities you want.
🚀 For Public Health Entrepreneurs
The same principle applies to entrepreneurship.
If your proposals keep getting rejected, your business isn't growing, or your marketing isn't producing results, ambition won't fix the problem by itself.
You may need to change your approach, strengthen your skills, bring in expertise you don't have, build relationships with potential funders, or become more consistent about showing up where your audience can find you.
As Dr. Des explains in the episode, sometimes reaching the next level means recognizing that your existing skill set isn't enough—and intentionally finding people who can help strengthen it. Pasted text
🎯 Your Action Challenge
This week, identify one goal you've been calling yourself ambitious about but haven't consistently taken action toward.
Then do something tangible.
RSVP for the workshop.
Attend the mentorship session.
Ask the question.
Submit the application.
Get feedback on the proposal.
Start networking.
Post the content.
Prepare for the interview.
Show up in the room.
Because the equation Dr. Des leaves listeners with is simple:
Ambition + Action = Results.
🔗 Resources Mentioned
The Public Health Club
Join a community of public health professionals focused on career advancement, mentorship, professional development, networking, and growth.
Subcontracting to Six Figures
Learn strategies for building your public health consulting business and pursuing subcontracting opportunities.
Public Health CEO Circle
For public health entrepreneurs who are already building businesses and want strategy, support, and community to help grow and scale.
📣 Connect & Keep Learning
If this episode gave you the push you needed, share it with another ambitious public health professional who has big goals but needs encouragement to take the next step.
Subscribe to The Dr. Des Show for conversations about:
Public health careers • Career advancement • Public health consulting • Entrepreneurship • Leadership • Income growth • Business development • Professional branding
And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, leave a rating and review to help more public health professionals discover the show.
https://www.drdesshow.com/
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