17:29 - Phil Rose
Here we go. Welcome to the Sparks by Ignium podcast. I'm Phil Rose, the host. And today I'm delighted to be joined by Arturo Almeida. Arturo and I have known each other through our work at Strategic Coach for the last 18 months. I met him first when we were in our sessions in London and was excited. Hear about some of the things here to say, because Arturo comes at the world from a different perspective to me. He's a surgeon first and foremost, but what he really has brought to the world is his ability to transform as a business mentor and also looking at how he can build businesses out of his background. So I'm looking forward to the conversation because I know we're going to go in lots of different areas. We're going to meander through some of the story that's got Arturo to where he is now, but also thinking ahead to the future to help understand, OK, what is it about Arturo that really makes him tick? How does he bring the power of what he does to his clients? And where do we go next? So Arturo Almeida, welcome to the Sparks By Agony podcast. Thank you, Phil.

18:34 - Arturo Almeida
I'm really delighted to be in here. Thank you.

18:36 - Phil Rose
And it seems funny, you know, we know each other for the last 18 months, and I'm really looking for a great conversation here, because I know when we've talked before, you've got a lot to say. And one thing I'll say is even before we met each other in the classroom of Strategic Coach, you popped up on lots of the Zoom calls that we were running, to look at what strategic coach is all about. And one thing I know about you is you are not afraid to come forward with ideas and put your hand up, because you're out there, you're creating a different impression. And I love that about you. So all for our guests today, I'd like to know a bit more about, you know, a bit about you.

19:13 - Unidentified Speaker
Who are you?

19:14 - Arturo Almeida
What got you where you are today? Well, as you said, Phil, I'm coming from the medical world, the surgical arena, which is completely different from the business one. And it's been quite an interesting journey. But you mentioned that this, you know, that I'm always willing to just jump on and share my ideas. And I think this is coming from my medical school years. I mean, like, I always wanted to share, I was always the one willing to speak with people. And at the end of the day, all I wanted is to help my peers. And perhaps that's the main reason I became a surgeon in the first place. So after working as a surgeon for many years, and I work in different countries, Spain, when I'm originally born, the US, Germany, Switzerland. But I think the entrepreneur mind was always in, you know, here, in my mindset. And that's because perhaps my dad was an entrepreneur himself, he was kind of completely different world. He was an architect, but he was always just creating new companies. So eventually, I started my entrepreneurial journey back in 2008. And it was just my first company, which I opened just to provide medical and surgical services outside of the public health arena, which I find an advantage because I think I didn't want to feel constrained for the boundaries of the public health system. So I started my entrepreneurial journey, opened my first clinic in Madrid, Spain. And after that, it was just a journey of different things. I partnered with two other friends of mine. We opened four clinics in the aesthetic medicine arena. I moved slowly from transition from surgery to the aesthetic medicine. And I'm happy to just to tell you why I did that, made that transition. That entrepreneurial adventure, it was a big, big learning for me. It didn't go well, to be honest. And for different reasons. Yeah, exactly. I mean, like, I think even after the grief and the things that you feel when you feel betrayed by your partners, the reality was, is that was my fault. And I quickly realized that I had to learn business. Business skills are something that we doctors lack of We know about medical stuff, we know about everything else, but we don't know business. But at the same time, we all want to have our private practice, our clinic with our names on it. Yeah. And the reality is like, it's a skill that you need to learn. So in 2013, after that first crash, that you know, it was just my when my daughter was born. And it was not easy, by the way. And I began my own journey of growth and personal development. And I think I haven't stopped learning since. To me it was a discovery, a whole new world because you know we doctors don't really get into those things. We are constantly trying to keep ourselves up to date in the latest science, the latest medical treatment and things like that but we don't normally take so much care about ourselves to understand ourselves. So that was a big big discovery for me and since I also started to learn more business skills and well I learned and I just got back on my feet. Yeah. It was a it was a big, big learning and difficult, but also makes you feel stronger when you realize that you're capable to just, you know, overcome that, you know, rush that I had and then eventually go back in your feet. And then I remember my wife, which has been always with me in this entrepreneurial journey. We started together in the personal development growth. We in 2000, I think it was 2014, we took over a clinic in Madrid. And with 14 professionals working with us, you know, well established clinic. And we thought we did a great deal because we trusted the person that put together the deal for us. And we thought that we were doing absolutely great, but you know, the big learning that happened is like, we didn't do a proper due diligence of the business before taking it over. And eventually we found out that the numbers were not quite right. The finances of the company were not the ones that we were expecting. And even though everything looked nice on the outside, the reality was, that, you know, the company was broke and we went into administration. So tell me about this.

24:07 - Phil Rose
You know, there's a journey there from from setting up that first clinic back in in the early days. You know, you went into aesthetic medicine. But before you said that, you said that, you know, back at the university days at med school, you were the one who was out there to help your peers. And when we talk on this podcast, we talk a lot about that word purpose. And I think purpose runs through a lot of what people do. And often we see business owners going into business for one of two reasons, either they're to make a shed load of money, they've got that commercial mindset, or the ones that do best in our view are the ones who have the cultural mindset. They want to change the world in some way. And they're the ones who have a purpose in mind. I wonder if you look back in your day and think about when you use that word to help your peers. What was it about you that you said, hey, this is, I'm here to be a surgeon, but also I've got another line to me as well. What's that thing do you think that was ticking for you that said, hey, Arturo, I can be a good surgeon, but also I can run a or I can help other people.

25:02 - Arturo Almeida
What was it about you, do you think? That's a great question, Phil. I think this, I thought about this at times, and I think that helping others to transform and become better person, better people, better professionals, whatever, in the medical arena or the business arena is something ingrained within me. And when I was, you know, the first year of medical school, I remember, you know, all of us struggle with anatomy, you know, anatomy is one of the hardest subjects in medical school. And to me was really easy to explain, difficult to understand concepts in a very clear way. So my friends, my peers that were struggling with understanding those concepts, can easily understand them. And it made me feel really good. I wasn't expecting anything in return. And then as time goes by, and if I analyze my career back on from those years all the way to what I'm at right now, helping my customers, my patients, my client is definitely at the root of everything I do. And you can call that a purpose. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, even in the business arena, eventually now I do a lot of teaching. I teach a lot of other doctors in other companies, the medical world. And at the end of the day, what I really want from my students is to help them to understand how, for instance, implement a new treatment in their clinics or how companies can serve better to their clients. Medical professional. So yeah, that could be my purpose, perhaps.

26:54 - Phil Rose
And it's interesting, isn't it? Because if I think about your, your, your venture, you said, I mean, aesthetic medicine. I've talked to a lot of people over the years about this, this world of aesthetic medicine, I'd love to get a view on it. Why do people come to aesthetic medicine in the first place?

27:13 - Arturo Almeida
What is it they're coming for? Well, apparently, they come just for the aesthetic, the the appearance that they have, they want to look better, they want to, you know, to get rid of that wrinkle or that thing here. Yeah. But when you learn to listen to them, you quickly understand that in many cases, the wrinkle is just the surface of the problem. And what they really want is to fulfill any of the nine basic needs that human beings Yeah. And particularly, you know, like, to be accepted in the group, to have their own identity, to feel better with themselves. And that's the real reason why they approach aesthetic medicine. And I think that, you know, this is why it's becoming such a massive market worldwide in the Western world. Because I think, you think about this, during the war, and the Second World War, one of the items that was sold more than anything else in the non-military arena, you know, which was lipsticks. Yeah, okay. Because in the pain of the war, in the pain of such, you know, such situation, women still wanted to feel better with themselves. And I think that's at the root of the static medicine. And this is why I know it could be seen as something very, you know, in Spanish, you know, like something that you just look better for the Instagram or something. But in reality, at least in many cases, this is my experience. There's a deeper cause down in the root, and it's our job to find out what is that and not just deliver a treatment.

29:04 - Phil Rose
That's how I see it. And it's interesting because if you ever read back through psycho cybernetics by Maxwell moulds. Have you come across his work at all? No. So he wrote a book in the 1940s or 50s talking back to that he was a he was an aesthetic medicine surgeon. And he realized exactly what you just said there, the patients that came to him in the 1950s, were coming to him for a deeper reason than just what he was delivering. And he realized there was a whole load of work there that needed to be done because people perceive themselves to be very different depending on how they appeared. So what you've just said there lines up with all the theories that have been going for the last 60 to 70 years and well beyond that, that actually people come to these things for something different. And I think if we were to ask people, why do you buy from us? They may not know the root cause. They might come for the nose job or the brow fillers or something else, but there's something else missing in their lives is what they're really looking for. And I think there's a real power in that when you look at the purpose of what you do. The purpose is literally not just skin deep. It's deeper than that. There's a real inner core to this. And it's worth you looking at psycho-cybernetics as a book, because I think there's a lot there in terms of how we can transform ourselves with our thinking to help us understand what we want to be in the future and how we can get that right now by connecting with a deeper inner reason. So I think purpose is a really valuable conversation to look at what's at the root of things.

30:35 - Arturo Almeida
Absolutely. I think this applies to almost anything in life, like for instance, within the medical industry. I remember very early on in my career, when I started to work as the equivalent of GP in the UK, I quickly realized that in most cases, particularly older people, what they really wanted when they went to the doctors not the tablet, was not the syrup, was not that particular thing. No. They just wanted to be heard. They just wanted to be listened. And to me was something so clear. And I remember sharing this with some of my colleagues, and they said, No, they're just going to just tablet. I mean, they don't bother. I mean, they just want to waste your time. And I was always surprised a lot of my peers were not able to see that. And the funny thing is, when you have the time, which sometimes you don't have, particularly on the public health system, to talk to them, and mainly to listen to them, is when you really discover the real reason why they're coming to see you and ask for that particular, I don't know, acetamol. I think that's a really interesting thing, isn't it?

31:56 - Phil Rose
Because as lot there that people people come to you for the other thing and I think that point you mentioned earlier and people come for a different reason and you've got to be able to talk and find out and it's the same as any customers we're talking to in business whether we call them customers or clients we have to find out what's going on for them what's the real thing they want absolutely and which is why the private medical practices in the UK you can often find out what the real problem is when they ask the questions that the presenting injury the thing is not the real thing you need to understand the thing beneath the thing. And I think absolutely, absolutely.

32:29 - Arturo Almeida
The problem with private practice, though, I mean, it has been my experience for all the years, like, sometimes, it's sort of a continuation of the same practices that you do on your public health practice. You know, you get like a really busy calendar and diary, you see like 2025 patients in a day, or you do like six, seven, eight surgeries. And sometimes, particularly when you have a consultation, if you don't give yourself the time to listen to your patient, you will probably won't understand the real needs. And then perhaps you're going to see, oh, there's a headache, there's a gallbladder, there's a whatever. But that's not the problem. And sometimes we are guilty of looking at our patients, not as a real human being, but instead, as a problem that needs to be treated like a headache, or a tummy ache or gallbladder problem or something, but not at the real root of the problem. And I can tell you, you know, many, many examples of that that I had throughout my years in medicine. I think that's really interesting, isn't it?

33:36 - Phil Rose
So let's just go back in that case. Arturo, the surgeon, you made a decision one day that yes, you want to be a surgeon, but also you've got this entrepreneurial mind. And you said earlier, your father is an architect, you had that entrepreneurial spirit in your mind. What was it? What was the impetus for you to say, I need to go and set up a business now, not just become, not just be a surgeon, because you talked about going into the first clinic. What was the process when you decided something's got to change?

34:06 - Arturo Almeida
I'm not just doing the normal thing. Really good question, because if I think about that, I think that I've always chosen the pathway that people were not following, like more commonly. In that aspect, I think I've been a bit of a rebel. Can see myself as that. And I'm pretty sure that you're familiar with these, you know, like, everybody told me that as a surgeon, I should go this way. And I, I saw that that was not the way for me, but instead of the other one in my business, no, you shouldn't do these and blah. So when I decided to start my clinic, private practice, instead of going to what is supposed to do, particularly in Spain, or any country that has a public health system, like the UK or Spain, you surgeon are supposed to work on the public health system, the big hospitals, and then perhaps in your spare time, had a private practice, but I decided to go full into the private world. Because I had the feeling that I have to choose and serve one or the other. And I really want to wanted to serve my patients, perhaps that was the first motivation. And I knew that, to me was more likely to happen in the private sector. So when I started my first company, it was basically to all medical services and surgical services, but having the time to really listen to my patients to really dedicate the time for them. And I think that was the seed, the beginning of it. But eventually, I transitioned to say, okay, instead of helping one to one, which is normally the medical patient relationship, what if I can find a way to help one to too many? What if I could reach more people and help them with what I want to do? And I think it's a way also to give back. Because in my case, it's, I feel more fulfilled if I can share what I've learned throughout these years of not just a medical professional, but also as a business person. Okay, the ups and downs that I had to help all the peers or the people in the medical industry or any industry in general, to perhaps avoid some of the mistakes that I've made throughout the years and to share my journey. So by sharing my own experience, my own journey, they can see, okay, this guy is not just giving us what can be found in a textbook or something that he's read another book? No, this person is sharing his own experience. So perhaps I would need to listen to them. And I think that's why I transitioned from the clinical practice towards the more specific business arena. Okay, okay. Yeah, that's really interesting.

36:54 - Phil Rose
So that so there's something driving you there to be able to share that one to many as opposed to one to one experience and that journey that you've been on to help other people do good in what in the world. So I think it's interesting, isn't it? Because I always think when I look at the clients I've worked with over the last 20 years, 21 years even, there's always something else there. There's always another reason for doing it. And I think it's worth digging beneath that, because that's the way your power sits effectively. And that's the key to making this work. So on that journey, though, you share this a lot with your clients. You share this a lot with people you work with. As you mentioned earlier, you've been through some tough times. You've set up the clinic. You found out that what you had bought wasn't quite what you expected, and you realised the due diligence hadn't been right. Just tell me a bit about that, the setbacks you've been through, and how did you overcome them?

37:50 - Arturo Almeida
Well, I mean, it's like Keith Cunningham in his book, The Role Less Stupid, which is an excellent book. He says, well, I possibly paid a very high tuition for that learning course, because definitely it was a learning for me. Broke twice. And the first time happened with my daughter was only months old. And my wife was sacked from her company. So really difficult time for us and quite challenging. And that was when I realized I needed to do something of here more than anything else. But you know, I felt betrayed by my my partners, which were friends of mine, And I felt that they stole my idea of the clinics that we founded in Spain, in Madrid, from me. And I ended up even working as an employee in my own company. And eventually I left. So it was quite difficult to accept that. But the reality is, as I said before, that after blaming everyone, I think, and this is a big learning for me, that you need to take responsibility own acts.

39:00 - Unidentified Speaker
Yeah.

39:00 - Arturo Almeida
And, and I've read, I mean, I've read so many books about that, right. But particularly, I remember one book that touched me, which from Wayne Dyer. Yeah, the late Wayne Dyer. And I remember he said something about the, you know, how important is to forgive? Because what kills you is not the venom of the snake. I mean, it's not the bite of the snake, but the venom that runs into your bloodstream. And I really like that analogy, because I realized that, okay, my partners had their part. But I didn't have to focus on them. And I have to let it go and forgive them. And I did, I actually talked to one of them, and to both of them, I said, Listen, I'm not expecting anything from I'm just giving you my gift because, you know, I'm just moving on. And then learning that, okay, what are the mistakes that I made here? What are the things that I didn't do the right way? And there was a book, it's a book published only in Spanish, it's like called, the translation would be The Black Book of the Entrepreneur. And when I remember when I read that book, and I haven't been able to find that book in English, unfortunately, but I have the Spanish version. That book, when I read the book, I thought, oh my God, I mean, these are each one of the things that I've made wrong. And that made me realize that I needed to learn and I needed to change my mindset. And this is perhaps why I embarked myself into the personal development journey. And I've learned a lot of things about me. And I've learned the importance of understanding the blueprints that we and I also ended up having my own coaches. And this is why I believe so much in coaching because I've been a coachee myself and I am the living proof that having a coach at different stages of your journey and also different coaches at different stages, it's so helpful. So that was my big learning about the first one. The second one, even though it was really bad and we went into administration, and when I've seen from the outside world, I remember my friend saying, Arturo, are you okay? I mean, are you aware of the situation there? And he just said, yeah, I'm fully aware. But this time, this situation caught me in a different mindset here. So even though the problem was massive, really, really bad, because I was more mature on my mindset, I was willing to handle that problem from a completely different perspective. Okay. And it was an interesting experience. We've learned lots of that. The importance of having due diligence, the importance of just making sure that you are not getting the same employees from the former owner, because you know, there are resistances in the growth and things like that. Lots of learning from that. But I will say that what made me feel good about it is to realize that the more you grow here, the better, the different way you will approach problems. Because problems in your business journey, they will always be there. And we all have problems as business owners. And it's so refreshing when we meet in a strategic coach workshops that, you know, to feel that you're not alone. You're not the only one suffering from all these problems. And this is something common to the entrepreneurial world. But if you are growing, your problems perhaps are bigger, but your mindset is still above that, you can handle the problems in a different way. That was a big learning for me, despite, of course, all the learnings of the administration thing.

42:56 - Phil Rose
And it's interesting because I believe that you mentioned about coaching. A lot of people come to coaches for one specific need, but they realize what they get is something very different. And I often say to clients, what people come to me for as a coach is to make their business more financially successful. But what they thank me for is giving them their life back. And I don't say that lightly, because actually I can make a business successful, revenues up, costs down, make more money easily. But it's the personal piece behind it that is sustainable. That's the key. And I think when you said about having different coaches at different stages, as you said, when you went to your second issue, in the business and the administration, you could approach it with a different mindset. And I think there's a lot to be said for that, because as you said earlier, what you learned was actually taking responsibility for your own actions. And once you get that as a business owner and as a human being, you can say, OK, why have I, how have I created this? And the work of Wayne Dyer is amazing. And I don't know which book you're referencing there, but I've heard that quote about from Wayne a number of times in that piece about it's not the venom, it's the venom coursing through your blood for years afterwards that is the biggest problem. And I think there's a lot to be said for that. We have to sometimes we have to always forgive and move on. We have to understand from our own perspective, what is it we can do for ourselves? And that forgiveness is mostly to ourselves at the outset.

44:21 - Arturo Almeida
So it's really powerful. I mean, let me share this with you. I remember when I, you know, approached to one of them and I said, listen, you know, this is I wanted to tell you that I forgive you that, you know, that I'm moving on. Interestingly, I've learned that not everyone is ready to take that. And, and I remember his face, looked at me. And he didn't want to say because perhaps he was expecting to say something to me because I said that. And so when I saw his face, I said, Listen, I'm not expecting anything from you. But yeah, I mean, just I'm just giving you this, because I'm more than on, and I'm forgiving you, and I'm getting rid of all the, you know, the things that I have here. And that's it. Yeah. And he says something to me that really, really hit me, which is, I'm not prepared for this yet. And I said, Wow, I mean, I never expected this. I mean, I just wanted to say it. And that was a big learning for me, because some people are just not ready for that. Or they are expecting, perhaps to just keep going, keep going, keep going in the confrontation and things. And when you stop confronting, and you decide to move on, the other person lives like, okay, so now what? Yeah, it's quite interesting how our brain works. And I've read recently a book that you're probably familiar with, which is The Chimp Paradox. Yeah, it's been really, I mean, like, it's been really interesting to understand the theories about the chimp and the human and the central computer and things like that. Really interesting because it's so true. It's so true.

46:05 - Phil Rose
I think there's a whole load of things there in terms of, you know, how does that Chimp Paradox work out? And I think when you look at what Steve Peters wrote in there, was there actually a way of helping you understand what's really going on and how do we help that emotional bit of the brain really sit back and let's work on the logical piece and, you know, combining those three bits of the brain I think is such a key piece. But most people don't get it early enough. They don't understand how we're making that connection between emotional and logical and that memory and habit piece. And how actually that chimp operates on the feelings and instincts, not the logic. So your business partner, he was on that feelings and instincts. We always talk about how emotion drives everything. But we have to understand, let's separate the two. So true, yeah, yeah, yeah.

46:53 - Arturo Almeida
I think there's a lot to be said about that.

46:56 - Phil Rose
And Steve Peters, great. Great, great author of those who haven't read Jim Paradox, well worth looking into. Because I think there's so much power in that in every conversation we have.

47:06 - Arturo Almeida
Absolutely, absolutely agree.

47:07 - Phil Rose
So talking about let's come forward in that case, I want to just think about where we're going with your business, because obviously, you've come a long way, you created the business. And here we are 12 plus years later, Arturo Almeida is still working, still making the business strong, you've got a stronger mindset. What's next? Where's that vision taking you in terms of what you're trying to create out there beyond 2025?

47:35 - Arturo Almeida
OK, next for me is about getting deeper into this helping my clients mode. I launched my coaching program recently because I want to be able to interact with other professionals like minded people, to help them to understand themselves. You said something really interesting. Obviously, you're a business coach, you're a great business coach, you know this very much. But for instance, in my case, my last coach was not a business coach. And she said that from the very beginning, where my initial purpose was just to drive and grow my business. And she said to me, I'm not a business coach but I can help you to become a better person and perhaps I can help your business and boy was she so right because after working with we've been working together regularly for the last four years and this person has changed my life literally because she has helped me so much to understand a lot of things that were happening deep here that now I I have much more clarity on what I want to go from 2020 and beyond. And I remember she asked me once, how's your business going? Is it going better? I said, yeah, why do you ask? Yeah, because normally, if you, the owner, the leader, grows and becomes a better version of himself, normally, that definitely has a positive impact your business, which has been my case. So this is why I decided to get deeper into the teaching arena. And I've been teaching professionals for 21 years already, different type of professionals from surgeons, medical professionals, healthcare professionals, people from other industries. And I'm really passionate about training. In the last years, I've been focused in a very specific niche on the aesthetic medicine arena. I'm known globally to be the world's expert in this arena of what's called non-surgical body contouring, fat dissolving injectables. And it's been really good. And I met people from all over the world and I have clients, customers from all over the world. But now I have this motivation to move forward and to transition for just that niche, the business states. What I mean by that is, as I said before, what I want now is to be focused almost exclusively on helping all the professionals, mainly within the medical industry, to be better as persons, as professionals. And one of the key things that we doctors need to improve massively our communication skills. And by improving your communication skills, some people don't get it, but if you communicate better, and you learn to listen better, if you are a clinic owner, your clinic will grow significantly because you will not approach your clients from the treatment perspective, as I said before, you're not you're no longer a Botox client, you're no longer a derma filler client, you're no longer no, you are someone that I want to help and serve. And what I need is to listen to you better and to fully understand what is the deep cause, or the real reason why you come into me in the first place. And in this industry, all my peers, most of them are into these war of prices. Yeah, you want to be cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. And this is becoming just a commodity. And I keep saying to all my students, listen, you need to find your uniqueness. Don't go into this crazy world, because the only thing you're doing is devaluating yourself. You're a professional. And you have something that makes you unique compared to the, you know, the clinic across the street.

52:05 - Unidentified Speaker
Yeah, yeah.

52:06 - Arturo Almeida
So you need to find your own clients, your own patients that really resonate with the message, because you are not good for everyone, forget it. And sometimes we doctors want to please everyone. But I've learned again, from my own experience, that that is not the case. You can't please everybody all the time. Exactly. So this is like my mission from 2025 onwards. And I have different ways. You know, I have a couple of courses that I'm launching next month. I am developing a group coaching program, but I'm also launching this one-on-one coaching program. And I've been approached by some people that are not in the medical arena. And interestingly enough, I think because we are all human beings at the end of the day, most of the principles that you learn in a specific industry can be applied almost any industry, because my goal is not to be the expert on their field. But instead, my goal is to help them to ask the right questions. So they will come up with the right answers. And for that, I don't need to be an expert. And also, I can help them to by sharing my journey. And that was be more focus on medical professionals, on how they can be better professionals every single day. And that goes, and it's not just about learning a new treatment, a new skill, a new something, no, it's about perhaps improving your communication skills, which is at the root of most patient medical problems. I love that. And it's interesting, isn't it?

53:49 - Phil Rose
Because as you said, it's that communication piece. And as you said, your view is that what you're looking at is helping predominantly medical professionals differentiate themselves. I've just recorded a with Richard Mulholland, who wrote a great book called Here Be Dragons. And he talks there that actually, we have to move away from this unique selling proposition, because we have to find something different. And I think what you're saying there is as surgeons, as medical professionals, the community have to look at how they differentiate themselves, because you can't do it on price. Price is just a race to the bottom. We all know that when one person drops, you can't be that person to drop. You need to be the most expensive person in your marketplace.

54:27 - Arturo Almeida
I agree. Yeah, I agree.

54:29 - Phil Rose
We always talk about people go back to a doctor because of their bedside manner. And actually, it's people have to feel listened to. And that's the key. Let me ask this great question, which you know very well, because Dan Sullivan asked this question regularly. When we're having this conversation, Arturo, in a year from now, it's now the 11th of February, 2026. What has to have changed in your life to help you bring that business to life and make it the most successful year you've ever had?

54:58 - Arturo Almeida
Well, we both know that's a great question. And perhaps it's about me. How can I say this? I mean, perhaps it's about believing more in what I'm trying to achieve. And at times is is not just about external factors. Yeah, in many, many occasions, the main bottleneck could be yourself. So it's it's a transition year for me. I'm really excited about 2025. And I'm still getting some traction, but it's about okay. I know that some of my existing people within my tribe will not get this change of this transition into a different world. And, and it's about, okay, accepting that. But also the same time, I will find other people that may become, you know, part of my tribe, that will be ready to listen to my message. So what I the way I see myself in one year from today is, that I have the confidence and the tools in place during this 2025, where this goal that I'm going to achieve, and it's coming because the company is moving into that direction, will be a reality and will be ready to the next step. But I think that's how I see myself in one year from today. Yeah, something like that. And it's interesting, isn't it?

56:47 - Phil Rose
Because you started and you ended on the same point there around that you said, believe more in what I'm trying to achieve. And you said it's not the external factors. It's more about me. And then you finish with the piece around confidence and tools. And I'm going to put you on the spot here now. You come across as a confident person. I've met you over the last 18 months. I've seen you on Zoom calls. You're a very confident person. So what's the bit you're trying to achieve that's going to transform? What needs to really move and shift to help you move that internal perspective more than ever?

57:21 - Arturo Almeida
Well, that's a great question, Phil. I think it's to one thing. Yeah, I can be a confident person. I'm also happy and willing to talk and to express my feelings and share my thoughts things like that. But and I know that a lot of people perceive me that way. Yeah. But I think that sometimes going back to the team paradox example, I think that because I'm very emotional person, and also I like to really help people, that team inside me is taking sometimes over my logical thinking. Because when I think from my human brain, I know, I'm absolutely convinced that this will happen. I have no doubts whatsoever. But then at times, my team, which is five times more stronger than the human as you know, takes over, and it tries to sabotage me. And I think is about controlling, managing my team, because you never control that emotional part of your brain. Yeah. And being and being capable to manage that. So and then perhaps I will find that balance. And I know that some people that know me may may find this a bit surprising. Sometimes even my wife says, I mean, but you're very confident. I mean, you have very clear what you want to achieve. And yes, I do. But internally. I have these things in my brain, and I'm being completely honest and open to you and to your guests. Yeah.

59:12 - Phil Rose
And I love that, because that's one thing I know about you, which is why I felt confident to be able to ask that question now, because I think that there's a lot there. And you're very good at reading around the subject. You're very good at looking at what needs to be the thing to transform your business life. And what I just heard from you say that it's actually that deep understanding of the bits that are holding you back is about that emotional piece. It's about that self-doubt that often crops up. And we see this so often from business owners working with them for many years now. It's actually, it's the imposter syndrome sometimes that gets in the way of their real success. And I love the fact that you come back to the chimp paradox because it is, it's that emotional piece. And that chimp, as you said, is much stronger than you are, and it's going to take you where you want, and it will jump out when you're not ready. For it. And we have to look at how do we work in parallel to manage those, those feelings that that inner battle effectively, because we know that that chimps acting impulsively and emotionally, the humans that that rational and goal oriented piece, and you've got to combine the two together, because you want to make it work, you want to build this. So for you to build this 2025 vision, there's something there, which actually is that Arturo piece of inner work that's got to go deep Yeah.

1:00:25 - Arturo Almeida
Yeah. I mean, you're a coach. I mean, you're a coach for 20, 21 years. I mean, and you know, these way better than I do. And the same is true for doctors, by the way. It's always way easier to advise other people to really see where they're struggling. But sometimes it's not so easy to see your own struggles.

1:00:51 - Unidentified Speaker
Yeah.

1:00:52 - Arturo Almeida
I mean, like, I mean, for instance, I mean, I'm a doctor, okay? I know health. I know what you have to do to be healthy. All the things I know by, you know, here. But sometimes I do not apply that myself. Even that I know if someone like myself comes to me to my clinic and I say, I know exactly what I have to tell them. But when you have to apply your knowledge to yourself, You know, yeah, that's a completely different perspective, because then the emotion kicks in. This is why it's easy to give advice, because there is no emotional attachment. In many cases, you are trying to be honest with the person that is running in front of you. But I think when your emotion kicks in, yeah, is your team kicks in is when the struggle can happen. That's how I see it. Yeah. And it's interesting, actually.

1:01:46 - Phil Rose
And I'm going to correct you on one thing. You said I've been a coach for 21 years. Interestingly, I started life as a consultant In fact, I started life as an engineer and I go back to that and I think this is real relevance So as an engineer as an aerospace engineer I was paid to keep people from dying because if I got my calculations wrong planes fell out of the sky not good news for anybody I had to make sure I was right which meant I was paid for the answers I gave so when I started my first business in 2004, I was a consultant And it was only in the next three to four years that I realized actually consulting wasn't what I did. It was coaching. So I first trained as a coach in 2008, which when I had four years working on my own as a consultant, thinking of this sort of business all about. And I realized I was applying my engineering mindset to the world, which was let's come in and tell our maid as a fair way to tell Arturo how to run his business. And that wasn't the way, because I don't know your business from anybody and I can't tell you anything. Whereas if I put my coaching hat on, which I discovered in 2008, I can ask great questions. And by asking great questions, you get to the real root of the problem, because my answer isn't your solution. And therefore, I have to be really careful with that. And I think the key you mentioned there is that difference between consultant and coach is a really powerful one, because we can't presuppose what somebody else's problem is. What we can do is ask them the questions that help them uncover what the problem is for themselves. And we might be able to bring a range solution and say, hey, try this on for size. How does it feel? And then you get the way to help them come up with their solution to their problem, which is interesting. If we then go back in time, think about how, what Maxwell Maltz was doing when he wrote his book, which was actually similar in his work in terms of looking at how do we transform people's lives? Yes, he could do plastic surgery. Yes, he could do all that other cosmetic thing, but what he really needed to find out, which is what you said just now, is give people time and ask questions and let them solve their problems. And maybe what they came to him for wasn't what they really wanted.

1:03:50 - Arturo Almeida
It was the inner work, as you said just now. Yeah, yeah. It's quite interesting because, I mean, I didn't know about this field, but when I entered the business world and then I decided to more and more help all the medical professionals with their clinics and businesses and I thought that I was a consultant. And I think I played a consultancy role. And even my company's name is consulting, you know, because that's what I thought. But it took me some time to understand that one thing is consultancy when you do the work for them. And a completely different thing is when you coach them, when you mentor them, you don't have to find the answers for them. That's when you do consultancy, you need to guide them to with the right questions, so they can come up with their own answers. And this is what, you know, I did my first coaching training back in 2010. And after that, I've done two other trainings. And then I think unconsciously, when I look backwards, what I used to do, even back in medical school, I was not just the giving my peers the answers about anatomy. I remember myself asking them the questions, okay, what is what you don't understand about the anatomy of the arm? Yeah, instead of just saying, okay, the biceps go from here to here. And it's remember this mnemotechnic rule or something? No, I always liked to ask questions, to the point that my wife complains about that quite a lot. She says, so many questions. I mean, you're all always asking questions, I think perhaps is ingrained here. And that's when I decided, as I share with you, to transition from just the consultancy arena, which I do for some industries, to more coaching, because I finally understood the difference between the two. Yeah. And it's really interesting, isn't it?

1:05:53 - Phil Rose
Because as a as a coach, I would fully agree with you. But I think a lot of people will still have their consulting hat or their selling hat on and they would not get this. But I think the key here is actually as business owners, we can ask better questions. For us to develop our teams, it's about asking questions. Absolutely. And we have to get that balance. And I think there's a real thing there because that imposter syndrome we talked about earlier and that lack of confidence sometimes comes out where people don't feel they're able to ask questions because they think they have to know the answers. Because as business owners, We need to employ people who are better than us at doing the job. And therefore, we don't know how to do the job, but we need to coach them on how they do their job better. We don't need to know the answers. And I think that's a really powerful piece. So true. So true. I love this conversation. When we talked about doing this podcast together, we talked about how your knowledge of where you've been, the ups and downs of building your life, your job in Madrid, building the clinics, was powerful. You then moved to the UK. You live in Tadcaster now and there's a real transformation there. And I wonder that from your perspective, what have you learned about that transition? Because you've moved from Spain where you knew it, you speak the language and you've moved to this strange area called Tadcaster to run a business. That's a big thing for you as well. So tell us about what you've learned from that move rather than why you did it.

1:07:20 - Arturo Almeida
It's interesting because even today, after nine years, a lot of people keep asking me, I mean, what are you doing here in Spain? I mean, not even in England, but in the north of England? Well, I mean, it's, as I said, at the beginning, I think I love challenges. And I found that Spain could not offer what I was looking for. And in fact, before even considering the UK, like two, three years before that, we had the opportunity to move to Chile, which was easier because it was the same language. And different circumstances that didn't happen. And then I had the opportunity to explore this market back in 2014. And I always like to explore new things. I mean, I can help it. I mean, I have this thing in me. So I explore that. And I realized that, okay, that could be an interesting market. And because I lived in the US for a total of nine years, I mean, non continuously, but I know the English culture and language and things like that. I always feel attracted to, you know, to different country and in the English world. And I found the UK to have the combination of culture, history, which the Americans lack of I mean, that's I mean, when you live in the US, it's all about money, business and things like that. They're business money driven. There's no there's no history, because it's a relatively new country, whereas here in Europe is where the culture is coming from So the UK has this culture, this history, this, you know, foundation that I didn't find in the US, which for me coming from Europe, it's important. But also, the UK, England gives you the perfect platform. Yeah. To be more visible to markets that I will not be able to reach from Madrid, even though Madrid is an important capital of Europe. But the UK is perceived by almost everyone in the world, that is, you know, the place, particularly London, I mean, in most places, UK equals London. My friends still think that I live in London. Okay, because this is the truth. So there's a world but you're in London, which is England. But so I think that duality was really attractive to me. But then I tested that myself without moving my family because I wanted to make sure that that could be a real opportunity and not just trying with the entire family, and then going back to Spain. But thankfully, my wife is also another rebel, I will say. So she was keen to explore a different world. And she was keen to just do it. So it was a a real challenge. We chose Leeds just for the only reason that back in the days, I used to travel all over the UK. So Leeds is pretty much the geographical center of the UK. That was the only reason I chose the UK in the first place and Leeds. And then so but my goal was just to go down south closer to the coast, closer to France, closer to Spain. I love the French culture, the wine, the food and things So that was what we wanted to do initially. Yeah. But guess what? We fell in love with Yorkshire. Yeah. Once we got used to the accents, because that is quite challenging. And yeah, it's been a journey. And it was a big struggle for both my wife and my daughter. Just think that my daughter didn't know any English at all, but she was less than five. So I mean, kids are sponges. And now she's become a proper, you know, girl from Yorkshire. And so it's been a journey, but it's been a great journey for us as a family. And being and because we've lived in Madrid, which is a big city, it was clear in our mind. And this was a family decision that we did not want another massive city like London. We wanted something quieter. That's we we didn't choose London as the first even that London is where everything happens in this country. Yeah, exactly. And then, but, you know, Yorkshire is now, I think it's running through our blood. And then we find in this village of Thackaster, the countryside, which is amazing and very peaceful, quiet. The only noise that wakes me up in the morning is just the birds singing. That's it. I love it. It's great.

1:11:58 - Phil Rose
And I love that story about that journey. And I wanted to ask you that because it's It amuses me when I hear it, but I love the story you put around it. You're rebels and you want to explore something different. And your wife's got that entrepreneurial spirit as well. Yeah, she does. You've gone out looking for a challenge and you found it. And I think that's what drives most entrepreneurs. They want to do something different and they're not happy with the status quo. And I love that in that journey for you, that even looking at this next journey of 2025 to build this next stage for you is actually about challenging yourself to move on from being, Arturo the surgeon, to Arturo the entrepreneur, to Arturo the coach, there's a whole transformation there. Exactly. Which is a really great story there. So here's one final question before we come to a close. Looking back now with what you now know in 2025, what advice would you give the young Arturo at the beginning of your journey?

1:12:59 - Arturo Almeida
Great question.

1:13:05 - Arturo Almeida
I would say to the young Arturo, be bold and pursue your dreams despite what anyone else may tell you. Go for them. And skills can be learned. Yeah, that could be it. Yeah, I love you.

1:13:24 - Phil Rose
Tell me that.

1:13:25 - Arturo Almeida
How does that feel when you now reflect on what you've just Well, it feels like I literally went to the youngest version of myself. And I when I look backwards, some people say, Oh, I wish I was 20 or 30. Again. I made many mistakes along the way. I would like to do things differently in my life. But if you ask me, If I would want to go back to when I was 30, no, I'm really happy who I am now today. And I've really enjoyed the journey. And when I see myself at the very end of my life, and it is something that can summarize my life, and I'm completely convinced about this, I enjoy this life to the fullest, because I think I've really done it.

1:14:32 - Phil Rose
Lovely, lovely, lovely story. Antonio, it's been great to talk to you. And we're going to get to see each other fairly soon as well. And I love that journey you've been on. And I wish you well on that journey for the next year. And I look forward to being part of that coaching community to help you and to challenge you. And I look forward to hearing how this all unfolds for the other people that are working with you, around you, being supported by you, because I think you've got such a great opportunity here to help people on your mission do better. So thank you for that. So thanks for being so open. Thanks for the conversation. It's been great to hear from you.

1:15:11 - Arturo Almeida
One question in that case, where do people go find the great Arturo? Well, you can find me on my website, which is ArturoAlmeida.com. But if you look on socials, you can find me on YouTube channel, which is something that I started quite recently, but it's gaining quite a lot of traction. And also on my Instagram account, which is Dr. Arturo Almeida. And YouTube, just type Arturo Almeida, you're going to find the channel easy. And I'm sharing there a lot of stuff and mainly who I am.

1:15:46 - Phil Rose
And for those who want to know, Almeida is A L M E I D. We'll put this on the show notes, because the show notes go out to accompany the show, so you can find out more about Arturo from that. But thank you, Arturo. It's been a great conversation.

1:16:04 - Arturo Almeida
Thank you for being open, and thank you for being a guest on Sparks by Ignium.

1:20:11 - Phil Rose
In this conversation with Arturo Almeida, I again learned so much from somebody I've known for the last 18 months. I learned about his journey, but also I learned the key that really is the key to unlocking the things behind business owners. And that's the mindset, it's what you bring to it. Often entrepreneurs hold themselves back because of their own competence. It may seem strange when you hear that as an entrepreneur, but often when you dig deep, that's one of the key things. Now that's not all entrepreneurs, but some. So I'd urge you to listen to this conversation with Arturo and think about what's stopping you. And think about what you need over the next year as you progress your business or your life to help you become even better at what you do. Because we all know that by tapping into that, you can help unlock that. And that's the key to making your life and your business a success. And that's the key to helping transform the lives of the customers and clients that you work with once you get to understand yourselves. So doing that deep work really is a transformational piece. Listening to the show, and as always, I can't hold you to account. But if you have questions or comments, please drop them to me, phil.inghamconsult.com. Love to pick up on that. Also, please feel free to send this to people that you think can benefit from it. We know we ought to get this message out of what the Sparks by Ignium podcast is all about. And you, our guests, are the audience that we want to transform. So please help us. Please help spread the message. Thank you very much. Enjoy the show.