Surgeon. Survivor. StartUp Founder.

I’m living my second life. The first nearly ended in a car accident. The second began when I chose to leave the toxic environment of Carle Foundation Hospital and step into something entirely new: entrepreneurship.

I’ve taken many bold leaps before — applying to medical school in another country, backpacking solo through Europe, surviving 9/11, and working at Ground Zero. But becoming an entrepreneur has been the most daunting of all. When I first floated the idea of Inclusive Health Match (and an AI-powered platform to train AI and to connect users with verified healthcare providers based on race, gender, speciality, language, and affirming practice such as LGBTQ+ support) to you — my readers — you confirmed it was not just my problem, but a real-world need worth solving. You told me you’d back it.

However, there was one obstacle: I wasn’t technically inclined. My computer triage skills were limited to calling the hospital IT department. I thought I’d have to hand my vision to someone else, to trust a surrogate to nurture my “baby.” That never happened. Instead, a compulsive autodidact, I taught myself to code. Line by line, mistake by mistake, I built Inclusive Health Match into a functioning app — for iOS and Android.

It wasn’t a straight line. I restarted countless times, lost entire days of code, and nearly gave up more than once. But today I have an MVP. It’s beautiful. And what I’ve learned is that the MVP is only the beginning. Entrepreneurship demands more time, energy, and resilience than surgery ever did. Surgeons have a clear path: training, practice, and mastery. Entrepreneurs do not.

I’ve studied leaders like Steve Jobs, but I know I can’t wear anyone else’s uniform — literally or figuratively. My role, as always, is to carve a path so others can follow. Just as a surgeon needs a strong team, I need one now to grow Inclusive Health Match from idea to impact. And I will have to do the thing I dislike most: market and sell. Because if I can’t make you feel my passion, then neither I nor my work is authentic.

We’re in startup school together. Learn with me. Critique me. Point out the traps before I stumble. Do it because you have your own great idea and you wonder if you could ever bring it to life. I’m here to show you: you can.

I’m already planning the TED Talk where I tell the story of how I joined the FAANG gang (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) — as a woman of the global majority who refused to be excluded.

But I don’t want to take that stage alone.

Join me in building the revolution at the intersection of medicine and tech.