Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello. Houston Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. I am so excited to have another sister on with me today. Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan is with me today. Uh, assistant professor of endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E DeBakey VA medical center. Dr. Madhuri, an endocrinologist and faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine, empowers her patients to heal from within by harnessing their natural ability to thrive, not just survive, while thoughtfully integrating medical All therapies when needed. Doctor Madhuri, thank you so much for being on with me today.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: It’s my pleasure. Thank you so much, Trisha. This is just an exciting opportunity and I’m really grateful to have it. Thank you.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, I’m so excited. So you and I met through, uh, Mel C, uh, for the Six Figure Chicks book. And I, when we were all introducing ourselves, I said I was a veteran. You said I work at the VA hospital, and I knew immediately that I was in the right room. I’m so excited to have you on, um, talking today. So tell us a little bit more about you, and then let’s dive into what you’re doing for your patients.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Okay. Wonderful. So, um, my background is I was born and raised here in Houston. Um, I went to school here, undergraduate here. And, um, some of the things I love to do as a child and still do is, uh, I love listening to music. I love dancing. All styles of dance. Any kind of music you put on, I’m ready to jump up and down and have fun. Yes, exactly. Um, and, uh, you know, I’ve made some. My best friends were through the medical school years and, um, training and everything that followed. Um, two kids and, you know, we we work here in the medical center. Um, as a physician, I initially in my medical school, years of training, I was be lining it to cardiology. I was fascinated by heart and physiology and was sure I wanted to do that. And I had a very kind of pivotal experience in my second year of training, where I met a young lady that was dealing with multiple chronic conditions, that looking at her and she and I were the same age. I thought to myself, what could have changed in her life that could have shaped her, or directed her in a way to protect herself, to heal her body and perhaps prevent the conditions that she was facing. And that really directed me and inspired me to pursue a fellowship training in endocrinology. So that’s the study of diabetes, hormones and metabolism. And, uh, I, uh, as a, uh, after completing my training, I came back to the VA back in 2012.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: And I remember when I reached out to my chief at the time and I said, is there any job at the VA? You know, those are hard to come by, but could you tell me if there’s anything? And he said, as a matter of fact, there’s something about diabetes. And I said, sign me up. I’m ready. Pick me. And, uh, I was so excited when I got the job. Um, I was the first person here at the Houston VA to create a dedicated insulin pump program. So that’s my kind of clinical niche is in taking care of patients that have diabetes, that are on insulin pumps and devices that can help. Support their diabetes care. Protect them from high and low you know, extremes of blood sugar and really help protect their organs over time. And I love what I do. And through that experience of of starting these programs, what happens day to day during my practice is I talk a lot about food. I talk a lot about nutrition. And and lots of different questions come up that spurred my curiosity. So I started asking myself, learn. Let me learn a little bit about how food affects the body. And so that is my love is how to help patients heal through nutrition, heal through holistic means, reduce their inflammation in the body, and use the medications that are there as life saving measures. So a nutshell. Yeah, that’s.

Trisha Stetzel: A good coconut shell that you do so much in all of the communities that you’re supporting and with your patients. And thank you for being such an amazing human being. Uh, number one. And then, of course, as a physician helping people. And I love that you’re talking about food, because when we take care of our bodies, our bodies are our amazing machines, right? And they can heal themselves in a lot of cases when we’re feeding them the right food and nutrition. Yeah. Oh my gosh, I love that. So one of the things if it’s okay, I’m going to kind of pivot to to you, you’re a physician. You work in multiple areas. You have two daughters. You have a lot going on in your life. So how how are you able to set boundaries or how do you learn or have you learned to really set boundaries in the work that you’re doing?

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: I think that is one of the best questions and most kind of deep questions that a lot of women face when we’re busy with work and busy with life. And, uh, So let’s see. Setting boundaries. This is a difficult question. Um, from the time I was a kid and through my training years. The recurring theme is if somebody says do something or asks me, I say, yes. How much? How high? Yes, I can do it. Um, and the same work ethic has applied as I started my job here 13 years ago. Um, of course, there’s a sort of a demand that you prove yourself in the beginning and that you demonstrate your productivity. Uh, and I took that to kind of an nth degree so early in the course of my training. And really, I would say up until just about a year ago, I had not learned effectively how to set boundaries for myself. And as a result, I started adding so many tasks to my plate that I became exhausted. Um, and just to share. So my husband is a pediatric surgeon, and about a year and a half ago, he came home one day and he said, you work so many hours and you’re up so many nights that you get less sleep than he does. And to put it in context, he has to do sometimes 12 hour surgeries, 20 hour surgeries.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: And he said, really, there’s something wrong with this picture. You need a break. You need to realign and try to restrict yourself, get a little balance back. Um, as a as a physician and a mom and. Et cetera, et cetera. As the boss of the house. You know, it’s hard to listen when, um, when he’s giving me that good advice, but I did. As a result of this past year and my healing journey, I have learned the value and the importance of setting boundaries. And I’ve also come to the realization how that is tied into what many of us go through is imposter syndrome. Um, feeling that I’m not good enough and I have to keep proving myself. And, uh, just to kind of jump into that topic. I have come to the realization that, first of all, I am good enough. Took me a long time to just say those words and really believe them and that, um, that secondly, I don’t have to prove myself. You know, and I really never had to. But it is a lesson that I’ve learned, and I’m feel so joyful. The, the, the, you know, the moment that I came to that realization, I felt like this burden was lifted off my shoulders. And I felt a lightness and a freedom to just do the work I love without feeling like I’m judging myself against some standard that no one else imposed on me.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Um, so yeah, I think setting boundaries is something so essential to leading a balanced life. And I listened to an interesting, uh, podcast by a famous motivational speaker. Uh, his name is Simon Sinek, and it really struck me when I listened to him, he said that a strong woman knows how to establish and understand the difference between being kind and being nice and being kind. Is that you’re filled with compassion, that what you do, you serve or help because of a genuine interest. But being nice is something that we often do when we’re seeking validation from somebody else, or seeking a little bit of a justification for the hard work that we’re doing. And so I have really sort of toed that line of nice being nice for a long time. And now, I mean, I’m a nice person, but I’m learning how to establish those boundaries and and not let go of my authentic self. You know, I am a genuinely kind and compassionate person and I love to to share that. So. So I guess the story is, yes, establishing boundaries is critical. And it’s been a journey for me for sure.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you for sharing all of that. I’m a big fan of Simon Sinek as well And I love this. It’s not something that I’ve heard before. The difference between being kind and nice and I completely resonates with me. Yeah. Yeah. Because as women, we’re not very good at saying no. And it takes practice and we put everyone else ahead of ourselves. And as a physician, you know, and especially someone who’s very keen into nutrition and feeding our bodies the right food and getting rest and all of the the holistic approach, you know, that if we’re not taking care of ourselves first, that we can’t take care of anyone else in the way that we want to. Right. Uh, thank you for sharing that. So it sounds like you have a really great support system at home because it was your husband that said, okay, enough. Something has to shift. How important is it to surround yourself with people who are going to help you with those boundaries and the balance that you’ve set out for?

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: That’s a great question. So, you know, finding people. And I think this is something that I learned. I’ve learned over the years. True genuine friendships. What it means those chosen sisters, as I, you know, like to refer to to you and all my new lovely friends. And then the real, deep, genuine relationships I’ve had over the years. Those are the people you can be yourself with. You can laugh. You can be vulnerable. And you know they’re not judging you, and they’re only there to support you in your, you know, as you grow as a person and and that, you know, you feel the same for them. Um, this, this experience of, of making that network or that sort of web of support. It starts, I think, for me, with my, my immediate family. So my husband, I actually have an older son and a younger daughter. And so my son, he’s 18 now has been kind of this similar to my husband, just this wealth of calm and and uh, reassurance at home. Um, they’ve sort of taken over it in the past year when I wasn’t able to do a lot of physical work at home. And, uh, and then I have, you know, kind of extending from that core. It’s my my parents, my in-laws, my siblings and their families, and those are my family.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: You know, they are my family. And I love them all. Um, but it’s my friends, the ones that I have, uh, cultivated a lifetime of friendship and love with. And then new friends that I’ve met along the way that have really given me a newfound appreciation for what it means to have friendship, you know, and again, to, to sort of reference Simon Sinek, I don’t know, he’s inspired in me in many ways. He talked about this during a recent TEDx talk or a lecture that he gave that it’s one of the few things that we don’t have a metric for. But friendship is so crucial to living a fulfilled life. You know, we as humans. And this is just my feeling. We as humans are social animals and we cannot survive in a silo or in an independent space. We need that connection and establishing those good vibrations. So yeah, I absolutely have grown to appreciate friends over the years and especially in the past year. It’s truly the universe that has brought these dear friends into my life. I never thought I would be sitting here having this amazing conversation with you. Um, but it’s truly because of this network of good friends that I’ve met along the way.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So I want to apologize to your son because I know he’s going to listen to this because earlier I said you had two daughters and you have a son. So to your son, my apologies. I’m just glad that I.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Know.

Trisha Stetzel: We’re about halfway through our conversation. I’d love for you to share your, um, contact information or a website where people can reach out if they’re already interested in learning more about you or even the work that you’re doing. Absolutely.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: So I have a website. That website is called Madhuri dances.com. So that’s my first name, Madhuri. And then the word dance is dances.com. And there’s a contact, uh, link on the website. And you can just send me your name and, uh, and it will generate an email response to me and that will come to my personal email. And I think that’s the best way if anybody’s interested in reaching out or has questions. Um, I work at the VA. So, uh, from a professional standpoint, I see patients only through the VA system. I teach at Baylor College of Medicine and have, uh, the opportunity and privilege to teach the students there and residents and fellows and training. But the best way for anybody kind of outside of that sphere to reach me is probably through the website.

Trisha Stetzel: Beautiful. Thank you so much. So since you brought it up about dancing, you mentioned it a little bit earlier. And it’s also in, in the way that we should be contacting you. Sure. I understand that you’re, um, and we talked about this before we started recording that you’re really, um, tuned into the power of language and even the non-verbal communication or cues. Can you talk more about that? Absolutely.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Sure. I’d love to. So, um, from a very young age, about five or so, I was given the opportunity to learn Indian classical dance. And Indian classical dance is this beautiful art form, age old tradition of storytelling. But a lot of the storytelling is is not just, uh, acting out the words, but it’s expressing it through your face, through your hands. So I found myself as a little girl, just entranced by the storytelling aspects of Indian classical dance. As a young girl, I was, and I was really curious and fascinated by the story of Helen Keller and how she was able to communicate through sign language. Despite the fact that she was blind, dumb and and, you know, blind and couldn’t speak and couldn’t hear. So I was just really phenomenally amazed by her determination and communication skills. So I even learned a sign language in the college years and had the opportunity to work with children who are hearing impaired. And again, over the years, it’s just been something that I feel connected with, and that is how to communicate with somebody or or learn from them, some of their non-verbal cues. So for example, if I’m seeing a patient in clinic and they maybe feel a little bad about something in their life, I will I will look at their body body language and ask, you know, tell me what’s going on. Even if it has nothing to do with the reason that I’m seeing them, because I’m really invested in my patient as a whole, not just getting through the visit and let’s, you know, adjust the medications and see you in a couple of months. So it’s those nonverbal cues that I sort of want to pick up on on a daily basis.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: And in addition to me looking and observing, I also want to make sure that I’m sensitive to how I am displaying my own physicality. Um, for example, if I’m seeing somebody and I have to give them guidance, I don’t want them to ever feel I’m judging them. So, you know, having a friendly face, a smile, uh, a reassuring presence. It makes a difference in how we as healthcare providers come off when we’re talking to our patients. Um, I know as a patient over the years and most recently in the past year, if I walk into the patient to the doctor’s office and I immediately feel that the the doctor may be busy or distracted or, you know, have already made a plan before listening. I already feel sort of defeated, and it’s not a criticism of any specific physician. It’s just the world of medicine and the challenges that we face as health care providers. So trying to be in tune to that is is something that I hold dear. But it all stems from my love of not only Indian classical dance, but I should say this Scottish Highland dancing. I’ve done competitive Scottish Highland dancing for the majority of my young years, for about from the age of 8 to 18, so ten years of my life, and had the good fortune to compete and place at the US Championships and at the World Championships. So, um, yet another part of my dancing journey and testament credit to my teachers for their, their love and and guidance for me.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow, that is beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. It is so important that, um, we show respect for the person that we’re sitting in front of. Whether and I like to even think about even on zoom, uh, there are ways that we can create nonverbal communication with each other. And it’s so important to create that space where we’re comfortable talking to each other and that, you know, that I’m not distracted doing something else. Right. Uh, and we see a lot of physicians who are still, since 2020, doing online communication with their patients. So, uh, takes practice and.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Takes.

Speaker4: A lot of practice. Absolutely.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: One of the things I love now is that I get to enjoy this, the dancing experience, the love of dance with my daughter. So she and I are have the opportunity to dance together and, you know, kind of share in that journey.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, I love that. Uh, so any particular type of dance that your daughter loves?

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Yes. So, um, like me, She does also learn Indian classical dance. And it’s it’s sort of something we share as a family, as a culture. It’s part of our heritage. Um, it helps me, I think, during my times of stress, if I can just get on the dance floor and practice a little, I just immediately feel better. And I’m so happy that she loves that. The same way that I do. She goes to the same school that I went to, and so she’s also a Scottish Highland dancer. Um, so cool for her that she gets to have that same experience, but in her own special way. And what I’m also equally thrilled about is she also learns ballet, uh, something that I always, uh, love watching but never had the opportunity to learn. So she’s, um, blessed to have. And, you know, we’re very grateful that she has the opportunity to learn those three styles.

Trisha Stetzel: Oh, my gosh, that’s wonderful. What is your daughter’s name?

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Mira.

Trisha Stetzel: Mira. That’s beautiful. Thank you for sharing all of these amazing things about you. And I want to bring up one more amazing thing about you. Uh, a published author for six figure chicks. Houston, volume one. How exciting is that? So exciting. I know. Me too. Um, here’s what I. Oh, and by the way, anybody who’s listening or watching this, you can go and get your copy. Uh, the E version is already out, and the hard copy or soft back copy will also be following that. You can find it on Amazon. So go to Amazon and look up six figure chicks Houston. And you can read 17 amazing stories. So how number one how did you meet Mel. And number two. Why did you decide to say yes to this opportunity?

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Wonderful. This has been the most fun adventure I have been on in so long. Um, and so question one. How did I meet Mel? So in the early part of I’m sorry, in the fall of 2024, that is this this past fall, I had to take an extended leave of absence from work for a health crisis. I ended up having this debilitating inflammation, uh, inflammation that was causing some debilitating, um, physical limitations. So much so that I couldn’t walk. Couldn’t really move. Um, uh, and, uh, it took a couple of doctors and, and discussions to realize what was going on with my body. And again, my body was talking to me, sort of screaming at me, telling me to take a break. So around August is when I decided to take an extended leave of absence from work, not really knowing when I was going to go back to work. And by about December, I started to feel. Um. Thanks. You know. You know, with. For a variety of reasons and with God’s grace, I started to feel better. To the point that I could start walking again and moving again with with ease. Um, and I have been part of this beautiful group of women in Houston. It’s called a collective. And the collective is a, uh, one of the founders of the collective, and I, she and I have known each other through dance, interestingly, you know, um, enough.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: And, uh, so she reached out to me and said, hey, come and join this group. And the first several sessions as I was joining it, truly, it was very difficult to get there to to sit and be a part of the sessions, but it gave me the opportunity to meet these beautiful women and to listen to their stories. It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the group. Um, I think it helped me to sort of disconnect from my pain and difficulty and really, um, appreciate the the beauty of these wonderful women. It was through one of those women, Julie Flowers, who is also a published author in our book, uh, that she connected me to Mel. And so Mel then reached out to me and said, hey, would you be interested in writing a chapter for this book? Uh, in the beginning, I thought to myself, what would I write about? You know, I have lovely I have lovely experiences, uh, that I would love to share exciting experiences from work. But the thing that was 100% in my mind was my healing at the time.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: And so I agreed to write it because I thought I would benefit from the process of writing down what was going on with me and how I’m processing it. How am I recovering? What is my vision of the future, of my complete recovery and total healing? And so I said, you know, I’m going to do this as an exercise and put it out there. Um, once I finished writing the article or the chapter, I really felt this new feeling that I wanted to share it with so many women that so many people are going through something. Maybe it’s not the same condition that I went through. It might be an emotional roller coaster or psychological or another physical ailment, or maybe just business related, work related, family related, any aspect of our lives that we’re challenged by. And I felt that the lessons I’ve learned were universal lessons that I thought would apply to all of my chosen sisters and women that I wanted to share. So it was it came from a place of healing. It, um, I felt very vulnerable in the beginning, exposing myself like that. But now I feel content knowing it’s out there as a as a tool for any woman who’s looking to recover.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And you’re not alone. I think all of us who have written a chapter for this book, and even ones that have come before it, have felt a bit vulnerable and uncomfortable that we were unveiling something. One thing that I will share here is one of my early readers sent me a text message the day that she was reading my chapter, and she said I had to Google this because I didn’t know what it meant. And she showed me the screenshot of the of what she googled, and she said, this totally applies to me. And I’m so glad that you wrote this, because I feel like it was just for me. And I’m going to start a book club so that I can have other women read all of the stories in this book. And that was the day that I knew there was a purpose behind writing this chapter and for all of us, all 17 of us for writing chapters in this book, because it even if it’s just one person that we can move or shift or change or even a new idea. Right? It’s so important.

Speaker4: It’s so.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Important. And it’s this ripple effect. You know, it’s this, this visual of like, electricity. You spark it here and it creates this ripple effect of a beautiful, powerful energy. Just goodness that’s coming out of it. So.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. And I’m so blessed to have met you. I’m glad to call you one of my sisters. Yeah. Even even though it started with six figure chicks. Houston, it will go way beyond that. And I appreciate you so much being on the show today. Is there anything that you would like to leave the audience with today as we close up?

Speaker4: I would just first.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Of all, I loved I would love to share, thanks to you and for giving me this opportunity. It’s wonderful to share this platform with you and something that’s new for me. This is the first time I’m doing this kind of, uh, interview. Um, for my for your viewers, I would say believe in yourself, believe in the goodness that’s within. You know that it’s there no matter what you’re struggling with, no matter what’s going on. And believe in that innate strength that you have. And when times are tough. Yes. You know, there are so many adages and adages of of the going get tough or whatnot. But the truth is, in the quietness of your mind and the and the beauty of your heart, really believe in yourself first and then reach out for your chosen sisters, for your friends that support you and your family. And in the middle of all that, have some fun, play some music, jump off the band and that lightness, that light heartedness will carry you through some of the challenging times that we all inevitably will fit. Absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: And wear some fun shoes. By the way, if you haven’t seen the pictures of us six figure chicks, Houston volume one, you’ll know exactly who has the most fun shoes.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: I love it, I love it. The hot pink stilettos and black shoes, they’re my favorite.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that that’s so much fun. Thank you again so much for being my guest today.

Dr. Madhuri Vasudevan: Thank you and all the very best.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you. That’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation that we had today, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, a veteran or Houston leaders that are ready to grow and learn something new. Be sure to follow, rate, and review the show that helps us reach more bold business minds. Just like yours and your business, your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.