Hindsight HacKing loves having our firsts. Today is no different. Our guest Sirish Kondabolu is our first real life surgeon…
Sirish Kondabolu is a practicing Orthopedic Surgeon and currently serves as the Director of Strategic Media and Marketing for BulletHealth, a medical education technology company that operates Orthobullets.com (a learning and collaboration community for Orthopedic surgeons,fellows, and residents) and Medbullets.com (a learning and collaboration community for medical students). Sirish created “The Orthobullets Podcast” which is consistently ranked in the Top 200 Science podcasts in the world according to Apple Podcasts and he recently launched “The Medbullets Step 1 Podcast” and “The Medbullets Step 2 & 3” podcast. Prior to BulletHealth,
he was a paid content creator and product consultant for Anchor, an audio technology startup recently acquired by Spotify. During his time at Anchor, he created the featured show “Medicine ReMixed,” which was named to The Best Podcasts list in 2018 by Anchor. He has been interviewed by Wired magazine, featured in TechCrunch and other technology blogs about his
podcast “Medicine ReMixed” and his work with Anchor.
The most important part about him that I am listing here today is when he is not practicing Medicine and podcasting, Sirish is obsessed with Stand Up Comedy and Hip Hop culture.
Connect with Sirish:
skondabo@gmail.com
www.orthobullets.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirish-kondabolu-md-mph-1a109a11/
Connect with Cory and Ron:
Head over to Https://profitswithpodcasts.com to find out more about how your can easily launch and monetize a podcast.
Or maybe you would like to learn more by jumping on a call with the guys? Just book a time that works for you!
https://calendly.com/hindsighthacking/connect?back=1&month=2020-11
https://follow.cool
https://www.facebook.com/coryecarter
Or you just want to check out their websites:
Https://gethhm.com
Https://gethhm.com/editing
[00:00:00] CORY: [00:00:00] All right, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of hindsight hacking and today's guest is a first for us, Mr. Sirish Kondabolu oh, I probably just butchered that. Hopefully it's not too bad, but Sirish he is a practicing orthopedic surgeon. And currently serves as a director of strategic media and marketing for bullet health, the medical education technology company, right?
[00:00:25] Like we're going to get into this ortho bullets.com and learn everything that's Sirish is doing. And, you know, see how this translates, how this marketing translates in the online space for people in his profession. So Sirish welcome to the show.
[00:00:40] SIRISH: [00:00:40] Thanks so much for having me guys. This is awesome.
[00:00:43] RON: [00:00:43] Oh, we're so excited to have you and just kind of dive into everything you're doing.
[00:00:47] And another perfect example of why Corey goes first. So this is great. I don't think I can say your last name. So why don't you take a moment and tell everyone a little bit about you?
[00:01:00] [00:00:59] SIRISH: [00:00:59] Yeah, so I grew up in, I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens and long island and, as Cory mentioned I'm currently a practicing orthopedic surgeon, but I practice very part-time, I'm actually transitioning out of clinical medicine hopefully pretty soon.
[00:01:15] And, you know, just to give you some context, I went into medicine for all the wrong reasons. You know, I think people that go into medicine for the right reasons will often say something to the effect of medicine was a calling for me. It was more of a telling, my,parents told me to do it basically.
[00:01:33] So, I grew up with immigrant parents. So this is not an uncommon story for children of immigrant parents in my house. You are going to be one of the three DS. You were going to be a doctor, a dentist. Or disappointment and
[00:01:51] RON: [00:01:51] Yup
[00:01:52] CORY: [00:01:52] I did not expect that answer
[00:01:54] No it's so true, speaking from immigrant parents.
[00:01:57] Right.. Oh, where
[00:01:58] SIRISH: [00:01:58] are your parents from
[00:01:59] RON: [00:01:59] My [00:02:00] grandparents came through Ellis island. They were from Greece.
[00:02:02] SIRISH: [00:02:02] Okay. Yeah.
[00:02:03] But yeah, everyone in the family, I joke that I'm the least successful person in my family.
[00:02:09] Yeah, no, it's interesting because yeah, I feel like it's a pretty relatable thing for, children of immigrant parents, mostly, but for most people, I think, you know, the parents, want the best for their kids, but you know, in the process of doing so there's a lot of, tension and turmoil that could potentially, happen there if, especially if you're living a life that's not
[00:02:30] true to you when you're doing it for other people. It's like, it's one of the top regrets of people like on their death bed. And, I, now with the minimum amount that I do practice, a lot of the cases that I wind up doing are like hip fractures and old, very elderly patients, like, you know, even sometimes into their nineties.
[00:02:50] And I think the oldest patient I ever operated on was over a hundred years old. And hip fractures are one of those rare, like injuries [00:03:00] where not operating on them is more risky than operating on them or not operating on them. So anyway, I bring that up because. I hear about, you know, people's lives at that stage in their life.
[00:03:12] And there's this great book I think by she was a palliative care nurse, I believe Brawny where it's called the top five regrets of the dying. And I think the first regret on there is I wish I would have lived a life that was true to myself. And not one that was expected of me. So that's one that I could definitely relate to.
[00:03:31] And I feel like a lot of people can, you know, but, but yeah, anyway, like I think I was very much driven by guilt early on in my life. And it's because, you know, my parents were there. You quintessential like rags to riches, kind of a story, you know, real American dream kind of thing gave my sister and I like everything.
[00:03:50] We didn't really have to struggle for much. And yeah. So I, I want it to be the good stereotypical Indian son, I promised to do the spelling bees and, become a [00:04:00] doctor, you know, eventually. but, None of my behavior really mapped to me becoming a doctor. I was always much more of a creative kid.
[00:04:06] I was really, like in the music, I was a drummer and a DJ, those DS fell under disappointment. So, you know, I didn't really have the courage to go after those things. And so, yeah, I mean, I think you can imagine my imposter syndrome was like on another level when I started medical school and ultimately.
[00:04:26] When I did find podcasting later on in medical school, it was really. A way for me to kind of combine all of my interests and kind of make peace with it. And, ultimately led me down a path that, you know, allowed me to really pivot out of medicine. But, we could talk more about that.
[00:04:42] I don't want to
[00:04:43] CORY: [00:04:43] that was, it was going to be kind of where my question was going to go because. You know, podcasting is pretty much what Ron and I do all day. Every day, we help people launch at the charts monetize. Then we manage their show, you know, and editing and, and creating content from their shows.
[00:04:59] And so [00:05:00] just, it seems, you know, just looking@orthobullets.com for anybody that's interested. You've got a tab there where you hit podcasts and it looks like you can grab any kind of whatever your topic was, whether it's about the hand or an ankle, right? Like there's different things. Plus you've been featured all over the place on anchor as having a top podcasts, you know?
[00:05:20] So walk us through that podcasting journey specifically, because yeah, that speaks to Ron and I specifically, and I love hearing that.
[00:05:28] SIRISH: [00:05:28] Yeah. So, you know, when I started medical school, I remember my advisory Dean, which is basically like our guidance counselor in medical school. I remember her telling me, like, it's normal for you to feel like you don't belong here in your first year, even your second year, but at the end of your third, if you're still feeling like this, then you know, there's a problem.
[00:05:49] And there I was at the end of my third year, I was like, you know what the F am I doing here? Like, I still feel like I don't belong. I feel like I don't really like anything. And I had to make a choice [00:06:00] on what to do for the rest of my life. You know, what specialty I was going to go into. And I was really trying to figure out a way to like reverse engineer, my escape route, you know, I was just like, what are my interests outside of medicine?
[00:06:13] What are the things that I'm intrinsically motivated by? And at the time it was hip hop comedy and sports. The only one of those three that had a subspecialty attached to it was sports. So I was just like, all right, I think, you know, I can maybe make peace with this. I was like, maybe I could be like the Sanjay Gupta of ESPN.
[00:06:33] And I was like, that was the thing that I was like, you know, This like fantasy that I had, maybe I could, you know, go and chase that. And maybe that could be my way out of this, but, you know, the problem was in order to get into orthopedics, like it, it was very competitive specialty. I definitely didn't have the, the, the grades or the scores.
[00:06:49] So the only kind of background that I knew to, to kind of get into that field was to do research for a year and possibly get another degree. So that's what I did. I took a year out, and [00:07:00] I've got my masters of public health and I was doing like research in a lab, but I was really worried about going back to my fourth year of medical school to, you know, back in clinical rotations in orthopedics, not having done anything for a year.
[00:07:12] So that year, like I was like, I need to keep up with this stuff somehow. I know, realistically, I'm not going to really study that year. So I realized that every time I was watching ESPN, they were talking about some injury on there that I was just like, do people like, actually know what they're talking? I barely know what they're talking about.
[00:07:30] I'm in medical school. Yeah. Right. So I was like, maybe I'll start a blog. I mean, blogging was kind of big then podcasting, you know, really hadn't hit my radar yet. This was like, you know, maybe 2008, 2009. And so I started writing a blog about all these injuries that I was seeing on ESPN. And, you know, it was kind of the early days of Facebook and Twitter.
[00:07:52] I wasn't really doing it for any other reason, other than to keep in touch with the, that, that material. And. All these like sports writers started following me [00:08:00] and people were reaching out to me like, that really helped my fantasy line out, but I was like what I was like, who is reading this like what?
[00:08:06] Like it is. And so it was really cool. Well, obviously, and then when I went back to my fourth year, you know, it was back to reality. Like, you know, things got super busy again. And I was like, this blog is going to be really difficult to maintain as much as I want to keep doing it. It takes a lot of work to do all this research and, do the writing and.
[00:08:22] You know, all of that, but that year that I took out in lab, that was my first real introduction into podcasting because I had all this time while I was doing all these like experiments and stuff. Like, you know, I had wanted to use that time to listen to something productive. And, I was listening to a ton of like Joe Rogan, at the time.
[00:08:38] And I was just like, I feel like I could do this. Like, you know, maybe without all the mushrooms, but like, I feel like I'm, I might be able to pull this off. And so I talked to a friend of mine was also really into a lot of the same things I was into. He wound up going into psychiatry and we started this podcast called laughs by prescription and we called it and it was, you know, we talked about all sorts of stuff.
[00:08:59] I [00:09:00] mean, our experience in med school, we were talking about, you know, medically related things and pop culture in sports, you know, all sorts of things. You know, it was really funny. It was an outlet for us. And, you know, we were still able to, to kind of talk about some of the sports things that kind of started off.
[00:09:15] Didn't really know that anybody was listening, but you know, we're what little analytics that we had in those days. There were thousands of people listening to this and we were just like, this has gotta be like spam bots or something. Like, you know, this is, there's no way, like how is anybody even finding this?
[00:09:30] We weren't even really promoting it, but we did it for like about two years and it was a lot of fun. And then we went our separate ways. He went to Alabama to do his psychiatry residency, and I was in New York doing my orthopedic residency and then the dream kind of died. And meanwhile, I'm in like the thick of my residency and I'm just like, I just made a huge mistake.
[00:09:51] Ironically sports medicine became my least favorite subspecialty of orthopedics. So I was just like, what am I going to do? Am I going to quit? Am I going to, you know, [00:10:00] just try to, you know, just try to bear this and just finish but then at a very serendipitous time, we get a message. We had a Facebook page to that podcast, the last rep prescription podcast.
[00:10:09] And it was a medical student from Poland. That was basically just like, Hey guys, like, you know, I'm a huge fan. I've listened to all your podcasts. There's like a ton of us here in our medical school here that have listened to all of your episodes. And I know you're probably super busy. It would mean the world to us, if you kept doing this and I was floored, , I call it like dream CPR.
[00:10:30] And it was the first time that I really felt the power of social media and podcasting and the internet. The fact that somebody an ocean away could feel moved enough by something that we said to reach out to us and send us a message like that. So I was just like, all right, we got to figure this out.
[00:10:46] And this was before zoom. This was, you know, I guess Skype was kind of a thing, but there was really no like remote podcasting solution. I was like looking for some way to do this. And I stumbled on this app called anchor. I think they power more than [00:11:00] 50% of the podcasts, like in the world now. But when I joined, this was like three months into their launch.
[00:11:04] They were not a podcasting platform at all. I don't know if you guys were on the platform then, but it was, it was really like an audio social network. It was kind of like an early clubhouse. It was more like an audio Twitter, and you had died two minutes to tell a story, sing a song, tell a joke or whatever, and then people could reply in one minute reply.
[00:11:22] So it was almost like you were communicating and voicemails essentially. And I was like. This isn't exactly what I thought it was, but, you know, I really don't have much time like to do like the, you know, the hour long podcast that we were doing, maybe two minutes is really all like, I can realistically have the time for.
[00:11:39] So I was like, let me give this a try. And I wasn't even posting that frequently, but, you know, I was trying to do some real storytelling on there. I was, you know, in between cases in the operating room, like in between clinics, like I would just like record in my car. And didn't really think much of it, but then, you know, anchor started putting my stuff on there, like editor's picks.
[00:11:58] And they were like tweeting [00:12:00] out like stories that they liked that I was telling. And I was like, this is cool. Didn't really think much of it. Then it was my last year of my, , orthopedic residency. And most people that go into orthopedics, they wound up doing a fellowship, like joint replacement or sports medicine, or, you know, trauma or something.
[00:12:16] And I was so burnt out. I was just like, I don't know if I'm ever going to practice, you know, orthopedics. I was looking for other opportunities. I was like looking into medical, journalism, fellowships, like, you know, something. So I'm kind of like a last ditch. Like, you know, let me try to salvage this situation.
[00:12:33] And then in January of my last year of residency, the team at anchor reached out to me and they were like, we just raised our series a. And we'd love the content that you've been putting out. Like if you're interested, we would love. If you come work for us, we basically pay you to make content and you can help consult on the products.
[00:12:55] And I was just like, is this real? Like I, and it was very serendipitous because [00:13:00] I was doing my training in long island and they were a New York city-based startup. You know, most of these tech companies are like were Silicon valley companies. So I, like, I went out there, I met with the team and, you know, started making that kind of like a monthly thing.
[00:13:12] I would go over there and, you know, , talk to them about, about the product, about my podcast. And they, they, I mean, at the time it wasn't even a podcast, you know, they, when they raised that first round, They were trying to build like an audio Snapchat. Snapchat was like at its peak, it was like this, you know, popping new kid on the block.
[00:13:28] And they were just like, I think we could do this for audio. Their thesis was, you know, short form audio is the future. Like, you know, that's, you know what we believe in. And they partnered with Spotify and apple to be able to like play music. So it really was like, kind of your own like digital radio show.
[00:13:42] And I was like, this is perfect for me. You know, I was a DJ like I had this like hip hop back. So I created this show called medicine remixed, which was like this very like mixed tape style of podcasting, almost like, you know, we're using a lot of like sounds and instrumentals and, you know, still a lot of the same roots of lapsed by [00:14:00] prescription.
[00:14:00] We were still doing a lot of storytelling, still doing this, like pop medicine, kind of a thing. And it was awesome. And we were one of their flagship, you know, uh, shows for a few years and then it became very clear that. People wanted a podcasting platform. So they listened and they pivoted into podcasting.
[00:14:17] And, you know, we were telling them, you know, from the go like, , this is great, but it would be great if we had like longer form audio here. And so it was a hell of a ride. And then in 2019 Spotify, you know, acquired them. And, , here I was like learned a ton about podcasting and the space and how to grow an audience and , all these things and, you know, had these connect.
[00:14:36] I was like, , how can I make this into a business? Maybe this was the answer I was looking for the entire time. On how I can, you know, salvage this in my life decisions. And, and so I was like, maybe I'll start an agency and, , , make content for other people in the healthcare space. And I reached out to ortho bullets because they were a site and an app that I used in residency.
[00:14:57] It's kind of like the LinkedIn meets Kaplan. They have [00:15:00] a lot of people use it for, to study for their, for their board exams and stuff. But it's also like a community where people like, you know, share cases and ask questions and things like that. And, you know, the one thing that they didn't have on there was an audio product.
[00:15:12] They didn't have a podcast. And I always thought like, Man. Like I, you know, we worked these hundred hour weeks and they're expected to study on top of this. I barely have any time, but I have, you know, these commutes, you know, 20 minutes to, and from the hospital where, you know, that could be like prime time to like, kind of, , learn some of this stuff and they didn't have anything like it.
[00:15:31] So I basically pitched this idea and, , the founder was into it. He was just like, yeah, you know, I've gotten this request before, but I don't know where to. And I was like, lucky for you. Like I have this background in orthopedics and you know, this background in podcasting, I'm your guy. And I took them from zero to 5 million downloads in a little over a year.
[00:15:51] And they're one of the top science podcasts in the world, according to apple. And I started consulting a little bit on social media for them like 20 X, their following. And I was like, [00:16:00] I think I'm pretty good at this. Obviously I didn't go to school for any of this. But learned a lot by doing it and the experiences that I had and, , at the time he was like, can we talk about possibly like acquiring your company?
[00:16:11] And I just like laughed at him. I was just like, well, you're a, my only clients. So I don't know. So yes, maybe like, you know, maybe make me an offer. I didn't really know. You know, I was an entrepreneur, or not like I definitely had these entrepreneurial tendencies, like, you know, throughout my life. And, you know, I knew I was this like creative guy and I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to really cultivate that.
[00:16:34] Self-awareness to know like, do I want to do my own thing or am I better off like, you know, working in a, , a company like this. And basically now, like I'm almost like podcasting full time, , in this company. So I guess I'm more of like an interpreter. And, you know, I'm building out their podcast network and, , helping them with social media and marketing and some of their strategic media.
[00:16:54] So yeah, I think a lot of this, you know, kind of happened by, by accident and, , part [00:17:00] of it too was just kind of following, you know, your heart and, you know, your intuition. Heard this great Devin, actually, I think it was a Bernay brown that said intuition is the intersection of what you know, and how you feel.
[00:17:13] It really was like a combination of the, of those things. Hopefully my life is starting to head towards a direction. That's more true to why, who I am.
[00:17:23] RON: [00:17:23] No, I think you said so many things right there. And as you were telling your story, I was like, that was his exit strategy. Like once, once it's in your head that you're trying to find your way out of something and you will start seeing ways out, it might not exactly be what you think it's going to be.
[00:17:42] SIRISH: [00:17:42] Right.
[00:17:43] RON: [00:17:43] But looking back, I'm sure. Been an amazing journey. And now look what you're doing. You're doing what you're passionate about. You're using your knowledge that you have. But you're able to really focus on the creative stuff that you wanted to do from the beginning. So that's amazing. [00:18:00] So on the journey that you were on, gosh, this is almost Corey's question, but I have to rephrase it.
[00:18:07] Cause this is Corey. He normally asks the hindsight question. Let's let's change this.
[00:18:10] CORY: [00:18:10] We can change it up.. We can change it up one time.
[00:18:12] RON: [00:18:12] No no no no.Looking back. When did you,
[00:18:17] CORY: [00:18:17] In hindsight, looking back no I'm just kidding.
[00:18:21] In Hindsight,
[00:18:21] RON: [00:18:21] looking back. I, I don't ask the questions, so I don't even know how to ask it. So that's fine. Now, looking back, when did you realize, Hey, you know, what I wanted to do is actually happening or did you realize it in the moment or just, did you just wake up one day and go, oh my God.
[00:18:39] Look at what I'm doing, this is what I wanted to do.
[00:18:41] SIRISH: [00:18:41] Yeah. I think when that, that first paycheck came in from anchor, I was just like, this is wild.
[00:18:47] RON: [00:18:47] Yeah, that's a crazy story.
[00:18:48] That's a crazy
[00:18:49] This is weird. And
[00:18:50] SIRISH: [00:18:50] like, this is crazy. I mean, this is yeah. The fact that somebody is paying me money to do what I want to be doing and making this stuff that I want.
[00:18:59] I mean, [00:19:00] you know, we had full creative control. Like Yeah, I think that, that was the moment that I was just like, oh my God. And then, you know, as we started getting feedback from, , listeners and, , anchor has this like, you know, cool option where you can like call in and leave a voice message, and then you can include it in your show and the amount of people that were, you know, nonmedical people, like one of my favorite comments was just.
[00:19:26] I'm not even interested in medicine. And for some reason I listened to you guys, it's like, and it's just, it was, yeah, I think it was like moments like that, where I'm just like it's happening. And, you know, I still want to get back to that. We're still like, we we have four seasons of medicine remix too.
[00:19:42] We're hoping to release a fifth season in, in, in the fall. And you know, it is, you know, I think really where my. Truly is, and that, you know, I think this job that I took at bullet health, I think really is the way I'm looking at it is going to really help me kind of sharpen my chops [00:20:00] and really help build a company at that stage.
[00:20:02] And then, you know, really kind of utilizing all of these, you know, different interests and skills that I have. To be able to help a company that helps me. So I think that was important to me. And plus, you know, the founders also, you know, a physician entrepreneur and somebody that I looked up to, so I really want to learn.
[00:20:20] And, you know, ultimately though I think, you know, I do want to take a stab at building my own thing. And, you know, I always, you know, dreamt about like creating like the Gimlet for healthcare and like really creating these like, highly produced podcasts, like you know, about medicine and things surrounding that.
[00:20:36] But, but yeah, to answer your question, I think that's really what it was. It was one when I got that, that email is still felt like surreal. The fact that, you know, anchor wanted me to make content for them. And then yeah, when that first paycheck came in, I was like, this is wild dude. Like, this is crazy.
[00:20:51] CORY: [00:20:51] So fun.
[00:20:51] So fun. So how many shows are you doing? If I counted correctly, it looks like three, but with ortho bullets, are you getting other [00:21:00] podcast hosts, that you're kind of having them do stuff as well, that you coordinate that. Is there any kind of being the director of that media? Is there any kind of like on the video side, on top of the audio, like what's that whole kind of play and how does that all fit in.
[00:21:16] SIRISH: [00:21:16] Yeah. So, you know, we're a pretty small team right now, super scrappy, like startup life. So, you know, we do have a video person that I work with very closely to make video content as well. And then, , we kind of repurpose some of that for the podcasts. But, you know, right now, a lot of, , the podcasts that we have are just, , original just podcast they're review podcasts.
[00:21:37] So, you know, it's very technical in nature. It's adapted for that audience. That's, , commuting and, , not having access to visuals. So we are producing a lot of those that, you know, the, we have three podcasts, one for orthopedic surgeons and two for medical students. So now, like that's one type of podcast, but , as you guys know, there's so many different types of podcasts
[00:21:57] so we're trying to do a few, , we have a [00:22:00] few workshops right now for interview series and you know, other ones like, , more related to cases that people are submitting, and , more and more interactive in nature. So yeah, , I'm hoping by this time, next year that we'll probably have at least a dozen podcasts in circulation.
[00:22:17] The three that we have now are daily, which is a grind, super grind, but yeah, all of them, you know, we we're not intending to have that sort of a release schedule unnecessarily, but these review podcasts, we really felt like there was a need in the market for something like that. There really is no daily podcast for medical review.
[00:22:34] And I think that's something that people really wanted. So I think that has enabled us to really get an advantage in that space. But, but yeah, so, you know, Definitely work a ton with the video side of the company to get content out and really, you know, it's an omni-channel strategy for pretty much any business, right?
[00:22:53] I mean, there's really only four ways people communicate, right? Like it's, there's the written word, it's pictures, it's audio, it's video, [00:23:00] and you pretty much have to play in as many of those places as you possibly can. So, , my job is, , how are we going to put the systems in place to really scale the content,
[00:23:09] bring the value to a ton of people and, you know, really make some good stuff. So,
[00:23:13] RON: [00:23:13] yeah, that's so true. We do something similar for our show as well. And we actually just went on a break, but we were daily as well. And it is a grind. Right. We tell people do not do more than one show until you have a ton banked because you will not keep up.
[00:23:30] Like, even though you think you can keep up, you just won't. Yeah. I have to ask as a DJ. Do you do your own, do you make your own music now? Are you making your own music for like the other podcast shows? Like, do you mix it?
[00:23:45] SIRISH: [00:23:45] Yeah, we did. For medicine remixed. When we first started, we were kind of just, it was kind of like a little bit of the wild west.
[00:23:52] We were, , using, , completely unlicensed, like, you know, like popular, like music and stuff. And then, , anchor was cool with it at the time. [00:24:00] And then, you know, once they start getting a lot more attention, they're just like, yeah. , if you're gonna use this music. So then, but then that was, it was a blow, but it was also like a creative one, because then we were just like, all right, I guess we just have to make our own stuff now.
[00:24:13] So that's what we started doing. And then also like, you know, working with other, you know, kind of up and coming producers. So, so yeah, very much so. And it was really cool. One, one really cool part of the whole thing. Was, we got another message, like probably a year into medicine, remixed from a medical student in America this time who was also a DJ.
[00:24:33] And basically it was just like, how can I be involved in this? Like, this is the coolest thing I've ever heard. Can I just like work for you? Like for free and Do this too. And I was just like, yes, like that was another moment where I was just like, this is happening. Like, this is exactly what I wanted.
[00:24:50] Like, this was our version of like, , the bat signal or, , whatever the X-Men used, like to get all of these kind of like misfits, like in medicine that are also super [00:25:00] creative with all these other skills. Together to really make some compelling stuff. So, but, but yeah. Yeah, I think that background definitely was an important one in the direction that we wound up going in and podcasting and just, you know, how we sounded and yeah.
[00:25:13] So that's, that.
[00:25:14] So fun. All
[00:25:15] CORY: [00:25:15] right. So I've got a serious question now. And in hindsight, where did your standup comedy. Profession go awry. Like why, how come you're not doing that full time now? No, just, just tell us more for real. on on like the whole standup comedy, I know you've got a passion for that hip hop and I'm sure you bring some of that comedy to your show in with such a serious review type topic, right?
[00:25:40] Like it's with the actual medical, you know, and the topics that many of us wouldn't understand without. In, in school for medicine, how do you bring standup comedy to your show? And I assume have a little fun with it.
[00:25:55] SIRISH: [00:25:55] Yeah. You know, what's interesting is at the end of, I think [00:26:00] our first year of medical school, like kind of similar to high school medical school, by the way, it's very similar to high school.
[00:26:05] And in that, you know, there's like a lot of these clicks and, you know, it's very small, like everyone, you know, and then there's drama, like a lot of the same elements of highschool,, just like 10 years later, 15 years later in medical school and you pay a lot more for it, criminal criminal amount. And then one of the other similar things is that at the end of your first year, and I think at the end of the year, your last year, they do these like, supurlatives, you know, in like high school, they had like best dress, most likely to succeed, you know, whatever.
[00:26:33] So I got most likely to Moonlight as a standup comedian. Which I think is the medical school version of class clown, you know, do that what you will, but it was cool, like to be acknowledged for that. I guess, you know, I never really considered doing it because my cousin is a standup comedian and I always thought that was like, oh, that, you know, that's his thing, you know?
[00:26:55] You know, he had a ton of success with it. He's been on like all the late night shows. He has a like a [00:27:00] Netflix special, like, you know, and so he's like really doing it. And so I was like, I was always just like, oh, that's, you know, that's his thing. I can't do that now. But it was this thing that just kept like, kind of following me around, like, no matter what, even in residency, like, you know, I was like, I was the funny guy, like I was, you know, I had this th these like weird niches cause like, you know, with the deejaying stuff, like I was.
[00:27:22] The DJ for all these like medical events and conferences. So I had this like weird niche, like in the medical world with the deejaying, but then, you know, the comedy stuff too, like, you know, it was this thing that I always secretly wanted to do, but felt like I, I couldn't maybe cause it wasn't, you know, my identity, it was like somebody else's.
[00:27:40] But then I realized, like, it, it is my identity. It is who I am. That's how, you know, like, you know, I go through life and, you know, the, probably the most unsolicited feedback that I get from people is my sense of humor. So totally like, bring that to the show. A lot of the stories that I tell we've all heard the cliche of [00:28:00] like, laughter is the best medicine.
[00:28:02] Which I'm not really sure who came up with that. Probably somebody with like, not the best health insurance, I'm guessing it's like broken femur. It's like, uh, you know, yeah. It's like, no, you don't need morphine. I think you need more meme and that's what oh, you need. But, but, but yeah, so like I definitely, you know, incorporate that a lot into like the medicine remix then, you know, more personal podcasting stuff.
[00:28:23] And I, right before the pandemic was like, finally, I was just like, I'm going to do, I'm going to do my. You know, open mic, like I've done other stuff, like, you know, not technically stand up, like, , if I had to give talks or, you know, like speeches, like at like weddings and stuff like that, I always used it as like an opportunity to do stand up, but never formally did it.
[00:28:43] And I was going to do it right before the pandemic. And then I guess the pandemic was my excuse and I have a ton of, you know, comedian friends that, you know, have done Comedy on zoom and it's just not the same. I think you'd need that real time, like feedback from, I was going to say patients, but your [00:29:00] audience there to, , see if your jokes are hitting and, you know, that is really the true art.
[00:29:04] And, you know, I guess what I do more is like sit down and comedy like on the podcast. But I, you know, w once I think things are starting to open up now in New York and Connecticut, It's definitely on my bucket list and definitely something that, that I know I need to do. So. Yeah. Thanks for bringing that up.
[00:29:21] I've never actually talked about that. So
[00:29:23] RON: [00:29:23] it's scary. So here's the advice I was offered to audition at the comedy club in Denver.
[00:29:29] SIRISH: [00:29:29] No way.
[00:29:30] RON: [00:29:30] Yeah. And so I practice for months, right. And I was like, oh, I'm going to go. And the producer guy goes, just don't drive yourself, have someone drive you. And I go, that's dumb.
[00:29:41] Why would someone drive me to the audition? Cause their audition like is in front of like a live crowd. And I know why someone should drive you because I turned around, I
[00:29:52] SIRISH: [00:29:52] really,
[00:29:52] RON: [00:29:52] I was driving and I got two blocks away and I was like, I can't do it. Turned around. It's terrifying. Like you think [00:30:00] it's easy, but just speaking in front of people in itself is terrifying.
[00:30:04] SIRISH: [00:30:04] Right? Jerry, Seinfeld's got that great bit where he's talking about like, you know, people's number one, fear is public speaking. And number two is death. He was like number two, is death.. So he was like, you would rather, you know, be in the casket then given the eulogy basically, I guess, is how it plays out. And I get it, I get it.
[00:30:25] And to add on top of that and making people laugh. And then if they don't and what that feeling is like, and, you know, I try to build up the courage, you know, by saying like, dude, you've done. Like you've been in life and death scenarios and you've been in like much more stressful. You know situations, but I don't know.
[00:30:45] There's still something about it. Like they used to have like theaters and, you know, they used to call operating rooms, theaters, cause people would actually come and
[00:30:54] RON: [00:30:54] yeah.
[00:30:54] SIRISH: [00:30:54] Watch you. I couldn't imagine doing that. Like it's already stressful enough having people [00:31:00] watch you do. surgery. Like an audience, like people like buying tickets, it's like the weirdest, you know, piece of like, you know, medical history.
[00:31:07] But, but yeah, I think, , it's just one of these things that everybody probably. Feels like you have to, unless you're like a sociopath or something like you're going to feel you know, you're going to feel those nerves and it's just something that you have to do and you have to bomb, like, it's like a pre requisite like there is no comic.
[00:31:25] That's going to tell you that. They've never bombed and that's just like, you know, kind of good life advice too. Like you're going to fail over and over again. It's just a matter of how many times are you gonna keep showing up? Like, , after those failures and, just keep beating on your craft and try and get again, you know, testing and learning, testing and learning.
[00:31:43] So I think there's a lot of great skills that you can get. Yeah. And you know, it's a lonely, it's like you are you, it's one person up there with a microphone. And nobody else. There's no team. It's just you, it's not a team sport. And like, I think, , that's, that is tough. That's great advice [00:32:00] by the way, whoever told you that, because I feel like I'd be the same way.
[00:32:03] I would probably just chicken out, you know,
[00:32:06] RON: [00:32:06] literally. Yeah. I remember this is hilarious. Like, I don't think I've told this part of the story. I remember standing in a parking lot. With like 20 people and I practiced and everyone laughed. So I figured I would be okay. And never once did I think I would turn around.
[00:32:22] SIRISH: [00:32:22] Yeah,
[00:32:23] CORY: [00:32:23] that's funny. All right, I've got one more to ask. Really two more, two more quick questions. And, , number one is. Who is your favorite Stand-up comedian
[00:32:31] SIRISH: [00:32:31] Dave Chappelle. I think it's probably the easy answer, but like, I've been just such a fan for so long. So I think he's definitely like the living goat, but you know, some other like newer guys, like coming up, like, you know, Andrew Schultz.
[00:32:43] And Aakash saying like, you know, I don't know if you guys are familiar with those names, but I think all the time. Great living legend is Dave Chappelle.
[00:32:51] CORY: [00:32:51] Thanks, Joe. Koy is my favorite.
[00:32:52] SIRISH: [00:32:52] Oh, he's great. Oh man. I love his stuff
[00:32:55] every time
[00:32:56] CORY: [00:32:56] he comes to Denver, I try to make it so, so good.
[00:32:58] SIRISH: [00:32:58] Oh man he is so good.,
[00:32:59] CORY: [00:32:59] all right, next [00:33:00] one.
[00:33:00] Who is your favorite podcast or cause the fact that you were able to see anchor transition through that, I'm sure you listen to podcasts all over the genre and the different types, but who's that favorite podcast that you like?
[00:33:13]SIRISH: [00:33:13] Probably the three or four, like in residency, especially that really helped me.
[00:33:20] On a bunch of different fronts from the business side to life. And, you know, just really what it was like, kinda like, you know, some of my therapy sessions were Gary Vaynerchuks podcast, Tim Ferriss podcast, a few others, Tom bill use, what is it? Creative? I'm forgetting the name, chase Jarvis, this podcast. I want to call it creative calling, but I think that's the name of his book, but his podcast.
[00:33:42] And then, you know, Joe Rogan was probably the first one that I listened to so, that's I guess like my Mount Rushmore right now that I'm thinking of.
[00:33:50] RON: [00:33:50] Yeah. We had a chance to listen to Tom speak at an event and we actually weren't sure what to expect, but he killed it. Like
[00:33:59] SIRISH: [00:33:59] he's [00:34:00] great.
[00:34:00] RON: [00:34:00] He did awesome. All right.
[00:34:01] We want to thank you so much for your time and we appreciate you coming on the show, but how can people get involved with you? Where can they find you? How can they connect with you?
[00:34:11] Awesome.
[00:34:12] SIRISH: [00:34:12] Well, first of all, thanks so much for having me. This was a blast. Yeah. Talked about a lot of stuff I've never talked about before.
[00:34:17] So props to you guys. And as far as connecting with me, you can look me up, you know, Sirish Kondabolu I know it's super easy and it just rolls off the tongue.
[00:34:26]CORY: [00:34:26] Easy
[00:34:26] SIRISH: [00:34:26] Easy to say and spell. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure you're
[00:34:30] CORY: [00:34:30] Hopefully I spell it right on the notes.
[00:34:31] SIRISH: [00:34:31] Yeah. It's like kinda not going to be able to say that, but I'm sure you'll have it in the show notes so you can look me up like yea on LinkedIn.
[00:34:42] You know, I'm on Twitter and Instagram, you know, send me a message or, you know, you can email me at sirish.Kondabolu@orthobullets dot com and yeah, this was a real pleasure. Thanks so much,
[00:34:52] CORY: [00:34:52] Alright Ron. Our first orthopedic surgeon joined the show. First, first time we we've [00:35:00] got to talk, uh, but we didn't get into surgery. Like I expected. So
[00:35:03] RON: [00:35:03] I actually was going to ask about it, but we didn't talk about it.
[00:35:05] CORY: [00:35:05] Yeah. We didn't have time for it. So next time though, we've got two take aways for us before we get out of here,
[00:35:10] RON: [00:35:10] I do. I think one is live your life with no regrets, right? Like really you don't want to be on your death bed with the woulda, coulda, shoulda is because you can't do squat about it, or you can't do anything about it, then follow your passions.
[00:35:27] And then, you know what, it doesn't matter your age, just start and make that choice and follow that path because. If you are following the path and you were following your passion, things will fall into place.
[00:35:44] CORY: [00:35:44] Yeah. And to add onto that live true to yourself, right? Like that was one of the first pieces, but you know, we got to circle back to the three DS, right?
[00:35:52] Like doctors and disappointments. So I think more importantly, we got to whoever you are, whoever you're doing things for. [00:36:00] You know, you can't be following the three Ds for your, for yourself, right? Like the most important person that you've got to be okay with is yourself. And so the only way you're not going to be a disappointment for yourself is if you go find something that you enjoy doing, if you go have some fun, doing something that you can make money doing something you love, you can make money, make it having an impact on people's lives.
[00:36:25] And then you'll avoid that disappointment, that Dee for yourself. And so that's one of my favorite things I got out of that and definitely a blast. We got to have more orthopedic surgeons on in the future, but ultimately it was a good time. So thank you everybody for watching. Thank you everybody for listening.
[00:36:43] And we will see you on the next episode.