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What happens when being a doctor is no longer enough to sustain you?

Dr. Shieva Ghofrany, OB/GYN and founder of A Tribe Called V joins me to explore identity, autonomy, and the hidden pressures of practicing medicine.

Dr. Ghofrany didn’t follow a traditional path into medicine, and she doesn’t practice it traditionally either. From switching majors multiple times to building a parallel business, she shares what it looks like to question expectations, tolerate failure, and expand beyond the narrow identity many physicians inherit.

We talk about the emotional and psychological realities of OB/GYN, the weight of responsibility in high-stakes situations, and the courage it takes to step outside the “golden handcuffs” of medicine.

This episode is about more than career decisions.

It’s about how you relate to yourself, especially when things don’t go as planned.

• Why identity in medicine can become limiting and how to expand beyond it
• The concept of “golden handcuffs” and why so many physicians feel stuck
• Learning to tolerate failure (and why it’s essential for fulfillment)
• Building A Tribe Called V and what entrepreneurship revealed about her strengths and blind spots
• The emotional toll of OB/GYN, including moral injury and high-risk deliveries
• The psychological pressure physicians face in moments like shoulder dystocia
• Her personal journey through endometriosis, infertility, and ovarian cancer
• What illness taught her about resilience, perspective, and life beyond medicine
• The importance of playfulness in the OR and how it shifts performance
• A powerful daily mindset practice that shapes how she shows up
• Why resentment is not useful in surgery—and what to do instead
• Communication, emotional intelligence, and how to navigate patient retaliation

You can follow every rule, do everything “right,” and still feel constrained by your career.

This episode challenges the idea that medicine alone should define you—and offers a different way to think about autonomy, fulfillment, and what it means to build a life that actually works.

Dr. Shieva Ghofrany is an OB/GYN in private practice and the founder of A Tribe Called V, a platform dedicated to increasing knowledge and reducing anxiety around women’s health.

Her work sits at the intersection of medicine, education, and empowerment—helping women better understand their bodies while encouraging physicians to think more broadly about identity and impact.

Learn more about Dr. Ghofrani here.