Hey Doc—

If you're looking for an au pair right now and wondering whether all the good candidates have disappeared into thin air, you're not imagining it.

I've had several physician moms ask me how I find au pairs when the agency websites seem completely picked over. And since I'm currently searching for a new au pair myself, the timing felt perfect to pull back the curtain on exactly how I do it.

This is not a conversation about choosing an agency or comparing program fees. This is about creating a process that keeps you organized, efficient, and significantly less likely to lose your mind during the search.

Because if you're anything like me, you already have a career, a family, and approximately 47 other responsibilities. Spending hours scrolling through profiles only to forget who you've already contacted is not the best use of your time.

In this episode, I'm sharing the system I built during our last search, the one that helped us find an amazing au pair who stayed with our family for years. You'll hear why I start outside the agency apps, how I organize candidates, where I actually find people, and the simple preparation that makes the entire process smoother.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why the au pair apps may not be the best place to start your search
• The simple organizational system that keeps candidates from slipping through the cracks
• How I use Facebook groups strategically without getting trapped scrolling for hours
• What information I track for every candidate
• The message template that saves me time and helps start conversations quickly
• Why preparation matters more than most people realize

Finding childcare support shouldn't feel like a second full-time job.

A little organization on the front end can save you hours of frustration later.

🎧 Listen now and let me show you the system that's making my current au pair search much less painful.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

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If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Hey Doc,

Were you taught that patients lie?

I was.

Somewhere during training, the idea got planted that our job is to uncover the truth because patients won’t always tell it. Then I became an attending and started experiencing it myself.

You spend twenty minutes counseling a patient. You draw diagrams. You answer questions. You document everything.

Then somehow…

“Nobody explained that to me.”

“The doctor never told me.”

“I never saw the doctor.”

If you’ve ever walked back to your office wondering whether you’re losing your mind, this episode is for you.

What surprised me is that it wasn’t until I left traditional practice that I gained enough distance to see these situations differently. And recently, while helping run our HVAC business, I watched my husband experience the exact same thing physicians deal with every day.

A customer insisted he hadn’t been told something that had been explained multiple times.

Sound familiar?

In this episode, I’m talking about why these interactions can feel so demoralizing, why they contribute to resentment and burnout, and how a little compassion can sometimes protect you more than the other person.

Not because patients are always right.

But because carrying around the belief that it’s you versus them is exhausting.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why “patients lie” may be one of the most harmful lessons we learn in training
• How being repeatedly questioned can create resentment and burnout
• The surprising parallels between medicine and running an HVAC business
• Why people often misremember conversations without malicious intent
• How documentation protects us when memory and perception don’t match
• The role compassion plays in preserving your career longevity

If you’ve ever felt unseen, misunderstood, or questioned after doing your absolute best for a patient, this episode is my reminder that I see you.

And I believe you.

🎧 Listen now.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Hey Doc —

I finally had to sit down and record this episode because I keep talking about NotebookLM to everybody. My Facebook friends. My sisters. Random physician moms who probably just asked me one innocent question and suddenly got a 20-minute TED Talk about AI 😂

But seriously? This tool is one of the most useful things I’ve added to my life recently.

And if your brain already feels overloaded by medicine, motherhood, emails, meetings, MOC articles, school forms, endless tabs open on your laptop, and the 47 mental sticky notes floating around your head at all times… this episode is for you.

Most people know about ChatGPT or Claude. But NotebookLM works differently.

Instead of pulling random information from the internet and confidently making stuff up like a sleep-deprived intern on hour 26 of call, NotebookLM only works from the sources you upload yourself.

PDFs. Research articles. Website links. YouTube videos. Audio files. Google Docs.

That means:

• Less hallucinating • More accuracy • Actual citations you can click and verify • And a MUCH better experience for physician brains

In this episode, I’m sharing:

• Why I think physicians need to learn AI instead of avoiding it
• How I use NotebookLM for MOC studying and research
• The surprising ways I use it in my business and personal life
• Why this tool feels like having a research assistant who actually cites her sources
• How AI can create more time, ease, and mental space for physician moms

And before somebody messages me:

No, I am not using AI to cheat on my MOCs 😂

I’m using it the same way most of us already use Ctrl + F on giant articles because ain’t nobody trying to reread a 42-page paper after putting kids to bed at 10 PM.

This episode is really about working smarter.

Because physician moms do not need more guilt about efficiency. We need tools that help us protect our energy and our time.

🎧 Listen now if you’re AI-curious, overwhelmed, skeptical, or just tired of wasting time searching through massive documents like you’re auditioning for a detective show nobody asked for.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

I have to tell you what just happened in my house. My son ran inside to find me, eyes wide, proud as anything, and announced: "Mommy, I was just being resourceful." His toy car had rolled under the fridge. He tried the broom. He tried the mop. The fly swatter is what finally worked and he found another car under there he thought he had lost.

In this episode, I'm using that moment to walk you through what affirmations actually do. Not the fluffy version. The clinical one.

I'll tell you how my kids ended up saying "I am resourceful" every night, what changed when I started repeating the affirmations back during the day, and what that has to do with you, doc — because this isn't a parenting episode. This is about the instructions you've been giving your own subconscious without realizing it, and what shifts when you decide on purpose.

What you'll walk away with:

• Why your brain takes your I-am statements as instructions, even when you don't believe them yet
• The reason repetition has to come before the meaning lands
• How to reinforce an affirmation in real life so it stops being words and becomes behavior
• The one small homework assignment for this week — pick one, say it out loud, say it in the mirror if you want to get fancy

Homework: One I-am statement. Out loud. Every day. That's it.

Listen if: you've ever rolled your eyes at affirmations, you've tried them and quit because they felt like lying, or you want to know what's actually happening in your brain when you repeat the same sentence on purpose.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Au pair travel comes up in the groups every single week, and it's usually a horror story. The awkward silences, the au pair completely checked out, the vacation that didn't feel like a vacation.

I did this episode because I think a lot of that drama is avoidable, and I want to share how we do it.

But before you book that extra ticket, you need to answer a few questions honestly.

• Is this a trip or a vacation?
• Do you actually want childcare, or do you just feel like you should bring them?
• And do you know this person well enough to travel with them at all?

I'm breaking down exactly how my family handles travel with an au pair: From setting work expectations before you leave, to giving dedicated time off so your au pair can go explore, to the seating arrangement on the plane that changed everything. (Yes, I'm going to tell you to go sit somewhere else. Trust me on this one.)

This one is practical and direct, and it's full of the kind of clarity that makes the difference between a vacation and a very expensive, very stressful trip.

In this episode:

• Vacation vs. trip; and why that distinction matters before anything else
• When to bring your au pair and when to leave them home (both are valid)
• How to communicate work hours, flexible schedules, and travel days upfront
• Why dedicated time off during a work trip benefits everyone
• The plane seating arrangement I swear by

You worked hard for this vacation. Let's make sure you actually enjoy it.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Hey Doc,

I just got back from ACOG and I’m still on a high!

I went mainly to hear Michelle Obama speak and she did not disappoint. But what surprised me most was how deeply aligned her message was with everything I talk about here on Stethoscopes and Strollers.

This wasn’t some polished keynote speech full of inspirational fluff. It felt like sitting in on a private conversation between two accomplished Black women talking honestly about identity, confidence, womanhood, and what it takes to stay grounded in a world that constantly tries to tell women — especially Black women — who we should be.

And the whole time I kept thinking:

“Oh. This is exactly what I’ve been trying to help physician moms understand.”

We talked about:

• Why confidence actually comes from knowing yourself deeply
• How long it can take to truly trust yourself
• The danger of shrinking your accomplishments to make other people comfortable
• Why some people not connecting with you is not automatically a “you” problem
• How motherhood and life transitions force you to confront who you really are
• The importance of celebrating yourself unapologetically
• Learning to trust your knowing instead of overriding it with practicality or people-pleasing

Also… I found out Michelle Obama is 62 and now I need somebody to explain the sorcery immediately.

Hearing someone at her level speak so openly about groundedness, self-trust, and identity felt incredibly validating. Especially as physician moms navigating careers, motherhood, marriage, leadership, ambition, and all the invisible expectations sitting on top of us every single day.

If you’ve been questioning yourself…

If you’ve been minimizing yourself…

If you’ve been waiting for permission to trust your instincts…

This conversation is for you.

Press play, Doc.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Hey Doc,

I’m on my way to DC!

My first home in this country. Howard. All of it.

I’m going to ACOG’s ACSM, our national meeting, which is funny, because I don’t practice anymore.

But this work I do with physician moms is rooted in the same transitions we see every day in medicine.

Last year I went for physician wellbeing.

This year, Michelle Obama is there, so… clearly I’m going.

Also, it’s my son’s birthday weekend so I’m bringing the kids, there’s a party, and yes—there will be a spa day.

This episode is a little life update, a little reflection, and a reminder:

You don’t have to choose one version of yourself.

Press play.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya

Hey Doc,

If you’ve ever said, “I just need more help,” and then somehow ended up more overwhelmed… this episode is for you.

Because the problem usually isn’t that you don’t have help.

It’s that you’re delegating the wrong things… in the wrong order… without a system.

So now you’ve got someone managing tasks that probably shouldn’t exist in the first place, while the things that would actually make your life easier are still sitting on your plate.

I see this all the time with woman physicians.

You finally decide to get support—maybe it’s an assistant, childcare, or help at home—and instead of relief, you feel frustrated.

Now you’re paying someone… and still tired.

In this episode, I walk you through how to actually delegate your life in a way that gives you your time, energy, and brain space back.

Not just shifting tasks around.

Not just “getting help.”

But building a system that works for you.

We’re starting with what most people skip, and why that’s exactly why delegation fails.

Inside this episode:

• Why “just hire help” is incomplete advice (and often a waste of money)
• The first step you must take before delegating anything
• How to identify tasks that should be deleted vs. delegated
• What to automate first (especially in the era of AI)
• How to stop paying people to do things no one needed to do in the first place

This is the work that makes everything else easier.

Less mental load.

Less resentment.

Less “why am I still doing all of this?”

More clarity.

More efficiency.

More space to actually live your life.

Because you didn’t work this hard to spend your evenings organizing email folders no one will ever open again.

🎧 Listen to the full episode and start delegating like someone who actually values her time.

What did you think of the episode, doc? Let me know!

Subscribe to ✨Stethoscopes and Strollers✨ on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

Apple Podcast | Spotify | YouTube

Connect with me: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Join my Email list to get tips on navigating motherhood in the medical field.

If you are going through a transition -- becoming a parent, leaving a job, figuring out how manage it all, schedule a strategy coaching session and get clarity and strategic next steps for the life and career you want.

Strategy Coaching Session with Dr. Toya