Episode Summary

Before Dr. Linda Matteoli was the CEO of Origins Incubator, she was seeing patients out of a rented room that smelled like burnt hair, working at a desk she and Scott built themselves out of two-by-fours because there was no money for a real one. Her first month in practice brought in $400.

In this episode, Scott sits down with his wife, Dr. Linda Matteoli, DO, to trace the real story behind her cash-based functional medicine practice: why she left conventional family medicine after a visit to her own doctor left her feeling unheard, the four blank months of research before she saw her first patient, the $6,000 program model she started with and why it eventually had to go, and how she built the Foundational Assessment, the appointment that became the key to scaling to 100 membership patients in about a year.

This is part one of a two-part conversation. Part two picks up with how Linda's own practice became the blueprint for Origins Incubator.

What You'll Hear

• Why Linda left conventional medicine after her own doctor didn't have time for her

• The 'glass of wine' conversation where she told Scott she was going all in

• Four months of research and writing before she saw her first patient

• Why the $6,000 program model stopped feeling right, twice

• How the Foundational Assessment changed the entire sales conversation

• Scaling to 100 members with one employee and an Excel spreadsheet

• What 'clinical intellectual property' actually means for your practice

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and introducing Dr. Linda Matteoli

01:53 Why Linda left conventional medicine

07:21 The glass of wine conversation: deciding to go all in

10:49 Four months of research before her first patient

13:10 Lessons from her pre-med entrepreneurial life

15:54 What she'd tell her younger self

17:14 The acupuncturist's office and the burnt-hair building

19:08 The first $400 month and finding a mentor

21:01 Inside the $6,000 program model

23:16 Why the program model stopped working

26:18 The pivot away from programs

30:05 Building the 12-month membership and the Foundational Assessment

32:58 Selling without the pressure

36:01 Pricing, raising rates, and the family's financial squeeze

38:15 Scaling to 100 members with an Excel spreadsheet

40:40 Consistent outreach without being pushy

43:38 Why mentors and coaches still matter

44:51 How Origins Incubator got started

45:26 Inside the workshop: the four pillars

47:12 How to join and the Origins50 discount

49:38 Clinical IP, explained

52:04 Wrap-up and what's coming in Part 2

Guest Bio

Dr. Linda Matteoli is a board-certified family medicine physician and CEO of Origins Incubator, a business education and mentorship platform for functional and integrative medicine practitioners. After building her own cash-based membership practice from a near-zero start to 100 members in about a year, she now helps clinicians launch and scale values-aligned practices through Origins Incubator's four-pillar framework: clinical, legal and finance, operations, and strategy.

Resources Mentioned

Origins Incubator Workshop

Dr. Yousef Elyaman is a board-certified physician, educator, and leader in functional and integrative medicine. He founded Absolute Health in Ocala, Florida, where his multidisciplinary team delivers primary care integrating conventional medicine with evidence-based functional and lifestyle approaches. With more than 26 years in medicine, he founded FMP Essentials, an education platform helping practitioners improve clinical outcomes and develop the business and leadership skills needed to succeed in functional medicine. He serves as IFM faculty teaching on cardiometabolic health, hormones, and fatty liver disease, as Medical Director for HumanN focused on nitric oxide and cardiometabolic wellness, and as Director of Integrative and Functional Medicine at The Guest House Ocala. He also hosts the FMP Essentials Show.Where to find himWebsite: FMPEssentials.comPodcast: FMP Essentials Show (YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify)Instagram: @Dr.ElyamanUpcoming book: Ignite Your Healing PowerTopics Covered[0:00] Opening & Introduction[~5:00] The origin story: from conventional medicine to functional medicine[~17:00] Starting his own practice[~20:00] Building a team from the ground up[~26:00] Letting go of control as the practice scaled[~30:00] Getting staff to buy into functional medicine (not just patients)[~34:00] Feedback, praise, and handling employee mistakes[~50:00] Imposter syndrome[~57:00] The origin of the FMP Essentials mastermind[~1:03:00] Where to find him & upcoming book[~1:05:00] Closing reflection📌 Connect with Scott Rattigan:Website: functionallawyer.comSubscribe for weekly episodes on legal strategy for functional and cash-pay medicine practitioners.

Tim Organ, CEO of the Health Business Growth Collective, joins Scott to talk about what it actually takes for health practitioners to build a business — not just a practice. Tim shares how his 30+ years selling into big healthcare led him to JJ Virgin's world, why “niching down” solves most of what he calls the practitioner “identity crisis,” and how to get over the fear of being visible online without losing yourself in the process. The conversation also covers testing offers before spending money on marketing, the legal difference between a claim and a statement, and how AI is changing both how patients show up to appointments and how practitioners get found in the first place (AEO — AI Engine Optimization).

Guest Bio

Tim Organ is the CEO of Health Business Growth Collective, where he is dedicated to helping healthcare entrepreneurs build thriving businesses that expand their impact and transform more lives. He believes that when purpose-driven practitioners have the right strategies, systems, and support, they can create lasting change in their communities while achieving greater freedom and fulfillment. Through visionary leadership and a passion for empowering others, Tim helps health business owners become trusted authorities, grow with confidence, and build businesses that allow them to serve more people without sacrificing the life they want to live.

• Website: hbgc.com (also thehbgc.com)
• Social: Tim Organ Official (most platforms)
• Event mentioned: Mind Share Summit, September 24–27, San Diego/Coronado

Timestamp:

[00:21] Tim's origin story — 33 years selling into big healthcare before pivoting to practitioner business coaching

[00:50] How Health Business Growth Collective (formerly Mind Share Collaborative) was born out of JJ Virgin's mastermind

[05:23] “Community is the new competitive advantage” — why teaching one practitioner scales further than reaching one patient

[10:46] The health entrepreneur “identity crisis” — why being a generalist keeps you invisible

[16:16] Getting over the fear of being on camera; the local/hyperlocal alternative to national social presence

[20:18] How to choose a niche when you're just starting out (the “freshman in college” analogy)

[20:55] Burnout — it's not just long hours, it's doing work you don't love

[24:10] Why offers fail: testing one-to-one and one-to-many before spending on ads

[28:38] How to actually know when something “isn't working” vs. giving up too early

[31:23] Selling without feeling icky — listening more than talking, high-gain questions, selling the transformation

[35:07] How AI is changing the exam room — patients showing up with AI-generated research

[39:48] AEO (AI Engine Optimization) — how AI decides who to recommend, and why it's different from SEO

[44:37] The legal line between a claim and a statement — where practitioners get themselves in trouble

[48:48] Building your personal brand and staying consistent with it

[54:26] Permission to be a beginner — B-minus is fine on the business/marketing side; A-plus only matters clinically

Struggling to grow your business because you're buried working in it? Discover the game-changing power of a fractional COO — a strategic partner who can streamline operations, elevate your team, and unlock your growth potential without the cost of a full-time executive.

In this eye-opening episode, Amber Powers — founder of Powerspeakworks and a seasoned COO — reveals how businesses just like yours are transforming chaos into clarity. Amber shares her journey from project management in banking to helping healthcare entrepreneurs, private equity firms, and Fortune 500 teams eliminate waste, automate routines, and accelerate growth — all without extra headcount.

You'll discover:
- The real signs that you’ve outgrown your current setup and need a fractional COO
- How to identify bottlenecks and constraints that are stalling your progress
- The step-by-step process Amber uses to audit operations and implement lasting improvements
- Surprising case studies: From reducing cybersecurity project cycles by 50% to scaling a private equity firm from 1B to 3B in assets
- Practical tips for solo entrepreneurs and small teams to work smarter, not harder

Don’t let operational overwhelm cripple your business. Whether you're feeling stuck, burnout, or just stuck in the day-to-day grind, Amber’s insights could be your catalyst for change. Her focus on strategy, systems, and scalable solutions means you get to spend more time doing what you love — with less stress.

Perfect for healthcare founders, solopreneurs, or any growing business owner, this episode is your blueprint to work less, achieve more, and build sustainable momentum. Tune in for actionable advice that turns chaos into competitive advantage — because your business deserves the right operational support at the right time.

Visit https://powerspeakworks.com/

Connect with Amber Powers on LinkedIn for ongoing tips, tools, and her newsletter — all designed to help you get shit done.

Chapters:

00:00 Understanding the Role of a Fractional COO

02:14 The Value of Fractional Leadership in Business

03:17 Recognizing the Need for a COO

05:51 Case Study: Transforming Operations in Healthcare

07:33 Identifying Key Operational Challenges

09:26 Streamlining Processes for Efficiency

12:44 The Importance of Prioritization

14:50 Amber's Journey to Becoming a Fractional COO

18:38 Empowering Clients for Long-Term Success

19:35 Starting Points for Solopreneurs

22:25 Time Management and Delegation

24:32 Leveraging AI in Operations

27:27 10-Day Bottleneck Breakthrough Program

29:08 Understanding ROI of Hiring a COO

31:42 Common Mistakes in Operations Management

33:28 Introduction to the Radigan Roundtable

33:28 Engaging Conversations with Guests

What happens when you've bet everything on your company — and it breaks?

In Part 2, Nichole Lowe picks up where we left off: she's spotted a massive problem in the coaching industry, she has zero technical background, and she's decided to build a tech company anyway. What follows is one of the most honest founder stories you'll hear — no highlight reel, just the real climb.

Nichole walks us through building Zoee from scratch — networking her way into the startup world through a Raleigh-Durham MIT mentorship program, launching a beta that 75 coaches signed up for in seven days, and then watching it all break right before a $500K–$1M investment was about to close. On New Year's Day, at their lowest point, her husband Michael pulled her off the couch, got her on a bike, and rode with her for hours until she had a different answer.

Then, just as Zoee hit its stride — a preferred partnership with the International Coaching Federation, 50,000 coaches reached in a single email campaign — a sophisticated cyber attack hit. A money laundering scheme tied to a large-scale Wells Fargo identity theft. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Stripe shut them down. Nichole and Michael personally covered their coaches' lost income out of pocket, not knowing if they'd ever get it back.

This episode covers:

• What it actually takes to build a tech company with no technical background
• The fundraising gauntlet — and what Nichole said to get a "no" flipped to a "yes"
• The bike ride that saved Zoee — and what it taught her about resilience
• Why she ignored the "$20K paid ads" playbook and built community first
• The cyber attack that forced a full platform rebuild — and how her team stayed through all of it
• Her advice for coaches on the fence about starting their own business
• Where Zoee is going next

"It's not over until it's over. Just because someone says it's over doesn't make it so."

🔗 Find Nichole at Zoee.com | @zoeeapp on social

What does it take to walk away from a safe, successful career — not once, but twice?

Nichole Lowe, founder of Zoee.com, has one of the most unexpected founder origin stories you'll hear. She spent 12 years in the film industry — producing for Prince at Paisley Park, working on Hollywood sets, and narrowly avoiding being on the first Twin Tower on 9/11. Then she pivoted into corporate sales, built a successful career covering the Western US for a major company, and walked away from that too.

The catalyst? Her husband's undiagnosed coronary artery disease nearly killed him — 99% blocked in three main arteries, one week before a trip to Italy the doctors say he wouldn't have survived.

In Part 1, we dig into the personal transformation behind the founder story:

• How a near-fatal health scare sent Nichole to health coaching school overnight
• What it felt like to leave two successful careers — and why she says she was more afraid of staying
• The 9/11 near-miss that changed the entire trajectory of her life
• Her first client session — and the vulnerable, unplanned thing she said that made the client say "you're the person I want to hire"
• How coaching 500+ coaches at IIN revealed the exact problem Zoee was built to solve

This episode is for anyone who's ever been too comfortable to make the leap they know they need to make.

🔗 Find Nichole at Zoee.com | @zoeeapp on social

r. Emily Roedersheimer of Balanced Living Functional Medicine shares how embedding health coaches into her practice — not as an optional add-on, but as the foundational first step — produces a 65% average symptom reduction in just three months. She and Scott cover how she found and hired her coaches (including a smart audition technique), how she structured her Health Begins Here program, the contractor vs. employee question, how to price coaching so you're not losing money, and what's kept her team together for six years.

Just like Vanilla Ice: We are back (with a brand new invention). The Junto is now The Rattigan Roundtable. In this short kickoff episode, Scott Rattigan — founder of Functional Lawyer and co-founder of Origins Incubator — explains why the show is getting a new name, a new format, and a real commitment to consistency. He gets honest about where he dropped the ball, what the original vision was, and what listeners can expect going forward: weekly episodes featuring conversations with physicians, founders, and operators building real practices, plus solo deep dives into law, business, and the mindset challenges that hold entrepreneurs back. If you're building a professional practice and want something grounded, cross-disciplinary, and hype-free, pull up a chair.