Where Medicine Meets Creativity: Designing joy in healthcare with Dr. Jennifer Namazy of CharMed

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
My name is Jennifer Namazy. I'm an allergist, immunologist here in San Diego, California, I've been in practice for almost 23 years. But first and foremost, I'm a mom of three, and also a founder of Charmed CharmMed, CharMed Bling, make stethoscope charms for everyday use.

Brooke Smith
Welcome to MDF Instruments Crafting Wellness Podcast. We have Dr Jennifer Namazy. She is the creator and founder of CharMed I would really love to talk about kind of the inspiration.

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Yeah. So in 2012 there were no real stethoscope charms on the market, certainly not ones like the ones we make and design. I loosely call myself an artist. My two daughters are far more talented than myself, as well as my mother, and they paint and draw and are fabulous artists. I'm more of an I appreciate art, and I get stimulated by design. I love architecture, I love fashion, I love jewelry, and all kinds at all price points. And so I get inspired by pieces and by things in the environment, by architecture and I, and I design based on it. But I would have to say that more than anything, I'm inspired by our customers. And I would say that a huge portion of our catalog are created based on the requests of our customers. And so I take those requests, which is just one sentence, one line, something personal that a customer will send in on our website, and then I'll take that story and then create a charm for it.

Brooke Smith
You know, I've seen them. I haven't seen them in person. I've only seen them on the site and on social media. But they're gorgeous, um, they're very detailed and, I love that you can have a little bit of fun with the stethoscope, because here, you know, at MDF, that's what we're about too just kind of not your ordinary because you're in a serious industry, doesn't mean that you can't have a little personality and a little bit of fun. How did this idea even come to you?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
There were two kind of coinciding events that happened. The first was back in 2012 my oldest daughter was at the time, and I was leaving for work, and she was playing dress up with some dresses and plastic shoes and plastic jewelry in her room. And I came in to say goodbye, and she chased me out and handed me one of her pink glitter rings. And she said, Mommy, take this so you can, you know, think about me. And then she ran back in her room. And so I took it to work, and I, you know, threw it in my bag. And when I got to work and unpacked, I was like, What am I going to do with this little ring? I mean, it didn't remind me of her, but I didn't know what to do with it. And so I looked at my pediatric stethoscope, which also was pink at the time, and I popped off the head, and I put it on the tubing, and then I reattached it, pretty simple to do at the time. And it did remind me of her all day. And I thought it was really cute. Around that time I'd been working with, I mean, I work with nurses and other healthcare professionals every day, and one of the nurses had stopped me and said, hey, you know, I want to show you my Pandora bracelet. I just got a new charm for my birthday. My daughter got me one with a little dog on it, and she was just really proud and sharing kind of things that she loved. And all of those charms on that bracelet were things that, you know, reminded her of her family. And it was after those two events that I sat and thought, wouldn't it be cool if we could put charms on stethoscopes? And that was it.

Brooke Smith
It is a great idea. And it does add a little bit of, you know, bringing something with you, maybe, that you, you know, something personal, something that makes you think of someone you love. It's a really beautiful sentiment. Can you talk a little bit about the starting up of this, and kind of maybe for people listening who also have that entrepreneurial spirit that maybe want to, you know, start their own thing. How did you even get this going?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Always had an entrepreneurial mindset. But I think that the only way I can describe it is if you're standing at the edge of a beach and you're looking past the ocean, and, you know, a point that you need to get to, but you have no idea how to build the bridge to get there. And I think that really describes, you know, what I felt like at the time I had I had an idea. I thought that people would be excited about it, but I didn't know how to get there. So I think that there were a series of like, of luck, sometimes I created a prototype and I liked what it looked like, and then I had to find a factory to make it. Like you said, there might be listeners who have ideas. And I think the number one thing to really start with is your why, right? And I think from my why at the time was here. I am. I've been in practice about eight, nine years or so, and I was looking for a creative outlet. I was looking for something. I mean, I love taking care of patients, I love working with my coworkers. But I was looking for some other way that I could express myself. And I think if you have a good why, you can follow that over time and keep turning back to it, because there are going to be ups and downs like a roller coaster with any business, and there'll be walls that you come up against, but if you have a good why, that'll always guide you through.

Brooke Smith
It's really interesting. The more and more people I talk to on this podcast, I think because you're in such a empathetic industry, you have to, like want to care about people. You have to want to take care of them. You have to want to show up, even when that means sacrificing time with your own family, your your own holidays and all these things. And so I think naturally empathetic people are drawn into healthcare, and then naturally they have this creative kind of spirit as well. You know, you're not just ever one thing. I think it's easy to kind of get put into a box, especially with the charms as well. It's kind of a way that you can bring a little creative creativity with you to work your brand. Mission is to to make healthcare professionals feel seen and celebrated and stylish, even in, you know, the clinical setting. So why is this something that's important to you?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
I think that it's always been important to me, more specifically in kind of what I do. I work in academic medicine, and so mentorship is very, very important to me, and I do mentor medical students and residents and fellows through the years. I especially love mentoring women physicians or women in healthcare, because I think that just as we talked about, there are challenges, there are expectations, and I think I wanted to translate that in to a bigger format, in charmed bling. To continue this collaborative effort, to continue the recognition of women in health care, we've launched this year a health care Hero campaign where we nominate health care heroes in the workplace, from veterinarians students and nursing students. We've had nurses in the field for, you know, 10 plus years, and, you know, we don't, we don't have the opportunity a lot to recognize each other. And I think that this is something that I'm really passionate about, and I would love to see kind of the company continue that aspect of things that I've done professionally over time as well.

Brooke Smith
That brings me to what kind of feedback have you been getting from the medical community with these charms?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
I think that you know when, when I first started, was 2012 and there were not a lot of companies creating products by physicians, certainly women physicians, not too many out there. So, you know, there were a lot of quizzical looks like, Why? Why? Why would you do this? I mean, you, you know, you have a busy practice, and you're mom and and why this? Aren't you happy with what you have? And I think you really honed in on it is that over time and certainly since covid. I mean, I think the covid 19 pandemic really made us be introspective and think about what we really want. And self care is huge now. Burnout is huge now. And so I think there are more companies coming out, such as, you know, other people that you've had on the show scrub, companies owned by women in healthcare, and other, you know, products. And I think that has really changed kind of how we look at, you know, having a business, having what we call side gigs. There are multiple Facebook groups that kind of cater to that in healthcare. So it's, it's been a really interesting time to see, over the last you know, 12 or 13 years, how people look at women in healthcare, having businesses outside of what we are on a day to day basis.

Brooke Smith
What kind of challenges did you face when you were starting and specifically to being a woman? I think even you know, back in 2012 as it not being as common as maybe it is now, can you talk a little bit about maybe some of the obstacles you faced in starting this?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
I felt very alone. I mean, I didn't really, there weren't, you know, the opportunities of Facebook communities or podcasts like that you have right now that we're where I could have learned a lot from other people, kind of paving the way. It was hard to find mentors that were truly understood some of the challenges I had of being a mom, being a doctor, running a business. So I think that that was that was probably. The biggest challenge is, is feeling alone and having to kind of work through things on my own, and having to learn processes that were never taught to me in medical school. I think now there's so many more resources, both both free and public, through the Small Business Administration for through podcasts like your own, through Facebook groups and other communities that are online, through social media, I think you can seriously learn a lot of information from people that have gone through it.

Brooke Smith
I can imagine, you know, starting something from scratch when maybe you really don't know anything about even how to begin. There's a lot of learning curves along the way. I'm sure a lot of mistakes get made and and, you know, and then rectified. But you're here. I mean, you've been in business quite a long time, and I would love to talk about how you really come up with the designs I know you spoke on you listening to your customers and kind of getting inspired by healthcare professionals and maybe what they want. Are there any other ways that you kind of get inspired? And what is it? What is the process like, from thought to actually getting the charm made?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
So the the process, again, largely comes from requests from our customers, but they also come from, you know, thankfully, social media has grown in the last 12 to 13 years since I started the company. So there's just information everywhere of what people are wearing and how people are traveling and what excites people. And so I get a lot of information just by listening to podcasts and looking through social media. As well as having two teenage daughters and a teenage son, I get a lot of feedback from them as well in terms of what might be in style now or in fashion. And so I kind of look at everything and and we work by seasons as well. And so a big part of when I started was also giving back. And so we have several, you know, ribbons and and societies and charities that we donate to. So those are core component. But then seasonal items as well have been very popular too. So we try to keep those going. But the process from coming to the design is literally just going through photos and pictures and basically just sitting and drawing, and then I send to these drawings to the factory, and then we go back and forth. Samples are made and charms are created.

Brooke Smith
Yeah, I love the fact that it's something that is, I think, a great gift. It's, it's a collection, you know, as a sister or a friend or a mom, something you could really give to someone else to say, hey, graduation theme tis just throughout life, kind of like the bracelets I've seen that people do wear multiple charms on their stethoscopes. How many would you say? Is like max?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Well, you know, stethoscope tubing is pretty long, so there is really no maximum number that you can have. But you bring up a good point, it's like, these are great gifts. But I got a message from a nurse not too long ago during Nurses Week, and she said, You know what, I went to work and, you know the administrators, and they, they gave me a water bottle, and, you know, a little flower, she goes, but I would have loved to gotten your charm like, I think this is great to get your you know, these charms as gifts, and I had not thought about that, you know, in terms of recognizing, you Know who you are, recognizing great work, recognizing your care for patients and each other. So the gift possibilities are really endless.

Brooke Smith
Yeah, it really is. It's exciting to think about. Just like all the possibilities of the charms and they are so beautiful. I know there's always like a sanitary situation going on. So are they easily cleanable?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Absolutely. So the charms themselves are made from zinc, which is a naturally occurring antibacterial in nature, and then they are plated with silver. But you can, you know, you can clean it with an alcohol swab that you can find pretty much in every floor of the hospital or clinic, and that will kind of clean the whole stethoscope tubing and the charms as well.

Brooke Smith
Is there a specific charm or design that is especially meaningful to you, like maybe the very first one you created, or something that was inspired by your children?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
So one of the first charms I ever created was the love charm, and so it is pink crystals with a red crystal heart on it. When I first saw it, I just, was just, I was just shocked, because I, you know, is it was exactly how my daughter and I at the time, and she was probably about again. Probably about eight years old. She had sketched it, and I kind of played around with it, and we sent it off to the factory for a sample, and it was just, that was the first time I thought, You know what? This could this could be something. This could be something. And I remember going into that first year that, you know, the holiday season is our biggest season, much like many products that are out on the market, and this was going to be my first holiday season. Was when I was going to launch our products. And I remember I said to my husband, if I sell one charm, and that's it, and I have to close business, I'll be happy that I sold one charm, that someone bought it. And so it was an amazing first season. That is probably one of my favorite and most special charms that we had created more recently, though, one of my favorites right now is our newly released panda charm. So that same daughter, she went off to college this year, and before leaving for college, she was gifted. We she loved stuffed animals, and so we gifted her a panda, and she would send little videos of the panda around campus, and what the panda felt like every day on Snapchat. Was the panda sad? Was the panda stressed? Because, you know, there were exams coming up, and so we followed panda throughout the year, and I decided it was around the same same time that the pandas came back to San Diego zoo that I decided, let's make the panda charm. And that has been very meaningful to me. And it reminds me of her, it reminds me of hope. It reminds me of beauty and challenges that we can all overcome.

Brooke Smith
I love that the inspirations, how the inspirations come to be, and that's so cute for the panda. But what a great idea. I mean, I know I remember when I went to college, it was really scary to be away from home for the first time in a new environment. And, you know, I I went to Loyola Marymount University, and so a lot of the kids who went there also lived in California, so whether it was San Diego or Orange County, they would like drive home on the weekend. So it kind of felt like a ghost town, because I was from Colorado. I couldn't just like, go home and have my mom do my laundry, you know. And so it was kind of lonely. So I think like having a, like a little, like a panda stuffed animal, something that's meaningful, that comes from home, that's really sweet and beautiful, and I think great idea, actually,

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
this is why I love you so much. My daughter goes to Loyola Marymount University. Speaker 1 She's close by see she can come by and get her lunch. She's

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
close by, so we have been very fortunate for her to, you know, to come frequently home. But no, I understand the challenges.

Brooke Smith
What a great school. I hope she's kind of having a wonderful time summer now, right? They're off. Yes, yes. I actually want to dive a little bit more into you were talking about causes and that you have some stethoscope charms for causes. Can you talk a little bit about what those are and what the causes are?

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
We had pretty large catalog of ribbons with different organizations that are recognized. I would say the pink ribbon, for sure, is the most popular. Autism ribbon is also kind of a second most popular, but we have literally, a variety of different different charms that are dedicated and to recognizing some of these chronic dieases.

Brooke Smith
So are there any any dream collaborations or causes that you would love to work with in the future? Anything that you're that you kind of got coming down the line, or something you want to manifest.

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Well, I would love to do another collaboration with MDF. Obviously. I really enjoyed these last couple years working with the influencer community and nurses pas Ma's vets that are out in the community and kind of doing their daily work and using charms during their during their daily daily times with patients. So I really enjoy that. I really enjoy, kind of communicating with our customers and learning about new customers through influencers. But in terms of collaborations, I just would love to continue to collaborate with women owned businesses in healthcare. I would love to support and really just partner in, whether it's scrub companies or stethoscope companies, or things that, you know, other accessories that we can all work together and really help each other, not only gain new customers, but hopefully build a community. Because ultimately, that's what I really would love. I feel like healthcare can be so. Isolating for all of us in any degree of health care. And like I said, self care is so important now, and I'm hearing almost every day. I had a nurse that I was working with for two years, and she recently resigned, and she said, You know what, I want to go back to school. I want to get another degree. I want to, you know, I may be 50 and kind of towards the end of my career, but I feel like there's something else out there. And I think self care is more than just, you know, exercising and eating, right? And, you know, booking your spa appointment. It's about education, it's about community, it's about what's next, right? There's always something next. So that's what I would love to collaborate with other founders that feel the same way.

Brooke Smith
That brings me to two points. I would think one benefit of the charms also are people can't steal it as easily because it's more obvious that that's not your stethoscope, you know, because you have charms on it, it's a little harder for people to take, not that they couldn't take the charms off, but I think sometimes people grab and then it's like, no, that's mine. It has my charms on it. Take your hands off. But also, something you you spoke on was, I think, really important about self care, health, wellness, and feeling like you're you're building a community. And I really concur with that. I think it's so easy to say, you know, oh, we appreciate, we appreciate the health care community. We appreciate, but it's, it's different when you're actually showing up and you actually care and you want to do things to help support that community and make them feel seen, make them feel appreciated, and know that they're not just words. And I think it's it's really great to have like, like minded people, a woman owned company doctor who can see you know you are the person who is in that field who can relate better than you, the fact that we're always changing and growing that who we are. You know, when we're 25 and 45 and 60 there, we're always constantly evolving. And that's one thing I I really love about especially nursing, is I think that that they can segue into other specialties a little bit easier, and kind of grow and change. You know, go travel, go do these things. But I think building the community is so, so i

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
I agree. I don't think our charms are going to save the world, but I hope that the charms will help bring light to problems that we have. It's okay to say that you're unhappy with how things are, or that you want something more. And I and then I think that, you know, building a community where we can talk about it without feeling bad. Because I think for so long being in healthcare, we've had to hide a lot of our feelings and always be supportive of our patients. Always sacrifice time that is very, very valuable. So I would like to, I would like to continue to meet our customers, to hear the stories and to and to find solutions if there are any.

Brooke Smith
And I think that's part of what this podcast is for, is also to make people understand and feel less alone, that we're all kind of like going through this together and figuring it out together, and changing and growing, and that they're not alone in a lot of the feelings that they feel. And it's when it's it's very hard, I think, especially with social media being highlight reels, and everybody thinks that, oh my gosh, everybody knows what they're doing, except for me, and it's just really not the case. I I've spoken to numerous nurses and doctors and across the board, pas veterinarians. I had a vet tech who's now becoming a nurse. You know, she got burnt out in the vet tech world and and I think it's just so important to listen to whatever your heart, body, spirit is telling you, if you're unhappy or you're you've outgrown where you are, as scary as it is, it's you're not the only one, and it takes a lot of bravery to acknowledge and admit that, and even more courage to go and try something new. And I think what you're doing is so inspiring because you you you proved that you don't just have to do one thing, even though that one thing is incredible and and incredibly difficult to achieve in the first place. But then you went in and branched out and said, Well, I have more in me. I have this creative expression. And so how can I kind of marry, marry the two, the healthcare part of me that I being a doctor and helping people, and also my creative spirit is, hey, let's create something unique. It's such. Great kind of, I think, tribute. But

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
I do have to add, though, if I had to give advice to my younger self and to those kind of starting, and especially women starting in healthcare, is that it's okay to say no, right? Because your plate will be very, very full at some point, and it's okay to say no, it's okay to put yourself first, because you know you're, you're the most important thing. You're the most important nothing else is going to function unless you are functioning well. So I think that would be my advice. I mean, I think that I've, I have fallen into the trap of trying to do a lot of things. There were times when the company was struggling and my kids were young, and I still was seeing patients every day, and still was doing research, and I was still saying yes, yes, yes, yes. And I think that can take a serious toll. So I think that if I had to give advice would be it's okay to say no, people will ask again.

Brooke Smith
No, really, that is great advice. And I would add on to that, that no is a complete sentence. It doesn't have to be No, because no, but just No, I you know, have to explain yourself. No, I think that's really good advice. I actually haven't heard that one that's, that's unique and that I really like it, because that was going to be my next question was, if you could go back and tell your younger self something, what would it be? But that's, that's a great piece of advice. I think it's, it's, it's easier to when you've worked so hard to, you know, build up a business and have these things going then all of a sudden, if it's like, it rains or, you know, it's either nothing or it's just coming down hard. So sometimes, when it's when it's when it starts coming at you, and you work so hard for those moments, it's really hard to say no, because you're like, oh, it's finally here, and then you're you have so many basically tennis balls coming at you that you're trying to hit, and you can do a disservice to yourself and your business and everything that you built if you don't also take care of yourself.

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
I think, another piece of advice for someone who might be starting their own business to especially if they've been in healthcare, because it's, it's a very straight path in health care, you know, you go to college, you go to, you go to either nursing school, PA, school, do school, MD, you know, medical school. Then you go to work, then you're doing your thing. I think with business is that there's so many times that you have to pivot. And I think pivoting is is difficult, you know, at times when you're when you're used to kind of being, trying to be very sure in what you're doing, and being a perfectionist. Or, you know, because in healthcare, when we make mistakes, potentially people can get sick, right? So there's an intense amount of pressure. So when things go wrong, I think those entrepreneurs that have been in health care before kind of really take it very, very, you know, very heavy. But the art of pivoting is something that you really need to be able to do, and to think, Okay, well, this didn't work. Let's move to something else. And it doesn't have to always be perfect. In fact, even if it's not perfect, that could just be great, right? So those are also kind of things that I've thought about over the years as well, in terms of running a business that can be a challenge,

Brooke Smith
and I think you're just never going to be ready. I think one thing that people kind of get stuck on is I'll be ready next week, or when I gotta get through this one thing, and then then I'll start, and then I'll be ready. And it's like, I think you're just never ready. You're never going to feel like you're ready. And I think you just have to one foot in front the other, you have to start. It's about consistency, rather than perfectionism. I think it's just about showing up and doing something, and if it doesn't work, pivoting, like you say, and and trying it a different way, but not giving up, so some perseverance and determination, but also just not getting, you know, not letting the nose and not letting the mistakes get you down, because I think that's part of the learning experience, and that actually just does make you better. And all that knowledge that you obtain, it never goes away. So everything that you're learning, you just keep to keep building on. And eventually, you know, you have even more knowledge, and then you become someone like you, who can say, you can look back and say, wow, you know, I've, I've had a business for 1314, years, and it's successful, and it wasn't always that way. And I've, I've, I've done the ups and downs so that when things are, you know, down or up, you you stick with it. It's like the stock market, like, don't. Sell out. Keep going, keep persevering. And I think it's really important that people know it's not always just, you know, it's not always just perfect. It's not going to be always easy, even when you walk in and have everything going well, and you can have a great year and then a not so great year, and then that's part of business. And I think that can be harder for healthcare professionals, because, yes, you're right, like your jobs are so serious and important, and you know you have people's lives in your hands, so at the end of the day, you know, when you're doing it, when you have a business, it's, it's, it's way more out of your control, because there's, there's so many other factors that you can't doesn't matter how right you do something. It's just, there's no rhyme or reason sometimes,

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
right, right? And it's hard to take that first step, because I think so many of us always want to be to have a good, perfect first step. And it's like you said, it's that you you can't you can't predict what's going to happen. It can't always be perfect. You can't always wait for that opportunity to be the perfect time. Because that may not be, I think one reason why healthcare professionals are great entrepreneurs is the fact that we're lifelong learners. We're constantly learning. We're constantly studying for exams. I'm still, I'm still taking, you know, board certifications in my age. So we can learn things that are not medicine related, right? We can learn. And there's so many opportunities now, like I said, free opportunities, online, through companies, podcasts, listening and, you know, just gaining knowledge that we're used to learning we are. We're like sponges. So, you know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't doubt the the the foundation that a lot of us have to create businesses.

Brooke Smith
Can you talk a little bit about your career as a doctor and what you're doing and why you became a doctor, and just let everybody kind of get to know you on that side of things.

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Yeah. So I, like many people, found medicine somewhat accidentally. I went to college as a Russian major, and I wanted to work in foreign service. I was really interested in history and communications, but I started following around my pre med friends and went to some clubs, and really thought it was great. I always loved science, and so I kind of fell into medicine. I over the years, like I said, I've always been very, very interested in women's health, and so I spent the last 20 years or so working in research of the safety of medications and vaccines during pregnancy. I think that this is a population of patients that frequently is overlooked, and I and I kind of that's my passion from a professional standpoint, but women's health has always been very important for me and mentorship. So I created the Women's Health Committee at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, to really help promote women's health issues in allergy and immunology and also provide many women allergists to get together and network and be supportive of each other, so creating that community. So from a professional standpoint, women's health and mentorship of women is just very, very is the forefront, and that's what I enjoy doing. So I continue it.

Brooke Smith
Can I ask you to drop all your social media handles where people can come find you your website, Speaker 1 so we are on social media. We're on Instagram, Facebook, charmed bling. If you type that in, you should find us. Pinterest, we are building a Tiktok. You can find us also on our website, www.charmed bling.com, C, H, A, R, M, E, D, B, L, I, N, G.com, um, like I said, many people are entrepreneur. More entrepreneurial in medicine than ever before. So if there are any of your listeners that are interested, you can always reach out to us and let us know and and maybe we can collaborate and work together.

Brooke Smith
Well. Thank you so much for joining our crafting wellness Podcast. I'm going to link below as well everywhere where you can find charmed as well and as well as the website, so everybody can check that out. And we really appreciate you coming on and hearing all of your wonderful stories and inspiration. Thank you.

Dr. Jennifer Namazy
Thank you so much, Brooke for having me.