STELLAR SUCCESS: Leveling Up For Medical Pros with Dr. Tudor Francu

In this episode of The Stellar Success Podcast, Dr. Tudor Francu sits down with Paulina Riedler, RN, an inspiring nurse entrepreneur who turned a simple observation into a fast-growing healthcare innovation. Paulina shares how a story in a local newspaper about a nurse administering Botox illegally sparked the idea for a nationwide telehealth network—one that now serves medical spas in over 30 states.
From her early days juggling infusion nursing with a fledgling business, to managing a 40-person team and scaling her company with no outside investors, Paulina reflects on the challenges, lessons, and wins that shaped her path.
You’ll hear how timing, purpose, and patient safety played pivotal roles in her success—and why reinvesting in yourself, trusting your instincts, and building genuine relationships are keys to long-term growth.
Key takeaways:
How Spa Connect filled a crucial compliance gap in aesthetic medicine
The power of timing and word-of-mouth in building a scalable business
Leadership lessons from hiring missteps to joining peer CEO groups
Why legacy, people, and patient safety fuel Paulina’s ongoing drive
How nurses can transition into entrepreneurship with confidence
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

What does it take to bring compassionate dental care to the most vulnerable—right in their homes? In this powerful episode, Dr. Joy Poskozim joins Dr. Tudor Francu to share how she turned a personal family moment into a thriving mission to serve the elderly with dignity and expertise.
Dr. Joy opens up about how one house call for her grandmother blossomed into a career of in-home dental care for seniors in memory care and assisted living. With over 18 facilities and countless patients relying on her every week, she offers a heartfelt and eye-opening look into the underserved world of geriatric dentistry.
We talk about:
The touching story behind Dr. Joy’s first house call
Why oral care is often overlooked in nursing homes
The challenges and rewards of treating elderly patients
How she balances mobile dentistry with a brick-and-mortar practice
Advice for dentists considering this path
What financial success looks like in a fee-for-service mobile care model
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

Dr. Rafie shares a deeply personal journey—one that spans from fleeing Iran as a child to becoming a hospice director, healthcare consultant, and advocate for AI in medicine. He opens up about career pivots, family, fatherhood, and the broken realities of the U.S. healthcare system. You’ll walk away with insight on:
The real-world applications of AI and remote monitoring in home care
How healthcare startups are trying to innovate within a slow-moving system
What it means to be an immigrant physician in America
The urgent need for positive relationships and mentorship in medicine
The future of 3D-printed homes and why it matters to healthcare
Why communication, leadership, and common sense are vital to medical success
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

In this powerful episode, Dr. Tudor Francu sits down with lab business veteran Sam Kabbani for a deep dive into the trials, triumphs, and truths of running a clinical laboratory. From arriving in the U.S. with only $80,000 and no job, to building multiple labs, Sam reveals the real-life challenges behind every success headline.
He opens up about:
Taking calculated risks to grow businesses
How concierge lab services are reshaping patient care
Navigating setbacks, competition, and shady players in the lab industry
Why lab entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart—but is full of opportunity
Sam also shares his latest ventures in pharmaceutical innovation and employee health platforms, and the real cost of building something meaningful.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.
 

In this insightful and inspiring conversation, Dr. Tudor Francu sits down with Dr. Steven Rosenstein, a veteran dentist with over five decades of clinical experience and teaching. Dr. Rosenstein opens up about his professional journey—from early mentorships and educational milestones to founding practices in Philadelphia and Florida. He shares what keeps him excited about dentistry after all these years, including his recent ventures into airway health and 3D printing.
They also dive into the rarely discussed topic of dental partnerships, what makes them work, and why so many fail. Dr. Rosenstein offers practical wisdom for new grads, emphasizing the importance of aligning practice philosophies, staying curious, and building a professional life that matches your core values.
 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

In this powerful episode, Dr. Heidi Queen, a board-certified physician with over 28 years of clinical experience, shares her personal and professional journey from traditional Western medicine into the realm of functional medicine. Motivated by her own experience navigating menopause, Dr. Queen discovered the limits of a symptom-driven healthcare system. Her story highlights how personalized, root-cause-oriented care can lead to lasting health improvements.
From working in global public health to opening her own integrative clinic—Energize Health and Hormones—Dr. Queen unpacks the challenges and rewards of delivering holistic care. She discusses hormone health, the misunderstood realities of menopause, and the importance of extending not just lifespan, but healthspan.
Listeners will gain insights into:
Why functional medicine is gaining momentum
The role of patient-centered care in treating complex conditions
The importance of understanding menopause beyond hormone replacement
Building a practice that combines Eastern and Western modalities
Business and personal lessons learned from opening her own clinic
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

In this compelling conversation, Dr. Naim El-Aswad, a practicing emergency and internal medicine physician and a certified coach, opens up about his path from experiencing burnout to becoming a guiding voice for other medical professionals. Dr. Naim doesn’t just treat patients—he teaches fellow physicians how to survive and thrive through deep mindset shifts and coaching.
Together with host Dr. Tudor Francu, they explore the real cost of emotional fatigue in medicine, the stigma around mental health for healthcare workers, and how a shift in focus from "doing" to "being" can transform lives and careers. This episode delivers insight, compassion, and practical tools like emotional intelligence strategies and the "Circle of Influence" exercise.
Dr. Naim also discusses his work through his organization, Vital Signs Vital Skills, and a recent book published with a team of world-class coaches on the power of coaching in healthcare.
 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

Dr. Rashmi Parmar is not your typical dentist. After years in general practice and a growing curiosity about the root causes of chronic oral health issues, Dr. Parmar found herself on an unexpected journey—into the world of sleep medicine.
Now the founder and owner of a successful sleep-focused practice in Maryland, Dr. Parmar joins Dr. Tudor Francu to explore why sleep apnea is so commonly undiagnosed, how she’s bridging the gap between dentistry and medicine, and what makes her patient-first approach so effective.
She opens up about the hurdles she faced during the transition, the powerful impact her work has had on patients' lives, and how educating other healthcare providers became a critical part of her model. From starting with “Why?” to creating collaborative care teams, Dr. Parmar is on a mission to help people reclaim their lives—one good night’s sleep at a time.
 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

In this powerful and heartfelt conversation, Virginia Kruse discusses her evolution into a self-proclaimed “Solutionist” in the senior living and healthcare space. She walks us through her start in healthcare at 16, the unexpected path that led her away from law school and into nursing, and how early mentorship changed the course of her career.
Virginia opens up about the burnout that nearly ended her career, how she found purpose again through consulting work, and the personal habits that help her stay grounded—including yoga, breathwork, and boundary-setting.
Key topics include:
Navigating the emotional and ethical challenges in assisted living
Hiring with heart: finding team members who treat caregiving as a calling
Why individualized care plans rooted in empathy can change outcomes
Integrating AI and robotics into senior care without losing the human touch
Advice she’d give her younger self—and to others just entering healthcare
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.

In this compelling episode, Dr. Tudor Francu sits down with Shellie Shouse to explore the behind-the-scenes brilliance of running a successful rural hospital. From her early love of accounting to becoming a healthcare leader, Shellie offers insight into how small hospitals can compete, innovate, and survive.
Shellie discusses the critical role of revenue cycles, creative solutions for shrinking reimbursements, and the power of strategic planning. She reveals how Ohio County Healthcare manages to offer robotic surgery, behavioral health, and even postpartum care in a rural setting—and why investing in people and culture is the key to long-term success.
This episode is essential for anyone interested in the intersection of healthcare, leadership, and finance—especially those in smaller communities navigating complex challenges with limited resources.
About the Guest
Shellie Shouse, CPA, is the CEO of Ohio County Healthcare in Kentucky. With a background in accounting and extensive healthcare leadership experience, Shellie brings a unique business-minded approach to rural healthcare. She’s passionate about innovation, sustainability, and community care.
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you a medical professional looking to share your story, insights, and strategies for achieving career, personal, and financial success? We want to hear from you! Apply to be a guest on our podcast and join the conversation with other leaders and innovators in the healthcare field https://stellarsuccesspodcast.com/guest.