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The Benefits of Hiring a Coach: How Mentors Helped Me Become Who I Really Am
“Your next level is always on the other side of being witnessed.” -Dr. Sonia Chopra
Welcome back to University of Why, the podcast where we ask the big questions so we can build a life that actually feels like ours. I’m your host, Dr. Sonia Chopra, and in this episode, I’m sharing the story of how coaching completely altered the trajectory of my life and my leadership—personally, professionally, and spiritually.
Today’s conversation is a tribute to the coaches who saw me before I fully saw myself, and a deeper look at the real benefits of hiring a coach when you’re ready to grow. If you’ve ever wondered whether coaching is worth the time, the money, or the vulnerability it requires, I want to pull back the curtain on my journey and show you what it actually looks like from the inside.
How I Went from “I Can Do This Alone” to “I Deserve Support”
If you had met me early in my career, you would’ve seen someone who was convinced she could figure it all out on her own. I had the successful practice, the rising revenue, the full schedule—the kind of story that looks beautiful from the outside but feels shaky and unsustainable on the inside.
I told myself I didn’t “need” a coach. I was a hard worker, a problem solver, a doer. I was also a dentist, a wife, a mom, and a leader who was quietly stretched beyond capacity. The burnout that hit me in 2016 was my wake-up call. That year broke me open in a way that made it impossible to keep repeating the same patterns.
By 2017, I finally made a different decision: I hired my first coach. I didn’t really know what to expect, and honestly, I had all the same thoughts many people do:
Is this really worth it? Will this actually help? Am I just supposed to know how to do this on my own?
What I didn’t realize at the time was that I wasn’t just hiring someone to fix a problem in my practice. I was hiring someone to help me look honestly at the way I was living, leading, and relating to the people around me—and to myself.
Coach #1: The Culture Shift That Changed Everything
My first coach was Ragan Hartman, and she came into my life at a moment when my practice looked great on paper but felt very different behind the scenes. There was drama, miscommunication, and a constant sense that I was putting out fires. I was trying to be both clinician and manager at the same time, and it was quietly frying my nervous system.
I realized that while I was performing technically demanding root canals with complete focus, I was being interrupted with questions about scheduling, billing, and patient issues. I had never clearly said, “I can’t wear both hats at once.” I just kept absorbing it, getting more and more frustrated, and then wondering why I kept snapping.
Ragan helped me see what I actually needed in order to feel grounded: healthy boundaries, clear communication, and a culture where everyone understood that their perception was not the whole truth. She introduced our team to something called a reality check, where we’d walk through an upsetting situation and ask, “What am I making this mean?” Then, we’d challenge that story and find other possible interpretations. Instead of marching into a conversation at a level 10 of anger, I could walk in at a 5—with more curiosity and less reactivity.
It felt awkward at first. The format of the conversation was structured and a little clunky, but that awkwardness also signaled loving intention. It meant I cared enough about the relationship to slow down and be intentional. I started using this approach not only with my team, but with my husband, my friends, and really anyone I cared about.
That was the beginning of the culture shift. And it wasn’t long before I saw something incredible: from 2018 to 2019, my practice grew by a million dollars. I deeply believe that growth was a result of the inner work we were doing—setting boundaries, communicating better, and creating an environment where people felt seen instead of blamed.
That is one of the most unexpected benefits of hiring a coach: you think you’re going in for “business help,” and what you get is a new way of being.
Learning to Run My Practice Like a Business
While Ragan helped me with the emotional and cultural foundation, I also crossed paths with other mentors who shaped my leadership in a different way.
Dr. Anissa Holmes taught me to think like a business owner, not just a clinician. Through her work and her use of the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), I learned how to understand my numbers, my KPIs, and the levers that actually move a practice forward. I had read the book Traction before, but working in a community and seeing how other practices applied these principles helped me bring more structure and clarity into my own world.
Then there was Imtiaz Manji through Spear Education, who pushed me to ask, “How do we create just one more?” One more consult, one more case, one more opportunity to serve. That “one more” mindset revealed pockets of potential I hadn’t seen before. At the same time, I began to notice where the hustle could quietly morph into overdrive.
Before COVID, my default setting was “go, go, go.” After COVID, I had to sit with a different question: What pace of work actually feels right for my life? Those early business and growth-focused coaches helped me build the muscle of expansion, and later, I learned how to pair that with discernment and sustainability.
From Business to Brand: Discovering My Hologram
By 2019, I had created some breathing room in my practice. And as that space opened up, another desire got louder: I didn’t just want to run a successful practice; I wanted to teach. I wanted to speak. I wanted to share what I knew about healing and endodontics with more people.
That’s when I worked with branding coach Jessica Zweig. She helped me see that my identity wasn’t limited to “endodontist.” She reflected back to me this multidimensional version of myself: a board-certified endodontist, a female entrepreneur, a mother of three, and a deeply spiritual human being. She called it my hologram, and once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it.
This was a turning point. Instead of compartmentalizing my life into separate roles, I began to understand that my power lived in the integration of all of them. My brand, my work, and my voice became richer once I gave myself permission to show up as the whole version of me—not just the polished professional part.
The TED Stage and the Coach Who Made Me Believe I Was Worthy
At some point, I got this wild idea: I want to give a TED Talk. Honestly, I didn’t think a stage like that was for someone like me. I’m a woman of color, I didn’t see many people who looked like me up there, and I wasn’t sure people would want to hear what I had to say about root canals, infections, and healing.
But the calling wouldn’t go away.
So I found Tricia Brouk, a TED and speaking coach who became one of the most transformational figures in my journey. Tricia didn’t just help me craft a talk—she helped me understand my worth.
She showed me that my story mattered enough to stand on a red circle and say, “Listen, this is important.”
Our work together was intense. Once I landed my TEDx Lincoln Square spot, I had six weeks to refine and memorize a 13-minute talk. I’d fly to New York on Saturdays, rehearse with her for hours on Sunday, and return home in time to go back to work on Monday. It felt like training for the Olympics of speaking.
She had me practice my talk in all kinds of ways—walking around the neighborhood, doing chores, even in an exaggerated Indian accent—to help me memorize it, loosen up, and embody the message rather than recite it. The whole process stretched me in ways I didn’t know I needed.
When I finally stepped onto that stage in October 2021, I didn’t feel like an imposter. I felt like a woman standing in her calling. And that’s another gift coaching gave me: the ability to inhabit my worth, not just intellectually understand it.
Moving from Masculine Hustle to Feminine Genius
After the high of the TED talk and years of running a fast-paced practice and growing a brand, I met Gina Marotta, a feminine genius coach who works with women to help them step out of constant masculine doing and into a more aligned, feminine way of working and living.
She got a very emotional version of me. I cried more in my sessions with Gina than with anyone else, because she was holding space for a transition I didn’t even know I was making—from over-functioning, proving, and pushing… to allowing, receiving, and trusting.
One of the biggest shifts she gave me was a single word: allow. She helped me replace “I should” with “I allow” or “I choose,” gently inviting me into a different relationship with my own expectations. It softened the inner pressure and created room for me to ask, What actually feels aligned?
This was not an overnight change. But slowly, my nervous system started to learn another way. My work didn’t stop; it just started to feel less like a grind and more like flow.
The Spiritual Coaches and My Year of Purging
More recently, my inner work has deepened with spiritual mentors like Tish and Lauryn, who calls herself a freedom coach. This past year has been one of the most introspective years of my life.
I moved after 17 years in the same home, and the move itself became a spiritual practice. I filled four dumpsters with old belongings, outdated identities, and emotional weight I didn’t realize I was still carrying. It wasn’t just stuff leaving my life—it was versions of me.
I’ve been less visible on social media, taken fewer speaking gigs, and focused on purging and recalibrating. It’s been a deeply yin season, one that I believe is preparing me for what’s coming in 2026 and beyond.
And again, I haven’t done it alone. I’ve had a coach walking beside me, helping me honor the endings so I can welcome the beginnings.
What Coaching Really Did for Me
When I look back on the last nine years and the many coaches and mentors I’ve had, here’s what I can say with absolute clarity:
Coaching didn’t fix me, because I was never broken. Coaching gave me language, tools, and reflections that helped me become more of who I already was. It revealed my blind spots, helped me process my triggers, strengthened my relationships, expanded my capacity, and reminded me that I don’t have to hold everything by myself.
The benefits of hiring a coach are not just about career advancement or revenue growth—though those can absolutely happen. The real benefit is evolution. It’s the way you start to show up differently in your practice, your marriage, your motherhood, your friendships, and your relationship with yourself.
You deserve support. You deserve someone who sees you clearly, who challenges you lovingly, and who can hold the vision of what’s possible when you forget. If a coach doesn’t feel like the right fit, it doesn’t mean coaching isn’t for you. It just means you’re still finding your person. And even that process will teach you something.
Your next level really is on the other side of being witnessed.
Watch the Full Episode:
Show Notes with Timestamps
00:00 — How coaching became the most life-changing decision I’ve made
00:37 — Leadership, gratitude, and why this episode is a tribute
02:56 — Common misconceptions about coaching and expectations we place on coaches
04:45 — My biggest regret: waiting eight years into my career to get support
05:14 — Burnout, culture issues, and hiring my first coach
07:38 — Learning boundaries, reality checks, and healthier communication
10:03 — How shifting culture led to a million-dollar growth year
12:28 — Group coaching, EOS, and running my practice like a business
14:46 — Hustle culture, “one more,” and finding sustainable growth
17:07 — Working with Jessica to unlock my personal brand hologram
19:27 — Saying yes to a TED Talk and understanding my worth
21:46 — The intensity of TED prep, rehearsals, and performance
23:37 — Gina, feminine genius, and the emotional transition out of constant hustle
26:21 — Spiritual coaching, moving homes, and purging old versions of myself
27:28 — Why you don’t need a coach because you’re broken—you need one because you’re evolving
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
I’d love to know what this episode brought up for you. Did it shift the way you think about coaching? Did it remind you of an area of your life where you’re ready to be supported instead of soldiering through alone?
Send me a DM on Instagram @drsoniachopra or share this episode with a friend who’s been wondering whether it’s time to invest in themselves. Sometimes, all we need is one honest story to give ourselves permission to say yes.
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