Today we’d like to introduce you to Leyli Norouz.
Leyli, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As for me, I got my start in Higher Education Non-Profit and worked for 10 + years at UCLA, including the Anderson School of Management. After leading in a number of positions in operations, including Director of Annual Giving, it became clear to me that having a more fulfilling life, and to have the kind of impact I hoped to have would only be possible through innovation and entrepreneurialism.
I left the corporate world to begin a career of consulting, and eventually found myself leading management and operations efforts of several high end medical practices. In this role I grew the businesses I worked with while learning what makes the healthcare industry tick. In my work, I met many wonderful specialists and experts and was educated in the incredible importance of sleep, breath, and the human airway in overall health and development.
Last year, I finally decided it was time to step out on my own with a few amazing colleagues and start a practice that addressed the maladies of the airway and sleep processes head on, rather than just treating symptoms which seems to be the mainstream modus operandi. I am grateful for my long work/friendship with Sanda Valcu-Pinkerton (our myofunctional therapist) who has been instrumental in crafting the protocols we employ in treating tongue-tie, and other speech, eating, sleep and breathing issues. Our introduction (and now close collaboration with) to Dr. Soroush Zaghi was also a critical event. With his outstanding expertise in oral maxillofacial surgery, and his incredible attention to detail, he plans and executes procedures that not only improve the lives of our pediatric and adult patients, but advances his field of medicine. Now, through practicing, educating, lecturing, publishing, and consulting, our team intends to bring our wonderfully effective protocols to the wider community so more can benefit.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been a learning process, as there are a lot of managerial/operational/structural voids in the healthcare industry. By this, I mean that many in the healthcare field are amazing at their speciality, but they often haven’t a good handle …for example…on how much their practice (as a business) earns, and spends etc. No one should be expected to be amazing at everything, and that’s why building a mastermind group has been so critical for the success and growth of our practice, not only as a healthcare providing entity, but as a business as well. It is not easy to find the perfect team, but by luck, hard work, research, and tenacity, we have assembled some real heavy hitters, who not only lead their fields intellectually, but ethically as well. This was definitely one of the largest challenges.
Another challenge that many out-of-network practices face, is reaching understandings with insurance companies regarding the necessity and/or benefits of the treatments they provide etc. This is an issue we deal with often, but as the numbers of our happy and healthy patients grow, the data is stacking up in our favor. It’s an unfortunate reality in healthcare today that often times the person who ends up determining what treatment a patient is able to receive, is an insurance agent rather than a doctor…We made the decision to be an out-of-network practice so that we could be the ones who decide (for example) how much time is needed with a patient on a case by case basis, rather than having to base such decisions on insurance reimbursements alone.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Breathe Institute strives to provide the best in healthcare. Our multidisciplinary center for nasal obstruction, snoring, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), tongue tie, myofunctional and breathing disorders is at the forefront of airway management.
Our areas of focus include: Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery), Sleep Medicine, Myofunctional Therapy, Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery, Pharmacy (Medication Therapy Management), Preventative Internal Medicine, Nutrition, and Sleep Hygiene.
We also have great collaborative relationships with Dentists/Orthodontists, Internists, Pulmonologists, Sleep Labs, Neurologists, Cranial Sacral Therapists as well as Physical Therapists, Pediatricians and Speech Therapists.
Many significant growth and developmental milestones occur during our first 18 months of life.
As children grow, proper breathing is essential to their health, development, and educational success. Early detection and correction of airway problems can be integral to optimizing this fundamental and critical physiology. Airway evaluation is an important part of the process and we take diagnostics very seriously.
Using precision diagnostic technologies and methodologies, our physicians are able to detect and correct any growth and development issues that may be present before thy lead to any more serious comorbidities.
We are proud to be the first practice to offer such a comprehensive, whole health approach to airway, and sleep health.
What were you like growing up?
My parents took me at the age of 2 from Iran (revolutions have a way or convincing families to leave) to Brussels, and then to Los Angeles at the age of 6 where I started out as a French speaking ESL student.
I was a very curious kid, very achievement motivated as well. Winning academic awards and whatnot, while still managing to make friends from many seemingly disparate groups.
I participated in many after-school/extracurricular activities including Junior Achievement in middle school which was an entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy program taught through hands on experience.
In High School I was Co-Captain of the volleyball team, and on the weekends participated in USC’s MedCor Program. My senior year I volunteered all summer at Martin Luther King’s outpatient psychiatric clinic.
Before starting my freshmen year at UCLA, I was accepted into the Freshman Summer Program (FSP), which was an intense seven-week residential academic program open only to students accepted into the Academic Advancement Program.
During my 4 years at UCLA, I worked full time + a full load of classes.
I’ve always loved service, art, style, travel, and science, and am very glad to have the opportunity to incorporate many of these interests in my work.
Contact Info:
- Address: 10921 Wilshire Blvd.,
Suite #912
Los Angeles, CA 90024 - Website: www.thebreatheinstitute.com
- Phone: (310) 579-9710
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breathe_institute/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreatheinstitute/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/310_Breathe
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wW1iHjsF99lbJ_iOLD6Qw
https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-breathe-institute-93712b133
Image Credit:
Brainship Media
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