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Dr. Sarolta Szabo grew her dermatology practice from 3,000 to 18,000 square feet, cut her clinical days in half, and took six weeks of personal vacation last year — here's how she did it.

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In 2020, she was calling private equity firms to sell. By 2025, she had two locations, 50 staff, and her life back.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Sarolta Szabo — dermatologist and founder of Alta Vista Dermatology in Highlands Ranch, Colorado — for a conversation that covers the full arc: opening her practice from scratch in 2010, grinding through 10 years of trial and error, hitting a wall, and then making a decision that changed everything.

Dr. Szabo gets honest about what nearly drove her to sell — the burnout, the loneliness of the CEO role, working nights after the kids were in bed, and building without a roadmap. She talks through how she made the transition from working in the business to leading it, how she navigated growing with a spouse who wasn't initially on board with coaching, and how she rebuilt after losing five providers in a single year. She also shares what she believes about the role of community, accountability, and coaching at every level of growth — and why she thinks you either have a coach or a therapist, because doing this alone has a ceiling.

This is the kind of episode that makes you want to go back and listen again.

Tune in and get inspired!

Timestamps:

00:00 Teaser clip 

01:30 Introduction — why Dr. Una is excited about this guest 

02:35 Dr. Szabo's background and how she started her practice in 2010 

05:15 10 years of trial and error — what growth looked like before EBS 

06:50 Hitting a wall in 2020 and calling a private equity firm 

08:25 Finding EntreMD and deciding not to sell 

09:50 Joining EntreMD Business School on her 50th birthday 

12:40 The community and why it changed everything 

13:50 Private equity vs. private practice — what her life would look like 

17:00 Her true entrepreneur mindset and her father's influence 

19:15 What the practice looks like today: 2 locations, 18,000 sq ft, 50 staff 

22:00 Working two and a half clinical days a week and six weeks of vacation 

23:35 How growth affected revenue and profit 

29:00 Transitioning from clinician to CEO — grieving the patient relationships

 33:30 Continuing to market through every stage of growth 

35:55 Losing five providers in 2024 and rebuilding in 2025 

38:30 Navigating a spouse who wasn't on board with coaching 

42:30 Strategy for bringing a resistant spouse along gradually 

45:30 Show don't tell — how results do the convincing 

48:35 Who you become in the process of building 

50:50 The business is a tool — what that really means 

55:15 Private practice is not dead — encouragement for the discouraged doctor 

56:35 Start small: CEO time, part-time hires, find your community 

01:00:00 The importance of tracking small wins every day 

01:02:35 Where to find Dr. Szabo and Alta Vista Dermatology

Additional Resources:

Connect with Dr. Sarolta Szabo

Website: altavistaderm.com 

Instagram (Practice): @altavistaderm 

Instagram (Personal): @drsaboderm

Facebook: Alta Vista Dermatology 

YouTube: Alta Vista Dermatology

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