395 Business, Go Your Own Way • Sydney Malawer

Following a blueprint is fine for building structures, but when it comes to life choices, someone else’s recipe for success probably will be only marginally helpful. Plans are helpful, and perspective even more so.

In this conversation with Sydney Malawer, we explore what it means to build a practice that actually works for you. From rejecting conventional business advice to embracing a model based on sufficiency instead of relentless growth, Sydney shares the mindset shifts and strategic choices that have allowed her to create a thriving, sustainable practice in one of the most competitive markets in the country.

Listen into this discussion as we discuss redefining success in practice, why charging higher rates can lead to a more sustainable clinic, navigating the tension between capitalism and integrity, and how understanding your own archetype can shape the way you run your business.

This conversation is a reminder that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to building a practice. What matters most is knowing what works for you and having the courage to bet on yourself.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• Breaking free from conventional practice management advice
• Viewing business as an ecosystem instead of a competition
• The importance of sufficiency over endless growth
• How pricing affects perception and patient engagement
• The impact of capitalism on healthcare and small businesses
• The role of archetypes in branding and practice style
• Hiring the right people and knowing when to let go
• Setting boundaries with patients while maintaining good care
• Creating a practice that supports work-life balance
• The real cost of keeping rates low and why raising them can be essential
• Learning from failure and treating business decisions as experiments
• The power of community and surrounding yourself with the right support
• How resilience, not confidence, is key to building a successful practice
• Recognizing when your business model needs to evolve
• The importance of integrity in patient relationships

On any given week your patient will have one hour with you and 167 hours without. Your job isn't to heal them in that hour but rather to guide them in using those 167 hours outside of clinic wisely.

Sydney Malawer (she/her)

I a doctor of acupuncture and integrative medicine in Berkeley, CA who specializes in autoimmunity and dermatology through my private practice Tendervine Health. My training is focused in Japanese Acupuncture, herbal medicine, and integrative medicine.

I've trained with Ikeda Masakazu and his students as well as with Dr. Mazin Al-Khafaji through the International TCM Dermatology Association. I've completed training in functional medicine through Dr. Aviva Romm’s Functional & Integrative Medicine Professional Training Program – however have found that East-Asian Medicine aligns more effectively with my clinical approach and primarily utilize functional medicine only when patients have stalled in their progress.

My doctoral work focused on the management of chronic inflammatory issues using East-Asian medicine and conventional lab testing in the diagnosis, treatment, and progress tracking of these conditions and use the findings from this original research in my approach to patient care.

I also teach classes on clinical dermatology, Japanese acupuncture, and integrative clinical lab testing in several master’s and doctoral programs.

Links and Resources

Visit Sydney on her clinic website or her advisory site. 

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