Kateryna Chaikovska: Psychiatrist, Entrepreneur, and the Fight for Mental Health in Ukraine | Be Yourself Podcast

Be Yourself Podcast

KaterynaChaikovska

Psychiatrist with 15+ years of practice, founder of a private clinic in Kyiv, and creator of Spokiy — a project helping Ukrainian warriors with PTSD — on mental health, entrepreneurship, and sacrifice

Mental Health · Psychiatry · Entrepreneurship · PTSD · Ukraine · Houston

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About This Episode

What Does It Actually Take to Build a Mental Health Business — and Change How a Country Thinks About the Mind?

Kateryna Chaikovska does not fit a single label. She is a practicing psychiatrist with over 15 years of clinical experience, a self-made entrepreneur who built her own private clinic in Kyiv from the ground up, a grant recipient from the American Council's Innovation and Leadership program, and the founder of Spokiy — a project dedicated to helping Ukrainian warriors cope with PTSD.

In this conversation, Katya and Serhii go deep on what it really means to be a doctor and a business owner at the same time — two roles that demand entirely different skill sets and entirely different versions of yourself. She talks about the cultural gap between how mental health is perceived in Ukraine versus the United States, and why breaking that stigma has been one of the hardest and most important parts of her work.

She is candid about the sacrifices. About what you give up when you choose to build something. About the moments where it all felt impossible — and what kept her going anyway. Kateryna is exactly the kind of high-energy, clear-minded person this show was built for: someone who chose the harder path, on purpose, and has something real to show for it.

From Medical School to Private Clinic — Kateryna's Career Path

How a psychiatrist with over 15 years of practice made the leap from employee to entrepreneur, building her own private clinic in Kyiv and redefining what a medical career can look like.

Mental Health in Ukraine vs the United States — a Cultural Gap

Kateryna compares two very different cultures around psychology, therapy, and psychiatry — and why Ukrainians are only beginning to talk openly about mental health the way Americans have for decades.

Running a Medical Business — the Challenges Nobody Talks About

What it looks like to be both a doctor and a business administrator — the administrative burden, the financial pressure, the moments of doubt, and the skills a medical school never teaches you.

The Sacrifices Behind Success

Building something meaningful always has a cost. Kateryna speaks honestly about what she gave up — in time, in relationships, in comfort — to build the career and the mission she believes in.

Project Spokiy — Helping Ukrainian Warriors with PTSD

The story behind Spokiy: what the project does, why it matters, how a grant from the American Council made it possible, and what Kateryna hopes it becomes for the veterans who need it most.

Leadership, Innovation, and Life in Houston

What Kateryna has taken away from the American Council's Innovation and Leadership program, how relocation shaped her perspective, and what is next for her work and her mission.

About the Guest

Kateryna Chaikovska — Psychiatrist, Clinic Founder, and Mental Health Advocate

Kateryna Chaikovska is a self-made businesswoman and a psychiatrist with over 15 years of medical practice and 4 years of running her own private psychiatric clinic in Kyiv, Ukraine. She built her career at the intersection of medicine and entrepreneurship — a rare combination in a field that rarely rewards the business side of the equation.

She is a participant in the American Council's Innovation and Leadership program and received a grant to support her newest project, Spokiy — an initiative designed to provide mental health care and PTSD support for Ukrainian warriors. It is one of the most needed and least funded areas in the country right now, and Kateryna is among the people doing something real about it.

She is currently based in Houston, TX, continuing to build both her clinical work and her mission-driven projects with the same energy and precision that have defined her career. Katya is a highly energetic individual — not only an inspiration for Ukrainian women and doctors, but for anyone in the world who is building something that matters.

Who She Is

Ukrainian psychiatrist and entrepreneur with 15+ years of clinical practice. Founded and ran her own private psychiatric clinic in Kyiv for 4 years. Currently based in Houston, TX.

Project Spokiy

Founder of Spokiy — a mental health project providing PTSD support and care for Ukrainian warriors. Received a grant from the American Council's Innovation and Leadership program to develop it.

Her Superpower

The ability to operate at full intensity across two very different worlds — clinical medicine and business — without losing sight of the human impact behind either. High energy, clear mind, real results.

Her Core Belief

Mental health is not a luxury or a sign of weakness — it is the foundation of everything. Changing how Ukraine thinks about the mind is part of her mission, not just her career.

Episode Chapters

0:00 Introduction 0:41 About Kateryna — career overview, Sunrise Clinic, and Spokiy 5:52 First job as a doctor in a government clinic 12:00 Medical education, diplomas, and working as a doctor in the US 17:12 Becoming head of department at 29 19:12 Getting a private practice license — credit, paperwork, and starting from zero 20:30 What drives her — love for the job and a daughter to provide for 22:43 Self-made woman — addiction medicine and the diseases she treats 25:00 Mental health stigma — Ukraine vs the United States 35:38 Soviet legacy, psychiatric stigma, and overprescription in the US 38:01 Fentanyl, opioids, and the American drug crisis 42:21 The American Council's Business Leadership Program 49:16 Balancing family and career as a woman in business 51:12 Where the energy comes from 52:39 Emotional fitness, spiritual balance, and being whole 53:58 The courage of compassion — non-judgment and addiction 55:14 The importance of love 59:40 Final message — take care of your mental health

Key Quotes

I really love to be a doctor and I love to work with patients I laugh when I see the results of treatment so it is you know when mental health is very special area it is not for all so not everyone wouldn't enjoy this profession but I I love it I don't know why I just I love it from the University so and I still love it so it is my way

Kateryna Chaikovska

I have a daughter and it was the main issue like that pushing me upper and upper because you know main reason yeah yeah kids need all the best and I I wanted to give better future for my kids to give her private education better education to get your an opportunity to learn languages to attend I don't know some lessons some activities too give you a chance to see the world to travel from the young cage so it was the main I think

Kateryna Chaikovska

when we are talking with just Americans regular people from I don't know from the neighborhood and they discovered that I'm psychiatrist so they start to share at that moment they start to share like oh I wasn't every month I take him this and these pills so and it is absolutely normal

Kateryna Chaikovska

Full Transcript

BTW: This episode of the Be Yourself Podcast is produced by Beverly Media. Want a podcast that looks and sounds this good? Check out Beverly Production →

0:00

Introduction — Kateryna Chaikovska on Be Yourself Podcast

Serhiy hello everybody Welcome To Be Yourself podcast where I talk to people who I admire for being unapologetically themselves today my guest is yikaterina chekovska who's my friend she's a Ukrainian she is a psychiatrist a specialist in addiction she also has vast experience managing medical institutions so casuarina welcome thank you for joining

Kateryna hi hi everyone

0:41

About Kateryna Chaikovska — Psychiatrist, Clinic Founder, and Spokiy Project

Serhiy yes so I think my first question will be a pre-ordinary one can you please shortly tell us about yourself where are you at the moment and um what's up what's going on in your life in general right now

Kateryna okay so as it was mentioned I'm psychiatrist an addiction professional and I'm from Ukraine but now I'm currently located in Houston Texas so um while I'm saying here I'm exploring not only professional topics but exploring American culture Texas culture and different stuff it is very exciting very interesting for me and especially Texan people they are very friendly very open and so I enjoying staying here and about my professional way professional doctor's life so I'm first I'm a doctor medical doctor and I was working as a district psychiatrist in governmental clinic in Kiev for 10 years and then so I start to um to like move on the way to management medical management obtain the education of managing um of medical institutions and then so I was working at the head of the department in uh governmental clinic and then as chief medical officer

Serhiy you're you're working as an employee right first working for someone working just a regular doctor after the university like regular District second and what did you graduate which university did you create

Kateryna a national Medical University and so it was a long time ago more than 14 years ago and so then I switched to management but so I still was working as a doctor and Consulting patients I prefer working in ambulatory clinics so not to have you know night night shifts and so on because it is very difficult especially a woman to work in it yeah so and then I was working as chief medical officers in small addiction centers in Kiev and then in 2018 I decided to start running my own business and I found the clinic Sunrise Clinic it was located in Kiev and we had two branches in different neighborhoods and we were working for four years and when the war had started we just stopped our activity because of safety questions because we had a lot of women in our team and they had to move away from from the city so from this period so I just had a private consultations so I provide more than 200 free consultations for people in need like a volunteer doctor in 2022 and then so it was like not much for me and I decided to take part in um

Serhiy not enough it was not enough for you

Kateryna yeah I didn't want to stop and I decided to take part in project so with my colleagues from Nikolai City we created a Sparky project it is the project of mental health of territorial defense members and their families in face of Russian aggression and for this project we've got the Grant from public affairs section of U.S embassy in Ukraine of American programs so I was taking part in ubl pi program it was really awesome and I truly recommend people from business area who want to um to know more about working with Americans to know more about American type of running a business so to enroll in this program which is really cool and yeah so and after this we we are able to apply for small grants for alumni so US Embassy supports us and now we are continuing to work this project so it is going to the end it will be ended in um June but we were still working on final final Conference Final events and if you are interested to know more about volunteering to know about mental health of people who are enrolled in military action so welcome to our events in June

5:52

First Job as a Doctor in Ukraine — Challenges and Low Salaries in Government Clinics

Serhiy so okay well so such a such a beautiful way of just uh telling us everything uh but let's just break this down a little bit because I think that even though it seems like uh what you have done uh was like short stretch but it actually have has taken like more than 15 years what you have described and it seems like your entire life and career as it it seems like it was all meant to happen you know what I'm saying everything complemented the next phase of your life yeah and from this point forward can I ask you this question was it all smooth all the time like oh when you got your first job as a doctor or uh like were you always getting what you wanted or you sometimes had to go with something but maybe you didn't like maybe you had to persevere show some willpower as a woman as a Ukrainian woman it's really super super interested especially knowing I know you that you have a successful clinics uh private clinics in Kiev and I was always always curious what type of challenges you had to overcome uh in your in the early phase phases of your career maybe you can talk about that

Kateryna yeah so of course this way was not smooth at all so it was hard for the first time like when I was working in government clinic so I enjoy my work I I like the working in a Polyclinic framework like when you are observing patients for their lifetime yes so for a long time so you it is not like in the hospital when you see some person just for a 10 or 14 days and then you even cannot know what what is happened with him or with her so as for me they pull the clinical work is more interesting because you can be in touch with family of this patient you can improve the whole lot the quality of life of this family and this patient so it is interesting but of course if you know the Ukrainian reality of doctors work it is very so the doctors have very low salary and it was a problem because we had to um to combine the private consultations the extra work with regular daily activity at working place so of course it it was hard then so that's why I decided to go go um like higher to think about management to think about some head positions because it could help like to grow and especially in salary

Serhiy uh for for all the medical uh people who are involved in medical Sphere for all the doctors who are listening to us right now by the way uh for those of you guys who don't know about University is probably the only University in Ukraine uh that is recognizable all over the world so basically we have a lot of international students right well at least before hit the fan before the covet in in the war obviously we had a lot of international students here who came to get a degree because this degree is pretty much um valid for even working in American hospitals well at least that's something that I've heard you can correct me if if I'm wrong

Kateryna but not 100 percent because yeah so you can if you are an Ukrainian doctor you can evaluate your diploma in the USA so you can like send your documents and they especially if it is National University so I don't know about any other universities because I didn't study here so I I don't know but I think it is possible from other universities too maybe um so you can evaluate this diploma and have the document that you have a higher medical education and Specialty in some discipline but to work as a doctor so it is enough to work like the somewhere in medical field so the employer will have found out that you have the higher education and UI medical doctor but to work as a medical doctor you have to pass the exams and go to residency again if you're was a real working doctor or go to residency if you are just finished University and have only a diploma without the internship so in American residency it is our Ukrainian internship so you need to pass three exams it is Step exams they're not easy but it is real so if you will work on it you can do it and then you will go to residency and start it from the beginning but it is a job so it is not a volunteer work so they could pay for for your work it is not so much as regular doctors have but it is at least something and then after finishing the residency so you could work the medical doctor and it is very like High salary job in the United States

12:00

Medical Education, Ukrainian Diplomas, and Working as a Doctor in the United States

Serhiy but but but but education and the degree is not everything I mean I think we we spoke about this some some time ago and you told me that a lot of Headhunters want you because of the administrative and managerial experience that you possess working in Ukraine right but because you have no well what like experience working specifically in American Medical industry right it's not a matter of your diploma it's a matter of having this experience right specifically working in the hospital or somewhere in the in the country because the system is completely different

Kateryna so the Health Care system is completely different and you have to to learn it from the beginning because it is not it doesn't have any connection with Ukrainian system of of healthcare so of course this extra education extra exams they are really needed because you need to to learn how how it is here so but if you're a medical doctor so you you can still work uh as a manager in medical field in a field of diagnostic of Laboratories soft medical devices so you could have a good job so normal job here but not not to have a practice so to have a practice you have to have a license and this all process a process of exams and residency it is the way to get a license here

Serhiy so that's all boils down to acquiring this lines license this basically this pass golden ticket to to get this high paying job and we all know that doctors in the United States are paid pretty handsomely yeah that's okay but you but but let's back that a little bit so you said that even in Ukraine you had to go through blood and sweat and tears and do stuff that you not not didn't necessarily enjoy well you you did enjoy it from the moral perspective right because you were in service and that's something that you are you still you keep doing with with your projects even now you voluntarily as you mentioned help people you know mentally with the pdsd is that right the correct uh like post uh traumatic uh post-war syndromes right doesn't but you know so yeah yeah and but you but you wanted to obviously have more Financial Freedom and that's why you decided that you would proceed to uh you know if learning like the ropes and acquiring the knowledge of managing um medical institutions right and how did you do that so did someone help you

Kateryna uh no no the answer is no nobody was helping me but um so when I had some experience in management uh I decided that I know the whole like way of functioning of medical institutions so I know how to be yeah from the beginning so from the lowest stage like how to be an employer how to be a manager so and when I shift to management of medical how to be a nurse I guess right like all the states no no I I was never been and it was enough for me so not my type of job but it's really hard and um so but I know how how this institution have to work I know all the documentation and so then I decided that I can be something more than just a manager so I I could obtain the leadership position

17:12

Becoming Head of Department at 29 — Fastest Career Growth in Medicine

Serhiy were you working and sorry to interrupt you were you working in a governmental clinics as an as a manager or in a private

Kateryna so I was working manto then so I went to private clinics obtained the education and they have a free position of chief medical officers so they proposed me as I had an education in medical management so I I was working in two private small private clinics and then I decided to went back to governmental and they proposed me to be the head of department so it is not the head of all clinic but it was the head of department

Serhiy and how old were you there there at that point

Kateryna I'll tell you I was 29 something like yeah never offered the head of pretty much the whole department yeah position yeah yeah I was the youngest one

Serhiy dope yeah that's cool so and then so in half a year I decided that it is not not enough

Kateryna again so you think I like to to have a goals and to have a results of my job and so I can do more than just so some decisions they were very hard in terms of so I when I want to implement something so it is just went very slow because of governmental system you know so yeah and I had a lot of energy a lot of ideas and I want to implement them and I don't want to wait just to I I felt like I'm losing a Time though I decided to get a license for Private Practice in Ukraine and it was really hard so it needs some money it needs a lot of affords and it is the procedure so it is not maybe so expensive like to get a license in the USA but so I had to start the firstly The Firm like so all the you know lawyers work so I need to have some consultations and so on so I just just have a credit from the bank and start to do it and that's it so as easy as that but it wasn't easy at all no no it was anyway so I was waiting for every paper and it was yeah yeah

19:12

Getting a Private Medical Practice License in Ukraine — Bureaucratic Process and Bank Credit

Serhiy bureaucratic sort of hell yeah even though right now uh the system is much more simplified I guess right yeah with the with the DIA system for all the yeah foreigners who are listening we are actually pretty Advanced now and in terms of you know getting some documents opening a business or getting I'm not sure if it applies to um you know medical realm because it's got its own rules right but this is still are still a long way but to find some um small organization like a LLC and tonight in United States so it is easier now much easier more deeper you mean in the US no no and we're getting there in Ukraine too yeah for sure so in the US to open LLCs fast but the other processes are very slowly very bureaucratic and you have to wait for paper letters for a mantis to do some kind of stuff so in Ukraine it is much easier much faster it is true gotcha

20:30

What Drives a Self-Made Woman — Love for Medicine and a Daughter to Provide For

Serhiy here's the question on more of a personal side of things to get through all these challenges to you know hit hit different bumps in the road and still continue moving would you say that well here's a question what has been driving you what was what has been the driving force for you to not stop and maybe not settle with just a job because right A lot of people just don't decide that maybe this this type of sacrifice because I'm sure that you have to sacrifice a lot of things as you were going uh up up and and chasing your dream what was this force and what was this something that kept you uh going on your way to opening your own business and getting to this financial Independence

Kateryna so first one it is love to my job so I really love to be a doctor and I love to work with patients I laugh when I see the results of treatment so it is you know when mental health is very special area it is not for all so not everyone wouldn't enjoy this profession but I I love it I don't know why I just I love it from the University so and I still love it so it is my way but the uh in terms of financial questions so I have a daughter and it was the main issue like that pushing me upper and upper because you know main reason yeah yeah kids need all the best and I I wanted to give better future for my kids to give her private education better education to get your an opportunity to learn languages to attend I don't know some lessons some activities too give you a chance to see the world to travel from the young cage so it was the main I think

22:43

Self-Made Ukrainian Woman — Addiction Medicine and What a Psychiatrist Actually Treats

Serhiy you are a classic example of a self-made woman and I'm really really proud that I know you you know and you serve as an example to all the to all the latest Ukrainian ladies who might be looking for shortcuts right but you are a testimony that everything is possible right I think the advice that we both can give to ukrainians is to start learning the language yeah because the language opens up the wide variety of opportunities yeah in terms of studying in terms of personal growth yeah okay um how about this question you said that you really enjoy to see the fruits of your work right to see that the people are getting healthy well by the way guys I think we haven't stressed this enough Katya works with people having addiction problems that's her main expertise so when we talk about patience she talked we are talking about people having these mental problems and some addiction problems and maybe on this point because this is what you uh highlight in one of your stories recently can you just give us a general overview of the type of illnesses that you deal with and why these addiction problems are like are not viewed as as a disease but some kind of a personal problem right you wrote about that that sometimes you know when people hear that you work with the psychiatrist they kind of don't want to deal with you thinking that there's something wrong with you as as compared to us when you have a problem with your teeth you go to dentist which is absolutely normal so can you tell talk about the perception of the these diseases type of diseases and maybe in Ukraine and in the US

Kateryna yeah of course so I'm working with any kind of mental illness as I'm a psychiatrist so it is my like measure in Psychiatry and um and so the main patients have bought some mental health issues and I think so the comorbid diseases and they could be really hard to be like heart patient and um but we still have a stigma of mental health illness and it is really huge in Ukraine even here in the United States this stigma exists too but what is better here what is more like good for me to my opinion so the people are not ashamed of telling they're going to psychiatrists so when when we are talking with just Americans regular people from I don't know from the neighborhood and they discovered that I'm psychiatrist so they start to share at that moment they start to share like oh I wasn't every month I take him this and these pills so and it is absolutely normal and yeah so they ask do I have this pills in Ukraine they're really happy with me stuff they're opening up about all the bills over antidepressants yeah okay that's interesting yeah and sometimes it could be a little bit controversial for example so I met some lady that told me that ketamine saved your life because she was struggling with very severe medical treatment resistant depression for 20 years and then doctor prescribed pure ketamine therapy because it is like the line for treatment for resistant depression so it is a protocol in the United States and in Ukraine so we are just talking about this type of therapy so it was the first conference a couple of weeks ago on psychedelic assistant therapy and it was just a discussion like that is good is it like it Cattlemen is a psychedelic yeah yeah it is a small psychedelics so it is the um the drug for anesthesia for short time anesthesia and it could have the dissociative effects and it could provoke some hallucinations and yeah but in terms of medical resistant depression so it is really helpful it works and it is used in America here for I don't know maybe 10 or more years and it is successfully so now there's the one of one part of scientific Society is like for for this treatment and others against and it is just a discussion so we are not even close to um to use it as regular so you know but here it is like oh wow it saved my life and so this lady she was sharing her experience and she looks really great she had three kids she's living full life so you know and she takes takes it regularly right she just took a course of it and that's so your severe depression just stopped and now she's living well just with Psychotherapy sometimes and that's it

Serhiy so you know the approaches could be different and the system could be different but you know so I love this job I love this and you and you follow up on the results of your patients so in a way your patients become your friends is that a fair statement to say because they open up so much about themselves to you and if and can you also tell us how much of a caring duck like you see a lot of times I really can't understand how can doctors not feel um you know this whole disappointment you see like to be because if you if you are feeling the pain of the other person carrying all this pain inside of yourself could be really really difficult so how do you balance it out like uh because you have so many people who are struggling and you must must be real really strong person uh is is that the case

Kateryna so Maybe in some part so I don't know about my personal strong gravity so I don't know willpower yeah yeah so I don't know but uh so of course uh you are connected with the people's life with people struggling with their difficult stories and sometimes it could be hard especially if it is psychotic patients so they are just harder to work with and of course you you have to cope with this stress but the first thing so I'm used to it so I'm working for more than 14 years now you don't get over emotional yeah you just know how to yeah so you know for the first time when I was after University of course it was a little bit harder the second part so it is like in terms of be a friend so if I were a psychotherapist so it is strongly prohibited to be a friend with the patient with the client because it is ethic question so you have not to but in terms of General Psychiatry or addiction Psychiatry it is not so street so of of course we we have the boundaries we have the level of like enrollment in patients personal life but yeah we can talk we can be like more than just a doctor and patient after treatment so of course it is possible like with any other doctor so if you're going to I don't know a cardiologist and then you have some I don't know topics to talk so it is absolutely normal if you are talking about some not connected with Cardiology

Serhiy so they say and it also calms people down yeah you know um here is something that our uh listeners don't know is that I myself uh kind of work with you because I have I've had some sort of a problem with certain substances and what I've what I have have um uh discovered for myself is that when you understand that your problem that you have been hiding for such a long time is kind of universal not Universal but you're not the only one with this problem right you're you you become less Shameless about talking about it and when you can talk about it when you and when some other people can relate to your experience it becomes much more easier to get along with with this thing so uh first thing that you explained to me that you have other people and you gave and you also mentioned the example the examples of girls and boys that are absolutely normal folks but who just also happen to have this sort of illness so I think our mental and it's it really really I work with both I have a say call psychologist right and you are a psychiatrist it seems to me that like the only difference between you guys is that you have the authority to prescribe drugs like to prescribe certain medications because you are also in incredibly powerful uh as a as a speaker as someone who can calm you down yeah and that's what I what I what I noticed in you is that you are also a psychologist but who also didn't have the right to to yeah you know

Kateryna and not want to prescribe and the doctor is working not only with drugs but is working with the language with the speaking with uh calming down it's a therapy yeah so the I I'm not providing like Psychotherapy um but I have the education in uh one kind of psychotherapy but so I just don't like this type of work it is more like more slowly and it is for me it is hard as I am you know this conception of bomb box jumpers and box steppers when you are like result oriented it is from um famous quotes Mel Robbins she's very popular here in the United States and she was talking about the Box jumpers type of person and books steppers so box jumpers they are they love to uh see the fast results they are like you know um gloriented more goal oriented so yeah for me yeah psychiatrist is more goal oriented more faster than psychotherapies that needs to wait needs to be more yeah yeah so need to be more analytical so to analyzed to see to absorb and so it is not my type of like thinking so I'm faster I'm I like to see results

35:38

Mental Health Stigma in Ukraine vs the US — Soviet Legacy and Psychiatric Perception

Serhiy and could this also be the reason why Americans are more prone to talking about this and it's more more of an acceptable practice for them because you know like they want to see the result faster right and maybe still here in Ukraine we have some some kind of reluctance when it comes to taking certain medication do you think like right well just like we don't like operations my mom and my dad still think that if someone going to operate you right and shut you down for four hours to to fix something in your body it's super scary and you know and and you should be really really afraid while it's just a general Practice in the entire world yeah so do you think there is a mentality problem still

Kateryna yeah so maybe it is one point the second one is so this stigma is lower here so it is exists but not so hard as in Ukraine and because it is like Soviet time the Heritage you know when Psychiatry was the something like a prison so Psychiatric clinic would be used for uh punishment so that's yeah stigma is uh higher in Ukraine uh but yeah we got it is the main hospital in Ukraine they yep it's the main hospital but in my childhood we were joking uh that there was a joke that hey you want to go to front sister tree like you are a weirdo you like you're a psycho you know yeah yeah so so it is it is really they have a truly amazing doctors and department they are very professional in Diagnostics so it is one of the best I think in uh post-soviet countries so one of the best clinics and um but this conception have a negative like negative side in the U.S so they are over prescribed in drugs

38:01

Fentanyl, Opioid Epidemic, and Addiction Crisis in America

Kateryna so and it is a huge problem of over prescribing opioids here so if you have a pain or for example if you are going to um to have a visit to dentists especially for small operations so they prescribe your PE words like this so it is very easy and then people could have could became addicted to opioids and then they could shift to street opioids so they have an upwards epidemic now right now and the very high rate of Overdose and so on

Serhiy so do you do you think that since they treat people with opioids this is the reason why the drug the opioids drugs also Prevail on the streets

Kateryna yeah yeah because when person became addicted did they need more and more like drugs so in some time in some periods of time doctor could say no so I will not prescribe because I think you have a problem in this area and this person is struggling from pain from chronic pain for example and he's going to Illegal pharmacy stores and buy drugs and these legal drugs is produced in illegal Laboratories so they're looking just a like regular pills

Serhiy give an example of a popular opioids that people buy on the streets in America the names

Kateryna the most the most scared is fentanyl so it is we don't use it in Ukraine so in Ukraine it is just a drug for providing the general anesthesia so we don't pre-type of this drug it's only available for doctors who are about to make a dual operation right yeah so just regular peel it is very strong it is highly addictive and the risk of Overdose is increased like hundreds of times comparing for heroin for example so it is very yeah so it's just for relaxation it's just relaxing your your your your your brains it's better opioid so it it could cause Euphoria and the reason of death is the uh like blockage of breathing Center in your brain so they just stop to breathe and it is the one problem so just fentanyl addiction the second one that street or sellers of drugs they add this fentanyl to other drugs like uh cocaine like cannabinoids and so on to increase the effects so they have a Georgia drugs and the even I don't know small kids from middle school could smoke some cannabis and then so they could die from overdose of fentanyl so it is really hard and very difficult problem here and they tend to know it's produced in China as far as I uh remember in most cases um maybe the magical one so I don't know the producers maybe it could be produced in China but they have the Mexican a Mexican border here and they have a lot of illegal Laboratories so in Mexico

Serhiy oh that's some dark side that you are revealing half of the American Life yeah and I think the number of the overdose death is just over the roof right yeah there's like this is just an epidemic and yeah I think the leading country for um this type of casualties right yeah

42:21

American Council's Business Leadership Program — What Ukrainian Entrepreneurs Learned in the US

Serhiy yeah okay so let's let's shift to more of a positive topic so uh talking about the spoky so first of all um you you were kind enough to introduce me to this program uh that the American console is offering the uh Ukrainian Innovation and Leadership program or business leadership yeah yeah and you participated in it correct me if I'm wrong in 2020 yeah 2021 so from 20 to 21 yeah so what word send you and you alongside the other other entrepreneurs from Ukraine yeah you went and you visited can you tell us about uh this experience and also what have you learned what are the main lessons that you learned from that particular experience uh in the US

Kateryna yeah so firstly we had the online education so it was covet time and we have like a half a year of online education the lectures from amazing lectures from National centers so sources and though it was like the radical part and it was really amazing it is simply so I like the American way of studying it is not over complicated it is just like just on topic and simply and easy to remember and so it is awesome and yeah then we have the second part it was like more precisely um for your profession so as you mentioned we have a different entrepreneurs from different kinds of professions and areas and they found the host in here in America to like Quran to know more about our piece of business area yeah so as for me my host was Professor from Texas and he was running an addiction Clinic you know so it's not like me but much cooler and it was really interesting to to have a discussion with him to know more about the um the running of medical business in in the United States the functioning of the system he sent me all laws and regulations of this treatment programs in the United States so we were discussing it it was really cool and after that they provide some councils provide us the study tour to the United States so we visited Washington uh then Austin Texas San Diego and Los Angeles and we were exploring different types of businesses different types of non-governmental foundations not a profit organization the business accelerators so different types of activities here in the USA it was like 10 days and they are full of Knowledge full of information and not the least part was the networking with Ukrainian guys because they are really amazing and so it was great experience and I didn't expect like the uh discussing and talking about business with people from different areas could be so helpful because on that times I attend I don't know tons of conferences yeah you know in medicine and in some so they start to be a little bit boring for me because I know everyone I know everything so not everything of course I I always have something to learn but you know it kind of like typical conferences and I wanted to um know more about business about different experiences and it was really helpful to know about their challenges and problems and you know what what they're thinking about business systems and running a business so it was really great so I truly recommend to enroll in this program to to try to have a chance because it is really helpful to change the mindset you know and America is very different from Ukraine so we still have a lot of same um same points same problems but it is different and it is very useful to learn to um you know to discover something not usual for you especially in terms of business you know so you are growing very fast in this program

Serhiy well I always felt that the CR the most Creative Solutions come as a result of intersection between different areas of business and as long as like when you stay just in your own vacuum and your own area you just might not realize that the person who's who's like presenting seemingly a whole entirely different business right actually has got so much in common with you and I I actually on board with you 100 that um Americans like they're open-minded in a way that are as open-minded as ukrainians right and I think that this type of mentality and openness is the reason right is some kind of a foundation for um out for us having this kind of a great relationships because cultures in a way that are similar right and yeah moreover this uh these connections and this experience uh help you to find Investments for this new project that you are running right now right conduct yeah so it is not kind of yeah because it is not the investment like it is Investments but we're a grant right some kind of yeah yeah

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Balancing Personal Life and Professional Career as a Woman in Business

Serhiy okay that's amazing I mean um have you had have you had some sort of a Temptation uh in your life to to maybe just drop doing business all together maybe focus on your family because you know what I what I've heard maybe this is a misplaced question a misplaced question but what I heard from one woman she's a businesswoman she said that if you are a woman in business you have to get used to the thought that you will disappoint someone either you will disappoint your family because you're late staying at work right or you will disappoint your co-workers your employees because you're taking care of the family so maybe you can tell me and other women in business how are you dealing and how are you balancing out your personal life and your uh professional life

Kateryna it it is the most difficult part about to be a woman that's easy especially if you are active and you want to be more than a housewife you know so it is okay to to be at home to stay with kids so I I truly appreciate the woman who who did this choice and but for me personally so it is not enough I want to like so I have a lot of energy and I'm over energetic if if I'm sitting at home and I think it is it is like more than enough for my family so it is better for me to work

Serhiy and it's okay for your husband and your kids always better that some sometimes you don't spend at home right because I'm too active man sometimes where do you get the energy where do you find what is the source of energy for you