Dr Jillian Rigert has doctorate degrees in dentistry and medicine with a specialty in oral medicine.  She is an Air Force veteran, a postdoctoral research fellow in Radiation Oncology, and Certified Life and Professional Leadership Coach. Through coaching and her YouTube channel (‘A Life True to You’), Jillian’s mission is to help people discover or rediscover what it means to create a life true to themselves - free from societal pressures that lead them astray. Outside of work, she loves to spend time with her dog, Reese, and is an avid runner.

Jillian started her career by fast tracking into a dental school and dedicating herself to becoming an Air Force oral and maxillofacial surgeon. A “leader” to her at that time meant chasing high achievements, doing the hardest job we could possibly do, pushing ourselves to the limits mentally and physically, being confident and taking on formal leadership titles including her roles as an Air Force officer and surgeon trainee.

In 2014-2017, her perspective started to unravel. Sleep deprivation, self-doubt, under-nourishment and exhaustion from constantly pushing herself to the limits led to serious illness which nearly cost her life. Her experience helped her to see how societal values often lead us astray from what truly matters in life and altered her perspective on what it means to be a leader.

Now, being a leader to Jillian includes living with integrity, in alignment with your core values, advocating for what we believe is right, and creating a psychologically safe environment for others to do the same. A leader lives it to give it - in other words “walks the talk.” Jillian believes that learning how to be leaders of our own lives is a great and important first step in learning how to be a leader for others in a way that’s authentic and sustainable.

In this episode, Jillian and I chatted about:

• Her leadership roles 
• Her leadership style 
• Her leadership journey 
• The leaders that helped her rise 
• The challenges she faced on her journey 
• How she navigated those challenges 
• How she thinks you can become a strong and kind leader 
• Her ‘take home’ leadership messages for the listeners, and 
• What she is currently excited to be working on.

Jillian can be found and/or contacted via the following online platform addresses:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JillianRigertDMDMD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-rigert/

Website: https://jillianrigertcoaching.com/

Please reach out to Dr Harrison for individual coaching and/or organisational training via dr.adam@coachingmentoringdoctors.com.

His web address and social media profile links / handles include:

www.dradamharrison.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dradamharrison/

www.youtube.com/c/DrAdamPhysicianCoach

https://www.facebook.com/coachingmentoringdoctors/

https://www.instagram.com/dradamharrison/

He has co-written a new online course entitled ‘How to be Assertive, Maintain Boundaries, and Say “No!”‘ which can be accessed instantly here for only £55/$70:

https://tenminutemedicine.podia.com/burnout-to-brilliance-assertiveness-and-saying-no