I’m an admirer of business origin stories. There’s something about the humble beginnings of a business that gets to me. For example, Karissa Bodnar of Thrive Causemetics (my go-to shop for mascara) started her business after losing her friend Kristy to cancer at 24 years old.

Karissa wanted to give women the opportunity to thrive while they’re still alive. So for every product that you purchase from Thrive Causemetics, the company donates a percentage of profit to foundations that help women thrive: in school, in entrepreneurship, and in life. Karissa started her business by making makeup formulas on her kitchen counter and fulfilling orders in her one-bedroom apartment. After 3 years, she finally saw growth that eventually led to what Thrive Causemetics is today. 

This story and others like it show me the power of grit, persistence, determination, creativity, and vision. So, I want to share with you the chapter of life that I’m in now. I recently started my business, The CME Spot. It’s still in its humble beginnings, but I believe it can be so much more. And the CME Spot all started with cassava cakes and Hawaii.

Cassava Cakes: My First Taste of Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy

During the pandemic, many people started baking and cooking more at home. Remember when flour seemed non-existent on your grocery aisle shelves? 

Well, it was during these times that I decided to bake a cassava cake (banh khoai mi) because it reminded me of my childhood. Now, I love cassava cake and was trying to purchase it in stores. However, I was frustrated that I couldn’t find any that were fresh or tasted like the ones in Vietnam. So I found a recipe online and simplified it. I was also blessed to have the support of a local family-owned and operated grocery store Vien Dong IV  for ingredients. 

After baking the cassava cakes, I had a friend try it. And she loved it. She convinced me to start selling them. I was hesitant at first but decided to give it a try. It turns out, others loved the cassava cake too. Cassava cake baking became a new hobby that I enjoyed doing, and it made me so happy to hear that others were enjoying the cake as well! 

As far as the proceeds from the cassava cake, I decided to send the money to my cousin, a principal at the elementary school that I attended as a child in Vietnam. He identified families that needed food and money in his community. At the time, Vietnam was in a drought. Unfortunately, the water from the Mekong Delta located close by is saltwater, so you can’t use it to water your plants or cook your food. This drought was impacting everyone’s lives, including farmers. To stay hydrated, families had to rely on rainwater they’d collected during the previous rain season. 

Crops were dying. 

People didn’t have enough fresh water.

The only way they could get drinkable water was to visit their local community center.

This situation was devastating and heartbreaking for me. Being thousands of miles away, I wanted to find a way to help. Thankfully, my cousin had volunteered to do so. He used money to help feed these families and give them water. And thankfully, because of the kindness of friends and family who purchased cassava cakes, we were able to feed 40 families in Vietnam! It felt so good knowing that the cassava cakes were helping people in Vietnam, the country that I was born in, to sustain themselves.

After this happened, I felt driven. I wanted to scale my cassava cake business so we could continue to help others. Unfortunately, there was a cassava shortage (the brand I was using wasn’t available). To top things off, my oven had other plans and wouldn’t cooperate with me– however, these setbacks turned out to be blessings in disguise. This was my first taste of entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and I was hooked. I wanted to start a business that would give back to people, and wouldn’t make me the bottleneck in production.

And the next revelation in my entrepreneurship journey came from a trip to Hawaii. 

How Planning a Trip to Hawaii Sparked an Idea For The CME Spot

My husband and I were planning to go to Hawaii since I would get my continuing medical education (CME) credits at a conference there. I also wanted to take my family along for a vacation. Kind of like knocking out two birds with one stone: I’d go to a CME to learn how to treat my patients and enjoy time with my family after the conference. My husband, kids, and parents always came with me. It’s just what we did. 

Now there was a problem with planning this trip. As a physician assistant, I’m only available during certain times of the year. So I knew that I needed to search for a CME for a time that I could get off work. It shouldn’t be that hard, just a quick Google search, right? Well, let me tell you, it was much harder than I thought. My husband and I searched Google for what felt like HOURS. And at the end of it all, I was left saying, “There’s got to be an easier way, right?!” Nope. I was wrong.

After doing extensive research, I found that most people found CMEs through newsletters or professional organizations. There wasn’t a central database that included CMEs to filter out the time, date, location, and read reviews from people’s experiences. 

I knew that there had to be other health providers like me feeling frustrated with the CME search system. So, this is how the CME Spot was born. I created a search database that will help medical providers to search for their CME credits with ease. 

It will also help healthcare providers by:

• Saving time: We’re busy. We’re taking care of patients and have other responsibilities outside of the hospital and clinic, like taking care of our families. Every moment of our time is precious.

• Providing convenience: Just like saving time is crucial for us health providers, convenience is vital too. If something takes up too much time and energy, it’s better not to deal with it at all. CME Spot changes all of that so it’s no longer a daunting task. 

• Helping build lasting relationships: If this COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s that networking with other practitioners is vital. I work with patients who are in remission from COVID-19. Since this was a novel virus, I found it helpful to speak with other healthcare professionals about their experiences with COVID-19 patients.

• Providing a solution to health provider burnout: While burnout has been happening for decades in the healthcare field, the pandemic made things worse. We’re working longer hours, and our hospitals are short-staffed. It’s essential to use the CME time that our work gives us to learn to treat our patients better and take time for a vacation to recharge.

The CME Spot’s Greater Purpose

Just like Thrive Causemetics, the CME Spot is here to change lives. While we are still in the process of determining which foundations we want to partner with, we know that we want to partner with organizations that support health and education and children.

Their mission resonates with me because I was a grade school student in Vietnam, and I had to learn how to swim. Learning to swim was crucial because the Mekong Delta was surrounded by creeks, rivers, and lakes that flood during the monsoon season. I had to walk over make-shift bridges from fallen coconut trees when it would flood. Sometimes the bridges would float away so we would have to swim to get across on our way to school. 

I created The CME Spot to help healthcare providers to learn by traveling and also leave this world a better place. I’m so excited to share my journey with you of creating the CME Spot search database for healthcare professionals!

Warmest regards,

Lillian Chi Pecache PA-C

Founder of The CME Spot