Dr. Shawn of Care Dynamics

09/30/2025

Imagine being told you cannot use the title you earned because physicians are jealous and patients are assumed to be too slow to understand that medical doctors are not the only ones with doctorates.

That is exactly what just happened. A federal court ruled that nurses with doctorates in California cannot introduce themselves to patients as “Doctor.” The court upheld a state law that regulates which titles health professionals can use in advertisements.

Let’s sit with the absurdity for a second.

The title “Doctor” was never invented for medical doctors. It comes from the Latin docere meaning “to teach.” It was originally reserved for scholars and academics. Physicians were called physicians. It was only later, in a bid for prestige, that medicine began claiming the title.

Fast forward to now: pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, dentists, psychologists, and countless others pursue doctoral degrees. They put in the years, the credits, the boards, the clinical hours. They are Doctors. Yet courts, under pressure from physician lobby groups, tell them they cannot say it. Why? Because of a fear that the public might be confused.

But let’s be honest. Patients are not confused. They are capable of understanding that “Doctor” is a degree, not a synonym for “physician.” They already navigate this outside of healthcare. They know a PhD in literature is a Doctor. They know a DDS is a Doctor. They know a DPT is a Doctor.

The so-called confusion is not the problem. Education is. And education is deliberately being withheld.

This ruling is not about patient safety. It is about professional control. It is about maintaining a hierarchy where one group monopolizes authority and prestige. It is about politics, not clarity.

When courts strip doctorate-holding professionals of their right to their own title, it undermines years of education, erases legitimacy, and reinforces a false monopoly.

The truth is simple: a doctoral degree is a doctoral degree. If you earned it, you are a Doctor. Full stop.

What this ruling really communicates is that the system would rather suppress the truth than risk exposing the fragility of physician exclusivity.

And that is the real confusion.

09/25/2025

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

09/21/2025

💥 $100,000 H1B fee.

I have been down this rabbit hole all day, looking at it from two perspectives: as a staffing founder and as someone who owns an immigration services business.

Here is what I know.

The fee applies to new H1B petitions. The White House clarified it is a one time cost, not annual, and it does not apply to existing holders or renewals. That distinction matters, but the shock to the system is still significant.

For Big Tech, this is painful but manageable. For startups and SMBs, it changes everything. Startups do not just compete on ideas. They compete on talent. Raising the entry ticket changes the math on every technical hire that requires sponsorship.

The ripple effects:
⚠️ Lean teams skipping exceptional candidates who need sponsorship
⚠️ Slower roadmaps and delayed launches
⚠️ Rising project costs cutting into already tight burn windows
⚠️ Brain drain as skilled workers look to Canada, the UK, and other hubs

Fraud in the system is also real. Resume mills, sham job ads, and proxy interviews have been documented. Enforcement has caught some of it, but not enough. We cannot ignore that.

At the same time, the H1B program has powered real innovation. Entire industries have been built on the contributions of highly skilled immigrants. Both realities exist.

So what happens next?

Some founders will double down on local hiring. Others will explore O1, EB2 NIW, or TN visas where eligible. Many will shift toward distributed teams, nearshore or offshore partnerships, and remote first ex*****on. Not as a nice to have, but as a survival strategy.

I also work with startups whose founders are prepared to stand in the paint and sponsor exceptional talent despite the fee. We are exploring the plausibility of helping individuals start their own companies and structure visa sponsorship through those entities. It is not simple, but it is worth exploring.

At Care Dynamics we support refugee and immigrant services. At Vast HQ Inc., our legal tech division, we provide select immigration consulting. This is the intersection I live in, and I choose to search for opportunity even in policy shifts like this.

The rules of the game are changing. Founders who adapt the fastest and candidates who position themselves strategically will continue to win.

If you are a founder, operator, or candidate navigating this moment, my DMs are open.

Care Dynamics: https://www.caredynamicsfl.com/our-solutions/refugee-immigrant-services

Vast HQ Inc: vasthq.com

09/20/2025

I don’t post every placement. That would be like posting every prescription I filled back when I was a pharmacist. Too routine. But some hit different. Just like in pharmacy, there are certain customers and moments you never forget.

This was one of those.

A candidate was almost lost over 4,000 funky dollars. That’s it. The client came in with an offer, but it landed short. The candidate felt lowballed. The client felt they had made a fair proposal. Both sides were ready to walk.

Of course we want to collect our fee, but we also want the candidate to be happy. I have told candidates before when a role wasn’t right for them or when an offer wasn’t worth taking. This was one of those moments. I shared the frustration of a candidate who was being undervalued when I knew the client had the budget to do better.

That’s where recruiting gets real. It’s not just about sending resumes. It’s about advocacy. It’s about knowing when to step in and translate the cost of hesitation into the value of action. I reminded the client that losing this hire would cost them far more than 4K in lost productivity, lost time, and lost momentum. I worked with the candidate to see the bigger picture of what this role could mean for his growth and impact once the offer aligned with his worth.

Both sides moved. The deal closed. The placement was saved.

Recruitment is not a transaction. It is transformation. And sometimes the difference between a closed deal and a missed opportunity is just 4,000 funky dollars.

09/19/2025

This week I did something I haven’t done in years. I clocked in. Not for a pharmacy, not for someone else’s company, but for mine. From September 12–19 I logged 63.16 hours at $65 an hour, which came out to $4,105.40. And the week isn’t finished. I commit to at least four hours per day on weekends, so those numbers will rise even higher.

I chose $65 because it’s a standard rate. Nothing padded, nothing inflated. It’s easy to get caught up in the big numbers in staffing. A single placement can bring in $7,000 to $25,000 or more. Looking at payroll, the totals can get wild. But when you strip it down to the basics, the question is simple. Can I produce. Most importantly, can I do the work I ask others to do.

The answer is yes. In fact I can do more. That’s why my asks are never too much.

There’s a myth that entrepreneurs are always free. The truth is most business owners work more than 50 hours a week, and studies show when they actually track their time, they realize they overestimate their productive hours by almost 30 percent. Owners who measure their time generate more revenue because they’re forced to confront where their hours are really going. Freedom without accountability is just wasted time.

Clocking in wasn’t about nostalgia. It was about discipline. I wanted the hours in black and white, the dollar value attached, and the proof that I’m carrying my weight. As a pharmacist I once gave 40 hours a week to building someone else’s business. If I can’t give more than that to myself, I have no business leading others.

The numbers don’t lie. I put in the time, I produced, and I backed up what I expect from my team. Leadership isn’t only about setting the standard. It’s about proving you can meet it yourself.

09/19/2025

I pulled the numbers on one of my recent campaigns and 78% of people opened it. On the surface that feels amazing. It is way above industry averages.

But then I realized almost no one replied. That’s the part that really matters.

It made me sit with the question: what do I do when attention is there but action isn’t?

A few things I’m going to test:

Make the ask smaller. Instead of “let’s schedule a call,” I’ll try “want me to send you the brief?”

Get more specific with who I’m talking to. A CTO and a Staff Engineer care about different things.

Be direct. Something like, “I see you opened this, is the timing off or not the right fit?”

The open rate tells me I know how to get attention. Now I need to figure out how to turn that attention into a conversation.

If you were me, how would you bridge that gap?

09/19/2025

Most people talk about “working hard.” I track it.

Every action I take in our ATS/CRM — from outreach emails to interviews to rejections — gets collected, exported, and added to an external tracker.

Because success in recruitment is about both qualifying and quantifying the work.

✅ Qualifying: Not every activity is equal. An “Outreach Email Sent” is not the same as “Moved to Longlist” or “Applied.” I separate activity by type so I know exactly where my effort goes.

✅ Quantifying: I set a benchmark of 80 activities per day. That compounds into 400+ weekly touchpoints, and that momentum is what builds pipelines, fills roles, and drives revenue.

This week the data looked like this:

• 300+ total touches

• 64% and 73% open rates across two sequences

• 195 messages sent, 130 opened

• 4 replies, 1 interested, 1 scheduled

On paper, deliverability is strong, opens are high, and activity exceeds benchmark. In practice, not a single viable send out came from it.

Today is Friday. I will exceed my activity goal. But the real needle mover is send outs. This week produced none.

That is the part of recruiting most people do not show you. The discipline, the tracking, the consistency, and still a zero on the scoreboard.

This is where focus, discipline, and resilience matter. A quitter would say it is not working and stop. I keep going.

Because showing up every day, even when knocked down, produces compound results. That is how you turn recruiting from chaos into a business that changes your life.

New substack article out:

— A page from my Founder’s Journal

09/14/2025

I wrote a manifestation letter yesterday at 12:22pm:

“Where the intention, the work, and the quantum field align, there is no choice but for it to be so.”

That’s the secret. Not more hustle. Not louder flexes.

Alignment.

And funny enough, the more aligned you become, the louder the noise gets:
→ “But I thought she was a pharmacist.”
→ “Her business is just a side hustle.”
→ “She doesn’t deserve to win.”

The noise isn’t about me. It’s about them.

Alignment makes the noise irrelevant.

Full breakdown of how I silence it here:

“Where the intention, the work, and the quantum field align, there is no choice but for it to be so.”

09/12/2025

Everybody is risking jobs, contracts, and even lives over opinions. The outrage economy is loud, but it will not cut you a check.

I wrote about why the smartest move is divestment and why the focus should be on the business that actually pays you.

Read here: Mind the Business That Pays You

Every week the headlines get bloodier.

09/12/2025

I love when hiring managers and founders are receptive to the market insights recruiters provide.

We kicked off a search and the early candidate conversations told us the truth: the bands were too low to compete.

Instead of forcing fit or waiting for a unicorn, the founding team listened.

They adjusted the range from $160k–$210k to $175k–$300k to reflect scope, seniority, and current market pull.

The result: stronger pipelines, faster yes/no decisions, and a signal to top talent that this team is serious.

A few takeaways:

• Your first 10 candidate calls are a free comp survey. Use them.

• Speed beats stubbornness. Small course corrections save searches.

• Pay philosophy is a strategy, not a spreadsheet. Clarity wins offers.

If you’re a high-impact engineer who values ownership and trajectory, DM me.

If this isn’t you but you know someone exceptional, I will pay $5,000 for referrals that lead to a hire. We are looking to hire 5 SWEs for this role so that’s a chance to earn $25,000 with no strings attached.

To my recruiter family, I’m not a crab. I’ll gladly entertain splits from colleagues with amazing candidates already in pipeline.

Here is the role:

Backend/Infrastructure Engineer – Founding Team HireAbout the JobWe’re looking for a...

09/03/2025

Why I Use The Work Number as an Employer

In business, trust is everything.

But the reality is, not every applicant—or even every former worker—represents themselves honestly.

That’s where The Work Number becomes an essential tool for me as an employer.

Here’s why I use it:

🔹 To stop false claims of active employment
Why I Use The Work Number as an Employer

Employment misrepresentation is more common than most people think. Some people are fired but continue to list “end date: present.”

Others were independent contractors but pass themselves off as W-2 employees.

And then there are those who inflate their titles or salaries to look more competitive.

As an employer, I can’t afford to make hiring decisions based on fiction. That’s why I use The Work Number.

✅ It verifies the truth.
It tells me if someone is actually an active employee or if their time with a company ended months ago.

✅ It protects against résumé padding.
Titles, wages, start and end dates — all verified, not just claimed.

✅ It clarifies employment type.
Was someone truly a full-time employee or just a contractor? The Work Number makes it clear.

💡 Why it matters:
Hiring is one of the most expensive and high-risk decisions a business makes. A single misrepresentation can cost thousands in payroll, liability, and lost productivity. The Work Number gives employers a regulated, fact-based way to cut through the noise and hire with confidence.

For me, it’s simple: facts protect businesses. That’s why I use The Work Number, and why I encourage other employers to do the same.

Beware of employees saying they work for a company when they in fact have been fired or only work as a contractor.