Finding Balance with Dr. Markus Watson

11/07/19 • 48 min

What does work-life balance mean to you? Could you achieve it if your career was threatened by something completely beyond your control? Our interview with Dr. Markus Watson explores how he has found balance throughout his life, even during especially challenging times like going to dental school while working full-time, and when receiving a life-changing diagnosis.
Markus candidly shares how he uncovered his interest in dentistry, what he discovered about himself through various jobs, and how he took on a health challenge that threatened everything he was and everything he built. His interview is loaded with wisdom and advice that’s helpful to anyone with ups and downs in their careers — so basically all of us!
Meet the Guest
Dr. Markus Watson, DDS, is a 1995 graduate of New York University’s School of Dentistry in Manhattan. He served a residency in general practice at the Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. In 1997, he began his practice in general dentistry on Manhattan’s upper east side. He worked part time in Brooklyn, NY for a nonprofit at the Brooklyn Plaza Family Health Center. In 2003, Dr. Watson relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and started as an associate with Union Street Dental Care. In 2004, he founded South Beach Dental, a group practice in San Francisco’s mission bay area.

He has a great passion for giving to organizations which drive changes in our need to create a better, healthier and more livable environment. In 2014, Dr. Watson created an eco-friendly toothpaste called GoGreen, with a percentage of profits going to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Links
To learn more about Markus’ dental practice or to try his toothpaste, check out these links:

Links
To learn more about Markus’ dental practice or to try his toothpaste, check out these links:

Previous Episode

Just Get In There with Jonathan Moscone

Some people have a passion from an early age that they want to turn into a career. In this episode, we hear from someone who successfully did this.
Jon Moscone discovered as a teenager that the theater was a place where he belonged and chose to pursue this as his career. He consciously made decisions to "just get in there" and prove what he could do, decisions that ultimately allowed him to be a theater director and producer, as well as an engaged civic leader. In our conversation, Jon shares the influences that shaped his life and how he made bold moves to build his storied career.
Meet the Guest
Jonathan Moscone currently serves as Chief Producer of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. He currently chairs the Advisory Committee of San Francisco’s Grants for the Arts and serves on the boards of Homeless Prenatal Program and Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard Project, and previously of Theater Communications Group.
Prior to YBCA, Jonathan served for 15 years as Artistic Director of the California Shakespeare Theater and is the first recipient of the Zelda Fichandler Award, given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation for “transforming the American theater through his unique and creative work.” Born and raised in San Francisco, Moscone received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama and BA from Williams College.
Links
Here's the book Jon mentioned that had a powerful influence on him:

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson

To find out more about Jon or the organizations and projects he's involved with, check out these links:

YBCA
Medium article: Civic Engagement at YBCA
HowlRound Essays featuring Jon
Preface written by Jon for Nina Simon's book, The Art of Relevance
Wikipedia entry featuring Jon

Next Episode

Speaking Truth to Power with Hydra Mendoza

Suppose you step away from work for awhile for personal reasons. Does this have to set you back? The answer is NO! It actually can propel you forward.
On this episode, Hydra Mendoza shares how she used time away from work to develop skills, cultivate a new passion, and find her voice. All of these, especially her ability to speak truth to power, led to big opportunities she never dreamed of for herself.
Meet the Guest
Hydra Mendoza has served Mayors Gavin Newsom and Edwin Lee in San Francisco, and Mayor Bill de Blasio in New York City as their Senior Education Advisor, Deputy Chief of Staff for Education and Equity, and Deputy Chancellor for the Division of Community Empowerment, Partnerships and Communications, respectively.

Hydra was the first and only Filipina ever elected to office in San Francisco. In 2006, 2010, and 2014, Hydra successfully won a citywide bid and re-elections for a seat on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education where she was elected by her peers, twice, as the President and Vice President.

Hydra has been honored by many local, state, and national organizations including Pin@y Educational Partnerships, College Track, Mission Economic Development Agency, San Francisco State University, California Association for Bilingual Education, Filipina Woman’s Network – 100 Most Influential Filipinas, and Donor Network West.

Hydra is the current Chief of Strategic Relationships for the Chairman and co-CEO of Salesforce.

Hydra has two adult children and lives with her husband in the Bayview community in San Francisco.

Career Curves - Finding Balance with Dr. Markus Watson

Transcript

Beth Davies, host: Suppose you decide to pursue a profession like lawyer, accountant, doctor or dentist. Does this mean you'll have a predictable smooth career from the day you start practicing until the day you retire? Not necessarily. You still may experience curves, some planned and others unplanned, like our guest today.
Welcome to Career Curves where we talk to people who have interesting careers and explore how they got where they are. I'm your host Beth Davies.
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