Dare to Dream
MY STORY
I’M DR. ERICA WESTE – MOTHER, DOCTOR, ENTREPRENEUR
I believe women shouldn’t have to choose between their goals and their families. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. After building a successful life and career balancing motherhood, medicine and business, I use my story to empower women to see beyond the impossible and to be a reminder that you can have the life you dream of without compromise.
Finding My Calling
I always knew I was going to be a doctor. In fact, it’s in my DNA. My great-grandmother was a midwife when few valued her skills. Directly following in her footsteps, my grandmother became one of the first Black students enrolled at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and later practiced obstetrics. Their courage and commitment paved the way, guiding me to where I am today.
From a young age, I was drawn to science. I devoted hours of play time to mock stethoscopes, microscopes, and toy medical kits, engrossing myself in anything that allowed me to learn more about human anatomy. Medicine was much more than an interest. It was my calling.
Medical school brought with it purpose and excitement, while residency expanded my perception of duty, impact and responsibility. As a third year resident, I traveled to Peru where I provided medical services and mentorship to medical students. There, I witnessed medicine in its most pure form: a combination of skill, empathy and service.
“Skill without empathy is incomplete and privilege without action is wasted.”
After graduating, I opened my own practice and settled into a routine of being a family doctor. It was a role that combined everything I’d worked for: the autonomy, the ability to care for my patients on my own terms, and the fulfillment of seeing families thrive under my care.
With a broadened perspective for both my career and self, my time there also opened up an opportunity for me in VIP medicine, where I cared for an Oscar winning actress on behalf of a major Hollywood studio.
Yet, as much as I loved the work I was doing, deep down, I knew it wasn’t a path I’d stay on forever; there was an expiration date. I wasn't sure in which direction I'd pivot, but I was certain that change was inevitable.
Rewriting the Script
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, I made the choice to take a leap into the unknown. I became a medical consultant onsite for Google, where my skills and passions allowed me to oversee digital health content vetted by 70+ global physicians for Google Search, while diligently working to help combat misinformation online.
One year later, I took yet another leap by closing my practice for good to lean fully into my consultancy position. With the completion of that role, I landed at the Cleveland Clinic Canada in Toronto as a physician working to help high-profile leaders and C-suite executives optimize their health.
Every deviation from the conventional path was guiding me closer to the life and career of my dreams.
From Expecting to Creating
In 2023, my life shifted onto an entirely new trajectory. I was pregnant. Suddenly, everything changed. Life expanded in every direction. As a doctor, I’ve seen countless pregnancies, delivered care, answered questions and guided other expectant mothers through. But none of that prepared me for what it might feel like to experience it firsthand. Everything I knew prior became personal. I had gone from taking care of patients to becoming one.
Almost immediately, I began to think about the world I was bringing my daughter into, and how I should best prepare it to fulfill her needs. I started at the basics: finding products for her Black and Asian skin and hair. But my search took me nowhere, fast. There was nothing on the market that catered to her needs, a reality that struck me as disappointing in a country celebrated for its diversity. So, I decided to create it myself.
“I wasn’t about to sit back and let my daughter be born into a world that didn’t take her needs into consideration. That’s never been my style.”
My Petite Coco, Canada’s only physician-mom founded baby skincare collection, started as a personal solution and quickly became a brand with a mission: to provide intentional, science-backed products that fit every baby’s needs.
Your Roles Don't Have to Compete – They Can Collaborate
My goal has always been to find alignment and balance; never limitations. My titles as a mom, doctor and entrepreneur, strengthen each other. I never believed I had to choose, and neither should you.
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But the question is, how will you embrace all the parts of yourself? How will you take the leap, pivot, or build the life you’ve been imagining?
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My journey across motherhood, medicine and entrepreneurship offers a lens into how ambition, purpose and personal life can co-exist through an honest perspective I bring to audiences who seek it.
