Dr Bertina M Hooks Recognized by POWER WOE and Featured in POWER Magazine July 2026

Dr Bertina M Hooks was recently honored with the July 2026 POWER Women of Entrepreneurship Award and featured in the July 2026 POWER Magazine. The recognition highlights Dr Hooks' journey as a physician, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and advocate for resilience, reinvention, and purpose.

Through her work, she continued to encourage women, physicians, and healthcare professionals to move beyond adversity, redefine success, and create lives and careers rooted in freedom and fulfillment.

Her upcoming memoir, From Fire to Freedom: A Memoir of Transformation, Renewal, and Resilience, shares the powerful story behind her transformation and the lessons that emerged from the most difficult chapters of her life.

Those lessons inspired her to create Pinnacle Business Academy, a coaching program and resource that helps physicians navigate burnout, career clarity, and reinvention. The program offers peer and group coaching, intensives, and webinars that educate about burnout, resilience, mindfulness and career exploration and strategic positioning.

She is also the host of the The Mindful Practice Podcast that provides a space for healthcare professionals to discuss burnout, career pivot, and exploration into different career pathways such as locum tenens, telemedicine, direct patient care and concierge medicine, entrepreneurship, utilization management, pharma/biotechnology, and medical consulting and expert work.

Dr Hooks is grateful to POWER Magazine for recognizing her journey and providing a platform to share a message of courage, renewal, and possibility.

To learn more about the services provided by Pinnacle Business Academy, check out the website, https://pinnaclebusinessacademy.org. To listen to the Mindful Practice Podcast, go to https://mindfulpracticepodcast.org.

Read the Full Interview from P.O.W.E.R. Magazine

Dr. Bertina M. Hooks is a board-certified internal medicine physician, healthcare executive, and entrepreneur with a passion for physician leadership, reinvention, and impact. She currently serves in a corporate medical leadership role within managed care while also leading several mission-driven ventures focused on physician development, wellness, and innovation. Dr. Hooks is the founder of Pinnacle Business Academy, a platform dedicated to helping physicians navigate career growth, leadership, and nonclinical opportunities. She is also the founder of Phoenix Medical Spa and host of the Mindful Practice Podcast, where she amplifies conversations around medicine, purpose, resilience, and transformation. As a physician, executive, speaker, and author, Dr. Hooks is committed to helping others rise through challenge, lead with intention, and build lives of significance beyond traditional boundaries.

What inspired you to pursue a career in your industry?

I was drawn to medicine because I have always been deeply motivated by service, problem-solving, and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people's lives during vulnerable moments. Over time, my career expanded beyond clinical medicine into leadership because I realized that improving healthcare also requires strategic thinking, systems improvement, and strong physician voices at decision-making tables. What continues to inspire me is the ability to impact both individual lives and larger structures that shape care.

What's one stereotype or misconception about women in your field that you'd like to see change?

One misconception I would like to see change is the idea that women must choose between being highly capable leaders and being approachable or compassionate. In medicine and leadership, women often bring extraordinary emotional intelligence, strategic insight, and resilience. Those qualities are not weaknesses - they are strengths that improve teams, organizations, and outcomes.

How do you support or mentor other women and what impact has that had on you personally?

I support other women by sharing practical guidance, encouraging strategic career thinking, and helping them recognize that their expertise has value beyond traditional roles. Through mentoring, I have learned that many women simply need permission to think bigger, trust their voice, and pursue opportunities they may have thought were out of reach. Personally, coaching has reinforced my own responsibility to lead with generosity and purpose.

What does the word power mean to you?

To me, power means having the ability to remain grounded in who you are while using your influence to create meaningful change. True power is not simply authority - it is clarity, discipline, resilience, and the courage to lead responsibly, especially when the path is not easy.