Meet Julia Brunet and Yvette Gonzalez, D.O.

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julia Brunet and Yvette Gonzalez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julia; Yvette below.

Hi Julia and Yvette, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Julia:
I get my resilience from learning how to juggle many roles at once. Being a mother, wife, researcher, and producer means things rarely go according to plan. I also have to thank my husband, who has been a steady source of support through the chaos. When we started the Funny Medicine Podcast, I was teaching myself new software while also writing scripts and managing social media. It was overwhelming, but I kept moving forward by focusing on progress, not perfection. Each small win gave me the confidence to handle the next challenge. My resilience comes from adapting, learning quickly, leaning on the support around me, and not letting setbacks stop me from creating.

Yvy:
My resilience comes from medical school, my residency, my work as a pediatrician, and being a mom. Medical school and residency were constant tests of endurance with long hours, high pressure, and very little rest. They taught me discipline and how to keep going even when I was completely exhausted. I also owe a lot of my resilience to my parents, who always modeled hard work and perseverance. Their support and example gave me the foundation I needed to push through challenges.

Now as a pediatrician and mother, my days are already full, and adding a podcast into the mix means constant scheduling challenges and very little time to create content. It can feel overwhelming, but I rely on the same habits I built during my training:staying focused on the bigger goal, breaking things into small steps, and not letting setbacks derail me. When podcast production or deadlines pile up, I remind myself that if I could get through medical school, residency, handle patients, and raise a family, I can find a way to make this work. Resilience for me is showing up consistently, even when my plate feels completely full.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

We’re the hosts of the Funny Medicine Podcast, a show that was born out of a simple idea: every time we got together, we ended up talking about something science or medicine related… and usually laughing about it too. One day we thought, why not turn that into a podcast?

Our goal is to make science and medicine feel less intimidating, less taboo, and definitely less scary. We want people to walk away understanding that health and science can be explained in simple, funny, and relatable ways. At the same time, we’re serious about tackling misinformation, which is everywhere and often fueled by poor health literacy.

We’re both moms who first met in undergrad over a decade ago, bonding over our mutual love for the medical sciences. That love never went away, and now we’re channeling it into something bigger: sharing it with everyone so they can see how fascinating and useful science really is.

The funny part? Neither of us went to school for podcasting. We had no clue how to record, edit, or promote a show when we started. And to be honest, we’re still figuring it out as we go. But it has turned into a true passion project. What keeps us going is the joy of mixing education with humor and building a community that learns, laughs, and questions the world of medicine right along with us.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, three qualities stand out the most in our journey:
1. Curiosity: We’ve always been curious about science and medicine, and that curiosity is what keeps us learning and creating. One of our funniest episodes came from simply asking, “Why do people believe in the Mandela Effect?” That question sent us down a rabbit hole of research and turned into an episode our listeners still talk about. For anyone starting out, lean into your curiosity. Ask questions, explore topics that interest you, and don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something yet. That’s where growth begins.
2. Adaptability: Neither of us had podcasting experience when we started. We literally Googled how to record and edit and pieced it together. Early on, we lost hours of audio because of a technical glitch, and instead of quitting, we adapted—recorded again, found better tools, and learned how to prevent it. That flexibility has been crucial. Our advice: don’t wait to know everything before you start. Begin, and let the learning happen along the way.
3. Consistency: Between being moms, careers in medicine and research, and daily life, making time to produce content regularly hasn’t been easy. There were weeks we recorded late at night after our kids went to bed, because that was the only time we had. But we kept showing up. That consistency built trust with our audience and helped us grow. For those early in their journey, find a routine you can realistically keep and stick to it. Over time, the small, steady steps add up to big results.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Julia:
When I feel overwhelmed, I break things down into the smallest possible steps. Instead of looking at the whole project, I’ll focus on one task, like writing a single paragraph of a script or editing just the intro of an episode. That makes things feel manageable. I also remind myself that it’s okay to pause. Sometimes stepping away for a short walk, a coffee, or time with my child gives me the reset I need to come back with clearer focus. My advice is don’t wait to feel “ready” to tackle everything. Do one small piece at a time, and it adds up. That mindset is also what shapes the podcast: we don’t make medicine feel overwhelming, we break it down into small, funny, digestible pieces.

Yvette:
For me, overwhelm is part of daily life as a pediatrician and mom. What helps is prioritizing and setting boundaries. I ask myself, “What absolutely needs my attention right now, and what can wait?” That keeps me from spiraling. I also try to build in tiny moments of humor, whether it’s laughing with my kids or finding something funny about the situation itself. Laughter is my best stress relief. That’s exactly what we bring into Funny Medicine too; using humor to make serious topics lighter and easier to process. My advice is to give yourself permission not to do it all perfectly. Focus on what matters most, and let the rest follow when you have the space.

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