He Left Mercedes Benz to Build a Healthcare Company in America

I was fluent in English, but the only person I knew was God. I used to pick up two or three half pizzas, bring them home, clean them, heat them up, and eat them. The U.S. is a land of opportunity. In Pakistan, there are many limitations. We started the company with one single room. Telemedicine — I used to tell everybody that this is the future of medicine.

Nobody believed it. These companies took Health and Psychiatry as their client.

America isn't a dream. It's a decision, and not everyone is brave enough to make it. Americans by Choice.

Welcome to Americans by Choice. Today our guest is Usman Ezad. He came from Pakistan to the United States as a mechanical engineer, and now he leads a healthcare group. It started with one practice. Today we're going to dive into what business in America taught him.

We've also worked together for quite some time. Health and Psychiatry, their healthcare organization, is our client. It's my honor to have you as my guest. Welcome. When you came to the United States, what did you imagine your life would be like?

When I came to the U.S. for the first time in 2000, I knew nothing. I knew nobody in the whole U.S. I was fluent in English, but the only person I knew was God. Then I started studying. I went to school, did my MBA in marketing, and did my second master's in human resources.

I was a good student. I got both degrees with honors. Then I was lucky enough to find a job as a director of business development for Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz really taught me how to work in the United States.

Why did you come to the United States?

Living in Pakistan, I heard about the American Dream. I had no idea what it was really like, but I saw movies and heard inspiring stories. Everybody talked positively about it, so I thought I should go there and try my luck.

Were you as ambitious back then, or did that ambition grow after you were already here?

I was very ambitious. With years of experience, completing two more degrees, starting my own business, and meeting many people, I created a network of high-net-worth professionals. That gives you a different direction and a different drive. Now I think very differently because I see life and business from a different angle.

Mercedes-Benz taught you a lot. What did that experience teach you?

Working at Mercedes-Benz, I learned how to manage daily life, interact with clients, manage employees, conduct important business meetings, work fast, and make decisions quickly.

When did the transition happen when you realized you had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted something different?

When I was working for Mercedes-Benz, I became close with a few of my bosses. I learned from them, talked to them, and observed their lives. That entrepreneurial spirit came into my mind, and I started thinking differently. Eventually, I resigned and opened my own company with one single room.

I started working on different projects in telemedicine, primary care, and telepsychiatry. I created different models. I started working on telemedicine and psychiatry in 2010, when I would tell my doctor friends about it and they would make fun of the idea.

You decided to open the practice, but you were not a doctor. Your wife was. How did her being a doctor open that new direction?

While working for Mercedes-Benz, I met successful people in healthcare. That motivated me. I saw that healthcare could help a lot of people, could become a business, and could expand globally. When my wife graduated and completed her residency, we started the company with one single room.

After the business side settled down, I started working on telemedicine. I developed different concepts and would meet with doctor friends. They would ask what I was talking about and make fun of the idea.

That was before COVID, right?

This was in 2010. I used to tell everybody that this was the future of medicine. Nobody believed it, but I kept moving forward. We started a telepsychiatry model in our practice. There were still many restrictions. Then COVID hit.

Everybody was calling me, and I was ahead of the game. During COVID, people did not want to come close to patients. Patients were dealing with COVID and depression, and providers were concerned about exposure. So I came up with an idea.

I created a drive-up telepsychiatry model. Patients would come to the office, park their cars, roll down the window, and connect with the doctor on a screen.

They could complete the session, roll up the window, and go home, with prescriptions handled electronically. Patients were happy, providers felt safer, and I was proud that we had developed an idea that was helping patients. It also boosted my business.

I received recognition that I associate with my telemedicine work. During COVID, we also started hiring virtual staff, and that gave me a different vision. We refined the process and started Health and Virtual, which I describe as a global staffing company.

We hired talent from Pakistan and the Philippines. We created a digital institute with courses on learning management software for the hiring process. When we select candidates, we put them through training courses and created a digital classroom.

We started the Americans by Choice YouTube show in May 2026, and we're still fairly new. Liking and sharing the podcast, or suggesting a fascinating guest in the comments, helps support us. Can you remember a moment when you were very confident about a new project but it did not go the way you expected?

Whenever you start a project, a new company, or a new venture, there are many issues. You have to hire staff, train them, and expand. The biggest challenge I have seen is finding good people to work for you.

You deal with people's egos and behaviors. Then there are technological problems because you're implementing new technology and new AI modules. You develop something, it doesn't work, and you have to go back, fix the issues, and rearrange things.

There is a marketing plan and a financial plan. You have to see things from many different angles, and you have to keep investing money in every project to make that project visible and viable.

What do you think you would have done differently if you were starting now?

I think I did pretty well. I'm proud of myself. My wife was there with me all the time, and I have some very good employees who helped put everything together. My future expansion is global. The important thing in our business model is helping clients and solving problems.

Why wouldn't one business be enough for you?

There was a time when I was concentrating only on my psychiatry business, Health and Psychiatry. I'm planning to expand it because there is a huge need. People have realized that mental health is a problem that can be treated or at least managed. To expand, I need virtual staff.

I need marketing, IT, and training. I implemented these models inside my company first, tried them, and fixed the issues. When they were working well, I created business models around those capabilities.

We created the models and trained our staff. I kept moving forward from one need to another until it became an ecosystem. You see companies with digital schools, staffing companies, or psychiatry practices. I wanted these components and business models under one umbrella.

How do you keep all of that in focus?

There is no free lunch. You have to be very focused. Hard work is absolutely required. I work 15 to 16 hours a day. You have to watch the global market, understand what is happening, and keep an eye on the competition.

I believe that if you have the freedom and opportunity to do something, you should help people who need it. I see helping people as part of how I approach business and faith.

Speaking of helping people, what do you think ordinary people misunderstand about healthcare in the United States? And what perspective does your immigrant background bring?

I have seen people dying in Pakistan because they had no money and no healthcare. Life in poorer countries can be very different.

I'm very thankful to the United States for giving me the opportunity to come here, study, start businesses, and live the American Dream. At the same time, I'm helping people and hiring in places such as Pakistan and the Philippines. One job in those countries can mean a lot to a household.

There is a lot of conversation about AI. What is hype, and what is actually going to change healthcare for ordinary people?

Eventually, I think many things will shift toward AI. There may be fewer people doing certain types of work and more people managing or developing AI models. I believe that over the next ten years many processes will be managed through these systems, including in psychiatry.

I think AI may be easier to implement in some areas of psychiatry and mental health, but it depends on how the technology develops and how quickly laws are implemented. Healthcare is a very regulated industry, but I see this happening.

If you had stayed in Pakistan, do you think you would still have been as ambitious, or did being here change that?

Ambition is part of your personality. I would have been ambitious, but being here defined my personality and the scale of my business because there are different levels of opportunity compared with Pakistan. In the U.S., I see a land of opportunities. In Pakistan, there are many limitations.

When you came to America, what did success look like then? After everything you've experienced, what does success mean to you now?

Success is variable. Some people make $100,000 a year and think they're doing perfectly fine. Some make $1 million a year and still think they're losing money and aren't happy. My thinking in 2000 was very different.

By 2005, I thought differently again. As you achieve things, your definition changes. Now I think I have a good track record and a future game plan.

In 2002, I went to Walmart for groceries and bought a watch for $65. When I came outside, I realized I still had rent, tuition, and bills to pay, and I couldn't afford the watch. I went back inside. There was often no money left after paying my expenses and tuition.

I used to go to a Pizza Hut dumpster where people had thrown away unfinished pizza. I would pick up two or three half pizzas.

I would bring them home, clean them, heat them up, and eat them. When I got my first job with decent pay, I was very happy and thought, 'Man, I did it.' Later I started my business from one single room.

Your mindset changes, your connections change, your friends change, and the business context changes. You start thinking differently. I still feel that I have done pretty well through very hard work.

In my earlier years, I used to talk fast and worry that I might miss something. At this stage of my life, having built a track record has calmed me down. Now I think differently and see things from a different angle.

I tell my staff that this is how it should be done. There is no shortcut.

For immigrants, that experience can create a different mindset. It can be difficult to pass that same experience on to children and the next generation.

When I meet the children of immigrant friends who were born here and are enjoying their parents' success, I tell them they should be thankful to their parents and thankful for the chance to be born, raised, educated, and able to work here. Life in developing countries can be very different.

Imagine yourself at 15 years old in Pakistan watching this interview on YouTube. What would you tell that younger version of yourself?

If I were 15 and saw this interview, I would want to feel encouraged and motivated. I would watch it twice and try to understand the mindset, struggles, wants, needs, and day-to-day process behind the journey. Then I would write down the lessons and learn from what successful immigrant entrepreneurs have done.

This can be a motivational starting point.

Thank you. It was wonderful having you. This was really great.

Thanks a lot for inviting me. I am a Pakistani American by choice.

America isn't a dream. It's a decision, and not everyone is brave enough to make it. Americans by Choice.