Stacy Mayer: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Women Changing Leadership. I am so excited about this end of the year series that I am bringing you where I bring in all of my favorite people that I have met inside the coaching industry and leaders who are really making a change for other women to be able to step into those roles, to really change their leadership tables and to be the badass that they were meant to be. And when I think about who I need to have on this podcast, who needs to give you all of the details, all of the juicy wisdom that she has to offer, I cannot think of anybody better than Dr. Latifat.

Full transparency: I love this woman. She is a friend of mine. She is a colleague. I have been on her podcast. I have taught inside of her group. It has been such an honor to learn more from the inside about the amazing work that she's doing, and we're going to link to all of her links in the show notes. But you really want to make sure that you're following her on Instagram or wherever you like to follow people. She also has an incredible podcast herself which will share with you, and she has an amazing program for women physicians that we're going to be talking about today. So I just I'm just going to dive right in.

But let me give you her more formal bio. Dr. Latifat is the founder of MoneyfitMD. This is a program where they teach women physicians to have money without overworking. And she's going to explain that to me. But my favorite thing about this introduction is the word have. Have money. I'm so used to hearing make money, get money, have money. So we are just going to dive into all of those things today. Doctor Latifah, thank you so much for being here.

Dr. Latifat: Wow. Thank you so very much for that very generous introduction. I am grateful that I know you. I'm grateful that our worlds connected. And I, of course, love what you do. Otherwise, I would not have brought you to everybody that I know. Am I podcast in my program. I only bring people there that I really trust and people that I believe have a gift to share with the world. So thank you for what you do and thanks for having me here.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, thank you. Let's start out with some of your own personal secrets to success, and then we'll dive more into the work that you're actually doing for women.

Dr. Latifat: Absolutely. Just to give you a little bit more of my background. So I'm a physician. I'm a practicing physician. I love, love, love what I do in medicine. I feel like it's a gift to be a physician. It's a gift to do what I do and help people be well. And that was the only goal that I had personally. I just wanted to be a physician and I knew nothing about money. And I didn't even know I was supposed to know about money. Nobody talked to me about it. Nobody taught me about it. And then as I got older and towards the end of my training, which takes forever for and kind of at the beginning of my attending ship, which is what we call it, when you're able to practice independently, I realized that in order for me to do the work that I want to do, which is take care of patients, that money was going to be an important parallel tool to that.

Because as you could imagine for you and those that are listening, we have all those great ideas, we have all those things we want to do in life, things that like juices us up, but money. But I can't do that because of money. I can't do it that way because of money. I can't work that way because of money. I cannot have this time because of money.

So essentially my thought and my philosophy is that money and the lack of money, or the inability to see the wealth that we have, is literally something that is keeping us from achieving everything that we were meant to do in this world. So if I can help with that little piece, whether it's helping women physicians or other humans in the world, we can do a lot of good because now we're liberated to truly live a life of purpose and do good in so many ways. And honestly, if you've looked around at the world, we need that like more now than ever.

Stacy Mayer: That's so great. I couldn't agree more. When you were deciding this and graduating and moving into different phases of your career, do you have any wins or surprises as you started to investigate: What is money? How do I create wealth? I'd love to hear what has worked for you personally.

Dr. Latifat: Absolutely. The first part of it was: it was not fun at all. And the reason why it was not fun is I went from an extreme of not knowing anything about my money, avoiding it completely because I didn't really want to see what was in there. I had gone through training and I had gone through undergrad, med school residency, which was three years fellowship for three years. And what that means is that I've gotten a lot of debt along the way. For an average physician, we owe about $250,000 in debt and above.

Dr. Latifat: So here I am avoiding all that stuff. And so you can imagine when I'm going from that extreme of not knowing it, not even knowing how much I owed, not looking at what I owed to now trying to figure it out. The first step that I had to go through was just learned that I was not going to die if I looked at my money. And it may sound very silly. In fact, however, if you think about the fact that a lot of us don't actually look at our finances, we don't know what we're earning, we don't know where our money is going because we don't want to see what's happening in there because we're going to judge ourselves. So the very, very first step that I always tell people about is if you're someone that's avoiding just trying to figure that pot out and say, you know what it is, what it is, what it is is the result of what's happened in the past. And now I get to choose what decisions I'm going to make based on this so that I don't have to deal with this again in future so I can actually create the future that I want to see. So that kind of is always the first step that I tell people, like, let's just see what the truth is. And then now we get to decide what we want to do with the truth.

Stacy Mayer: And I think I can imagine that, even for the corporate badasses that I work for, they feel like there is an income ceiling. And that they don't have control over their finances, that they can't necessarily build wealth. And I'm sure if you have 250,000 in debt, that adds to that ability to really take control of this area of your life. And I think we'd become really dependent on other people like as in AKA our salary to give us that wealth.

And so I know that you work with a lot of women physicians, yes, to make more money at work, but also outside of work. So can you tell us about the different avenues and...actually I'm going to change that to have money because that's going to be my new mantra for 2023. Have money instead of make more money, but have more money in other avenues.

Dr. Latifat: Absolutely. And I like the concept, the concept of having money because make more money sounds like you're hustling for it. You're looking for it. Have money is an embodiment that happens and there is a level of certainty that comes what you're like, you know what? I have money, and even if I don't see the money that I have, it's actually a thought that everybody can choose to have, which is that I have money. And when you remind yourself that you have money and you know, you could ask yourself: what does that even mean to have money? Because when I say have money, what comes up for people is: well, what if I don't have money? The question I want to ask you is, do you truly not have money? And then you're like, Well, it's not like I don't have it, but I don't have a lot of money. But what gets to define what a lot of money is. Because ultimately I always tell people, like, there's always going to be someone with more money than you. There's always going to be someone with less money than you. So if you think that what you have is not having, it may actually not be telling the truth because you don't have money, you just may want more of it.

But there's a difference between approaching your finances from a perspective of someone that has and wants to have more versus someone that thinks, I don't have, you go from a place of scarcity, you're more likely to take a job that doesn't even offer you like the great package you want, you're more likely to think you're struggling. It's like saying yes to the first dude that proposes to you because you're like, I ain't got no choice.

But when you're like, you know what? I have money. I'm someone that has the capacity to have. It just changes how you think, It changes how you act. It changes everything. So that part is sort of like the number one part. Knowing that having is different from like making. Making, it just sounds exhausting to me. So anyways, we have money, that's number one.

And then to the point you were asking about, about the ceiling, I want to talk about that for a second as well. So, first of all, there is no ceiling to the amount of money that you can make or create or have. There literally is not. And I know that some of you are like: Latifat, you have no idea. I'm a teacher. I work in this field. I don't get paid enough. Even in medicine, there is disparities based on income, based on gender, based on specialization. There's some specializations that make way less than my handyman, right in medicine. And the key is to understand that, when it comes to what you're earning from a space of work, that is what that person has decided that they are choosing or willing to pay you. For a lot of women, we can do better with negotiating, and I know you're a boss at that. We can do better with asking for return in the value that we are creating.

So even at your single primary income source, a lot of times we under EARN because we're not asking. And I wish the world were fair. I wish we did not have to ask. However, we live in a world where people have their own biases.  Whatever their biases are. And to assume that people have your best interest in mind is not only always the best thing for you. And it's interesting. Like I literally have people in my program that have asked for more pay and maybe they're denied or maybe they get a yes. But they always are told that the number one reason why they don't have is because they don't ask. And you and I believe in the power of our words and the power of speaking into existence. And if you don't ask, you're not going to get. So even if you have only one single income, part of it is making sure that you utilizing that and you're asking for appropriate pay for the value that you're given.

But the ceiling that I'm talking about, though, it's for you as an individual, like as a human being, because if someone is like this is the amount that I want to pay you, it doesn't mean that's the value of you as an individual. That is just one space to earn. And now you get to decide where else do I want to earn? Where else do I want to give value in exchange for money? And that may mean using a skill set that you already have, but taking it outside of your work to help people so that you can get a thank you note, which is the money.

And there are other ways as well. I mean, I'm a huge fan of real estate. I believe that real estate is great. It's not for everybody necessarily. But if you think about the people that control the most wealth in the world, I want to say maybe 85 or so percent of them actually is through real estate. And the reason why is because people are always going to need real estate, people are always going to need housing. And that is something that over time the value tends to go up. And I always remind people that it doesn't have to be you being a landlord yourself. You could always have a property management, you could always be part of like larger apartment complexes where they're helping you put your money to work and not you having to necessarily go out and earn on a 1 to 1 ratio. But I want to make sure that those that are listening understand that there is going to be that active part of earning from your work that you do. But there's also going to be a passive part where your money should be allowed to be able to grow and multiply without you holding on and doing the physical work yourself.

Stacy Mayer: You know, you mentioned the apartment building and we actually just bought an apartment building in 2020. And it's really interesting because tthere's literally no income coming in. But it feels like wealth. It feels like having we know we own this building and it's all about this future prospect. And I've noticed that it has changed my opinion about how much I do have just having this apartment building down the street that I have. We have that right.

Another thing that comes to mind is, admittedly, I probably wouldn't have purchased said apartment building without my husband, who has a very different outlook on finances. Like when I hear you talk, the way that you communicate is a lot like him, that this is something that we create for ourselves. He would never not look at his money. He would never deny that. That's part of his being. And that's what's created the wealth that he has in his life. And I'd love to hear from you how you learned this.

So if you went from $250,000 in debt like everybody else who graduates from medical school into now, you, where do we get started? Who do we surround ourselves with?

Dr. Latifat: Absolutely. And the thing is this, and I love that you have your husband as an example. There are some people that we're going to see that looks like they were born with it. That's not me. And I always remind people that, where our focus is, is what we're going to grow into. And everyone that is listening to this podcast is doing something in their life right now that they were not born with the knowledge of. They may be eating right, they may be exercising right, they may be having a job, they may be a corporate badass, they may be an HR expert, they may be a physician. I was not born a physician. No one in my family was a physician. In fact, my parents didn't even go to college. And so the thing is, though, I had an idea that maybe it's possible that I could become a physician. And then I asked myself, what are the steps that I need to take to become a physician? There are some hard tests that I need to take and I need to pass them. But there's people in the world that have passed those tests before. How did they pass it? They went to college in two classes and studied after hours and they were able to do it.

And so when I look at my money then, well, now I don't know anything about money. What else in my life do I have as an example of success that I've already created? Because when we tell ourselves we've never done it before, it's something new. It is strange. This is not something I was born with. Most times we actually don't take the steps we need to learn and do it. But when we ask ourselves in what other areas of my life have I done success, in what other areas have I gone from knowing nothing, like been a parent, to learn all this stuff. How did we learn it? We learn it by starting. We learned it by being willing to make mistakes. We learn it by maybe reading books, listening to podcasts, being in communities where other humans exist that have shared interest without judgment. We all know they're like, If you're a woman and you want to have kids, they're communities you don't want to be in because all they're going to do is judge you. However, they're also communities that are more supportive. So what do you do? You find communities that are supportive for people that are like you know what? I want to be a good parent. I don't want to be perfect because I know perfectionism is a myth. It's not possible, but I want to be in a place where I can get the knowledge, get the information in like minded communities with kind people, surround myself and be willing to do it wrong. And we've done it many times in our lives. This is just another one of those situations.

Stacy Mayer: Wow. You just reminded me of something. When I had children and I was choosing parent groups. I was so picky. I was like, I am not that type of parent. I am this type of parent. I'm only going to surround myself with these women that support me and I feel like I want my children to be around their children. Like, I really thought about this a lot. And I think for successful women that we are surrounded on a regular basis by not as successful women. And even as a woman physician, where they have these outward picture of success, we might be surrounded by people at work who are complaining. Who don't have enough or right or who are always feeling like they're being put down. And I can imagine in your container that you've created in money formed that you have a space for these women to say, you know what? I'm tired of making too little. I'm tired of having less. I am going to ask for more. And then everybody else in the group say, yes, do it. I've done it. It works. And that just goes so, so far.

Dr. Latifat: I agree 100%. And I'm smiling as you're talking because that comes up. And I love it when it comes up because I'm someone that's a believer that our emotions are a gift. And a lot of times we've been told, you know, to calm down, don't get mad. But I'm like, no, get mad. Now what are you going to do with that? What are you going to do with it? So for me, as you're talking and you're like, I'm tired of getting... I just smile. I'm like: So girl, what are you going to do?

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. Oh, I love that.

Dr. Latifat: Do not calm down. The world is tired of people being told to calm the heck down. This is a gift we have, which is a foil. And ultimately, we're amazing. We're smart, we're badass. We understand the idea of consequence. So we know that we want to take those emotions we have and use it as a gift from God to foil into directions that we want to grow in. I'm not saying get pissed and take it out towards your kids. That's like taking a flashlight and putting it where he doesn't need to go. But take it and let your emotions be the foil that helps you create the result that you want to see. So if someone's pissed off, I'm like, yeah, be pissed off. So now let's do it.

Stacy Mayer: Yes. Oh my gosh, I love that. Because like, we can be pissed off together. And do something about it collectively and it's so important.

So speaking of the collective, I can imagine that when you were if you're the first person in your family to go to college and as you were deciding, like I want to be, and you don't just say a physician, a woman physician, you have made a choice to have a voice, to stand out for other women in this world. So my question for you is: why do you personally feel motivated to have that voice at the table, to be included in the conversation, to be a role model for your children, for other women? Tell us, tell us all the things.

Dr. Latifat: Absolutely. So my parents didn't go to college. I have older siblings that went to college, so I'm really grateful that they were there. I'm the first to go into medicine and they all thought I was wack and all that stuff. But honestly, I wasn't trying to be an example. I was not trying to be an example for anybody. I was just trying to live my life. And this is actually really, really important guys, because sometimes we have all those pictures of how we want to be an example of what's possible. And the lesson is not even what we think we're trying to teach people. The lesson is in the part that we don't even think makes any sense at all.

So I wasn't trying to be an example. I was just doing, living life, just trying to achieve this dream that I believe that God has put in my head of, like being a doctor. I didn't know what kind of doctor I was going to be. I didn't even know what the options were. It wasn't until like third year of medical school was when I decided to be a gastroenterologist. I had no idea that even existed. So I want to make sure, like a lot of times we think I want to be an example and that is okay, if that is given you that's acting as the foil of growth.

Dr. Latifat: But if I want to be an example is actually causing you to have analysis, paralysis and fear of existing of moving forward, then I want you to stop trying to be an example and just do. Because sometimes you just moving and doing is literally the only example the world needs to see, but just live your life, do it, and by existing you become an example without even trying. That was me for a long time. I wasn't trying. I was just doing right.

And I've mentored people over the course of my career, to be honest. Like even as a college student, I was mentoring people from community college. As a med student, I was mentoring some. I've always been about looking behind and bringing the people behind me. Because it just felt like the natural thing to do. Because I truly believe that we're all gifts to each other. I believe that success alone is boring. Success together iss a whole lot of fun.

So I'll give you a specific example. One of my very first clients was a really good friend of mine. I remember when we started, when she started learning from me about money and all that stuff, she was not interested at all.

Dr. Latifat: She was like, I'm not interested, I just want to do this. But now she's doing so well in one of the lower paying fields in medicine, and she's net worth is crazy. She owns multiple properties and earlier this year, actually we ended up taking two trips together this year. One was without our kids, just two couples, only super fancy vacation. We're like had a chef. That would not have been as much fun if I was doing it alone.

And we went to Disneyland and did like a VIP tour together. Life is just so much more fun when there's so much more people that are successful. It is so much fun. It is so much more fun. The more of us are successful, the better we all are. And so I've always had that principle about me. So any time I come into a room, I know my job is to get into the room so I can bring more people into the room. And that is the idea that I have even from my container with the MoneyfitMD, which is all the women there know that they're there to help themselves and once they're good, alright sunshine, wee're bringing along. Why? Because we need to help each other be well and there is a sense of joy that comes from giving that is beyond any amount of money we're ever going to have.

Dr. Latifat: So that's kind of the way that I think about it. But I'm not intentionally trying to be an example.I also believe that we're all just vessels. We're all like vessels through which things flow to more vessels, through which things flow to more vessels. So for me it's like, what have I been given? It's not for me to hoard. Yes, I would invest it. Don't get me wrong. I'm going to buy investments, I'm going to buy properties, I'm going to build wealth. But even that in future is to set myself up in 20 years from now so I can be a vessel in 20 years from that from now as well. So that's how I want us to start thinking about whatever it is we have in our hands. If you're in a position of power, if you have resources hoarding it is not fun because you don't enjoy the gift of wealth if you hoard things. So my key is, when I have things, when I learn things, I know that I'm supposed to learn it so that I can now amplify and share. And the same happens and we can all have fabulous parties together where we are accessible.

Stacy Mayer: Yes. Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much for sharing that example. Full circle. As the reminder that we don't set out to be this example. And then also just the philosophy that we can start to implement right now, even if we don't feel like an example, even if we wish that we were more successful, we can connect with other people who have similar goals, who have like minded interests and lift each other up. No matter where you're at in your life right now, it is 100% available to you. I love that. And so speaking of steps, this episode is coming out at the end of the year. And so we we always think about like, what can I do next year? What are some first things that we can do as women to set ourselves up for future success, but also just to kind of start to have that wealth in our lives right now?

Dr. Latifat: Absolutely. So here's what I'm going to start with. I'm going to actually go a large concept and narrow it down. So the number one thing is have a vision. Have a vision, and your vision doesn't have to be perfect. And what do I mean by vision? Sometimes it sounds really abstract. Just sit down and say, December 31st, what would I have done in 2023 that's going to make me want to just like high five myself and go: dang girl or dang dude, that was amazing.

And I want you to do that in a way that creates wealth for your life. And when I say wealth for your life, it's not only money, it is money. I want you to ask yourself in terms of income, and I want to say income for you as a person, where your clinical or work becomes just one leg on that table. So what income do I want to have through me in 2023? That's one. Relationships is important. Like what relationships do I want to have created or nurtured in 2023? And that relationship could be with yourself, could be with your kids, could be with your spouse, could be with your employees, your boss, like just break that down into that area. What vacations would be amazing, where I would go, Oh, my goodness, that was awesome. And the thing is this. I want to make sure we don't make the mistake of doing things like everybody else. A lot of people assume that the quality of your enjoyment comes from the amount of money that you spend on it, and that is so not true.

Dr. Latifat: The quality of enjoyment you derive from something is based on your thoughts about that thing. I can literally have a cup of coffee in my backyard in the rain and go, Oh my goodness, I just died and came back. Like that was amazing. Cost me maybe $2. So I want us to make sure we don't do things like the rest of the world. Where we assume that having a private chef is the only way to have maximum enjoyment. So just break that down into what is it going to be for you that's going to feel like, Oh, I enjoyed that. If it means like a quarterly drive to the beach by yourself, do that. Like just have a vision. But I want you to try and tap into your feelings of what is going to feel like: Yes, girl. Like in December of 2023.

And make sure it spans the different parts of your life. That's important. Your faith. Is that something that you do could be a part of that, Your travel could be a part of that. So just break that down. And the reason why I say this is this: most people leave their lives as if they have no destination to try and figure out what destination they're going to end up with. But when you create a vision, you have a destination that you're going to. And what that means isn't that you're going to be like fixed and not flexible, but it means that you now have a GPS or a North Star where instead of being confused, you're like, Well, these were the things that I said it was going to be my vision. Well, I may not know what I should be doing, but I know that there was this vacation to the beach there. I'm going to do that.

So it just removes analysis paralysis from you. It removes or decreases confusion. And then once you have all that written down from the different parts of your life that's of value to you, that is part of like wealth, giving it's also a huge part of it. So write down how much do I want to give in 2023? Write that down. Because if you don't have a decision, if you did not decide that now, you're less likely to donate all the stuff you want to donate.

And then once you have that vision, now ask yourself: what are the goals that I have to do? What are the things that I have to do in terms of the actions in order to be able to create those visions? So if you want to earn, you know, 500,000 in 2023 and your work is saying they're only going to pay you, and I say only write based on whatever population or what kind of work you do, they're only going to pay you 120,000. Then you're like, okay, so how then do I want to create the rest of it? Do I want to ask them, do I want to give value somewhere else and create more money? And how do I do that without it being all active?

Dr. Latifat: We get to now have fun with the how. And that part is important because a lot of times we treat the house like if we don't do it, we're going to die. You're going to die if we don't achieve your goals. But just make it more fun for you because the more fun it is, the more likely you are to achieve it. And then now, based on that, now step back one step further and say, What are the thoughts that I need to have as my key words for 2023 in order to be able to take this actions?

So I'll give you a very concrete example for me, 2022 was about being audacious. That was my word, being audacious. So like when I'm like, stuck, I'm like, okay, what would audacity do? Okay. Audacity would ask for a raise. Let's do it. Or they would do this. So what are the thoughts? So the audacity was what helped me. Like that word helped me build the thought that I wanted to have. And then you can now see how you can sort of like create your future like backwards. And guess what's going to happen in December 2023? You're going to have everything or most things that you choose to want you will have and more.

Stacy Mayer: Wow. Oh my gosh. I feel like I just went to school. That was so great. I thank you so much. Wow. I am going to continue thinking on this, but you already got me so excited about different areas of wealth that I actually completely didn't think about. I didn't think, how much money do I want to donate at the end of 2023? I didn't think, like what types of vacations would be juicy and fun and who would I want to do them with? Oh my gosh, that is so fantastic. Thank you. My brain is going now. I'm going to write all this stuff down after this interview. Thank you. Thank you. Doctor Latifat, how can more women find you? How can more people learn from you? Where do we go on the Internet to to learn more about you in your work?

Dr. Latifat: Can I give you just one more suggestion. And it came to mind as you were talking. So what I want you to imagine when you're thinking about those things is December 31st, 2023. God willing, I want you to picture yourself sitting down around a fire with your husband, with a glass of champagne toasting what would you be toasting to? What would have happened last year that would make you go, Oh my goodness, sunshine, that was amazing. That was an amazing year. Write those down and walk your way back and create that. And that's what's going to happen December 31st of next year.

Stacy Mayer: I'm speechless.

Dr. Latifat: Wow.

Stacy Mayer: I feel like you just put a spell on me, too. In a good way. Like you're like, No, I told you. Like, this is it. And that's the other power of being in containers with powerful women. Thank you so much.

Dr. Latifat: Thank you. Thank you. And now I'm going to answer your question. So you want to send me. The best way to do that is go to my podcast. It's the MoneyfitMD podcast. I talk a lot to women physicians, but some of my loudest audiences are actually like, not even physicians. So go listen. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have, and I truly believe, like I mentioned earlier, that it's a gift to share it. And I want many humans, many women. I want men. I want all of us to have that knowledge. So that's the easiest way to go find me. But you can also find me on Facebook and on Instagram. Also MoneyfitMD and you can also go to my website at MoneyfitMD.com. I speak at conferences, I coach humans. My community is for women physicians, but I am considering and willing to coach leaders one on one privately if it's the right fit for both of us. But if you want to find me, go there and check us out.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. And you just, you coach by being in your presence. I just want to do more of these interviews so that I can...Oh, okay. I learned. All right, I better get to work. Let's go, let's go.

And I know my audience is so, so grateful for this conversation today. Thank you, Doctor Latifat, for being here. And I'm just very grateful to have you as a friend and a colleague and a wisdom maker in my life to be able to create more badass things for myself and my community. Thank you.

Dr. Latifat: Thank you for having me. And thank you for all you do.