In this episode, I share my stories. My lived experience of watching a miracle happen. And more importantly, how the miracle was made and why I know you can do the same.

You have the opportunity in this Moment, to step onto this path to better health and care--for yourself and loved ones you care for. With each step you take, you will build MOMENTUM like a snowball rolling downhill.

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Treat Us Right Podcast

We're in season 3 episode 9. And the title is Before The After.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts

In our last episode, Make A Miracle, we learned the 3 Actions of Caring: Adjust Your Attitude. Live The Lifestyle and Be Persistent. In this episode you will learn the starting point to making your Miracle. You will learn how to create the launchpad to living your best. even when everyone else says it's impossible.

But before we get started on launching your ability to make a miracle, if you like the Treat Us Right Podcast, give us that five star rating. Subscribe so you can get updates. when we drop a new episode

We really appreciate it and it does help. with the podcast success.

Speaker: David S. Williams III

Transcript

This editable transcript was computer generated and might contain errors. People can also change the text after it was created.

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Treat Us Right Podcast

We're in season 3 episode 9. And the title is Before The After.

In our last episode, Make A Miracle, we learned the 3 Actions of Caring: Adjust Your Attitude. Live The Lifestyle and Be Persistent. In this episode you will learn the starting point to making your Miracle. You will learn how to create the launchpad to living your best. even when everyone else says it's impossible.

But before we get started on launching your ability to make a miracle, if you like the Treat Us Right Podcast, give us that five star rating. Subscribe so you can get updates. when we drop a new episode

We really appreciate it and it does help. with the podcast success

So let's get started.

You want an outcome. You want to feel better. You want to live better. You want to reduce the impact that the condition has on you or your loved one. All of this applies when you're caring for someone else. Or someone you love.

You want that miracle?

That's the AFTER.

We all want the AFTER, right?

And we all want that after to magically appear without us having to do anything. But here's the truth.

There is no magic wand, no spell, no potion or pill that instantly cures diseases.

So you have to do something, right? So the after, as per the title of this episode, you have to know how to get there. You have to know what to do.

You have to in some ways work backwards.

Welcome to this episode. of the Treat Us Right Podcast.

Before the after you have to understand how your condition affects your life. said more simply, you have to know yourself.

You have to know the new you with your condition.

A special attention if you came for someone else because you have to know with the condition

figuring all of that out. Is what you have to do. for

the after

I'm not saying it's easy.

But and that's why you're here. And the treat is Right Podcast. how do you get to the new?

How do you know the new?

The new them. We break it down into three different areas:

One. Activities. What are you doing each day? Work, social life, and then your care needs. Your medication schedules your appointments things like that. You have to know all of those activities, right? 

Number two. Your symptoms and measures. You have to know your numbers, your Labs, blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, whatever is relevant. You have to know those numbers, too. You have to know Trends. You have to know how things have moved over time. So if you have any of that back data, you want to be able to have that for comparison.

00:05:00

You want to know what triggers symptoms. We have an entire episode last season around triggers. And then you also want to understand if you've had any unexpected events happen. The best example of that is allergic reactions, right? Something happened that you didn't expect. You have to be able to add that in. And consider it when you're thinking about what you need to know. It's hard to remember. But you have to know.

So the first two activities and symptoms and measures. The last one is lifestyle. What is the lifestyle that you're currently living? And that can be broken out around nutrition. Right? Are you eating healthy? Are you adhering to restrictions that you have allergies? Yeah, like interactions with medications, things like that. Yeah, you kind of have to understand that. right

You have to understand your optimal activity level or exercise level as part of Lifestyle. You have to understand what exercises bring results. And those that are clinically relevant results. Those are results that make you feel better and make your condition better. And how well you Sleep? Sleep  is a big part of Lifestyle. It often goes overlooked. So we want to make sure that we understand if there are any sleep issues in play.

So those are three things: activities, symptoms and measures and lifestyle.

Here's the point. If you do these things each day, you will be better at knowing how you tick.

And knowing what makes you feel better, what triggers you, and what tries you, and what tricks you, and what trains you. Most importantly, you will learn how you triumph above it all.

You will know yourself. It's a process. It's worth it. You're worth it. Your loved one is worth it.

So it all boils down to this. I'll say it again before the after. You have to know yourself with those three elements. And when you do, it will make a huge difference on where you go from here.

What if your situation isn't new? You're not newly diagnosed with the condition or your loved one isn't really diagnosed. What if you've been battling and struggling and suffering for years? I'm here to tell you it's the same process. If you're not seeing good results for yourself, your loved one, if you haven't achieved the after that you wanted or expected–then you have to change your approach. You need a path the routine. That considers how things are now.

Instead of know the new, you want to know the now. Right?

Knowing the now means logging your current baseline routine and experience. What are you experiencing now? What meds are you how are you eating? Are you getting enough exercise and sleep? Are you stressed at work? Remember, these are the three areas that you have to consider activities symptoms lifestyle.

Know what those are now.

00:10:00

Our bodies change over time. You may have found a routine. That worked before that got you the results that after that you anticipated or maybe you've never reached that. But things change over time now.

What worked before doesn't work.

This overall pursuit of Wellness feeling better, of getting better on a measurable basis, is a process. It's a journey.

It requires work, maintenance. Mindfulness, persistence.

I talk about persistence a lot it. Is the most important thing to do persistent. But, I digress. You need all of those things, work. It's means mindfulness to live and to thrive. The miracle, the after that you're looking for, can still happen even if it's never happened to before.

Go on this journey. You're worth it. Your loved one is worth it.

So even if you've been struggling over time, before the after, know the now.

Once you know the now, then you start addressing the largest issues systematically.

Your trends. And take action to correct them. You may find that targeting One symptom or measure has multiple effects. Multiple positive results. The important part is to know what to target.

And you do know what that is, Or what those items are. Because those are the things that make you feel bad. Those are the things that have the worst metrics. Those are the things that define your life and your lifestyle as a result. Target those.

Work with your doctors and therapists. They should help you. If they don't listen to you or disregard your log data as representative of your experience, then fire them. Find new ones. They're not treating you right.

And that's what we're all about here on the Treat Us Right Podcast.

Find professionals who will work with you. Find professionals who will treat you right.

The title of this episode has been said countless times. Before the after…

Say the next part with me. before the after Know the new.

Or if your situation has been going on for a while.

You want to what? Know the now.

Care3 is built to help you know your new, to know your now. Download the free Care3 app on the App Store or Google Play to get started and we'll be with you every step of the way on this journey.

We will help you log experiences–the new for you or your loved one. For both of you if you're caring for both. And I'll do that Care3.

We're gonna be with you.

00:15:00

Download the free Care3 app in the App Store or Google Play.

And that's our episode. I hope you feel we treat you right every episode.

The next one's coming very soon. So subscribe to get notified right when it drops. And if you like what we do. Please treat us and give us that five-star rating. Thanks for listening. And take care.

Meeting ended after 00:15:44 👋

Hello Treat Us Righters! Welcome to Season 3 Episode 8 of the Treat Us Right Podcast - Make A Miracle. I am your Host, David S. Williams III, CEO of Care3 and I’m here this episode to do the same thing I do every episode. Trying to get you the best health and care possible. 

Listen directly on web here.

Subscribe to Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts

Make A Miracle

Hello Treat Us Righters! Welcome to Season 3 Episode 8 of the Treat Us Right Podcast - Make A Miracle. I am your Host, David S. Williams III, CEO of Care3 and I’m here this episode to do the same thing I do every episode. Trying to get you the best health and care possible. 

If you like Treat Us Right, please give us that 5-star rating. It’s the second best way to support the podcast.

We’ll talk about the best way later on in the episode.

First, we have an announcement exclusively for Treat Us Right listeners. Our parent company, Care3, is now offering services to employers. That’s right. If you want a service that helps you better manage health and care for you and your family, your employer can pay for it as a benefit. Our full subscription service can be free to you. To learn more, go to care3.co/employers. Use the form at the bottom to let us know you’re interested and would like us to speak to your employer. We’ll follow up with you directly. 

We’ve spent the past several episodes highlighting companies that promote health equity. If you’ve missed any from the ViVE Series, give them a listen. You may find a company that can help you or someone you love get the best care and health possible. Or as we say, to get treated right.

But this episode, I’m back to talking to you–directly in your ear. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you’re listening, it’s likely you or someone close to you. 

How do people overcome insurmountable, even impossible odds recovering from a health event? How do people live better when everyone says they’re not supposed to with a chronic condition? Is there a method to these supposed miracles?

Here’s the truth. In the vast majority of cases, miracles don’t just appear out of thin air. Miracles Are Made. 

You’ve heard the miracle stories. I’ve lived through more than one myself. They’re REAL. 

There’s the story of my mom.

Treat Us Righters know this story. She was told she had six months to live with terminal liver cancer. She lived 27 more years–and it wasn’t cancer that led to her passing. Miracle.

There’s the story of my son.

Severe autism was supposed to define him, confine him, and resign him to life in a long term care facility. His autism symptoms have improved 40%, he lives at home, and even voted in the last election. Miracle.

After one recent episode, a friend, a fellow Treat Us Righter emailed me to tell me about her aunt who overcame a seemingly terminal diagnosis. Miracle.

These incidents are not random. They are not coincidences. It is my belief that they are manufactured.

There is a way to live better with one or more life-changing conditions. The Treat Us Right Podcast is here to show you the way. To illuminate the path. To take you from darkness to light. To share with you how to make a miracle.

The crazy thing is, the healthcare system doesn’t understand how these miracles happen. It sounds insane even saying it. But it’s true. Consider these facts:

Healthcare in the US is a Business

Hospitals make money the more you’re in. They treat their beds like hotel rooms or restaurant tables. They want turnover–and repeat customers. That means, it makes economic sense for hospitals to have you just well enough to stay out for a while, but then have to come back in. Their best customers are repeat customers. 

And think about this: when was the last time a pharmaceutical company actually came up with a CURE for a condition or disease? There are few cures, but many treatments. And the treatments are ones you have to take (and pay for) for the rest of your life. 

You have to think of healthcare like any other industry. There are people in it to make money. This sounds cynical, right? Doctors take an oath–to first do no harm. And they are noble for it. But doctors are also well compensated for the high value work they do. In fact, there are fewer people going to medical school nowadays because doctors make less money than they did in the past. People have to get paid for their work. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are no different. And they’re all getting squeezed.

And now let’s talk about the insurance companies. They used to pay for everything as long as your premiums were paid. Now you have co-pays and deductibles that push costs on to you. You have insurance companies being sued because they have automated systems that reject your claims without a doctor’s formal review, just to save money. Insurance companies manage the risk of having to pay claims in order to maximize profitability.  

With all that said, how can we live our best lives? Remember the full titles from episodes 1-3? Do you care / enough to live / your best life? If so, then Treat Us Right is for you. Let’s move beyond the practice of the healthcare INDUSTRY, and make the DELIVERY of healthcare work for US. So we achieve our goals. So we live our best lives.

3 Truths You Must Know

Miracles Don’t Just Happen

The word miracle itself implies that an outcome occurs without any work. Good fortune befalls the beneficiary from divine providence. Unlike the resurrection on the third day, modern miracles don’t just happen. People work hard for their outcomes, for their success. Outsiders consider these outcomes as miracles because they saw the before and the after. They never see the work that makes up the middle.

Doctors Are Humans

They make mistakes. They have experiences and evidence that somewhat pre-ordains an outcome given certain circumstances. We all depend on our experiences in assessing our prognoses, our futures. But in health, we are, each of us, unique. And our power comes from within.

Healthcare Isn’t Fair

Like many other institutions in the US, healthcare isn’t fair. It’s not equal. The inequities in healthcare became mainstream during Covid. The more money you have, the better care you can afford. There is a baseline, Medicaid for the poor and disabled–and Medicare for seniors. But not for everyone like most industrialized nations. Our health outcomes in the US rank LAST among developed nations. But you don’t have to have money to make a miracle–it does make things easier, though.

How To Make a Miracle

The method to miracles.

1. Know yourself deeply. 

1. Triggers of joy and pain

2. Your data and numbers

3. Know what you want - the outcome. The result

2. Dedicate Your Life to the Outcome

1. Get the behaviors - know what you have to do

2. Make the behaviors routine

3. Be persistent, be persistent

3. Visualize the Outcome

1. See it every single day

2. Meditate on it

3. Visualize what your life is like after the miracle

What are you doing? You’re bending the world to your will. You’re bending everything to your desired outcome. When you persist, you see results.

Persistence is a theme in Treat Us Right. Stay on it.

I’m not saying miracles are common. People wouldn’t call them miracles if they were. What I am saying is that if you want a miracle, you have to work for it. There is a roadmap, though and there is enough evidence out there that you CAN make your miracle–if you work for it.

Thoughts or questions? Email me directly at david AT carethree DOT COM.

We have a unique and especially important episode of the Treat Us Right Podcast for you. We feature Spect which helps diabetes patients retain their vision through early diagnosis of diabetes retinopathy.

Visit Spect at www.getspect.com.

And we interview our founder & CEO David Williams of Care3.

Visit Care3 at www.care3.co.

In this podcast episode, Michael Leung, COO of Spect discusses the low rate of annual eye exams among patients with diabetes compared to other screening programs. SPECT is a company that provides accessible eye care through a platform that allows healthcare workers to perform eye screenings anywhere. The second part of the podcast features an interview with David Williams, the CEO of Care3, a digital health equity company. Care3 helps individuals and their families manage complex health situations by providing personalized care plans and facilitating communication and task management. Care3 aims to promote health equity by addressing the non-medical factors that impact health outcomes and providing equal access to healthcare.

(Transcript is automated)

Michael Leung (00:06):

Patients with diabetes are supposed to get their eye screen once a year. Unfortunately, we know that only about 20 to 30% of 'em do get that annual eye exam, which is very low when you compare it to other annual screening programs such as breast cancer and colon cancer, which stand around 70 to 80%.

David Williams (00:25):

Welcome to the Treat Us Right podcast everyone. David Williams, your host, and CEO of Care. Three. We're back with another great episode springing out from the Vibe Conference recently in Los Angeles. If you know somebody with diabetes and we all do, the first company we feature is really important and they're called SPECT and their founder and COO, Michael Young is here with us. Following Michael, we are going to talk about Care three, so get ready. This is really a really important episode.

David Williams (01:13):

Treat us right Listeners, we have another great, great interview here from the Vibe Conference. Please tell our audience who you are and about your company.

Michael Leung (01:26):

All right, thank you. So I'm Michael Leung. I'm one of the co-founders and COO of Spec Spec. We deliver eyecare anywhere, and so what we've created is an eyecare platform. There's both hardware and software that would enable our frontline healthcare workers. So whether that's a medical assistant, a nurse practitioner or paramedic to pick up the device and to perform eye screenings wherever they are, whether it's in the office, at home or on the street.

David Williams (01:57):

Oh, that's great. That's really improving accessibility here. Correct?

Michael Leung (02:00):

Absolutely. And in fact, actually we just did an eye exam five minutes ago here at the conference.

David Williams (02:07):

Oh, that is awesome. So it sounds like this accessibility is a big part of your story. How would you say that is working to improve health equity?

Michael Leung (02:15):

Yeah, great question. So we started the company about six years ago now. My co-founders are ophthalmologists by training and they'd see a lot of patients show up to their office with pretty late stage eye disease where they would show up to the doctor's office and be like, Hey doctor, I'm seeing blurry, I'm seeing red. And the question was always like, how do we catch these patients even three months, six months earlier when they don't have any symptoms of vision loss? That's really when we want to catch these patients to be able to treat them and prevent them from getting there. Looking at health equality and health equity, it's about getting that access everywhere. Right.

David Williams (02:54):

You talk about eyecare anywhere. Are your services today national, they geographically restricted today? How can somebody access those services right now?

Michael Leung (03:05):

Yeah, it's a great question. We are national. We're available in all across the United States to get access, ask your family doctor, ask your family practitioner about spect. We are targeting initially diabetic retinopathy, right? So patients with diabetes are supposed to get their eye screened once a year. Unfortunately, we know that only about 20 to 30% of 'em do get that annual eye exam, which is very low when you compare it to other annual screening programs such as breast cancer and colon cancer, which stand around 70 to 80%. And a lot of the questions that we've asked around in that space were because of access, not being able to access the specialists. Specialists are located in the big cities, they're not taking you appointments, but we know that these patients, patient diabetes, they go and get their annual exams done and they'll do blood work, they'll do blood pressure check, and so that's just one of the other things that the doctors can add under their tool belt is to do the eye exam as well.

David Williams (04:09):

That's great. Everybody. Did you hear him say This is an opportunity to advocate for yourself, ask them about spec to make sure you get that annual eye exam because you can get a much better experience and this is an opportunity again, to advocate for yourself. What challenges are you facing right now and how are you overcoming them?

Michael Leung (04:32):

Yes. A lot of challenges is around just education and awareness, so that's one of the big things that we're focusing on today at the conference is working with the American Diabetes Association is to get the word out there. A lot of patients just aren't aware that they need to get their eye exam checked every year or don't know what the repercussions of skipping these will do. And a lot of it comes down to vision loss at the end of the day, and if it's caught early, it could be treated and it can prevent it from happening.

David Williams (05:05):

That's great. That's great. Well, I want to help you in any way that I can and in so doing the Treat Us right audience needs to know how they can learn more and how they can contact you.

Michael Leung (05:19):

So to learn more, please check out our website. It's www dot get spec, so G-E-T-S-P-E-C t.com or ask your doctor about this.

David Williams (05:31):

Fantastic. We really thank you for talking to us about spect. Thanks for joining us on the Treatise Ride podcast.

Michael Leung (05:37):

Thank you very much.

David Williams (05:40):

That was an amazing, amazing session with Michael Young from spect. And now I have the pleasure, the unique pleasure of interviewing myself as part of the Vibe series. Let me welcome David Williams, CEO of Care three to the Treatise, right podcast.

Tell us who you are and about your company.

I am David Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of Care3. Care3 is the world’s first digital health equity company. Care3 helps you and your family manage complex health and care situations. With Care3, you make better decisions at home and your care providers can make personalized, unbiased treatment decisions. Unlike other digital health apps that focus on managing one condition, Care3 can be used for any condition or combination of conditions. Our lives are not siloed like the medical system where doctors specialize in one area. People experience everything all at once, so Care3 reflects the lifestyle we live.

How does Care3 promote health equity?

Great question. Covid and George Floyd’s murder made the issue of health equity mainstream. For decades, the unequal treatment and outcomes experienced by vulnerable groups was the healthcare industry’s dirty little secret. But here’s the truth: According to research, 80% of health outcomes are impacted by non-medical factors. Only 20% of health outcomes are driven by medical interventions. So our socioeconomic experiences directly impact our health. And the most vulnerable members of our society including seniors, people of color, women, and the disabled do not have equal access to healthcare and receive woefully inadequate care in the home. Those are the people we focus on. People caring for disabled persons and aging seniors are most of our clients and members today. At Care3, we have proven that health disparities can be reduced by translating caregiving experiences in the home into data for improved personal AND medical decision-making. We create the combined clinical AND non-medical information that drives health outcomes. That’s how we promote health equity. 

Our company mission is simple: we make healthcare work for everyone. 

How does Care3 work?

When we were designing the app experience, we realized that people who care for themselves (or others) had 3 main behaviors: communication, task management, and daily planning. So, logically, Care3 is a messaging app and to-do list in one. If you can send text messages, images, and videos in a group chat, you can use Care3. If you can indicate that a to-do list task was complete, you can use Care3. 

The magic of our experience is in the daily planning. Care3 customizes every person’s experience to their particular needs. We do this via our Personalization Survey. Once you sign up for Care3, you are asked to take our 5 minute Personalization Survey. We use your responses to create your Personalized Action Plan which includes the care tasks to be completed, symptoms you want tracked, and any recurring appointments you have–and how frequently they each occur.

Then Care3 delivers the reminders to complete each item each day. You simply indicate when tasks are complete and their results. Care3 takes your inputs and creates data from them. You can use this data to see trends you never noticed before and make real-time adjustments to care. You can also share this data with your doctors so they can see what’s happening at home–this data never hits the electronic medical record, and may not be medical at all–but very relevant to better health and care. Now doctors can make ultra personalized treatment decisions. Simply logging the results of your caregiving activities in Care3–work you’re already doing–you can make improved decisions at home AND your doctors can make personalized, unbiased treatment decisions. 

What challenges are you facing in growing Care3?

Getting the word out. When I show people Care3, I hear this so often: This is amazing! I wish I had this when I was in this situation–or when I was caring for my family member. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that. So we have to let people know that Care3 exists. If you are in a health or care situation, give Care3 a try. Take the Personalization Survey and have your own app to deal with everything. We’re here for you.

The other consumer problem is, these situations are so private. People don’t share these silent struggles. So people who may know about solutions, don’t have the opportunity to share them. Let’s change that. If you know someone in a health or care situation, tell them about Care3. Let them make the decision if we’re a good solution for their needs. 

On the enterprise side, we are just now starting to sell Care3 as an employee benefit to companies. We want to meet with as many HR and Benefits professionals as possible. If you know anyone working in those departments at companies, please refer them to Care3!

How can people learn more about your company and contact you directly with questions–or like you said, refer employers to Care3?

You can email me directly at [email protected] all spelled out. Or you can go to our website contact page at www.care3.co/contact. We will treat any personal referrals and employer referrals like gold. We appreciate you.

If you’ve been paying any attention to health news and health equity discussions over the past few years, you know that the maternal mortality rate for Black women is 2.6 TIMES the rate for white women in the RICHEST country in the world. This is unacceptable.

The two founders we’re talking to today are standing up for women and pushing a system that continuously underserves women of color by design, to work for all women, and thus, all of US. 

Welcome to Treat Us Right, Expect and Wolomi.

In this episode, two companies focused on women's health and wellness are featured. The first company, Expect, is a streaming fitness platform specifically designed for pregnancy and postnatal fitness. The workouts on Expect are approved by OBGYNs and aim to improve outcomes for both mothers and babies. The founder, Dara Cook, discusses the importance of maternal fitness and the need to make it accessible to all women, especially women of color who are disproportionately affected by maternal mortality rates. The second company, Wolomi, is a digital platform that provides support and resources for women of color during their pregnancy and motherhood journey. The founder, Layo George, emphasizes the importance of creating a safe space for moms and addressing maternal mental health. Both companies are working towards promoting health equity and overcoming challenges such as fundraising and partnering with health plans.

(auto-generated)

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (00:04):

Maternal fitness has been the secret of the wealthy for a long time.

Host, David S. Williams III (00:11):

Hey, Treat Us Righters! It's your host, David Williams, CEO of Care3. And I'm back with two more featured companies from our ViVE conference series. The ViVE Conference was in Los Angeles two weeks ago and we're still bursting with enthusiasm for people we met who are building companies to help us get treated right this month. March, 2024 is Women's History Month and last Friday was International Women's Day. This episode features two companies built for women by women. But before we get to that, if you're a regular Treat Us Righter, I have told the story of the most important woman in my life growing up, my mother, and how she inspired me to build multiple companies that make healthcare work for everyone. But one of the points of the story I mentioned but gloss over is that my mother almost died giving birth to me. During her pregnancy with me, my mother was diagnosed with small bowel cancer. Imagine how this strained her health As I grew within her, this complication among others, contributed to my premature birth. At 32 weeks, I weighed three pounds, 11 ounces. I had a collapsed lung and uncertain prospects for living and thriving.

(01:49)
I ended up spending six weeks in the NICU. Mom, she went home weighing only 87 pounds with uncertain prospects of her own. What I didn't recognize growing up but know now is that her survival drive against all odds—her indomitable—was passed on to me. I guess you could say it was the first lesson she ever taught me to live.

And live. We did.

Mom lived another 38 years after my birth amidst multiple health scares where she was told she had only months to live. I have taken that first lesson and all of the others to build a good life for myself and my family, but also to help others live through challenging and complex health situations to help us get treated right now. I wish my mom's story of life-threatening complications during pregnancy was uncommon, but among black women it happens far too often.

(03:10)
If you've been paying any attention to the health news and health equity discussions over the past few years, you know that the maternal mortality rate for black women is 2.6 times the rate for white women in the richest country in the world. This is unacceptable. So the two founders we're talking to today are standing up for women and pushing a system that continuously under serves women of color by design to work for all women. And thus, all of us welcome to Treat Us Right, Expect and Wolomi. First up is Dara Cook, founder and CEO of Expect. Dara, welcome to the Treat Us Right Podcast.

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (04:08):

Thank you so much for having me.

Host, David S. Williams III (04:11):

Well, first, like all of the companies that we're featuring in this series that originated from the Vibe 2024 LA Conference, tell us who you are and about expect.

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (04:25):

So I'm Dera Cook Expect is streaming fitness optimized for pregnancy and postnatal, and we are the only platform where every workout is approved by OBGYNs. The reason we started this is because as you know, as many of us know is the United States is in a maternal and now infant health emergency. Our maternal mortality rates have been rising steadily for over two decades, and now for the first time in 20 years, our infant mortality rate is rising and it's rising across races. So unfortunately it does make sense. You can't have an increasing maternal mortality rate for so long without babies being negatively impacted. And so that's where we are right now. Exercising in pregnancy and after pregnancy is proven to improve outcomes for moms and babies. So that's why we're doing this.

Host, David S. Williams III (05:25):

That's fantastic. So is it a video platform? How would somebody view the videos?

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (05:32):

Yes, so it is a streaming video platform. While we say if you can access YouTube, you can access expect it's that easy to use. We're in the app store. We also have a beta that's in the Google Play Store and we have an array of workouts. So we have all three trimesters of pregnancy. We pre-pregnancy, which is fitness for fertility. We do postnatal. So you can work out with us after you've given birth. And we believe the broadest variety in the pregnancy space, and that's because we are OB GYN approved. So that means we have an advisory of 16 OBGYNs, including Rachel Villanueva, who is the former president of the National Medical Association, which is the largest and oldest association of black physicians. And Iman Lee, who is the leading global expert on physical activity in particular physical activity in women. She's a professor at Harvard Medical School and she co-authored two of the landmark studies on the impact of prenatal fitness. So she's also on our advisory. So before any fitness content gets on our platform, we run it by our advisory of OBGYNs. And so in the app itself, you'll see that we have doctor's notes. Literally these are notes from the doctors about each of the workouts, the stages of pregnancy that it's approved for or postnatal and any other special tips and guidance

Host, David S. Williams III (07:12):

That is impressive. And what a great advisory board you have convened. You talked about the mortality rates. You talked about how they seem to be distributed among races. Can you go deeper on that and really talk about how expect promotes health equity?

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (07:36):

Maternal fitness has been the secret of the wealthy for a long time. One of my best friends from college, she has four kids, you probably know her. And two, we went together. She is a medical doctor. She has her own practice and she had great laborers with all four of her children and they're absolutely fantastic and beautiful. She hired a private trainer, certified in pre and postnatal fitness to work out with her while she was pregnant, and she has a beautiful family. As a result, this is something that has not been typically available to the average woman, so to speak. So what we're doing is we're democratizing access to high quality doctor approved pre and postnatal fitness. Like we said, if you can stream videos on YouTube, you can access expect. We have a study with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which is the number five OBTY department in the country, and they have a brick and mortar exercise in pregnancy clinic at UAB.

(08:43)
And this is, I've been to the facility, it's a fantastic state-of-the art, it's huge facility where you're pregnant, you come there and you work out. And UAB has invested in this because women who exercise in pregnancy have much lower risk of complications as do their babies. But they did say that there's an equity issue with women accessing this gym that what they tend to get is women who are upper middle class wealthy women who are able to access this facility because it's open during business hours, right? Work hours. So they're saying it's women who aren't working right, who are being taken care of by their husbands. So they can come to this facility on a Tuesday at 11 o'clock, they have childcare if they have other children at home, they have accessible childcare. The problem is that the women who are most likely to experience complications are women who are not in that category.

(09:47)
They needed to partner with a platform, a company, and a solution that empowers women to work out in their own homes on their own time. So we know that if you're working odd hours, if you don't have transportation, if you don't have the ability to have someone watch your kids while you work out, that's what expect does is that we have workouts that range from five minutes on up to 45 minutes. So if you're dealing with time confetti, meaning you have just strands of time, you don't have long blocks of time. That's the reality for so many women. You've got 10 minutes here while the 2-year-old is taking a nap. You've got 30 minutes in between Zooms. That's not enough time for you to get up and go to a gym, but it is enough time for you to pop up one of our videos and work out in your own home.

(10:40)
So that's how we're promoting health equity and we are truly the most diverse platform out there. Diversity for us is a part of our ethos. It's a way of life. We noticed that the pre and postnatal fitness platforms, the few that are out there have largely ignored black women. They don't include them in the content. A lot of the big ones only have one black woman featured across all of their content. We oftentimes have more than one in one video. So I say they only have one in their entire platform. We know that black women have the most to gain from exercising and pregnancy. And I spent 20 years at MTV where that's where I learned how to create content and I was head creative of the MTV Video Music Awards and brand manager of Walden out. And what we all know from that world of entertainment is that people need to see themselves reflected on screen so that the content will resonate with them. So we bring that ethos into how we produce our content. Our instructors are all fitness professionals, but our background talent, these are women who look like people. We know these are women who have day jobs and sometimes they order pizza because that's the easiest thing for them to get. They're not rail thin. Even in pregnancy, you see a lot of these fitness apps, they show women who are pregnant, you can't even tell they're pregnant. They're so thin.

Host, David S. Williams III (12:12):

Yeah, I've seen those. And it's interesting that you bring this up because the representation matters. Movement is also getting pushback in and of itself. The question I have for you on that front is what challenges are you facing in kind of rolling out access to Expect and how do you plan to overcome those challenges?

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (12:39):

It's really about fundraising, but we've been fortunate to have an amazing group of angels and they truly deserve the name Angels. They're angels in many ways, and we have some announcements coming up soon I can't talk about right now, but really it's fundraising. That's all it is. But the macroeconomic environment is turning around. We heard some good things from Jerome Powell, some good signals. So I'm optimistic.

Host, David S. Williams III (13:16):

Now. Are you a direct to consumer platform with a subscription service or how else would somebody be able to access?

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (13:24):

Yeah, two ways you can access it directly. We are also direct to consumer. We were fortunate in that the great McKinsey and company selected expect as one of three startups. They would consult for pro bono. So that was really fantastic. And we went in to our engagement with McKinsey with a strict B two B2C model selling into health insurers, providers, employer sponsored health plans. And McKinsey said, you also have this huge direct to consumer opportunity. We believe in it so much, we're going to dedicate a team for you to explore that and do your first direct to consumer campaign. So we did that and Google was a huge help to us on that. And so big shout out to Google and Dale all at Google. And also we ran tests through Meta and we got our first paying direct to consumer customers that way. We're also going to have an announcement soon about a payer arrangement that we have

Host, David S. Williams III (14:29):

Payer Mean Health plan.

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (14:31):

Yes. Health plan, yes. That's really huge in terms of validation of our business model and the cost saving impact of maternal fitness because women of childbearing age are so expensive to ensure they're almost three times more expensive to ensure than men and all of the same age. And all that is driven by the high cost of pregnancy complications, which can be prevented through fitness. This is a really effective and elegant way to reduce costs for this high cost population.

Host, David S. Williams III (15:04):

This is incredible. I really am excited about Expect. How can people learn more and contact you with more questions or if they're interested in A DTC subscription?

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (15:17):

Yes, absolutely. So Expect Fit is the website. So instead of.com, it's FIT short for Fitness, and they can email me directly DARA at Expect Fit. Mark Cuban gives out his email. I might as well too, right? We

Host, David S. Williams III (15:36):

Do too. Here on the Treat right podcast. Right,

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (15:38):

Exactly right. DARA at Expect Fit, and that's how to find more about us.

Host, David S. Williams III (15:46):

That's great. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Treat Us Right podcast. We are going to keep watching. Expect and hope you can come back and give us an update here later on.

Dara Cook, CEO Expect (15:58):

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Dave. Thank you. All right.

Host, David S. Williams III (16:05):

You might wonder how we can follow that up with something equally as amazing, but at Treat us right. We keep bringing it for you. Next up is Lyo George, founder and CEO of OMI I. And we're back. Treat us right listeners, David Williams here, and we have another incredible guest. Tell the Treat us right audience, who you are and about your company.

Layo George, CEO Wolomi (16:35):

Hi everyone. My name is Layo George. I'm the founder of Wolomi, W-O-L-O-M-I. Wolomi is a digital platform made for women of color who feel alone and scared on their pregnancy and motherhood journey. We provide them with cultural compass and experts, community and evidence-based support on their pregnancy and motherhood journey for better outcome and joy.

Host, David S. Williams III (16:59):

Oh, that is wonderful. So the question I was going to ask you is how are you promoting health equity? But it sounds like you're doing that every single day. What are some of the things that you have found that you've been able to do in helping your mothers?

Layo George, CEO Wolomi (17:14):

So just creating a safe space for moms. Oftentimes there's this mistrust between the healthcare system and the moms just really feeling scared and alone and feeling that they cannot trust the kind of care that they're given or they're not being listened to on their pregnancy journey. And so creating that space where we say it's okay to say what needs to be said, oftentimes maternal mental health, health is one of the highest costs of Matana death in the country. And so creating that space where moms can let go and also be in the midst of experts, matana mental health experts, and even get some of their questions answered, that has to do with navigating the healthcare system has been just amazing in a community, in group support. And that has been just something that's been a breakthrough for us.

Host, David S. Williams III (18:12):

Oh, that is amazing. And you are speaking to the choir here because the Treat Us Right Podcast is literally about how do we get treated right by the healthcare system. All of this sounds great, but what challenges are you facing and how are you working to overcome them?

Layo George, CEO Wolomi (18:29):

Well, trying to find more health plans that we can work with can be very challenging. We want to leave the world better than we found it for moms and for kids. When moms are having good outcomes and joy on their journey, then the family thrives. Getting more introductions and really closing the deals. A lot of the health plan is something that it's a little challenging, but how are we trying to mitigate that? We continue to show by the outcomes, by the data, continue to learn the language that they speak and trying to make sure that we are speaking that language back to them. Even though as a nurse, as somebody with a nursing background and a little bit in the labor background, I lead with the heart. So just trying to overcome that and making sure that we're signing the right kind of checks so that we can support more moms.

Host, David S. Williams III (19:28):

Storytelling though, is still important in pitching. And so the more that you do that, you will make those human connections, even with these health plans that are supposed to be helping people, but oftentimes they're getting sued for not paying claims and things like that. You're doing the right things. So keep doing those. One of the things that I also wanted to ask you is, is your service right now geographically based or are you nationally based?

Layo George, CEO Wolomi (19:55):

So moms can go on that platform and there's some free service that moms can access, so that's national. But as far as where we are with the health plans, so we are in Florida, Georgia, and the District of Columbia.

Host, David S. Williams III (20:11):

Oh, those are great markets to be in too to start. So congratulations on your success so far. We want you to get larger and larger in any way. We can help you here in Treat Us Right. We want to do so how can people learn more about your company and contact you?

Layo George, CEO Wolomi (20:27):

Yeah, so definitely you can find us on Instagram at @wolomiapp. So that's W-O-L-O-M-I app, A PP. Or you can email us at [email protected].

Host, David S. Williams III (20:42):

Wonderful. And we'll put all of this information here on our website as thank you so much for coming onto the Treat Us Right podcast. I can't wait to hear more about your success going forward. Thank you so much for having me. Alright, take care now. Alright, now you see why I was so excited for this episode. Please check out, expect and Wall Me spread the word to others. We are all in this together, so the healthcare system will treat us right. Stay tuned for our next episode, another in the Vibe series. If you love Treat Us right, give us that five star rating. Take care.

Welcome to the latest episode of the Treat Us Right Podcast. We are excited to feature two amazing emerging companies addressing health equity head-on to make healthcare work for us: WellnessWits and Sanarai.

In this episode of the Treat Us Right podcast, host David Williams interviews Dr. Kike Oduba, founder and CEO of Wellness Wits, and Luis Suarez and Laura Garcia, PhD of Sanarai. Dr. Oduba discusses how Wellness Wits is a digital health platform for shared medical appointments, which allows doctors to see multiple patients with similar diagnoses in one appointment, providing more time for each patient and creating a supportive community. She also emphasizes the importance of addressing medical misinformation and disinformation by involving doctors in the social narrative of patients with chronic diseases. Luis and Laura discuss how Sanarai aims to address the mental health needs of the Latino community by providing culturally sensitive mental health services in Spanish. They highlight the challenges of building a business and clinical practice in this space, but also the importance of focusing on prevention and emotional support to prevent the development of mental health disorders. Listeners can learn more about Wellness Wits at www.wellnesswits.com and contact Sanarai through their website www.sanarai.com or LinkedIn profiles.

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Host: David S. Williams III (00:21):

Welcome everyone to the Treat Us Right podcast. I'm David Williams, CEO of Care3, and your host. This episode we have two more features from the ViVE Conference in Los Angeles, two companies that are impacting health equity to make healthcare work for us. First up is Dr. Kike UBA and her company Wellness Wits. Dr. Uba, welcome to the Treat Us Right podcast.

Kike Oduba, MD (00:56):

Thank you David. Glad to be here.

Host: David S. Williams III (00:59):

Great. So tell the Treatise writers, which is what I call them, people who want to make right things happen in the world. Tell everyone who you are and about your company Wellness Wits.

Kike Oduba, MD (01:15):

Sure. I am Dr. Kiki Uba, founder and CEO of Wellness with I'm a physician entrepreneur and I'm also a mom of three, have navigated the healthcare system through my own personal health challenges for my family and friends, and so I am passionate about health equity, closing gaps in care. I'm also passionate about helping people with chronic diseases not to have to suffer too long in silence or in silo, and so I have a huge passion for building communities around chronic diseases so we can support each other and also have resources shared amongst us and also help people get equitable access to the care they deserve.

Host: David S. Williams III (02:05):

That's great. So how did you come up with the concept for Wellness Wits and in your mind, how does the company promote health equity specifically?

Kike Oduba, MD (02:15):

That's a great question. To start with, wellness with is a digital health platform for shared medical appointments. For those who don't know what shared medical appointments are, it is a care delivery model where a doctor groups their patients based on diagnosis and begins to offer care to them as a group rather than individual appointment. What makes this very interesting is the fact that rather than seeing three people in one hour time slot individually, this gives the doctor the opportunity to see multiple people up to 10 or 15 in the same appointment. That means the patients get up to an hour talking to the doctor and also other who have similar lived experiences. This way the doctor is able to observe and understand the social determinants of health factors that they're not able to address in a short 10 to 15 minute appointment. That way wellness rates is able to deliver care in such a way that is equitable, is fast and also efficient not only for the doctors and the caregivers, but also for the patients to be able to get quick and easy access to health information, medication management, health coaching, and also nutrition and fitness education as well.

Host: David S. Williams III (03:40):

Wow, you said a lot right there. Can I ask you a follow-up question though? Is it interesting or do you see in your experience that the peer-based group also ends up how helping each other through the sessions?

Kike Oduba, MD (03:56):

Absolutely. Imagine going to your doctor's office and you have a constraint of time. Say you have only 10 minutes to be in front of your doctor if you had a laundry list of questions says you have five questions, most likely your doctor gets through two of them. But when you have a group of other people who have the same clinic condition as you and you had a whole hour to be in front of your doctor and in front of those people, what happens is the questions that you're not able to ask or you don't even remember to ask or you don't even know you should ask somebody else in the group has that question and your doctor is able to address those concerns. The other good thing is that as people are talking about how they're self-managing their chronic condition or how they're there into care plan, you are also learning vicariously from them how to manage your own condition. That way you don't feel like you're navigating your healthcare alone, and then also you're able to get more empowerment from other people who have similar problems as you do.

Host: David S. Williams III (05:02):

That's amazing. I, as a founding executive of patients like me, am a huge advocate on peer-based care where people can learn from each other tricks to the trade to live a better daily life. What you're doing is even taking that to the next level where you're allowing for clinical information, expert medical interventions to occur through this peer process, which in theory, and you can tell me if this is true, can reduce the impact of miss or disinformation that can sometimes be shared in peer-based patient networks.

Kike Oduba, MD (05:43):

Absolutely, absolutely. I guess it would be great for me to give you a background of how this came about. It was all about medical misinformation and disinformation. Actually from my own personal experience from a chronic illness, I joined Facebook groups just to see what's out there, what are people experiencing. However, we know Facebook is not secure. There's no HIPAA privacy or confidentiality protection there, and so I had a lot of people sharing all kinds of information that some were beneficial, but many were quite harmful because you're throwing a lot of information there that is not potentially relevant or personalized to the people who are consuming this information. And so I thought to myself, what can we do to include doctors in the social narrative that people who have chronic diseases encounter outside the clinical setting? And so I thought groups, but then what is an incentive for doctors to want to engage with patients in groups? How do they get reimbursed or compensated for their time? And so one way or the other, I discovered what shared medical visits were and that was the answer to that question. So in my experience, what I've found is that medical misinformation and disinformation is prevalent simply because patients tend to believe people who are like them, but then, which is not wrong actually, but then it has to come from doctors as the source of truth to validate and to control to some extent the narrative that patients encounter on social platforms and on the internet.

Host: David S. Williams III (07:32):

I love that and in my experience with patients like me where we would have people sharing their experiences, we use the power of data as the validator at the peer level. So people were sharing their information, not just in a forum like a Facebook group, but they were actually taking clinically relevant rating scales over time to show what the progression of their disease was and taking that information to their doctors and sharing that information in their peer group. Where I like wellness wit is that's making it all come together and then you're getting an actual clinical intervention. You're having that discussion and like you talked about, you have more time with the doctor, you have more time with other people who are like you, and so you now get the richness of learning from all of them, but with a clear medical expert right there for you to validate and to bring all of this information together for each patient. I love it. It's so great.

Kike Oduba, MD (08:37):

Yeah, absolutely. I have seen so many patients stories of how group visits totally helped improve their trust and engagement with their care providers and also just giving them that soce knowing that I'm not alone in this journey. There's other people like me going through the same experience, and if they're getting better and they're doing well under my doctor's care, most likely I will do better and do well as well. Think about people who have cancer, right? When you have cancer, you are scared, you feel alone, and also you are concerned, would you ever get better? Would you have to go through surgery with the cancer research? Or maybe you have mental health issues, you don't know why you're trapped in a certain state of mind and you look normal, but you're really not normal. All of those experiences, when you put five people with that same story in the same room, it's beautiful to just see how they open up, how they relax, and how they feel so validated that I'm not alone. Because one of the biggest problems you find in a chronic disease or even people who are going through end of life care is isolation. Even though there's many people around them, they have so many caregivers, they still feel sort of alone. And so the power of community and the power of peer support cannot be underestimated simply because of these reasons for people who are going through a long journey in their healthcare.

Host: David S. Williams III (10:17):

That's great and it all sounds fantastic, but then I have to ask the question, what challenges are you facing and how do you plan to overcome them when you're building Wellness Wits?

Kike Oduba, MD (10:29):

That's a good question because this is not a very popular care delivery model. The biggest challenge is winning over the care providers to know that this is something patients actually want. This is something patients love. Case in point, go to Facebook, just search how many diabetic groups are on there? There's over 20, right? There's a group, one of the groups that I joined, the hypothyroid mom group, there was 1.2 million people there. So just showing that evidence to the doctors saying, your patients want community, why not offer it to them? And the question is, well, what is the benefit to me? What is the incentive? And then we pull up policies from payers that says, Hey, doc, you can actually build the same exact thing you've been billing for. one-on-ones, you can build that for groups as well. Then their eyes go brighten up and they're like, sign me up.

(11:24)
And so gradually we've been breaking down those barriers. The other challenge is just the culture of healthcare generally. It's hard to change things at the system level. And so we've had to do a lot of advocacy training and education of healthcare providers to understand how to deliver group visits. The other challenge is the technology which we have successfully solved and fixed the technology of how to get people in a group visit for those who want to be anonymous, and those people who want to be quiet and just observe rather. And so we've been able to build a technology for group AI that allows people to show up as avatars. And also we're working on technology to help people mask their voice, such that if you want to sound like a chipmunk in a group visit so that nobody knows it's, you can turn that on.

(12:19)
The other thing is the language barrier. How can we make this even more culturally diverse? We've literally just engaged and almost in the process of closing a partnership agreement with a language translation service that allows over 300 languages on our platform. And so whatever language you're speaking, most likely you'll be able to get a service on our platform such that if there's a doctor speaking English and you speak, say French, Spanish, Haitian, Creole, or maybe you speak Portuguese, there's going to be an interpreter on the call that synchronously is speaking. As you are listening to the doctor, you are hearing your own local language. So we've had those challenges and one by one we've been able to solve them through technology and partnerships.

Host: David S. Williams III (13:11):

You are really appealing to the consumer need here so that the patients can get care that is health equity incarnate right there. I really congratulate you on all of these initiatives that you're doing. How can people then learn more about Wellness Wits and how can they contact you?

Kike Oduba, MD (13:30):

Absolutely. So to learn more about Wellness Wits, go to ww dot wellness wits.com and if you're a patient, go to consumers or patients, there's a tab there. If you're a healthcare provider or payer, go to the payer tab. And if you're an employer and you'd like to sign up your employees for maybe weight loss, diabetes education and management or nutrition, click on the employer tab and you can connect with us there. We have subscription forms where you can download our white papers and educational materials to give you more information, and we also have our email addresses and phone numbers on our website for you to contact and connect with us.

Host: David S. Williams III (14:21):

That's wonderful. Wonderful. Kike, thank you so much. I should call you Dr. Odba. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Treat This Right podcast. And yes, I would love you to come back and update us in the future on Wellness Wits and for all you writers out there, definitely check out Wellness Wits. We will have all of the links and information that Dr. Oba told us on our website or on the podcast screen. So again, thank you so much.

Kike Oduba, MD (14:55):

Thanks so much, David. It was a huge pleasure having this chat with you,

Host: David S. Williams III (15:00):

But in the words of Kirk Franklin, it ain't over. Next up on the Treatise Ride podcast is Luis Suarez and La de Garcia of rai. They bring mental health services to people who speak native Spanish because that's a big, big hole in the US healthcare market. And Luis and Lara, welcome to the Treat Us right podcast.

Luis Suarez (15:32):

Thanks for having us, David. So I'm Luis Juarez, founder and CEO at Sanarai. At Sanarai, we exist because there is a massive gap to cover the Latino communities needs in terms of mental health. Only 5% of mental health professionals in the US speak Spanish versus 13% of the population that speak Spanish at home. Treatment rates for this community are way below the average and in the context of a mental health crisis with booming the demand for services and a shortage of mental health professionals. The problem is exacerbated for this community. And the numbers I mentioned, just make it three times as hard to get behavioral healthcare in Spanish. So this is a problem I experienced myself. I'm originally from Mexico City, came to the US to do my MBA, then worked in management consulting for three years after I graduated. And in 2020 I was looking for mental health support and I was struggling to find someone that I could speak Spanish with that I could fit in my schedule.

(16:38)
So that's when I realized about this issue and decided to start Sanarai initially by connecting folks that speak Spanish in the US to mental health professionals in Latin America to provide culturally sensitive Spanish language emotional support at accessible prices. And that's still the core of what we do today. So services in Spanish not only are super hard to get, but also if you can do behavioral health services in your native language is going to be beneficial. And then there's a part about the cultural relevance that provides that baseline of understanding when you start with your provider and those initial matches are going to be the best predictors of a better outcomes, and B, that folks stick around for services longer.

Laura Garcia, PhD (17:26):

Thank you, Luis. Hi everyone. I'm Laura Garcia. I am a doctor in clinical psychology. I am a psychology advisor for Sanarai. I'm also originally from Columbia and came to the States to get my PhD and become a therapist because I thought that that's one way in which I could help the Latino community. While getting my training, I realized some of the challenges that Latinos experience when trying to seek mental health treatment. Some of those challenges obviously are systemic. There's lack of Spanish speaker providers, but there's other social challenges like the mental health stigma or the fact that our treatments aren't necessarily emphasizing their values. A lot of our evidence-based treatments are based on the Anglo-Saxon or Western idea of mental health, and sometimes it doesn't take into account the experiences of these communities. So I left a career in clinical psych and decided to work in tech because I knew that it could increase the access to mental health treatments. So I've done that for five years now, and I've joined Sanarai to figure out how do we make it so that we can use technology to increase access to services to Hispanics in the States, but also get rid of some of those barriers, some of the mental health stigmas, some of the lack of awareness about treatments, and even just helping people see that there's a company from Latinos that can actually relate to their experiences and is looking towards helping them.

Host: David S. Williams III (19:04):

Thank you for basically preempting all of my questions. It's amazing what you've already done at rri. I think that you've identified not only things from personal experience and professional experience, something that I think goes completely overlooked in the United States, which is essentially cultural sensitivity and mental health overall. Luis, do you want us to talk about some of the challenges you have in building the business and how are you overcoming those?

Luis Suarez (19:31):

Yes, totally. One challenge can be go to market specifically with built a good direct to consumer business so far and given wage arbitrage with folks that are based in Latin America, we can make a solution that is culturally relevant in Spanish, but also accessible prices. So a lot of our client base are going to be, well, one of two cases of folks that are uninsured and underinsured and are looking for an alternative to get some sort of mental health services. And then we have folks that have coverage through work or something, but they want more culturally relevant care and services in their language. So yeah, we're thinking about and similar to other companies that start direct to consumer and to get customer validation, a lot of feedback and iterate on the product and then shift to more like a B2B approach. So we're in the middle of that transition. So imagining ways that we can fit into the existing healthcare infrastructure where we know there's a need, there's folks looking for these type of services can be at least two weeks of a wait list. And so yeah, just trying to work around that, that complexity of that has been challenging. But for example, now we're working with California Healthcare Foundation, they invested in Sanarai, so that's been huge for us to be able to explore specifically the Medicaid channel in California.

Host: David S. Williams III (21:21):

Oh, that's great. And CHCF is really taking the lead on investing in companies that are focused on health equity. What are some of the challenges in building a clinical practice this way? When you're dealing with the fact that you have to have a certain level of quality, you have to have a certain consistency under the brand in the company. Can you talk about those initiatives, some of the challenges and how you are overcoming those?

Laura Garcia, PhD (21:49):

Yeah, I think one of the biggest questions that we had was in the spectrum of care, where do we fit? So we have these idea of treatments that are evidence-based and are provided by professionals, licensed clinicians, but there's also a whole deal of the spectrum that's preventative. So I think part of our work has been on identifying where do we fit, and I think we do fit with these preventative space that we are not necessarily providing treatment to people who are diagnosed with mental health disorders, but when we do provide services, we provide more of these emotional support, the support that they need that's basically culturally sensitive to their needs. And that support can in fact, and it is our hope, can in fact prevent the development of mental health disease. It is a challenge, but I think from my perspective, it is better for these communities to focus on the prevention rather than the treatment.

(22:47)
Because once you cross that threshold to people not being able to function because of mental health, then you have all these barriers of stigma, of judgments from their community that they want to avoid and that prevents them from seeking treatment. So if we target people at a prevention place where they don't feel like they're going to the doctor to get fixed, but rather that rather they're working on themselves, making sure they have the coping skills to leave their day-to-day, they're more likely to seek services at that point. It is our sense. So I think as answering that question then led us to develop the curriculums and training so that our providers know that they're there to support their day-to-day of individuals. And in fact, people are very receptive. I feel like it was very surprising to see how many of our clients just enjoy being able to talk to someone, especially if they're in the states because there's obviously a lot of isolation, there's an epidemic of isolation and it's hitting these communities a lot harder. So even just having there to vent and to talk about their daily lives has been helpful for some.

Host: David S. Williams III (24:02):

That is fantastic. I have to ask you now, how can people learn more about ri? How can they contact you? Because from what you've just explained, you're going to get inbound from Treat us right listeners

Luis Suarez (24:17):

So people can find us. atsi.com, our website, there's mostly, it's going to be in Spanish for clients interested and on social media. I think LinkedIn could be a good one, just Luis Juarez at ra. It's probably going to work.

Host: David S. Williams III (24:38):

That's great.

Laura Garcia, PhD (24:39):

And yeah, they can contact me through LinkedIn as well, Laura Garcia, PhD and also through Sanarai.

Host: David S. Williams III (24:49):

Perfect. And I will have all of these emails and links on our site as well for this episode. Thank you Luis and Lara for taking time and talking to us at the Treat Us Right podcast. Love what you're doing.

Laura Garcia, PhD and Luis Suarez (25:04):

Thank you. Thank you.

Host: David S. Williams III (25:05):

All right. And that'll do it for this episode of the Treat Us Right podcast. Stay tuned to our next episode as we continue our series on the Vibe Conference out of Los Angeles. And we appreciate your listen. Give us that five star rating and we'll see you in the next episode. Take care.

Welcome to Season 3 Episode 4 (23) of the Treat Us Right Podcast. The only podcast dedicated to helping you get treated right when interacting with the US Healthcare system. And welcome to the Premier Episode of our series covering the ViVE 2024 conference in Los Angeles featuring emerging companies and investors dedicated to promoting health equity, so healthcare can work for US we can all get treated RIGHT.

These are all 5-star episodes, so don’t forget to give that rating! Listen via the file on web (above) or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts.

Leading off our series is an absolute superstar in the space, Vanessa Villaverde of the California Healthcare Foundation Innovation Fund. 

Vanessa Villaverde, Senior Program Investor at the California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF) Innovation Fund, discusses her work in creating pathways for underinvested founders in the healthcare industry. She emphasizes the need for more diversity and inclusion in digital health and highlights the challenges faced by founders of color in accessing venture capital. Villaverde also mentions the importance of leveraging government funds and charitable organizations to support companies addressing health equity. She discusses her role in the CHCF and her work with the nonprofit organization Founders and Funders of Color, which aims to connect and support organizations addressing health equity challenges. Villaverde encourages listeners to stay tuned for the organization's national tour in 2024 and provides contact information for those interested in learning more.

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):
However, I will tell you my broader true north is to create pathways for under invested founders.

David S. Williams III (Host):

Hello Righters! David Williams here, CEO of Care3 and your host of the Treat Us Right Podcast. The only podcast dedicated to helping you get treated right when interacting with the US Healthcare system. 

You’ve seen all the headlines. Efforts to create a more equitable society are under siege.

The first to fall was affirmative action in college admissions. There were never race-based quotas, but having a diverse class was seen as “locking out more qualified students.” We know what that is code for….

The next target has been employer initiatives like DEI, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion which exploded in popularity and positive results after George Floyd’s brutal video-taped murder. All of the data indicates that having a diverse workforce improves productivity AND profits. Yet, that’s not good enough.

Now the crosshairs are trained on venture capital. Firms that have investment theses for women, people of color, and any other targeted groups are subjects of campaigns to their Limited Partners, government regulators and others to stop the flow of funding. The goal: stop venture capital dollars from flowing to emerging companies that further equal the playing field of life in this country. 

As a serial entrepreneur and startup advisor, I am here to say that the efforts to stop us from building meaningful companies will NOT succeed. And the Treat Us Right Podcast is bringing receipts. 

Welcome to the Premier Episode of our series covering the ViVE 2024 conference in Los Angeles featuring emerging companies and investors dedicated to promoting health equity, so healthcare can work for US and we can all get treated RIGHT. This movement will not stop.

Leading off our series is an absolute superstar investor, Vanessa Villaverde of the California Healthcare Foundation Innovation Fund. 

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):

David, thank you. First of all, I just want to thank you for saying my last name correctly and a 20 year plus career in healthcare. You can imagine the rooms I've been in across DC New York did not necessarily say my last name correctly, but there are not enough Latinos across the board, but particularly in digital health. And so I'm thrilled to be here and I'm thrilled for the work that you're doing to frankly democratize access to healthcare information. Thank you.

David S. Williams III (Host):

Thank you. So tell everybody what you do and the different initiatives you're working on.

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):
I am the senior program investor with the California Healthcare Foundation. This is a role I took on about a year ago. However, I will tell you my broader true north is to create pathways for under invested founders. After my policy career in DC I went into the startups first one iPod at Signify Health. Second one, Keon Tax raise multiple rounds. And I'm really thankful for having had that experience with executives who were seasoned, who knew how to get to exit and acquisition. And in that strategic growth role learned everything from how to internally operate and bring teams together and how to externally translate this to investors. And so the pathways and the projects that I create now are all focused on addressing the challenges we have today at the foundation, I'm helping to open more doors, particularly for founders and funders that are looking to invest into Medicaid and that are looking to address health equity, particularly through this digital health opportunity we have right now at ViVE thanks to the California Healthcare Foundation, we were able to sponsor 35 founders of color because had we not sponsored are unaffordable tickets to startup founders. We all know the stats Black and Latino founders receive less than 2% of venture capital, but in particular in digital health, it is a much bigger gap. These founders of color do not have $5,000 lying around to come in to talk to people that they don't have a current relationship with. So right now we are offsite because we have match made with other venture capital groups that need to know them with other revenue opportunities that need to know them and associations because this is part of the building.

David S. Williams III (Host):

Thank you. Because Care three is one of those scholar recipients for Vibe. What you really said that struck me was how you are trying to enable the companies that are driving a lot of these initiatives in the health equity whose have these that say, I can help our communities in a way that nobody else has done before. And so we thank you for that. From the founder side, tell me some of the things that, or one case perhaps, that you feel is emblematic of the work you've done that's pushing towards health equity. And I already gave you one point for getting these founders to survive.

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):

Just to be clear, we had 180 founders apply for 30 slots and we alone at the foundation can't support them all. The second thing I am focused on, and I guess it's emblematic, is addressing the misnomer that there's lots of venture capital out here for these companies. We were in a conversation yesterday where we were discussing the fact that most every founder in the room had to seek out dollars from foundations or charitable organizations. In other words, it's not the large venture capital groups that are actually fueling the incubation of companies that are addressing health equity. It's literally foundations and charitable dollars banning together. I come particularly from government funds and what I'm especially excited about and I guess is emblematic, is making sure that we educate our digital health founders on how to leverage SBIR dollars or government dollars so that they can start braiding this into their pathway and fuel their companies.

David S. Williams III (Host):

Absolutely. I think for the trius right listeners, a couple of things you said will stand out, which is one, how can we make these companies grow? Growth means serving more people. Growth means bringing more services that are culturally relevant, culturally competent, so that we can benefit. Right now, we know we're underserved, we are not treated right by the healthcare system, and essentially you're saying I'm trying to build out the ecosystem and the funding foundation for these companies to grow and bring all of these innovative services to us that is treating us right. So thank you for that. What challenges are you facing? You've mentioned a couple of them already. How are you overcoming those?

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):

Yeah, I mean, just to recap, the challenges I'm seeing is that we need more funding doors for digital healthcare companies addressing health equity. We need more revenue doors of clinical organizations that are willing to partner at an earlier stage and we need more ecosystems that are open and diverse and inclusive. So specifically, I am really thankful that I get to focus on these roles at the California Healthcare Foundation, I also started a nonprofit called Founders and funders of color.org. We had a national tour in 2023 and stay tuned for National Tour in 2024. We essentially work as an aggregator. I'm working to overcome these challenges by frankly bringing together the disparate threads that are already trying to address these challenges throughout the country. We have pockets of talent in ai, in food and nutrition, in mental health, in every single type of area that our community needs right now.

But because they're not connecting to the rest of the ecosystem and overcoming the relationship and information gap, they're not getting to a statewide level and then to a national level. So we are literally traveling around the country to make sure these organizations know each other and meet each other. I was so excited last night because a lot of the founders who have been part of our founders and Funders of Color Tour happened to all be in the same room in the evening, and they knew each other from different cities because they're operating in different cities and they're helping each other in different cities. So we're just going to keep building with the accelerators around the country.

David S. Williams III (Host):

That was beautiful to see, and I am a proud participant of the Founders and Funders of Color ecosystem. How can people get in contact with you? You've made such an impact already, just with this few moments you've given us. How can people contact you if they want to learn more and talk to you?

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):

Yeah, I will say stay tuned for our national tour in 2024. Our executive director is working on that right now. It's www.foundersandfundersofcolor.org and I am happy to put you in touch with anyone in our organization to get you connected as well as review your pitches.

David S. Williams III (Host):

That sounds great, and we'll have everything linked on our site as well. Vanessa, thank you so much. This has been amazing. I am so thankful for the work that you're doing. Thanks for joining us on Treat Us Right.

Vanessa Villaverde (CHCF):

Thank you for helping us build our community in LA.

David S. Williams III (Host):

And we won't stop!

David S. Williams III (Host):

That was the incomparable Vanessa Villaverde of the California Healthcare Foundation Innovation Fund. You can email her at [email protected].

We have another great feature coming up in our next episode. Definitely check it out and thank you for listening to the Treat Us Right Podcast. Take care.

Welcome to the Treat Us Right Podcast, Season 3 Episode 3 (22), Your Best Life.

About Treat Us Right

The Treat Us Right Podcast gives people of color, women the disabled and other marginalized groups the knowledge, insight, and power to overcome inequities in the healthcare system—so we all get treated right.

Host: David S. Williams III, MBA

Join digital health innovator and Care3 CEO David S. Williams III to learn how managing personal and family health information forces the healthcare system to treat you right, provide exceptional care, so you and your loved ones can live their best.

David has built three successful companies helping over 2 million people use the internet and mobile devices to improve personal and family health.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts.

Do you know what your best life is? 

Do you know what it looks like? Can you see it? Can you envision it? Can you feel it, taste it, touch it? If you don’t know, then you’re not close to living your best life. You have an inner power–an untapped, infinite potential–that if unleashed, will change your life and the lives of those around you.

Welcome! I’m David Williams CEO of Care3 and your HOST for Treat Us Right Podcast. This is Season 3 Episode 3. Your Best Life.

Before we get started, I have a request. Please give us that 5-star rating. 

We have thousands of listeners and listens and only 6 ratings on Apple Podcasts and 3 on Spotify Podcasts. Yes, a number of you listen directly from the care3 website which we love, but please give us the 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts. It’s the best way to show support and appreciation. Thank you.

NOW. Here’s the question of the episode.

Do you know what your best life is? 

Do you know what it looks like? Can you see it? Can you envision it? Can you feel it, taste it, touch it? If you don’t know, then you’re not close to living your best life. You have an inner power–an untapped, infinite potential–that if unleashed, will change your life and the lives of those around you.

In a health or care situation, it is paramount to visualize your best life. Every. Single. Day. 

Meditation:

• Definition: Meditation is a practice that involves training the mind to achieve a state of focused attention, relaxation, and heightened awareness.

• Techniques: It can involve various techniques such as mindfulness meditation, concentration meditation, loving-kindness meditation, or transcendental meditation.

• Goal: The primary goal of meditation is often to cultivate inner peace, mindfulness, and a deep sense of awareness.

Recommended books on meditation:

• "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh

• "10% Happier" by Dan Harris

• "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

Visualization:

• Definition: Visualization, on the other hand, is a technique where individuals create mental images to simulate or recreate a desired experience.

• Techniques: It involves mentally picturing specific scenes, scenarios, or outcomes to enhance performance, reduce stress, or manifest goals.

• Goal: The main goal of visualization is to harness the power of the mind to influence thoughts, emotions, and behaviors positively.

Recommended books on visualization:

• "Creative Visualization" by Shakti Gawain

• "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne

• "Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence" by Gary Mack and David Casstevens

Now let me share one of the main reasons why I am here–talking to you–in your ear–about caring–and the POWER of meditation and visualization. Her name is Karen N. Williams, Ed.D. and she was my mother.

My mother’s story begins when I was born. 

When I was 11, she was told she had 6 months to live–diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. 

This is where my mother used all of education, energy, and positivity to save her own life.

Mom prolonged her life by doing two things:

1. She embraced the 3 Actions - Attitude, Lifestyle, and Persistence

1. All cancer research

2. Managed diet and nutrition

3. Quit smoking

4. Increased exercise

2. Documented health and care events at home translating them into information to share with all doctors

1. Detailed records of all doctor visits

2. All medication history with side effects

3. Tracked symptoms and vitals each day

3. One hour of meditation and visualization each day

1. Meditation and Visualization

All was done by hand and became a way of life.

One goal: to live

And LIVE she did. Six months later on a doctor visit, after a scan, they couldn’t find the tumor. THEY COULDN’T FIND THE TUMOR they said would kill her.

My mother lived not for six months, or even six years–but 27 more years after being told she had six months to live. 

She told me she focused her visualization on shrinking the tumor AND what her life would be like living. Her children. Her career. Her LIFE.

She visualized her life so she could live it. Again, and live she did.

Focus on living your best life each day. Understand your mood and triggers. Episode 17 (part of Season 2) is entitled Triggers. Listen to that one for more targeted discussion. But knowing your triggers is key to avoiding them. 

Then know your joys. Those are the opposites of triggers. These are the occurrences that drive joy and happiness in your life. Pursue those! If you know what they are, then you can achieve them. If you aren’t actively defining your best life, you will never live it.

I’m going to read the titles of episodes 1-3 of this season: Do You Care Enough To Live Your Best Life? That’s the question all in one. If the overall answer is yes, then you know what to do. Each episode has laid the foundation for your path. Walk it. And I’m ready to walk the path with you. With that, here’s the special announcement I mentioned….

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I’m starting something new ONLY for Treat Us Right listeners and referrals of listeners.

Family Navigator service. Or FAN Service. I become your FAN. 

With me as your FAN I can guarantee you 3 things:

1. You will be ORGANIZED. Everything will be clear on what needs to be done.

2. You will get HELP. You’re not alone in this. We make it easy for you to get help so everything gets done.

3. You will SAVE MONEY - This service pays for itself many times over.

Let me be your Family Navigator. Let me be your FAN.

What You Do (Time: < 1 hour)

• Complete a brief 5-minute questionnaire about your SDP family situation.

• Meet with your Family Navigator (FAN) for 30 minutes for context. (Note: this 30 minutes will save you hours in the future.)

What Your FAN Does (Time: Ongoing)

• Creates a Personalized Action Plan (PAP) based on your questionnaire responses and consultation. 

• Onboards your care staff onto the Care3 mobile app for PAP implementation.

• Trains your care staff (and you if desired) on how to use the app, documenting all care task completion, medication adherence, appointment/shift scheduling and more.

• Sends you a Monthly Activity Report each month to show what happened the previous month. This report can be used in doctor visits so they know how things are going and make personalized treatment decisions.

• Checks in with you periodically to collaborate for any updates to the PAP. Things change over time and your FAN is with you at every step.

Don’t You Want A FAN?

We all need fans, right? Let us be your FAN.

Best of all? It’s only $99 to bring me on as your FAN. 

At Care3, we help people just like you overcome and thrive given their health and care challenges. Here’s our promise. We will save you at least 5x the $99 FAN Service membership fee or your money back. Period. No questions asked. 

How do you opt-in to FAN Service? It’s easy. Simply go to www.care3.co/fanq. Fill out the form. It takes 5 minutes! No credit card needed. If you love FAN Service, we will bill you in 30 days. If not, no worries. We will always be your fan.

Have questions about FAN Service? Here’s my personal email address–yes you can Email me directly at [email protected] (all spelled out). 

I look forward to hearing from you. Feedback is always welcome. Please subscribe and if you like Treat Us Right, give us that 5-star rating! Do it now so you don’t forget.

You won’t want to miss our next episodes! Thanks for listening and take care.

Welcome to the Treat Us Right Podcast, Season 3 Episode 2 (21), Enough To Live.

Treat Us Right is the podcast for people who care for and about others. And when you care for others, you have to care for yourself as well. Learn modern self-care and caregiving techniques using the power of technology, data, and empathy to get extraordinary health for you and your loved ones.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts.

Episode Summary

In this episode, host David S. Williams III explores the dual meaning of the Enough To Live title, focusing on both personal stresses and financial realities inherent in shouldering healthcare situations. His inspiring message gives listeners the tools they need to thrive, not simply survive given their health and care needs.

Transcript: David S. Williams III (Host)

Welcome to the Treat Us Right Podcast. I am your host, David S. Williams III, and this is Season 3 Episode 2 #21 overall, Enough To Live.

In our last episode, we discussed the 3 Actions in Caring. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, definitely give it a listen. It is foundational to this and following episodes. Trust me, It’s worth the 25 minutes. And if you like the Treat Us Right Podcast, subscribe and give us that 5-star rating!

OK. Let’s jump in! Enough to live. What does that mean? We’re going to explore this in two parts.

Part 1: Is it enough just to live?

When you’re in a challenging situation of ANY kind, but especially a personal health and/or family care challenge, is it enough for you just to live? Or do you want to BE ALIVE? Don’t you want to THRIVE? Not simply survive. 

To BE ALIVE, what are you willing to do? You have to GIVE to more than live.

What does that mean? GIVE to more than live? It means you have to

Give UP what harms you. 

Give IN to what helps you

Give GRACE to YOURSELF in the process

Give up what harms you. This means to recognize the behaviors that don’t promote health, positivity, and light in your life–and let them go. It’s really hard to change habits, I know. But doing so brings new joys and opportunities. You have to give UP harmful habits.

The best book on habit-changing I’ve read is Atomic Habits by James Clear. He shows how small, incremental changes over time can help you make major life changes. It works. 

You also may have to give up PEOPLE who don’t help you. Be real with yourself. You know who those people are in your life. The people who don’t support you are those who want you to stay the same. Who stagnate your growth. Who are only there when times are good. Who ask you for help, money, time, but never return the favor. We all have people in our lives who aren’t the best influences. And some of the times, they are THE. BEST. Sometimes we want to get into a little trouble. Have some fun. But when you’re in a health situation, be careful. Sometimes that fun can harm you. Choose the people who love you and truly want what’s best. Those who only take from you, give up. They’re not worth it, and you ARE.

Give in to what helps you. This acceptance of the new lifestyle will help you mentally adjust to the changes. Deep breaths. Feel what’s new. Like anything, learn the process, then make it yours. Own it! It’s your life.

One action that helps is visualization. We’re going to talk about that in our next episode, but you should be able to visualize what success looks like. What will you be able to do in this new lifestyle? See it. Feel it. Don’t focus on what you can no longer do. Focus on the future and see what it can be. You get to start anew. This is THE opportunity to redefine your life to live your best. Embrace it!

Give Grace. No one is perfect. You may trip along the way and revert back to some old habits. We all fall off the wagon once in a while. If that happens, give yourself grace about it. Don’t overreact or beat yourself up. Simply get back into the lifestyle as best you can. Move forward. Don’t make excuses, but try to avoid the trigger that caused you to revert. Remember from Episode 1, if you care, you have to remain persistent and REPEAT the behaviors that help you.

Avoiding triggers is the most important aspect of Giving Grace. We have an entire episode on Triggers. Once you recognize that you reverted to a behavior that can cause you harm or doesn’t help you, you have to recognize the trigger. Once you know the trigger, you can avoid it next time. You’ll feel better identifying the trigger and knowing that it hurts. That’s your grace. Understanding yourself and how triggers impact you–then take that knowledge and apply it for next time. Avoid the trigger–or if the trigger is unavoidable, don’t repeat the behavior. You can do it!

Is it enough just to live? Managing a chronic condition for yourself or a loved one (or both) requires changes. Give what it takes to BE ALIVE–Give Up, Give In, and Give GRACE.

See what BEING ALIVE means. Feel it. Embrace it. The new you can be better. 

It is NOT enough to live. You have to be alive. You have to Thrive to be alive.

Part 2: Do you have enough to live on? You see that?

Have you seen the latest economic data? It’s outstanding. Unemployment is low, wages are higher, consumer confidence is at a level not seen since the New Deal. Inflation is receding and housing prices are stabilizing. By all measures, the economy is in an excellent position. But why am I talking about the economy? What does it have to do with your every day?

This is where my MBA comes in really handy. There are inevitable financial realities to dealing with health situations. If you have enough to live on, meaning you’re independently wealthy–good for you. You’re not worried about these economic challenges. If you have a job and you’re working through your challenge–personal health, family care, both–then you have to deal with economic realities. Seniors face this all the time–but so do we in our working age. There are tradeoffs. There are sacrifices. Are you trading meals for meds? Are you sacrificing work hours for work at home? If you’re making trades, you don’t have enough to LIVE on.

I’m not judging. 99% of the entire planet is in this situation. But sometimes, just a little bit more money can make a major impact on your life. Here are some ways to increase your income to reduce your tradeoffs and sacrifices–to have enough to live on:

Get a job with a new company. We are in a tight labor market right now. That means demand for talent is at a high. Employers will PAY MORE for talent. Switching jobs can get you at least 20% more than you make now, especially if you’ve been in your job more than one year. Some people see increases of 50% or more. Imagine what 50% more money each month would do for you….

Caveat: Benefits. If your job benefits are so good, you should stay in your job even though you can make more elsewhere. My mother was in this situation. She could’ve made 40% more money at another job–she had the offers–but the hospitalization benefit at her current job was so good, given her health situation, it was worth it to stay in that job that paid less cash. 

The moral of that story is KNOW YOUR BENEFITS. Do you know your benefits, what is covered, what kinds of services you have access to? You may have access to services that really help you. 

If you’re switching jobs, you can also ask what the benefits are at the new company. They may have a golden benefit for your situation which makes them the perfect fit–AND you make more money. Imagine that….

Get a raise at your current job. It’s highly likely that you’re underpaid right now. In fact, people who are brought in AT YOUR LEVEL who are new probably make more money than you because of #1. The new person switched jobs. So if you find out someone new makes more than you–ask for a raise immediately. The company does NOT want to lose you. They just paid more for a new employee AND had to pay to HIRE that employee. It’s cheaper for them to keep you and give you a raise. Don’t be afraid to ask. If you’re a good performer, you should make more than the new person. Period.

Get a side hustle. This may or may not be feasible given your situation, but if you need extra money, there are more side hustles out there than ever. Imagine what an extra $1,000 a month would do. Here are some examples:

Uber/Lyft driver

Affiliate sales

Social content with ads

Tasking

Work Overtime. This is the same as side hustle–may not be feasible. BUT if you can free up some time, then working overtime pays more per hour. Sometimes it’s double time–but usually time and a half. 

In case it isn’t quite obvious, time is money. If you can get time, you can get money. The best way to deal with your health or care situation is to save TIME doing all the things that have to get done. Then you can make more MONEY. And the best way to save time is to GET ORGANIZED and GET HELP.

Want to connect about Thriving to be alive and/or having enough to live on from this episode? Here’s my personal email address–yes you can Email me directly at [email protected] all spelled out. 

I look forward to hearing from you. Feedback is always welcome. Please subscribe and if you like Treat Us Right, give us that 5-star rating! 

In our next episode, we are going to reveal, explore, and detail how to unleash an inner power, a hidden power that you’re definitely not using. AND we’re making a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT only for Treat Us Right listeners. Do NOT miss it. Thanks for listening. Give us that 5-star rating. Take care.