Financing Ambition - A Personal Finance Podcast from Laurel Road

Dr. Duclas Charles, Founder of Black Health Connect, joins us to talk about the community-building work he's doing to bridge gaps in diversity and representation in healthcare. Listen as he and host Eric Sutton discuss why racial concordance, cultural competency training (CCT), equity, and inclusion are so important to healthcare careers and patient outcomes.Episode Noteshttps://www.blackhealthconnect.com/https://www.instagram.com/blackhealthconnect/aeaweb.orgharvardpublichealth.org commonwealthfund.orghttps://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fundreports/2024/apr/advancing-racial-equity-us-health-care bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.combmchealthservres.biomedcentral.comequityhealthj.biomedcentral.comHave a financial question for our experts? Submit your question here.

Rachel Brief, a Registered Dietitian based in New York City, joins us to kick off Season 4 with a conversation about three important topics: Food, friends, and finances. Listen as she shares her dietitian's wisdom about these intertwined aspects of our lives, and hear her advice on how to set wellness goals – the SMART way – for the year ahead.

In our Season 3 finale episode of Financing Ambition, financial experts from the Laurel Road team respond to questions submitted by our listeners. Listen as Diana Welch Howell, Shan Agish, Cassandra Hume, Sarah McClutchy, and Dr. Chirag Shah provide answers to five top financial questions from 2024.

In this special Halloween episode of Financing Ambition, listen to seven spooky stories of money mishaps that will shiver your wallet's spine – from mortgage nightmares and haunted credit scores to ATM machines that feast on debit cards in foreign lands. Hosted by Eric Sutton, with stories contributed by Laurel Road member advocates and team members.

Collectively, Drs. Tiffany Tavernier and David Thomas had an astonishing $1.2 million in student loan debt forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. While the two physicians have different medical backgrounds – Dr. Tavernier in radiology and Dr. Thomas in immunology – their individual student loan debt journeys share an common ground: Neither one had to make a single payment on their student loans prior to forgiveness. Learn about the unique set of circumstances and timing that made it possible in this episode, hosted by Eric Sutton, Laurel Road's Head of Design & Content.

In celebration of Parents Day on July 28th, Child Psychiatrist Dr. Linda Drozdowicz joins Laurel Road's Cassandra Hume for a wide-ranging conversation on the challenges of balancing parenthood with a career in medicine. Listen for Dr. Drozdowicz's expert advice on childcare, time management, financial considerations, and more.

Join us for a special Pride Month episode of Financing Ambition as host Eric Sutton sits down with Dr. James Kostek, the medical director of the Baby Siperstein Proud Center in Somerville, New Jersey. Eric and Dr. Kostek discuss the complexities and inequities LGBTQ+ individuals face in seeking medical care,  as well as the past, present, and future of LGBTQ+ healthcare. Dr. Kostek shares invaluable advice for aspiring medical professionals and stresses the importance of passion, motivation, and specialized education. Don't miss this enlightening discussion on the progress and persistent challenges in this realm of healthcare.

In our Financial Literacy Month episode, Laurel Road's Director of Credit and Operational Strategy, Jessica Agnello, and Laurel Road's Product Operations Manager, Cheryl Forth, join the podcast for a conversation about financial fraud and scams – a growing problem in our increasingly cashless world. The discussion covers how to identify the red flags of a scam and best practices for protecting your money.

Our recent Love + Money survey found that romance and finance aren't always a perfect match. To break down the survey results and share their own relationship's financial journey, Drs. Joshua and Nicolet Hernandez join us for a wide-ranging discussion on financial compatibility in romantic relationships.

Ted Kane, Partner at Brown & Brown and employee benefit industry veteran, joins us to discuss trends in hospital employee benefits and shifting expectations that medical professionals have of their employers. Ted shares how healthcare systems can leverage flexible employee benefit plans to attract and retain top healthcare talent and stay competitive in a challenging environment.

In this episode, we're joined by Kimberly McClellan, EdD, Adjunct Clinical Professor at Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions, to discuss student loan forgiveness for nurses. Kim had $69,000 in student loan debt forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, and she shares how our student loan specialists helped her get there.

In this episode, GradFin Senior Manager Joseph Price-Gault (aka JPG) joins us to unpack a summer of back-to-back student loan news, including a big SCOTUS decision, recent changes to income-driven repayment (IDR), a lawsuit against the one-time IDR account adjustment, and the return of student loan payments this Fall.

Listen to an in-depth conversation between two residents, Dr. Nicolet Finger and Dr. Shiv Vyas, about the financial challenges they've had to overcome during residency and the strategies they use to find financial peace of mind.

In this episode, three doctors talk about how they each achieved student loan forgiveness – ranging from $44,483 to more than $416,000 – through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and how a GradFin student loan specialist helped them get there.

In part two of I'm Also a Doctor, Drs. Risa Ravitz and Hanan Atia  talk about how their ocean-related passions help them find balance, disconnect, and become better doctors.

Learn what you need to know about student loan forgiveness in 2023, the current status of student loan relief, and how to get help with Laurel Road and GradFin founder, Chris Walters. 

Doctors share their Resident Match Day experiences, and what fourth-year med students should consider financially before starting residency.

Following Laurel Road's I'm Also a Doctor  docuseries, three doctors share their inspiring passion projects and how their interests outside of medicine help make them better doctors.

Laurel Road's Head of Mortgage, Eileen Derks talks with Dr. Sanjay Juneja and Dr. Chirag Shah about the advantages of a physician and dentist mortgage, as well as the unique challenges doctors face during the homebuying process in today's real estate market.

Dr. Sanjay Juneja and Dr. Chirag Shah join Laurel Road to discuss the financial challenges that residents face early on, including managing med school debt, how to balance saving and investing, and avoiding anxiety around money early in their careers. Dr. Juneja and Dr. Shah join Laurel Road's Marketing Content Manager, Cassandra Hume, to share the financial advice they wish they had gotten as residents.

Dr. Sanjay Juneja, MD, triple specialized in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology. The social media star and founding medical partner of Doctorpedia.com, talks about what led him to a career in medicine, the financial challenges he's faced as a doctor, and the pain points members of the healthcare community face when it comes to preparing and managing personal finances. He also talks about one thing he wishes he knew when he was younger and offers a helpful tip on how to find the time to improve your financial knowledge.

Julia Eze, MSN, RN, NP-C, a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and entrepreneur, talks about what led her to a career in nursing, and her early experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic. She also offers insightful perspectives on the lack of diversity in the US healthcare system, and shares her thoughts on how the industry can improve experiences for under-represented patients with greater diversity on both sides of the bed.

Dr. Jennifer Tsai, optometrist and social media influencer, talks to us about her experiences with opening a practice during the COVID crisis. She offers her perspective on how to operate a private practice while the doors are closed, what the reality of federal funding has been like, and how she’s managed to make ends meet. Dr. Tsai also shares a personal account of how she has been affected by racism towards Asian-Americans during the global pandemic. Lastly, she share tips on how physicians can build their “digital resume” to attract new customers via social media.

As states begin to re-open and we all hope for the best, businesses large and small have a long road ahead. Yet despite the unknowns, stories of creativity, perseverance, and empathy are everywhere. For this episode, We unpack the outlook for the future on both coasts with Lauren Herpich, owner and operator of a popular food tour group in Oakland, CA, and Rob Byrnes, president of East Midtown Partnerships, an economic development partnership overseeing one of Manhattan’s busiest small business districts.

Is necessity the mother of invention? What might be the silver linings of this pandemic, if any? We chat with Dr. Akhilesh Sista, Dr. Michael Schaefer, and ICU Nurse Katie Taylor, all affiliated with NYU’s Langone Medical Center at the center of the epidemic in NYC, on topics spanning from the nature of the disease, to its widespread medical and financial impacts on a very uncertain future. Amidst the chaos of the moment, we unpack the positive implications of dramatic change in the world forever altered by the novel coronavirus. We also discuss how doctors feel about their student loan debt during these trying economic circumstances.

We speak with Hannah Galin, Laurel Road’s rates and pricing maven, to uncover what near zero federal interest rates mean, and if taking out debt right now is the right thing to do. We also speak with Ken Raskin of KeyBank who, with his extensive experience advising clients through financial emergencies, shares his wisdom on how to stay financially and mentally sound in these trying times.

Netflix’s new show, “Love Is Blind,” has pushed the boundaries on what couples reveal to one another in their early relationships. Underscoring this radical honesty is a recent Laurel Road survey showing that it’s no longer taboo for millennial and Gen Z. couples to discuss their financial baggage. Learn from our guest Alyssa Schaefer on how to position your relationship for success through openness and vulnerability around one of life’s touchiest subjects: your money.

Ever wondered what you could do with 500k+ followers? We tease out some tips from The Bachelor’s Derek Peth on influencer ‘best practices’, for those interested. They also get to the bottom of what makes a side hustle worthwhile, and whether or not you should consider having one.

We discuss American higher ed, its staggering rise in cost, cultural and generational differences in paying for and choosing an education, and speak with a Boomer himself to get his take on those #millennialwoes.

We want to welcome you to Financing Ambition, a personal finance podcast from Laurel Road.