Today we’d like to introduce you to Kafilat Salawu.
Kafilat, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Thank you for having me here to share my story! I was born and raised in Kwara State, Nigeria, where I mostly completed my primary and secondary education. My father migrated to the United States in the late 1990s in search for a better environment and opportunities for us. Years later, my mother, brothers, and I also relocated to join my father. Being an immigrant young adult was challenging. I struggled initially with the cultural, religious, and racial differences. Finding worthy friends and overcoming bullying and peer pressure took years. In retrospect, this is a blessing as it allowed time to focus on my studies, learn self-love, and promptly accomplish my goals. I am an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner and Board-Certified Health Advocate. I have been blessed to use my experiences as an immigrant and healthcare professional to improve the health and lives of many people within the United States and abroad.
My interest in healthcare started with helping my parents coordinate the care of my chronically ill sibling at a young age. We encountered so many challenges with healthcare delivery, communications, and coordination. While we have made some improvements within the healthcare industry, it saddens me to see many people continue to struggle with obtaining diagnosis, explanation of test results, and effective communication between healthcare team decades later.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think the road to greatness is filled with challenges that we must all learn to overcome if we want to be successful. I often don’t let the fear of failure stop me from success. Thankfully, I learnt early to fail fast and constantly find ways to improve myself. One challenge in my career and business is being a “minority.” Sometimes human beings are not receptive to change and people who are different from us. I remember being cornered at work years ago by a patient’s family who thought her children aren’t successful because people like me “use-up” all the available opportunities in the United States. In the contrary, immigrants are mostly a great addition to any nation. Instead of living life under the societal label of “minority,” I have decided to live as a beautiful human who have alot to offer the world. When I meet people who don’t appreciate me, I assume it’s because they don’t know or understand people like me. Hence, I positively educate and introduce them to my world. I realize doing this required me to first love, understand, and appreciate my own identity.
Finally, my heart goes to every human working hard to improve themselves and feed their family. Being an entrepreneur, employee, wife, and mother to three amazing children under the age of 10 is an art. While these roles are probably the hardest part of my life, I am grateful for the opportunity. I love it and would not prefer it any other way. Time management is a skill I have had to learn in order to be here. I have also learnt to constantly evaluate my external world to identify and eliminate insignificant stressors.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Fides Health Advocates, LLC is a health advocacy company specializing in helping adults with cancer and other chronic illnesses navigate the complex healthcare system by providing the resources and information necessary to make informed health decisions and consents. Our mission at Fides Health Advocates, LLC is to help clients attain the best and safest health outcomes through trust, understanding, and care. We are committed to promoting the safety, health, and rights of clients in Atlanta and throughout the United States through individual empowerment, effective team communication, and personalized care.
Our services include cancer and blood disorder support, backgroud diagnosis and treatment plan research, health navigation, decision support, emotional support, patient rights protection, medical team coordination, resource identification, advocacy and empathy, health literacy enhancement, continuity of care, disease prevention and wellness promotion, health equity and access, end of life planning, caregiver support, and accountability and quality improvement.
We are board certified in health advocacy and advanced hematology-oncology practices with over a decade of experience in care coordination and clinical practices within the hospital and community settings. We are proud of the empathetic and compassionate services we constantly deliver at Fides Health Advocates, LLC. Our clients and their families come to us with various emotions and concerns threatening their health, finances, and life. It is an honor holding their hands and offering them immense support while they undergo the critical stages of their lives. As with our name, Fides, we take pride in reliability, loyalty, and trustworthiness.
We offer a free 15-minute initial consultation to new clients. We are HIPAA compliant and responsive. Our services are comprehensive, not limited to adults with cancer and blood disorders.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Caring for our clients using a holistic and individualized approach is our priority. To accomplish this, I rely on my spirituality, higher power, and my community of well-wishers to be physically and mentally healthy. We can’t give what we don’t have.
I love listening to the professionals at Yaqeen Institute, Triage Cancer, and staying updated through professional conferences and colleagues. I have learnt so much from listening to my patients and clients, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to care for them. Special thanks to VoyageATL for the opportunity to share my story and their work shining light on the Atlanta Gems that we wouldn’t normally hear about. This is an important work and platform!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.FidesHealthAdvocates.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/FidesHealthAdvocates
- Facebook: Facebook.com/fideshealthadvocates
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kafilat-salawu
