Episode 13: Dr. Jasmine Zapata on the importance of self-care, empowerment, and pursuing your passion

Dr. Jasmine Zapata joins us for the latest episode of RISE Radio, our podcast series that focuses on issues that impact our three communities: Quality & Revenue; Medicare Member Acquisition & Experience; and Social Determinants of Health.

“Dr. Jaz,” a keynote speaker at the upcoming RISE Women in Health Care Leadership Summit, Dec. 14-15 at the InterContinental San Diego, will discuss finding and pursuing your passion.

In this 20-minute podcast, Dr. Jaz discusses how to find time to take care of yourself to lead at a high level in all other areas of your life. She demonstrates this practice daily in her own life. She is an award-winning author, speaker, and double board-certified physician who specializes in the fields of pediatrics and public health. As a medical doctor, she does public health research, works in the hospital caring for newborn babies, trains new doctors, and serves as a state public health official. 

Outside of her medical roles, she is extremely passionate about mentorship and girl empowerment and describes her mission in life as one to heal, uplift, and inspire. Dr. Jaz is the founder of the Beyond Beautiful Girls Empowerment Movement, which helps girls increase their confidence, self-esteem, and leadership skills. Beyond Beautiful means you are more than what people see on the outside—your true beauty is within! The Beyond Beautiful books, live events, music, and courses have now reached schools, churches, health systems, and nonprofits both nationally and internationally. 

Attendees of The RISE Women in Health Care Leadership Summit who attend her fireside chat will receive a copy of her book, Beyond Beautiful.

To learn more about the Beyond Beautiful Girls Empowerment Movement, visit www.BeyondBeautifulTour.org and https://madison365.com/beyond-beautiful-celebration-an-afternoon-of-pure-joy/.

Click here to connect with Dr. Jaz. 

Transcript

RISE Association’s RISE Radio

Episode title: Dr. Jasmine Zapata on the importance of self-care, empowerment, and pursuing your passion

Episode number: 13

Recorded: November 1, 2022

Published: November 7, 2022

Ilene MacDonald: Hello and welcome to the latest episode of RISE Radio. I'm your host Ilene MacDonald, the editorial director of RISE. My guest today is Dr. Jasmine Zapata, the award-winning author, speaker, board-certified pediatrician, and public health doctor/

She'll be speaking at our upcoming conference, The RISE Women in Health Care Leadership Summit in December in San Diego, talking about finding and pursuing your passion. I’m delighted to welcome you, Dr. Jaz. Thank you for joining me today.

Dr. Jasmine Zapata: Thank you. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. 

MacDonald: I have to say I've never interviewed a superhero before, but I've been told that Dr. Jaz is one. I saw that you've been named by the Wisconsin Medical Society as a Superhero of Medicine because you go above and beyond to improve the health of the patients and community. I just have to say, when I was looking to prepare for the interview, I thought where do you find time to pursue your passion? I've always thought of doctors being married to their work, and you know the fact that you have such a variety of interests it seems.

Zapata: Yes, Thank you so much. Well, a lot of people ask me that, like Dr. Jaz, ‘Do you ever sleep?” How do you have time to find time to do all of these things, but it's so important, especially as leaders in medicine and public health or leaders in our community. In general you have to be able to fill your own cup up before you can pour out into others. I'll say that again, before you can pour into other people, you have to make sure to fill up your own cup. So, how I like to look at things is instead of it being like a cup that I’m filling. But then there's a hole in the bottom pouring out into other people. I actually like to look at it as, I am a complete cup, with no holes in it, and the more that I pour into my side then my cup will overflow on to other people. And so, it's so important for me to lead at a high level for me to be working in the hospital, to be leading at a statewide level with my public health work, for me to be a mother, for me to be a wife, for me to pursue my own passions with book writing and speaking, and empowering young people across the country, and even abroad.

 I have to fill my own cup and bring myself joy, and take care of myself, so that joy can overflow on to others. So that's how I do it. I practice radical self-care and make sure to put me first.

MacDonald: How do you do it? I was wondering because I read your book, I picked up the Beyond Beautiful, which I found really inspiring, I think, for any woman, whether you're 10, 30, because it spoke to me. You know the insecurities you might feel, and how do you overcome them? And it seemed to me, when I was reading this and thinking about you when you mentioned yourself as a mother, especially because I’m a mother too.  Do you do this every day? Is this self-care something you practice every day? Or is it just for like, if you average it out the week, how do you do it? Where, you put yourself first?

Zapata: Yes, it's very interesting. I actually have on my calendar, and I’m looking at it right now as we speak. I have a big giant poster board on the wall that helps me keep track of everything that I need to do in the day, and I actually have a space blocked out, and I call it joy time, where during that hour, I just have to stop whatever I'm doing and do something that's going to bring me joy. And so, it could be anything. It could be me going to the local gym and going into the hot tub. It could be me just taking a nap if that's what's going to bring enjoy at that time. It could be, and this is separate, I will mention then family time, so I have family time blocked off separately. But joy time is something just for me. It could be reading my favorite book, going on a walk, just spending time watching Netflix, if that's something at that moment that brings me joy. So just, really, really being intentional in the same way that we block off important meetings, that we have important podcast interviews, that we have important time to do work or pay bills, or whatever it's important to put a meeting for yourself to experience joy. And then if somebody says, oh, can you do something at this time? I look at my calendar and if it's blocked off for joy time, I just tell people ‘Oh, I'm sorry, I'm booked at that time, I'm not available. They don't need to know what it is. I'm just not available at that time, because you block it off, and you prioritize it as much as you would anything else.

MacDonald: I think that's so important because I think people in general, especially in the health care field are constantly giving to others, right? You're constantly having to make those meetings or do that research, or take care of those patients, and sometimes you forget to take care of yourself. So, one thing I saw in your book is that you like to sing, and is that one of your passions as well? And, has that always been something you've been passionate about? How did you discover it?

Zapata: Yes, yes, you've really been reading the book getting into those juicy details. But yes, ever since I was a little, little girl I've always been singing in church choirs. I play the piano and have always been writing songs and music. And, interestingly, I always felt for quite a while that I had to separate that from my job as being a doctor. Doctors don't do that. Doctors are where they're in white coats, go in to talk to patients and diagnose and treat, and like I just felt like I had to separate my two worlds, because that wasn't what doctors should do, and then, especially as I started delving into the area of book writing and starting my girls empowerment movement, Beyond Beautiful, which means you are more than what people see on the outside. Your true beauty and power and strength is on the inside. You have to be okay with being authentically you.

I started merging my career as a doctor and being a singer as well as my creative side. So, I would do these girls empowerment events where we would have music and games and prizes and dancing. But then we would do breakout sessions, and in those breakout sessions the young ladies would really just start to pour out really the issues of their heart, and I would begin to talk to them about public health issues, different issues related to their health and wellness, mental health, their physical health. And it was so amazing to get to merge all of those things together, and I found I had more impact, and I was able to reach those young ladies even more when I did it outside of the clinic walls, being my authentic self. And writing songs about loving yourself, being authentically you and it's just been amazing, and I had to just realize that after many, many years. But I’m glad I finally got to that point to just merge those two things together, and it's been amazing.

MacDonald:  Your authentic you really does come through the pages, I have to say, and I think if I'm not mistaken, that this Beyond Beautiful book is going to be available at the conference. There'll be copies available to the audience 

Zapata: Yes, I am so excited about that. Yes, everyone in the audience is going to get a copy of the first book Beyond Beautiful: A Girl’s Guide to Unlocking the Power of Inner Beauty, Self-esteem, Resilience, and Courage. That's the first book in the series.

MacDonald: A it's really something that I think I mentioned to you before we began the podcast, when we were introduced, that I really think it can speak to women of all ages. That little girl, maybe inside you that was never spoken to, or just even maybe that we forgot about as we got older. So, in the day-to-day of our lives that wait, we are important, and we can find joy in whatever it is, whether it's the music, or walks or television. Do you have any strategies, though? For some of us who may have sort of forgotten how to find that passion, maybe we've sort of tempered it down. What do you do to sort of rediscover it in yourself?

Zapata: Yes, great question. One of the biggest things is believing in the power of positive affirmations. When you say things out of your mouth, your ears hear that, and it goes into your brain. It shapes when you say positive affirmations about yourself, or positive things that you expect to happen. The truths about yourself even if your emotions don't feel that way. If you speak it out of your mouth and your ears hear, it will go to the parts of your brain that will actually process that thing, and it will shape your thoughts, and then your thoughts will then shape your emotions, and then those emotions help shape your behaviors for that day and your behaviors then go and create your reality. So, sometimes, when you're when you're feeling down and out when you're just not feeling your best, you have to start speaking positive affirmations about your life, in your situation, even though you don't feel like it when you begin to speak it out of your mouth, over and over and over. Then it, like I mentioned, just kind of rewires your brain. And then pretty soon you're like, Wait a minute. I feel a little bit better. Okay, I can do this You're like your own best cheerleader, and that's what I teach all the young ladies that I work with, and it actually works for me as well, and any adult women as well. There's so much power in the words that we speak, and even when you don't feel like it, you have to still say it. And even if other people don’t believe in you or other peopled don’t speak positivity over your life. Guess what you are the one that has power to speak positive things over your life. You're the you. You can control that. And so I just. I love that, and I can actually give you an example. If we have time today.

MacDonald: We do, please.

Zapata: Okay, all right. So, I will recite the Beyond Beautiful declaration. And this, this declaration is actually written in the front of the books. So anytime you're feeling down and out, or actually just every single morning when you wake up, before you pick up your phone, before you go on social media, before you check your email, if you just wake up and you say this out loud, I promise it will change your day. But this is the Beyond Beautiful declaration. And this is really what started the whole Beyond Beautiful girls’ empowerment movement, all the books in the series, the courses, the live red carpet, events that we do the tours that we went on, even the song that has been written.  It’s all been based off of this Beyond Beautiful declaration. And again, what Beyond Beautiful means is that you're more than what people see on the outside. Your true beauty and strength and power is on the inside. Okay, Are you ready? 

MacDonald: I'm ready.

Zapata: Okay, I’m going to have you repeat after me. Are you brave enough to do that?  Can I pick on you? You're going do it with me?

MacDonald:  I better be else it'll be a lot of silence on this podcast.

Zapata: Okay, so I'll say one line, and then you repeat after me, and even for anybody listening out there to this podcast. I dare you to say this out loud as well, and just pay attention to how it you know makes you feel on the inside. All right so, and here's the rules, too. You have to say it with confidence. You can't just say it quietly. You have to say it with confidence. All right. You ready? 

MacDonald: Ready.

Zapata: Today will be a great day.

MacDonald: Today will be a great day.

Zapata: I'll achieve all I set my mind to. 

MacDonald: I'll achieve all I set my mind to.

Zapata: I cannot be stopped. 

MacDonald: I cannot be stopped.

Zapata: I can do anything I want to. 

MacDonald: I can do anything I want to.

Zapata: Because I’m beyond beautiful.

MacDonald: Because I’m beyond beautiful.

Zapata: I'm beyond beautiful.

MacDonald: I’m beyond beautiful.

Zapata: I'm courageous.

MacDonald: I'm courageous.

Zapata: I’m resilient.

MacDonald: I’m resilient. 

Zapata: I'm confident.

MacDonald: I'm confident.

Zapata: I’m creative.

MacDonald: I’m creative.

Zapata: I am talented.

MacDonald: I am talented 

Zapata: Intelligent

MacDonald: Intelligent

Zapata: Unique

MacDonald:  Unique

Zapata: And innovative.

MacDonald: And innovative.

Zapata: I'm worth it

MacDonald: I'm worth it.

Zapata:  I deserve it. 

MacDonald: I deserve it.

Zapata:  I am treasured.

MacDonald: I am treasured.

Zapata: I am loved.

MacDonald: I am loved.

Zapata: And I deserve every blessing that is coming from above.

MacDonald: And I deserve every blessing that is coming from above.

Zapata: All right. You did it.

MacDonald: I did it. Wow! You do feel different saying it, the more you say it, and you hear the words, it's true. 

Zapata: Yep, definitely. And then another thing. If you actually open it up and read it in front of the mirror and force yourself to say positive things about yourself in front of the mirror. You feel weird at first. You're like, Oh, my gosh! Like I'm talking to myself. If you do it, and you look at yourself in the mirror, and say, you are amazing. Jasmine, you did that today. You just killed that presentation. You are fabulous. The fact that you're even still standing here, despite all that you've been through. Oh, my gosh! You are fabulous! You are looking good, girl. Yes, you did that. When you start, you feel kind of weird. But then, after you just begin to speak positivity to yourself, you look at yourself in the mirror and remind yourself how amazing you are, that starts to change, literally change those thoughts that you rearrange in your brain, that you plant in your head. It changes your emotions, and then your emotions impact your behaviors. And again, your behaviors actually go out and change your reality. So, there is power in the words that we speak, and a lot of people say, ‘Well what’s your secret?’ That's one of the biggest things, positive affirmations. And then that's what I teach in my books, and you know it's just really launched and turned into a lot more than just that.

MacDonald: I think so many of us have self-critical voice in our head so to sort of counter it with that affirmation is probably really important, especially if you take on the energy of other people who might be negative. You can hold on to that positivity that you begin your day with.

Zapata: Exactly. It definitely stays with you. And there's so much pressure even in the workplace. Um in our jobs and careers, even in society, when you look at the news, or when you look through magazines, there's certain pressures on how we should talk, how we should develop our careers, how we should look, and success is defined by other people. But we have to take that power back and say, ‘What does success look like for me? What does beauty look like for me.’ For me beauty is more than lipstick, and how my face looks! Beauty is the fact that, despite my brother dying at age 16, I was able to still take the medical college admissions test and push my way and make it int o medical school. True beauty for me is the fact that my daughter was born during my second year of medical school at only 25 weeks gestation and was on life support almost three months before she came out, and I had the audacity to say, ‘I'm not going to quit. I'm going to still push toward my goal of becoming a doctor.’ That is true beauty, that is true strength and power, and it doesn't have anything to do with what I look like on the outside. And so, we have to have the power to define what beauty and what success is, and it's all internal. It doesn't have anything to do with outward pressures or expectations, and that's why even this message is good for young girls, but it applies to us in in adulthood as well.

MacDonald: it does. I read those, what happened to you throughout your life, and I was struck by that because so many people may have like climbed into their own beds and never got out of bed after some of those experiences: that what's really spoke to me was what you mentioned earlier the resilience right? You have to be resilient, and it's okay if you make mistake that you can get up and have the courage to face it.  I think those are really important life lessons that we sometimes maybe forget in the day to day.

Zapata: Yes, definitely. And it's always good to remind yourself of that. When we were on tour, we, it was just so amazing. We were in Houston, Texas. We were in LA, Cincinnati, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Washington, DC. We were all over, and at these events we would have, as I mentioned, music, games, breakout sessions for the young people. But what we realized was a lot of the parents would come to us and say, ‘Thank you for doing this for our daughters. But we need to have a conversation about this, even as parents and caregivers, because we suffer from some of these same insecurities, or needing to have internal validation, and like, needing to love ourselves and understand our worth. Needing to talk about what is courage and bravery? What does that look like in our own lives? And so, then, that's when we started doing breakout sessions for the parents, and now we do parent support circles as well. I work with my mother, who is on the team Beyond Beautiful team, and she leads some amazing sessions. So, it's really intergenerational movement. But it's important for all ages.

MacDonald: It is. I love your message of empowering women, especially as we're preparing for this summit. And so, I think you'll be kicking off the first day, I believe, with your chats will be very inspiring, and I wonder, before we end our conversation, if there's anything I didn't ask. Any things you'd want our listeners to take away from today whether they're going to be in the audience or not. Something that you really think is important for women to think about today.

Zapata: Yes, thank you for that. The biggest thing on my heart to say is reminding you that you are beyond beautiful. Your true beauty and strength and power isn't on the outside, isn't measured by external metrics of success. It is truly on the inside. And I want to remind everyone too that there is so much power in self-care, taking the time to love on yourself, experiencing joy, pampering yourself, and just taking care of you. In this profession in this field, even the fact that you showed up to the conference that you're coming to the conference, lets us know that you have such a passion for service. You've served and served other people, but sometimes that can be at the expense of feeling like you are on E. Your gas tank is empty. Focus on you. Do whatever it takes to bring yourself joy, and don't be afraid to pursue your passion, even outside your typical field that you work and pursue those passions. so that it can fill up your cup, and I'm so excited to meet everyone.

MacDonald: I'm excited to meet you in person at the conference, and hear you speak, and in the meantime, I will let you know how I fill my cup. I will figure that out before the conference, and I thank you so much, Dr. Jaz, for taking the time out of your day today. 

Zapata: Thank you so much. Talk soon.