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Journey To Launch

Episode 483: Fibroids, Endometriosis, and Financial Loss: The Real Cost of Untreated Womb Conditions w/ Dr. Kemi Doll

Journey To Launch

Jamila Souffrant

Business, Investing

4.9 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on the podcast we are joined by Dr. Kemi Doll, a physician, surgeon, researcher, double board-certified gynecologist and oncologist, and founding director of the Gynecologic Research and Cancer Equity Center at the University of Washington. After 16 years of training and over $200,000 in student loan debt, she turned her personal and professional experience into a mission to change how Black women are treated in gynecologic care. 

In this episode, Dr. Kemi breaks down how conditions like heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and fibroids are not just health issues; they are career and financial ones. Women with endometriosis can miss up to 60 to 65 days of work a year, while women with heavy bleeding often show up to work functioning far below their capacity, a phenomenon called presenteeism. 

She shares the clinical signs that your period is not normal, the exact language to use at your gynecology appointment to be taken seriously, and how to find a provider who will actually listen. We also get into her own story of resilience, how she used the NIH Loan Repayment Program to eliminate her debt while building her research career, and why she started a coaching company after discovering she was being paid 30% less than her colleagues.

In this episode, Dr. Kemi shares:

  • How untreated womb conditions like fibroids and endometriosis silently drain Black women's productivity and earning potential
  • The clinical signs that your period is not normal and what you can do about it
  • How to advocate for yourself at a gynecology appointment, including the exact phrases that get doctors to take your symptoms seriously
  • How she paid off over $200,000 in student loans using the NIH Loan Repayment Program while building her research career + more

What's New in the Paperback Edition of Your Journey to Financial Freedom:

  • A bonus chapter: When Life Happens: Staying on the Path to Financial Freedom Through Setbacks, Shifts, and Uncertainty
  • A book club and discussion guide with prompts, exercises, and action steps
  • Updated corrections from the original hardcover
  • Exclusive bonus
    • The Fire Starter Course
    • The Find Your FIRE Number Worksheet

Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

Connect with Dr. Kemi:

Connect with me:

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Absenteeism is when you are just gone, right?

0:05.0

So like absent from work.

0:07.0

Presenteism is when you actually are present,

0:10.0

but you are functioning so much lower than you normally would be

0:14.0

because of some other condition going on.

0:17.0

That's what happens with women who have heavy menstrual bleeding. Heavy menstrual bleeding, meaning they're bleeding too much, they're iron deficient or anemic.

0:25.6

So presenteism is actually a much bigger problem.

0:28.6

It's actually impacting the quality of how you're showing up and how you're making decisions.

0:33.6

So I'm very passionate about this because one in three black women, one in three black women with heavy periods, is clinically anemic.

0:45.5

Welcome to the Journey to Launch podcast with your host, Jamila Sufron, as a money expert who walks her talk.

0:52.9

She helps brave journeyers like you, get out of debt, save, invest, and build real wealth.

1:00.1

Join her on the journey to launch to financial freedom in five, four, three, two, one.

1:19.8

If you want the episode, show notes for this episode, go to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode. In the show notes, you'll get the transcribed version of the conversation, the links that we mentioned, and so much more.

1:29.2

Also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand new to the podcast, I've created a free Jumpstart guide to help you on your

1:35.2

financial freedom journey. It includes the top episodes to listen to stages to go through to

1:40.0

reach financial freedom, resources, and so much more. You can go to journey to launch.com

1:45.7

slash jumpstart to get your guide right now. Okay, let's hop into the episode.

1:52.5

Hey, journeyers. Welcome to the Journey to Launch podcast. I have on today, Dr. Kemmy Dahl.

1:58.6

She's a physician, surgeon, researcher, advocate, and coach working at

2:03.3

the intersection of health, justice, reproductive equity, and personal empowerment. She is a professor

2:09.6

at the University of Washington Schools of Medicine and Public Health, a double board certified

2:15.1

gynecologist, oncologist, and OBGYN, and the founding director of the

...

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