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Howard Farran:
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It is a huge huge honor for me to be podcast interviewing a legend. This all started when we did a podcast interview with Emily [Latron 00:00:16] who wrote an amazing book coming out of the Vietnam War and coming a way of America and rising all the way to the top. She credits you of being her rock star, her idol, her mentor, her everything. I want to read your bio because it's too good to be true. It almost sounds like science fiction.
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Sharon Lechter is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, international speaker, licensed CPA, and chartered global management accountant. A lifelong education advocate she is the founder and CEO of Pay Your Family First, a financial education organization. Chief Abundance Office for ebw2020, an organization dedicated to empowering a billion women by 2020. That is so cool. Sharon has combined her expertise as a CPA and an international best-selling author with her unmatched passion for financial literacy and entrepreneurship to inspire change for individuals and businesses across the globe for over 30 years. Credited as the genius behind the Rich Dad brand Sharon is currently partnered with the Napoleon Hill Foundation. As a driving force behind these 2 mega brand, Sharon has demonstrated her entrepreneurial vision and business expertise while powering audience with messages of hope and prosperity.
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Sharon is also the author of the best-selling books, Think and Grow Rich for Women, Outwitting the Devil, 3 feet from Gold, and Rich Dad Poor Dad. For her unparalleled commitment to community and professional excellence, Sharon was honored as the 2015 Financial Educator of the Year's honor from the National Financial Educators Counsel. Her financial mastery college curriculum also received the Excellence in Financial Literacy Education Award for 2015 Book of the Year from the Institute for Financial Literacy. Sharon lives each day in pursuit of and to inspire others to achieve a life of success and significance.
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All I can say to that is Wow! Unfortunately today, you're talking to probably 8000 dentists who their weakest spot is basically financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Sharon, they went to 8 years of school and they got A's in calculus, and physics, and chemistry, and biology, and root canals, and filling, and crowns. Then 3 minutes after they graduate, they're supposed to be in charge of payroll, advertising, leading a staff, HR. It's bizarre how our entire education had nothing to do with owning a dental office. Anything that I want to say to you is that when I was little it was an all male profession and now all the dental schools are half women. These women are coming out and they need role models like you because a lot of them are graduating and all the role models in dentistry are a bunch of old, fat, white, bald guys. I am so glad that they get to hear from Emily and now you.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Thank you so much. We do have a shorter introduction. It just means that I've been around a long time. It really is. It is not just dentist. Most professionals, you are the experts in what you do, but nobody taught you how to build the business around what you do. That's one of my missions in life is to provide that. Understand that be the expert in what you are doing, but let's make sure we hire the people that we need to to make sure the business is sound and solid and running appropriately. Part of that is also making sure as the driving force of the business that you know what they're doing and you understand the numbers. It is a huge issue. I know that you're doing a lot to provide that kind of expertise and education. I really want to applaud your efforts because it's something that ... Businesses fail. There's been lots of different stats and stuff. 74% of businesses in parts of the country, parts of the world, fail because the lack of financial literacy and financial understanding. We hear that it is an issue that is pervasive in all practices, but certainly when you're talking about professional offices. Where you're the kingpin or the queenpin, you need to have that foundation that is going to support.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, it looks from the data I have that from podcast only 5 1/2% of Americans have ever listened to a podcast. All the data I'm seeing this show is they're all 30 and under. Talk to this woman. She just graduated from dental school. How does she get from A to Z word? Where does she start? What does she read? Would you recommend your books? You want to go through each book and why they should read that. Provide some type of path for this journey.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Certainly, a lot of it is mindset. I am going to start by saying, "What did your parents say about money when you are young?" Typically, your parents said, "Money doesn't grow on trees. We need to pinch your pennies. We can't afford it." For us old guys, "Who do you think we are the Rockefellers?" All those things have one thing in common. They're negative. As a child, we get this negative imprint about money. We don't even know that that's happening, but then all of a sudden we're afraid we're not to make enough money. When we become successful, we're afraid we're going to lose it. Part of it is getting your mindset right to understand that. You've graduated from college with this incredible degree, dental school. You're going to go out there and you're a young professional. Make sure you reach out for support and get those mentors that we were talking about to make sure that you're getting the expertise that you need on your team.
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What happens in school and certainly in dental school, you're taught you have to do everything yourself. Precision, right? With precision. In business, business is a team sport. As the leader of your team, you need to make sure you have the right people that can do that foundational work to support you, so that you can do what you're the expert in.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, you talk a lot about pay yourself 1st. So many dentist all along the way, they never know, "Well, should I buy a new $100,000 thing for my own office or should I start putting money in savings?" A lot of people it seems like when I talk to, especially when they're under 30, they see retiring at 65 as being earth invaded by Martians. They're never going to live ... How do you help make that decision between investing in my business for getting poised for growth versus savings or debt reduction?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I think from a standpoint of particularly let's talk 1st about did you graduate with dental school with a lot of school debt. Actually, you're starting your career ... I talk about a school debt being a mortgage without the house.
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Howard Farran:
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Your audience right now graduated with about $350,000 in debt.
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Sharon Lechter:
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That is a huge issue for you. Part of it is understanding you're going to come out you're going to start making money. How do you allocate what you're making? First, make sure you're making life decisions that support you having extra money to pay down that debt and to start putting money away. Imagine you start just having a small amount every month going into an investment account. You certainly want to have 3 to 6 months worth of savings.
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For us old guys, I don't necessarily think this automatic reduction works, but for young people I think it does. If you're actually working for someone else and you're an employee, have it go away before you see it, so you can't spend it and go into an investment account. It is most important for people to understand that you do have that huge debt. Maintain your living expenses to the point where you have that money that you can start whittling away at that debt and investing.
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When you look at starting your own practice, you may get another loan for your practice because you have to buy all that equipment. You are now building this tower of debt that you need to start focusing on. Figuring out how can I expand my revenue in order to afford paying the debt on those items and still have the money to pay for my employees and to pay for my living expenses and to put a little away for retirement.
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Sometimes it is a daunting issue. It is important to find people like you to support them in understanding how you do it successfully so that they can emulate what you did.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, you wrote the book Think and Grow Rich for Women, so I just want to play devil's advocate being a man. By the way, Think and Grow Rich is an amazing book. I loved it. Is there a unique things for women versus men in business today in America in 2016?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I love that question. Thank you for asking it. Actually, the 1st line in the book when you open it is, "Why a book for women?" I will tell you most of my career I actually resisted writing anything for women because I fought my way through the system being the only woman in many cases in my career. I felt the steps to success were the same for men and women. I still believe that today. The issue in Think and Grow Rich, which is an incredible book and still as valid today as when it was released in 1937, was written by Napoleon Hill at a time when there were no women in business. He talked to 500 of the most successful people, men, in the globe. He spent 20 years synthesizing success. That's why the book is still valid today as it was back then. I wanted to honor him.
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Certainly, what's happen, you just made the comment, "Over 50% of the dental school now are women." We have women rising up. I get really kind of frustrated with the women that were being so negative. Complaining and criticizing the men who get in their way. I said, "We need to change the dialogue from criticizing and complaining to one of celebrating the progress that women have made think." Think and Grow Rich for women actually honors Napoleon Hill.
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The same chapter format as what's in the original Think and Grow Rich book. I start each chapter with a synopsis of his original contents. I interviewed several women who have used that concept in their own pathway to success. I talk about how I've used that in my career. I have what call a sisterhood mastermind which are quotes from women from history, politics, globally, to support that concept. It really is for women to be able to relate to other women. See how they've used those steps to success in their own career. The steps are the same for men and women, but we tend to approach them a little differently. That's what I wanted to bring in as a support tool for other women and to change that dialogue from one of criticizing and complaining. I love men. I work with men. I love working with men. To one of celebrating those men that support us and celebrating the accomplishments that women have made and the opportunities that are right before us. Get rid of the negative dialogue and let's be positive.
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Howard Farran:
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Sometimes, when I'm at a dental convention, these women dentist make big money and their husband makes a lot less. They'll say to me, "I kind of feel emasculated that I make less money than my wife." I always say, "Just try not to think about it while your vacuuming." Was that the right advice?
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Sharon Lechter:
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That percentage is growing every year. I don't even have the most recent stat. It was like 38% a couple years ago of households where women are making more than the men. That it is a natural state of things. It does change the dynamic in the traditional sense in a marriage. It's a little less of an issue for that younger generation. For those of us that are not in that Gen Y millennial age, it's an issue in marriages. Money is the number 1 cause for divorce in most stat. Most of it is arguing over money or lying to each other about money.
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Howard Farran:
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I can't believe it. I have got 4 boys, 21 to 27. I hear them and their friends saying that it would not be cool if your wife made more than you. I don't get it. I'm like, "Are you crazy! I would love to have a wife that made 10 times more money than me." I wouldn't trade my cat. I mean I don't want it that bad. I'm not going to get rid of my cats, but-
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Sharon Lechter:
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Don't forget they've grown up in a household with a very strong father. That's what they know and that's what they want to be when they have their own household. It may be their respect for you that is giving them that thought process.
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Howard Farran:
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Emily, at the end of WWII the average American woman was having 5 1/2 kids. Now, it's down to a 2.4. If you back out the 1st generation immigrant, it's under 2. Japan's women is under 9. Is part of the future of successful women much smaller families? I read 27% of baby boomer women didn't even have a child. Are families going to get smaller as careers get bigger?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I think it's already happening. I think the women are waiting for later in life to have children. Certainly, women that are upwardly mobile in their careers many times are putting having children off later. Yes, I think it's a natural dynamic and it is going to change a lot about our family structure. Certainly, as they become less and less of the higher income families having those children, you're going to end up having an issue where we've got to make sure that all children need to be educated about money. That's what really levels the playing field. Financial education levels the playing field between rich and poor kids today. We've heard the comment, "The rich get richer, the poor get poorer." That is true because that's where they learn about money at home. They don't learned that in school, which is something I'm trying to change. If we can teach our kids about money, it doesn't matter whether you're dentist or a CEO or a janitor. We all have to deal with money. Money is a life skill. It is criminal that we're not teaching kids about money. That's what opens the greatest world of opportunity for young people.
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Howard Farran:
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My father, I have 0 memories of him throw me a baseball, a frisbee, take me to a park, a bicycle, or whatever, but he took me to every banker's meeting when he went to buy ads on KIKE. He took me in. We'd be walking in there and he'd say, "Now, I don't want to hear word from you. Just shut up. Just sit in the room and listen. This is the stuff that's going to make you be able to afford a cup of coffee someday. Not throwing a frisbee in the park." He took me to every business thing he ever did. In fact, I remember so many times we'd at like a IHOP and I would lay down on the bench because the conversation would go to 1 o'clock in the morning. I'd eventually pass out. He insisted that I needed to be where the business was being discussed and talked and all that kind of stuff. Just an amazing deal. What was your book Outwitting the Devil? What was the- ?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I love it. Thanks for asking. We just talked about Think and Grow Rich, the original book that came out in 37. Napoleon Hill, who had worked on it for over 20 years, when he released it 1937, was frustrated. He said, "Even though, people know what they're supposed to do to become successful. They don't do it." I bet that hits home for a few people watching or listening to this podcast. Certainly, for me. Sometimes, inertia, we can't get off the sofa. We know we're supposed to do something, but we don't do it. He was so frustrated that he sat down in a few months wrote Outwitting the Devil. His wife was so afraid of the title she forbid it to be published and it was hidden for 73 years.
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My 1st book with the foundation was called 3 Feet from Gold. The month that we were publishing that Don Greene, the CEO of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, reached out to me and said, "Sharon, I've got this manuscript. I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I want you to read it." He send it to me. Within a few short hours, it was just amazing, I said, "This has got to get out." I really think there was a greater power at work for why it wasn't released back in the 30s because it is the right message for today. Outwitting the devil is about how we will allow fear, fear of poverty, fear of success, fear of criticism, all kinds of fears, to keep us from realizing the success that we all richly deserve. It certainly helps identify maybe where some of that fear came from as young people. Whether it was our religious upbringing, or whether it was our educational upgrading, or what happened at home. Identifying where it was, so that we can get rid of it and release it.
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The book talks about 7 steps that you can take to get rid of that fear. I'm so thrilled because one of the things that really excited me to be working with the foundation was to bring the messages of Napoleon Hill to that younger generation. Those 30-year-olds you're talking about. Most of them didn't even know who Napoleon Hill was. With what's happened in the economy in 07 and 08, we need to bring back those core principles of Napoleon Hill to that younger generation. This book is doing it. I'm proud to say. It's a little irreverent. It is a little in-your-face, but it is really transforming people's thought processes about not being a victim. Not blame, blame, and justifying, but taking responsibility and stepping into your own power. I absolutely highly recommend it. My role in it was I did some precision editing, but it is totally his content. I add sections that really relate and show the difference between when he wrote it in 38 and today. For those hard core Napoleon Hill fans, they can read the book and skip over my comments. The book was truly designed and written and released for helping people who weren't familiar with him today, That younger generation, to start realizing that there's a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of education found in books still. We need to go back to the messages of Napoleon Hill.
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Howard Farran:
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It's amazing. It's easy in American to realize there's half boys half girls. It's easy to recognize that there is Irish, Mexicans, Japanese, but it's hardest to see how the difference in thinkers between the greatest generation, the baby boomers, the millennials. Amazon's data is showing that those younger kids that they only do audio books. We would sit in a chair and read they got to multitask. They want to hear the audio book while they're on the treadmill or doing dishes or whatever. Yeah, audio books. Rich Dad Poor Dad, I've got a library here of a 1,000 books. That was one of the books that all 4 of my boys talked about the most. That was a monster book. It's still a monster brand like you say. Talk about your journey with that book.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Sure, sure. It actually starts back in 92 when my oldest son went off to college and got into credit card debt. He came home in December of his 1st semester of his freshman in college. He said, "You know, I need your help. Will you bail me out?" I said, "Of course not," but I was so angry with him. I was more angry with myself. Yes, I said, "No." The best thing [crosstalk 00:20:16].
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Howard Farran:
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You didn't even blink on that. You didn't even blink.
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Sharon Lechter:
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I don't always say the right thing, but that time it was. It took him 7 years to get out of debt and 7 years to repair his credit, but he's as passionate about teaching people about money today as I am. That was December of 1992 and that was really when I dedicated the rest of my professional career to financial education and financial literacy.
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Fast forward a few years. This guy went to see my husband. My husband, Michael Lechter, is well known as an intellectual property attorney internationally. This guy walked in with this little rolled up piece of freezer paper in his flip-flops and his Hawaiian shirt. He had this idea for a board game. My husband called me and introduced us because I had built the talking book industry. Kid's books that have sound strips down the side and the game industry, so I have some experience. I really love the game. It was called Cash Flow. Robert [inaudible 00:21:08], that was when I met him. The concept that he wanted to put in the game was perfect. I wanted to support him in creating that.
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Along the process, he wanted to charge $200 for the game. I said, "I think if that's the case we probably need to have something a little less expensive. That kind of shares our philosophy. What we want people to learn." We actually, and this most people don't know this, is we wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad as a brochure for the board game. We thought our company name was Castro Technologies. We thought that was our brand. The world said, "No, no, no, your brand is Rich Dad," because we wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad with no plan to write any other books. Then we had a plan, "Well, we will do a trilogy. We will do Rich Dad Poor Dad, Cash Flow Quadrant, Rich Dad's Guide to Investing." All of sudden, "Oh, no, no," so we wrote 15 books together over the 10 years. We created the brand Rich Dad Advisors. We became a large publishing empire on our own. The messages of Rich Dad Poor Dad exploded. I really believe it was one of the 1st true viral successes before the Internet. Back then, you still had to share your own shelf space in the stores.
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It wasn't because of us. It was because it was the right message at the right time. People, like your boys read it and talked about it and other people started reading it. It really helped change again that mindset about money. Understanding that most of us are trained that we are our only asset. We've got to get out of bed, go to work, get a paycheck, and come home. Rich Dad Poor Dad opens up our mind realizes that our financial statement, our balance sheet, is our personal business. The more assets we can generate and create and buy, the more financially free We will be. That simple concept is not taught in school.
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Howard Farran:
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Have either actively working for your money, being employed or self-employed, versus passively making money work for you as a big business or an investor?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Absolutely. If you think about the cash flow quadrant, literally it is quadrant in 4 segments. On the left side, you are an employee or self-employed. Exactly what you just talked about. As a dentist, you are self-employed. You're an expert. You could be working based on your hourly rate. You bill hourly. When you create your practice, you're creating a business if you have other dentists. A big business is where you are employing systems and people to make money for you. As an investor, your assets are invested to generate money for you. You look at where your income is coming. I still get income from all 4 quadrants, but I want to focus my income on the right side of the equation.
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For instance, Emily in her practice. She has other dentists that work with her. She has a 2nd office. That's how she starts expanding and building her business around her expertise. Your expertise is one thing, but building your business around that is the 2nd way of making money.
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Howard Farran:
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Yes, I always tell the story of when I got out of dental school in 87 in Kansas City, moved to Phoenix. I met this 87-year-old female dentist. She was Jewish and escaped Nazi Germany. She knew the writing on the walls. She came here. They didn't recognize her degree. She went to a lawyer and they said, "No, you can't be licensed dentist, but you can own a practice." She was forced. She couldn't be employed or self-employed. She was forced. He said, "Well, you can own a dental office," so she bought a dental office and had people work for her. By the time I met her, she had 4 offices, north, south, east, west. They were each doing about 2 1/2 million a year. I thought to myself she was every day checking her 4 offices. I thought when life serves you lemons ... I mean she made lemonade. She was on top of the world. Still having a blast when I met her in her late 80s. I just thought-
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Sharon Lechter:
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That's called working on your business, not in your business. Most of us, particularly, we spend so much time working in our business that we forget to create that strategy and work on our business and know how to create that asset. Having other dentists working for you is an asset for you because they're generating the money and you're getting a percentage of it.
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Howard Farran:
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That is it. You wrote that book with Robert Kiyosaki ?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Yeah, I started the company with Robert. We were partners. We were partners for 10 years. We built the company during that 10-year process. We wrote 15 books together. We went globally, internationally. It was a huge success. In 2007, I was no longer aligned with what he wanted to do. He wanted to start a franchising operation. I didn't believe in it. I made the decision to leave. That's when sometimes you have to close one door for other doors to open. That's when I was asked by President Bush to be on the Presence Advisory Council. I always tell people, "What are you doing right now in your life that maybe you need to stop doing. Close that door, so other doors of opportunity will open for you."
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Howard Farran:
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How was that franchise venture for him?
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Sharon Lechter:
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It was not successful because it wasn't the right process for the franchisee. It would've made us a lot of money, but it wasn't the right formula. It didn't last for more than a couple years after I left. The whole issue is I am very proud of the Rich Dad messaging because a lot of it is from things that I learned from my father. My father was career Navy. He didn't have formal education past the 3rd grade, but he went on to literally train and run the engineering school for the Navy. Totally self-made. While I grew up, we had orange groves. We had rental properties. We always had multiple businesses going on. A lot of my basic philosophy was things that I learned as I grew up that were just innate. Entrepreneurship was just part of the way I lived.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, I'm not making this up. The facts are we both live here in Arizona. You live where? Paradise Valley?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Paradise Valley. Yep.
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Howard Farran:
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I'm down here where the poor people live in all Ahwatukee.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Ahwatukee is beautiful. What are you talking about. It's gorgeous.
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Howard Farran:
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I know. I know. I love it. I'm right across the street from South Mountain. I love that mountain. The Arizona State Dental Association had a meeting for women's issues in dentistry. They don't have them for old, fat, bald guys in dentistry. They don't have them for Chinese dentist. They have them for women's issues. The thing that disturbs me is sometimes young, female dentist tell me that they still feel dentistry is a man's profession. They tell me when they go to the study clean club that there's 28 people and there's only 2 girls in there. It kind of makes them shy or less engage. What advice would you give them?
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Sharon Lechter:
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That they're listening to the wrong people. They're looking through negative glasses as opposed to positive glasses. If you're one of 2 people in a room that are women, look at that as an opportunity, a way to stand apart and represent women in dentistry. Again, it's what we put in our minds. That's the whole purpose. I'd tell them to rethink and grow rich for women. What happens is we've been programmed by all this media to complain. You know and say, "There's not enough women." There are more and more women in every field. As you say, over 50% of the women are in dentistry school. You'll not at 50% ownership of practices yet, but you'll get there. The momentum is growing. Do it with grace and stand tall and be proud of who you are and what you're doing.
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I think part of that mindset is why we need organizations like what you just talked about. Women have been taught that they're not worthy. Women have been taught that they're 2nd class and needs to change. I was very grateful. I grew up in a home that I was told anything is a lemon. I can do or be anything I want to be. That is something that women tend to put themselves last. They don't grab an opportunity. They let others. That's the kind of thing that women need to focus on and change. The women that are saying that to you, give them a book. Give them Think and Grow Rich for Women. That's not a promotional message, but again it's-
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Howard Farran:
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No, I want to promote it. I'm going to promote it.
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Sharon Lechter:
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It's what they're thinking that's the problem. They're assuming that they don't have a right to be there. Just because-
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Howard Farran:
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Should we name this podcast Think and Grow Rich ... Let's name it Think and Grow Rich for Women.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Sure.
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Howard Farran:
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It's available on Amazon I assume?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Yes, of course.
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Howard Farran:
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You want them to read that book 1st then what would be the 2nd book? Outwitting the Devil then 3 Feet from Gold, then Rich Dad Poor Dad?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Absolutely. Yes. Outwitting the Devil is good because it helps women address the fear in their lives. Yes, Thinking Grow Rick for Women, Outwitting the Devil. 3 Feet from Gold is probably not ... I would say Rich Dad Poor Dad then 3 Feet from Gold.
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Howard Farran:
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Sorry from the audience for beating this issue over a dead horse, but I keep always hearing this all the time. We just had our annual meeting in Las Vegas, our 14th Annual County meeting. I still have young, women dentist say, "I'm a woman dentist. I graduated. I work for the old manag. He managed his staff like this. He sold it to me and left. I managed just like he did, but they don't listen to me. It's different because I'm a woman and he's a man." Is that real or is that just in their head?
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Sharon Lechter:
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It's in their head because the issue is whether he was there or they were there, the people that you're managing have changed. They're younger. I talk a lot. In fact, I worked with Emily on this in her practice. The younger generation coming up you can't manage them the way that you managed people 10 years ago. It's very different. It doesn't matter whether you're a man, woman, young, or old. If you don't understand how to manage that younger generation, you might just put a revolving door in the front of your office because they're going to come and go. I worked on that with Emily as well. I'm happy to speak to anybody that you have that you want me to relate it to that.
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Managing that Gen Y in 2025, 75% of our workforce, our millennials, are younger. 75%. If you're not paying attention to how you do things and making sure that you're adjusting based on current trends, you are going to have a problem whether you're a man or a woman. They're assigning the wrong blame to their issue. If they're taking the old guy's management techniques and they're not getting listen to, it's because they're not doing it from point of authenticity. Have a room. Have a code of conduct. Establish. Younger generation they want to feel like they own their job. Allow them to have that feel of contribution. Many times they have these archaic laws, rules, related to the workplace that need to change based on Gen Y.
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Howard Farran:
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The service you offered Emily [Latron 00:33:02] what services are you offering to our listeners right now? How would they contact you? What do you provide?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Well, I have several different programs. Emily is one of my master mentors. I have a high-level mentoring program that I do to support people growing their businesses. Getting their businesses to the next level. Fine-tuning their systems. Make sure you have the foundations in place. You can write me at info@sharonlector.com, if you want additional information. I also speak a lot. If you have an association group, I'd be happy to come talk to them about this very topic.
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It is important to understand the mindset of the people you're managing. If this younger generations feel like they're being dictated to, they rebel. Plain and simple. If they feel like you've gone through the policies ... The biggest issue, and particularly for women, we want to manage people. That's when we get in trouble. The issue is managing systems. If you have systems on how you want your office to operate, you clearly define those systems and your team understands those systems. When you have an issue, you manage to the system. That just a small piece of what I teach. It takes the emotion out of it. It takes the emotion as a manager talking to somebody else. It also takes emotion out of them. You say, "Okay, well let's look at this. This is the way we want this to run. What went wrong? What went wrong with the system?" Not, "You did something wrong. I don't the way you're teaching our customers. You need to be treating them with respect." Is that in your code of conduct? Is that in your written system? You can actually manage systems as opposed to managing emotions.
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Howard Farran:
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What book did you get the Book of the Year award? Which specific book was that?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I have a college curriculum called Your Money Mastering. Your Financial Mastery. It's right here. It was created All Things Money. It is a college curriculum. It's actually an adult financial literacy curriculum. We're using it in colleges. We also are using a form of this in the ebw2020 company that I now own a piece of. Empowering a billion women by 2020, we're creating a money school there. Another place for your female dentists to come and join us. Ebw2020 stands for Empowering a billion women by 2020. In it we talk about how to build your business. It's not just a educational platform. We have tools to help you analyze your business. Tools to plug-in on the accounting side. We want to support women globally in building their businesses. That's something I'm creating a money school for that website as well.
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All of this is really I had the honor of being asked to be a national spokesperson for the AICPA, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, because that's how I started my career. I talk about the power of association. This is a perfect example of it. Each and every one of those women may not have their associations in order. They may not be out there, number 1 marketing their business or getting the right kind of support from other women or other men. Let the men support you. This is a team effort. It's important to have the resources that you need and the right mentors.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, would you say this is a plague of a problem with me, not just for women but men. You ask them any technical question about their trade, dentistry, bond strength, wear rates, all these things, they just know the answer. They just blurt it out of their head or whatever. Then you ask them any number on any financial number, what % of your overhead is labor, what is supplies, what is ... Any number and they look at you like a deer staring into headlights. What would you say to these women who spend all their time learning about bond strengths and canals and can't even tell you what their profit margin is on any procedure that they do. They don't even know what they're doing. They're passionate about procedures, but they've lost money on every single time they've ever done the procedure for a decade and don't even know it. If it wasn't for root canals or crowns making such excess margins to cover their losses in all the other areas, they'd be bankrupt and they don't even know it. How do you get them to focus? You're a CPA background. How do you get them to be a miniature CPA?
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Sharon Lechter:
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It's not just the women dentist out there. There's quite a few men dentists who don't understand those either.
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Howard Farran:
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All of them. It's all dentist positions and lawyers. That's what scares me about our government. You said you were with the Bush administration. Whenever you meet-
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Sharon Lechter:
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Dentist, lawyers. Yes, absolutely and the doctors.
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Howard Farran:
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The Congress is all lawyers. They weren't trained in business.
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Sharon Lechter:
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They don't have a clue. That's the problem. The 1st thing is acknowledging it. You don't have a clue. The 2nd step is to get yourself educated enough to understand what those terminal, just what the vocabulary. What you just said. That's why they glaze over. They don't even understand the vocabulary of money. If you're focusing on building your practice, you may not have the time to educate yourself on ... Well, you don't, on all things money. Bring in the right people to support you. That will educate you on what you need to understand. How to read a financial statement. How to understand cost of service, cost of goods sold. How understand cost per procedure. How to understand medical reimbursements versus walk-in clients. You need to understand all those elements and how to analyze it. You don't need to generate the numbers. You need to have the right people generating the numbers for you, so that you know that they're reliable and accurate. The best way to do that is find somebody, the most successful dentist in your field, ask who they use. Get their references. Understand what they're doing, so that you can emulate them.
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At the end of the day, the buck stops with the owner. If you don't know how to read your financial statements, you're on a collision course most likely. You need to understand your financial statements. You need to understand the analysis. Understand those ratios. You've got to start somewhere. You focus on what you know best, but get somebody in there that can take your information, analyze it, go over it with you, and educate you, so that you can then start looking at trends in your business. Look at your business for the last 3 years. Figure out what those trends are. It might identify something very quickly that you're doing wrong or that you need to tighten up.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, you started this podcast talking about so much of this, what we learn about money, we learn at home from our mom and money doesn't grow on trees. One of the other huge problems I see in all these dental offices is one when we were little, you couldn't just ask your uncle, "Hey Uncle, how much money do you make at work? What do you get paid an hour?" It's a private issue. When I walk in these dental offices and ask the staff, "What do we have to do to break even a day?" They have no idea. These dentist think that all that stuff is private and that they're the only ones that see the cards. Their team has no idea what's going on. How would you coach someone to sit there and say, "You've got to be transparent. You manage with numbers. Turn this stuff over to the staff." How do you get over that cultural barrier?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I think it is one step at a time. One is really identifying it because a lot of times they're in their own little cloud. They don't even realize they're doing it. One of the things we talked with Emily about is not only having this code of conduct, but also allowing the staff to participate in the customer service. Getting a bonus as [inaudible 00:41:05] and understanding where the costs are and how they can manage those costs. More importantly, while the cat's away the mice will play. How they can be held accountable when maybe mom isn't there. Again, all of these procedures are in that system that you establish. You talk to them. You let them know it. They are part of the team. Allow them to invest in the process, but again get accurate accounting. Accurate information that you can share with your team. You don't need to share profit and loss. You can share this is what we're getting for this procedure. This is what it costs us. This is how we can reduce our cost. Obviously, maybe if it's an insurance reimbursement, you can't increase how much you're getting from the insurance, but you need to manage the costs. Then your staff will feel like they can participate. Part of that savings, give them part of the savings. Allow them to feel like they're actually generating additional revenue for you and they're going to get a bonus as a result.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, do you think there's any economic changes today affecting entrepreneurship, business, small business?
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Sharon Lechter:
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It's never been a better time to start your own business. The day of safe, secure job is long gone. Certainly, when we look at what's happening with the economy, you and I can't control maybe the international economy, maybe not. We can't control the US economy or a local economy, but we can control our own wallets. When it comes to money, I say this as kind of trite, but it's true. You're either a master of money or a slave to it. When you are owning your own business, you can become a master of your money, if you manage your business properly. The buck stops with you, but you also have the control to create your future. When you're an employee, you serve at the pleasure of your employer. While it might feel safe and secure, you're at any moment that safe, secure can go to unemployed.
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If you own a business and you're managing it properly, it's not just an asset for you, but for generations to come, if you build it properly. There's never been a better time. Certainly, with what you see happen in the economy, 07, 08. We look at the stock market. Even the 1st couple months of this year. We have to stand in control of our own financial destiny. The best way to do that is to own your own business. Through that, you're actually supplying abundance for your employees. You're providing economic stability and economic support for your community.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, I was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas in 1962. All my grandparents and all my friend's grandparents, they're all Depression-era babies. Even when they had bank, I mean my boys when their grandpa had $3 million in the bank he still couldn't eat at a steakhouse. He'd be sitting there the whole time thinking, "Well, this steak we could have bought this at the store for a $1.19. Why are we paying $19?" We're just looking at him like holly molely. They never spent a dime. The baby boomers loosened up a little bit, but I look at the millennials and I know they're going to get mad to me for this, but I cannot believe the obnoxious family. I've got more money than they have by far and I drive a 2004 car. Their lifestyle, I mean they always eat out. They come out of dental school and buy $45,000 BMWs. Talk about how much your personal spending, how that affects your financial business and your long-term plan.
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Sharon Lechter:
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You can live below your means or you can live above your means, but the issue is let's expand your means to live the life you want. Put off buying that expensive car until you have a successful practice generating the revenue to pay for the car. I always say, "Let's build asset 1st and let the asset cash flow pay for the luxuries in life." Unfortunately, the younger generation ... Not just them. There's a lot of baby boomers that have it flipped too where they're living the life. Right? They're kind of putting their head in the sand about their future. They're in this spend craziness. The correction comes and it's pretty bitter when at the end of the month you have no money left, but you still have bills to pay. It's an uncomfortable position to be in.
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Certainly, the younger generation if they understood the importance of their credit rating ... They certainly understood their report cards in school. I say, "Well, once you get out of school, your credit score is your report card. Your financial statements are your report card. If you get yourself so heavily in debt, there is never the opportunity to build assets." Part of it is that wake-up call. Is just slapping them in the face. Not literally, but figuratively. Getting them to wake up and understand that they are on a collision course. That they will never have financial freedom in their lives, if they continue to spin themselves into debt.
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Howard Farran:
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They say on podcast that you're never suppose to talk about religion, sex, politics or violence. Since you brought up politics 1st, you brought up that you're on Bush's committee and that you're the mastermind behind Think and Grow Rich, what did you think of Trump's book The Art of the Deal? That was another big legendary book.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Yeah, it's a great book.
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Howard Farran:
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I don't care what you say about Trump. That was a huge book. What did you think about that book?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Actually, I wrote a book with Trump, Why We Want You to be Rich. That was one of my last books [crosstalk 00:46:54].
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Howard Farran:
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God. I want you to write a book with me because all these books you talk about I never saw your name on it. Was your name on the Think and Grow Rich?
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Sharon Lechter:
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On Think and Grow Rick for Women? Yes, I am the author of Think and Grow Rich for Women. I was originally on all the Rich Dad books. Since I left in the last couple years, he's republished them and he took my name off. We won't go there.
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Howard Farran:
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He's your neighbor. Doesn't he live in Paradise Valley?
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Sharon Lechter:
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What's that?
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Howard Farran:
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Doesn't he live in Paradise Valley?
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Sharon Lechter:
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He lives in Phoenix, in the Biltmore area.
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Howard Farran:
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Oh okay. What was it like writing a book with Trump? What was the message of that book? Talk about these. That Art of the Deal, I mean that was a long time ago. Talk about the book The Art of Deal and the book you wrote with him. Why you want to be rich?
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Sharon Lechter:
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The Art of the Deal goes into strategic thinking of how you make decisions and how you negotiate deals. Donald Trump is a brilliant manag. He is a micro-manager. He thinks through everything. He really is a very strategic business thinker. The Why We Want You to be Rich, he really wanted to have an association with the Rich Dad brand. We wrote that book. That was what we released. I think in January of 06 is when that released. The Art of the Deal is still is a brilliant book on strategic thinking. I would recommend anybody read it. It's not so much thinking of it as Trump's name, but really what he shares in the book is really good.
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Howard Farran:
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What I think was great about that book ... Do you remember the year The Art of the Deal came out?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Gosh, no. Long time ago.
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Howard Farran:
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I remember the deal. One of the most memorable lines to me, "I'd buy your house for a $1 billion, if the payment was $1 a month for a billion months." People don't think like that. Like their student loans, they think, "Man, I graduated with $300,000 in debt," and they want a pity party. I said, "You just bought a job where the average dentist makes $175,000 a year. You didn't even graduate 2 years debt." America has a $17 trillion economy and $17 trillion debt. It's only 1 year in debt. Japan is 2 years in debt. Do you think Trump would be a good president for the economy of the United States? Or do you not want to go there?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I will tell he wouldn't be my 1st pick, but I will certainly vote for Donald over Hillary. I actually did serve both Obama and Bush, by the way. I was on both sides of it. I am a Republican. I would vote for just about anybody before I would vote for Hillary.
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Howard Farran:
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Why is that?
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Sharon Lechter:
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For women who say I want a woman president, well I want the best president. I want somebody that's going to lead this country and make jobs available to people, so that people can have financial independence. I want to bring back the American dream. It's a little tarnished these days. In fact-
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Howard Farran:
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Trump wouldn't be your 1st choice, but you think he could do that?
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Sharon Lechter:
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I do know that Donald has his team around him. I've been to his office. They have all been with him for excess of 25 years, which shows loyalty and longevity. That's always a good thing. I do know that he does bring in experts. I would trust that he would bring in experts to help him in the areas where he is the weakest. I think it's important for all of us understand, even though it's a bit at jeopardy in today's environment politically, our country was based on the Constitution with 3 separate branches of government. Those 3 branches of government are supposed to be checks and balances on each other. It is important that we get back to that establishment and that we get to the point where we are again functioning as a country that was once great. We need to become great again.
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Howard Farran:
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Seeing his public persona then knowing him on the inside. A lot of people have a different stage presence. So many actors in Hollywood you meet them in person or comedians, whatever, they're totally different people. Is Trump kind of like that? Those he have one rally stage personality then one business do the deal personality or is he the same guy inside and out.
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Sharon Lechter:
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I think he just he turns the dial up when he's on stage. He fills the room when he enters it. He has that level of charisma. He's also a very big manag. It doesn't matter whether it's an individual meeting or he's on stage in front of 10,000 people. He has that command presence. He is definitely dials it up when he's on stage, as do most people. There's no doubt that he has a huge ego. That's no surprise to anybody. Like I said I'm a little bit surprised that he's gotten as far as he has, but I think it shows a level of discontent in America and he's speaking to that. He's a very smart strategists. I do believe that if he becomes president he will bring and surround himself with people who can truly succeed in the roles that they're playing.
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Howard Farran:
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It's funny because when I meet a Trump supporter the 1st thing I say is, "I'm so sick of the Republicans and the Democrats. They can't get anything done. I'm voting for an Independent." Then you're like, "Dude, he's on the the Republican ticket. He's not like a H. Ross Perot." What did you think of H. Ross Perot? In our lifetime, that was the last kind of Trump like. Would you say Perot was like Trump 1? I mean he was the 1st billionaire businessman to say, "I can run this thing better than a bunch of lawyers."
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Sharon Lechter:
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I think it's very different because when Perot was running the country he was in a very different position. When we're looking at the fact that yes our country is now $19 trillion in debt, it's gone from that $17 trillion to $19 trillion in a very short amount of time. That's when I have the greatest fear. I think in order to stop that it's not the lawyers we can depend on as you talked about. We need business people. We need business people who understand economics to be able to say how can we get our economy going again. Not prop it up falsely, but to truly ignite the economy, so that we are creating opportunities. Our capitalistic society is broken. We need to get back to ... I often say, "Our country was built on free people exercising free speech in a free market, running free enterprise." All 4 of those freedoms are at risk today. Unless we go back to our basics, what's in our Bill of Rights and in the Constitution, we're risking those freedoms.
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Howard Farran:
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Sharon, do ever get scared, stay late at night in bed wondering, I've got my MBA at Arizona State University and some of those economic professors talk about a stock market bubble and it pops and a real estate bubble and it pops. They say the 20 rich countries floating $40 trillion of public government debt is the biggest financial bubble that's ever been created in the history of humanity and it dwarfs any stock market bubble or anything. Do you ever worry someday that that big old government debt bubble is going to pop?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Bubbles are popping all the time. The issue is are you preparing yourself to survive that bubble. Yes, there's going to be a huge bubble. It's going to break in our stock market in 2016 or 2017 because it's time.
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Howard Farran:
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You believe that?
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Sharon Lechter:
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That's just what happens. There's ups and downs. Positioning yourself to not be destroyed by it is a smart move. At this point, what's happening at the governmental level around the globe is very worrisome. It is very scary, but as I said before you and I can't control that. Yeah, we can have sleepless nights. We can tear ourselves up emotionally, which becomes tearing ourselves up physically. Let's focus on what we can control. You and I can control what's in our wallet. If you're an employee, it is not what you do for your money, it's what you do with your money that determines your financial success. Again, are you a master of your money or slave to it. Stop worrying about what's happening in Japan. Understand that it's going to impact us. The greatest way to insulate yourself is to pay attention to what you're doing with your money and building a stable of financial foundation that is going to allow you to withstand those bubbles.
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Howard Farran:
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You're worried. You think that the short-term economic outlook is very poor. You're afraid some of this will crash.
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Sharon Lechter:
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I do not expect to see the stock market increasing tremendously this year. I think it's going to have another correction. You know what, it always does. It goes up and down over our lifetime. There's been several major busts. The issue is where are you putting your money. If you have money that you have in the stock market, make sure you're paying attention to it and you're evaluating how it goes with your risk. I'm going to be actually launching on my website in the next few weeks a free calculator that allows you to answer a few questions. It's going to say if based on what you've answered, this is the kind of risk allocation you should be looking at on your investments. People need to start paying attention to their own money.
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So many of us send it away to a fund or to a financial advisor without holding them accountable. Saying, "Where am I financially? What kind of risk do I have? How much is in equities? Where is it? Do you have real estate?" When the crash happened in 08, that was the time to start buying real estate at the bottom. Looking at the monies, once you have real estate, that's assets. We talk about asset. Diversification is not among paper, it is among all asset classes, real estate, businesses, paper assets, intellectual property. Your podcast is your intellectual property. Understanding having diversification I guess, all of those, gives you the best resilience and the best insurance against something going bad on the global economy.
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Howard Farran:
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Well, you know, Dental Town website has 210,000 dentist. It has 51 categories, root canals, fillings, crowns, whatever. One of the categories is finance. If you ever have time, I know you're busy, busy person, but you can log on. You can become a member of Dental Town and put your financial calculator on there and it links back to your website or whatever. I can't believe I scored you for a podcast. That is just truly amazing. Usually, our podcast are boring old dentist talking about root canals and implants and fillings and crowns and infection.
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Sharon, it was an honor for you to validate our show and come on and share your infinite wisdom. I hope everyone listening gets a Think and Grow Rich for Women, Outwitting the Devil, 3 Feet from Gold, Rich Dad Poor Dad. Sharon, you're legend in my mind and in Emily [Latron 00:58:32] mind and so many people. Thank you so much for spending an hour with me today.
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Sharon Lechter:
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It has been my absolute pleasure Howard. I would love to. I have an e-book called You and Your Money. I'd be happy to give to your team. We will give you the link that you can do it or they can text me at 55678. Just text the word "Sharon", my name, to 55678. It's called You and Your money. It's about 100 pages of all aspects of money. Not only just retirement and spending plans, budgets, but how to talk to your kids about money, little kids, teens, adult children. How to have that money talk with your spouse or future spouse. It talks about insurance. It's like the money Bible. I'd be happy to give it to all of your people.
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Howard Farran:
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If you're listening to us on your iPhone, just text "Sharon" to 55678?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Yep.
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Howard Farran:
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No # or anything?
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Sharon Lechter:
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Nope.
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Howard Farran:
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Just 55678. I thought that was so neat whenever there's a tragedy and the American Red Cross made it so easy. There's a hurricane, an earthquake, whatever and they're on TV and they say that. It's just so easy. Just pick up your phone and hit the numbers. That is an interesting technology. Ryan, we need to put that in the show notes. Okay Sharon, thank you again so much.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Welly, it's been my absolute honor and pleasure. Thank you for what you're doing for those 210,000 dentist because it's important to work on your business and to find the right mentors. Howard, you obviously are the right mentor for them. Thank you.
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Howard Farran:
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No, you're too kind. Thank you Sharon. Bye-bye.
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Sharon Lechter:
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Bye.
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