The Nigerian Immigrant Who Went from Realtor to Doctor — Then Built a $10M US Healthcare Empire

[00:00:00]So even after building and being successful in Nigeria, I think the biggest deal is even how do you even protect it >> because a lot of things that's why we have a lot of billionaires just crash down without them being gamblers. I used to say for billionaire to crash to the bottom maybe you're a gambler you got into drugs or something but no Nigeria the system one thing can just go wrong and everything you've built for years is just >> off the table.

[00:00:23]>> Um let's go to speaking about financial independence as a woman. You also you're married to a wellto-d do man as well.

[00:00:31]How important is that for women to also be independent even whilst being married to a wellto-d do person?

[00:00:40]For me as a woman I just I don't even know how we can say that without sounding somehow like independence is really key. And in all fairness marriage is a partnership. Hm.

[00:00:53]>> You can't get into a partnership, you know what I mean, and be dependent.

[00:00:58]>> Okay.

[00:00:59]>> You know, for you to be to get into a partnership, you need two whole individuals, >> not one dependence. You know, dependence won't work.

[00:01:11]Hello everyone, welcome to the Money League podcast where we make money conversations fun, accessible, and relatable for everyone. Today we are joined by a very very special guest. Her name is Dr. Telmau Hamilton. She's a CEO. She's a founder.

[00:01:32]She's an entrepreneur, a woman's advocate, a doctor. She wears many hats.

[00:01:37]Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this episode. We'll be talking about how to build wealth across countries, how to protect your wealth as well, and just really how to build wealth as a African woman. All right. Amazing. Welcome to the show.

[00:01:54]>> Thank you.

[00:01:56]>> It's lovely to have you here.

[00:01:57]>> Yeah. Thank you. I'm excited to be here, too.

[00:02:00]>> Thank you very much. I want us to go back way back. Um, tell me how money conversations were being had in your household.

[00:02:12]>> Um, funny enough, you know, I grew up in a little town somewhere in Cross River State. My both parents were entrepreneurs.

[00:02:18]Did we we didn't really have I guess money conversations were had but they were very limited basically. I think that's the typical African household in those days. Um, so like I said, both parents were entrepreneurs. One thing I know they taught us, they taught us how to make money. So, everybody was part of the whole family business. It wasn't a question. I went to a boarding school, but once we got back from holiday, holiday wasn't just the holiday for us.

[00:02:44]We were back to work. So, you're working with my dad's bakery or you're helping my mom bake cake or you're definitely working somewhere. So, we actually knew we used to wake up at 5:00 a.m. I can remember vividly even as teenagers.

[00:02:58]Yeah, >> we used to wake up at 5 5:00 a.m. to cuz that's when bakery starts. And I remember my dad would bring us out. We live like in a tall building and he looked around and said, "See the whole town, everybody's asleep.

[00:03:09]>> This is what making money looks like.

[00:03:12]This is the reality of it." And we saw it. We woke up early. We worked and I think >> that was that was it.

[00:03:19]>> So that work ethic was with you from beginning.

[00:03:22]>> Yes.

[00:03:22]>> That discipline. Amazing. Amazing. So let's talk about medicine. Was that always the plan from the beginning?

[00:03:28]>> No. I always say yeah, probably I guess I'm an accidental physician basically if there's anything like that. So um in secondary school, funny enough, I'm a I was a pure art student. So most of my classmates in um secondary school they're like how come you're a doctor how and you know things like that. So I was in fact my had my first degree in Nigeria and I actually had a degree in estate management. So, of course, what I was going to be a realtor as a real estate agent or something. That's where my first degree um was from. But then, you know, I went to America. Go to America. There's this whole thing. Of course, you had to do something science.

[00:04:02]You had to be in the science field to actually um grow and kind of to have some kind of financial um stability, which was key to me. So, I decided to go into medicine. I started as a nurse. So, I have my first degree in nursing. I have a bachelor's in nursing. I did my master's in nursing too. also I'm a nurse practitioner and then finally I just said might as well go to the end and then I went to med school. So every time I have people saying, "No, she's not a doctor. Maybe she has a PhD." Of course, if somebody from my high school is saying that, they're pretty sure because they know I was an art student, so it's not possible. But I have people who went to nursing school with me say, "Oh, no, she's just a nurse." It's okay.

[00:04:42]So >> it really doesn't matter to me. But so yes, but I'm actually happy.

[00:04:47]>> Nice. So it's just interesting how you were able to transition and reinvent yourself from art to estate management to being a nurse to being a doctor. Um where do you think you find that strength from? Because a lot of people it doesn't come easy for them to just wake up one morning and redefine themselves.

[00:05:03]>> I think I'll always um give credit to my mom. She taught us what it meant to be resilient.

[00:05:09]>> So we don't get no for an answer.

[00:05:11]>> Whatever we put our mind into is achievable. And I always say that if if you can think about it, if you can relate, then it's doable. So that's it.

[00:05:21]>> Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. So you just to really highlight you trained in the US, you built a career in medicine, then you worked across different industries in different companies, but then you founded your own group called Ze Zibs group, right?

[00:05:38]>> Z medical group.

[00:05:39]>> Z medical group. What what were you thinking like why did you decide to move from just earning money to actually building wealth as an entrepreneur? Cuz it's not easy.

[00:05:49]>> I know. Yeah. So I you know of course after graduation graduating from school yes I was earning income and in all fairness the income was decent but I also knew I was I just realized at some point that you know earning income and building wealth were completely two different things.

[00:06:06]>> And when I realized that that was what actually pushed me to founding Zip Medical Group and I realized you know that I could do more than just seeing patients dayto-day. I wanted to build wealth. And with that being said, I knew if I continued working, I was just going to be, you know, trading my hours for money. I wasn't really going to build wealth. I was just basically doing building income. And that I can't pass down >> really.

[00:06:33]>> Oh, nice. So, you're thinking generational wealth, passing down wealth. How important is that for you?

[00:06:38]And how important should that be for women listening in to this conversation?

[00:06:44]It's very important because especially for us um women um if you think about how we all grew up um I think most people just it just felt like it was only men it was only fathers that would pass on income that was the whole thing.

[00:06:55]So if you want to think about it most women do not protect their wealth. I don't even think it's a thing >> you know. So if we talk about you hear people say have a father written their will like your mom can't write a wheel >> it's a you know what I mean? So this whole thing I don't think I used to think it was cultural but I don't think it is. I just think it's about financial literacy. people have to understand that you can make wealth but you also have to protect it. So um that was really um big for me. So I started thinking about okay now I have kids and I have a lot so what happens you know if anything happens to me or something you know what I mean and things happen in life whether we like it or not so everybody don't want to hear what could happen but I know it can happen. My mom, I lost my mom when she was in her 40s.

[00:07:36]>> And you know, funny enough, for personal um life story, she did have some properties, but obviously she passed on, you know, nothing was structured. So eventually everything of course moved to her husband who was leaving. That's normal, you know. And um fast forward years later, way more years later, my my dad passed. And what happened? He didn't even have a wheel.

[00:07:58]>> Well, he's of course that's what I'm saying. So he didn't have a wheel. So what happened at the end of the day, you know, we had a wonderful uncle anyways, good to him. So they had to share this whole thing. But I want to tell you one thing, no credit was given for the fact that this was what do I think my mother really wanted for those stuff? Was that what happened? No.

[00:08:16]>> Because come to think about it, >> none of those things that were actually that was that actually built by her was actually given to any of us.

[00:08:28]>> Really, >> at this point, they're sharing from a whole port. And I know for a fact she wouldn't have liked that to happen. You know what I mean? It wasn't like things that we cared about anyways at this point. But I think if I want to think about it for the for legacy that wasn't right >> and I wouldn't want that to happen.

[00:08:44]>> Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Cuz legos legacy building is so important. Protecting your wealth and passing it to next generations also very important. You've amassed a lot of success. Your Zibs Medical Group has amassed over $10 million in revenue and now you're part of this prestigious women president organization.

[00:09:05]What conversations are being had there that most women or most people are not privy to >> for women president organization WPO. In fact, I can't even think my god every day to find myself in there. These are tables where you can sit and have conversations and where I see it as a table where ambitions are being redefined. So we're not just everybody in there is building to scale.

[00:09:30]>> So everybody in there is successful already. So how we scaling? We're having conversation about exit. Before I got in there, I wasn't thinking about why would I be thinking about exit in my 30s. Like really I'm only 30s. So why am I >> I'm not 30s now. So when I join I was in my 30s. So how could I be thinking about exits in my 30s? That didn't make sense, right? But that's the reality. So, um, we're talking about exiting, we're talking about, um, governance, we're talking about, um, we're talking about things of how to scale.

[00:09:58]>> And one thing I we talked about was like 10, 20 years plan. Nobody's talking about tomorrow.

[00:10:02]>> They're talking about 10 years and 20 years from now. Those are the kind of conversations that we have in there. So for me, I see women president organization where >> ambitions are being turned into strategy. How do we achieve those being turned into strategies? That's amazing.

[00:10:18]So, because as a podcast, we also know the importance of community building. We always emphasize so important to come together as like-minded individuals because a lot can be brought up in that situation. All right, let's talk about you're a very interesting person. I love the fact that you went back to Harvard to upskill. Why was that important for you? What were you trying to unlock with that? So for me going to Harvard, so when I hear things like that and I said of course I went to Harvard, I was looking for clarity. I was looking for um I wanted to hear from other people.

[00:10:55]So you know what I mean? So I wanted to know how was I going to get better and you can't get better by just the only people you know around you. So you need other minds like minds like yourself. So I did a couple of courses some purely business. I did one other interesting course we talked about women and power because once you say women and power and so when I looked at it the name sounded I'm like okay I'm not a politician I'm not trying to be a feminist here so I don't understand so I actually called and I said I needed more explanation about this cuz I didn't get it and then you know somebody called me from the office and kind of explained to me where you meet other women who've gone through stuff you can talk about it and for me that one class I think is like the the best I can't remember how much that class cost but that was the best class I ever took so I sat on tables with like women. There were women from all cut across different countries um different um institutions. Um they had entrepreneurs in there and then but they discussed about different things, >> how to grow, how to make your business better. In fact, it was on that table that class I would remember vividly because we had to um volunteer. So I volunteered to talk about my personal life and it was like a whole thing where you had people sitting on the table and dissecting everything about you figuring out what problem you had and how to fix it and there was like a real blueprint for me how to fix my company and where how we can go to the next level. So for me when I talk about um Harvard it wasn't about um financial gain already but it gave me clarity.

[00:12:22]>> Amazing amazing clarity is important.

[00:12:25]Yeah.

[00:12:25]>> This is your journey as like a high achieving woman. I assume clarity is very important. Let's talk about building wealth in different continents.

[00:12:35]You're building wealth in Nigeria, you're building wealth in America. Are the rules the same?

[00:12:41]>> Completely two opposite things. So, and I always say like in America you're building, you know, the system is structured, you know, it's predictable to an extent, you know, but in Nigeria, I feel like as an entrepreneur, you're struggling like you're you're literally you have to be very strategic. You're worried about um legal aspect right now. It's about your taxes, you know, just it's completely different at all angles. So, you're struggling to protect your wealth. So even after building I've been successful in Nigeria. I think the biggest deal is even how do you even protect it >> because a lot of things that's why we have a lot of billionaires just crash down without them being gamblers. I used to say for billionaire to crash to the bottom maybe you're a gambler you got into drugs or something but no Nigeria the system one thing can just go wrong and everything you've built for years is just >> off the table. So I think for Nigeria to kind of invest here or kind of do business here you have to be very strategic very very >> so you'd say it is it is not friendly yeah >> it is not you can it's very unpredictable so many things you can't predict so it's hard for a business person for an entrepreneur you can plan but here you can't really you're literally planning weekly >> cuz whatever plan you have for 2026 obviously just changed >> when the the the price for fuel just doubled So everything has changed. So it's like if you had a projection, if you had a budget for this and that's how you planned your 2026 in March, you just realized it's not possible.

[00:14:12]>> Yeah. Well, you're doing a good job.

[00:14:13]You're building companies here. You're building copies abroad. I don't know how you do it. It's very inspirational.

[00:14:18]>> Um let's go to speaking about financial independence as a woman. You also you're married to a wellto-d do man as well.

[00:14:26]How important is that for women to also be independent even whilst being married to a wellto-d do person?

[00:14:35]For me as a woman, I just I don't even know how we can say that without sounding somehow like independence is really key. And in all fairness, marriage is a partnership.

[00:14:49]>> You can't get into a partnership, you know what I mean, and be dependent.

[00:14:53]>> Yeah, I get that. mar you know for you to be to get into a partnership you need two whole individuals >> not one dependence you know dependency won't work so for me as a woman being able to I don't know what to use build wealth for yourself gives you some level of freedom freedom of speech >> you know what I mean so and then also to make impact so for me it's a big deal I want to make impact in the world I want to be able to touch lives how am I able to do that if if I'm not financially independent because we have what if my what if what makes sense to me or how I want to make impact is just to help all the crazy people on the street. Maybe that's what makes sense to me. My husband might not buy to that idea and that means he can't even fund that for me. So you being financially independent helps you to fund it and there's nothing wrong with that. So I know sometimes people get it wrong and say oh if a woman gets financially independent she gets um what's this whole thing? She gets sassy, she gets this. That's not true. Financial independence will just bring out who your true person is.

[00:15:59]>> Yeah, >> that's all. There's nothing wrong. She's always been sassy. She just didn't have money to fund it. That's all. It's not You're not going to be >> You can't be a dog if you're not a dog.

[00:16:07]You know what I mean? So financial just brings out. That's why I say it gives you freedom. So that means I can be who I really want to be.

[00:16:13]>> Cuz a lot of people are just, oh yes, oh no. People can say, oh, they can't slap their boss because they have to wait for paycheck.

[00:16:20]>> If they were not waiting for paycheck, they'll slap their guy outside. So that's what financial independence. So there's nothing wrong.

[00:16:24]>> It gives you freedom to do what you want to do.

[00:16:26]>> What you want to do about >> Yeah.

[00:16:29]>> Perfect.

[00:16:29]>> You don't need anybody to now be asking can I can I not can.

[00:16:33]>> No. Exactly. But if you're married obviously you still owe your husband those explanations like okay please I need this please I need that. And it's not easy for marriage like cuz some sometimes I really want to do something but then I have to run this thing through my husband and then sometime he'll make me to have to explain why and I'm like oh jeez but it's marriage. It's a partnership so we I have to explain. I owe him that. Yeah.

[00:16:52]>> This is the reason why we want this and that. And most times, you know, I'm lucky. Most times it just ends up doing it for me anyways.

[00:16:59]>> That's amazing. That's amazing. But yeah, I'm happy you showcase the importance of being financially independent because at the end of days, two whole humans coming together. So, um, if you could put one financial truth on a bill on a billboard in Lagos, Abuja, or Edugo, what would that financial truth be?

[00:17:20]>> Build it. Protect it and pass it on.

[00:17:25]>> You protect it and pass it on. Okay.

[00:17:27]Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's really good. That's really good. Um, in terms of we've spoken about protecting it, right? We've spoken about building it in terms of like building a company.

[00:17:40]I like for somebody that is looking towards becoming an entrepreneur because it is not an easy task. It is not an easy task. But I want to ask you a question because it's very something that I'm really curious on. Do you think anybody can be an entrepreneur?

[00:17:56]>> No, you have to be built. You have to be built for it. There's a lot if you um if you're not emotional intelligence, you can't to be an entrepreneur. It's hard.

[00:18:07]You realize how many if you have employees, how many employees you have to deal with.

[00:18:12]>> You understand? So I have over 100 employees, right? So thank goodness I don't have to deal with all of them. But most of them I have to right deal with all of them. So you have there's a lot involved in it and it's not meant for everybody. Some people just have to be employ employees. Some people will be employers. Let's just decide and know what suits you.

[00:18:32]>> Even for us in my home where my family we're all raised, you know, with with by entrepreneurs. Not all of us can be entrepreneurs. Not all of us. And I know like my dad would try to make everybody see it like you have to work for yourself, but I just know among my siblings, I know a couple of them that I know cannot. Even when they've tried to, they failed. But we know it's not in there.

[00:18:53]>> Yeah.

[00:18:54]>> So not everybody. Just do your best wherever you are.

[00:18:57]>> Right. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough.

[00:18:59]So my second to last question is you've advocated for women. You do a lot of philanthropy.

[00:19:07]Where does that come from? that need to also give back and distribute the wealth that you've amassed. Where does that come from? Um I'm also going to tie that back again to my mom really. So she um as a woman, she um how would I put it? She she was an entrepreneur. She was okay and all of that whole thing, but I also felt like she was a little bit more suppressed.

[00:19:33]She just couldn't do everything she wanted to do, you know, and things like that. And I just think being female too myself, I have this whole thing that if you if you make one woman, if you save one woman, you save the whole household.

[00:19:47]>> If you save one man, >> we at the mercy of what he turns out to be. No offense, but you've seen some men that get so wealthy and some men will buy a car for um some other woman out there before they think about their wife. Some, not all though. But that's what I'm saying. So with men, we are a little dicey. No matter how bad the woman is, she's going to take care of her kids.

[00:20:07]>> Yes.

[00:20:08]>> No matter how irresponsible that mother is.

[00:20:10]>> The average woman, all things being equal, will take care of her kids. So, we are sure of a community down there.

[00:20:15]And sometimes it's just easier to work with women. Consider I'm a woman myself.

[00:20:19]So, >> if I'm going to talk to men, I just think especially, you know, black men would have a little, but I can talk to women how I want them to be. And I guess they will also be able to relate with me >> faster than guys.

[00:20:33]>> Yeah. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough.

[00:20:35]Fair enough. So, we like to end the episode on something. We like to tell our guests what's one money move they can make after watching the episode.

[00:20:46]One money move they can make.

[00:20:49]>> What's that one thing you're thinking about and what's holding you back from doing it?

[00:20:56]It's very okay to have conversations with people that you think can help you grow. But please show up prepared.

[00:21:05]>> Please, please, I tell people if you had an opportunity to sit with Dangote today, what are the things you would tell them?

[00:21:13]Because sometimes you sit with people and you're having conversation and they want you to help them but they don't they haven't done any of their homework.

[00:21:21]So I can't think for you, build for you and support you financially. It's not just possible.

[00:21:27]So, please always be prepared cuz you never know who you're going to meet next and what you know what table you will be who you're going to meet on a plane or wherever and you have something to say.

[00:21:40]I haven't applied for any job since 2015. But I update my resume every January. So, it's on my list between January um December 15th and January 15th. I have to update my resume.

[00:21:50]>> Just update it cuz I never know.

[00:21:53]>> You know what I So it's just like you're getting ready. So please for anybody I always say that just get ready cuz you never know.

[00:21:59]>> That's so interesting. Do you do the updating because you're trying to reflect on what you did in the past and just put that in writing so you're fully aware. So when you're speaking to someone you can easily just relay those information.

[00:22:10]>> Not I think for me it's more of accountability like hey what did I say I was going to do last year? Did I even do them? Did I even you know what I mean achieve them? And then also at the back of my resume I write down some other personal things. I did this I did I did this. what do I want to do next year?

[00:22:24]And I write it down. So when I come back to the next year, so if I want to think about the things I want to do in 2026, um I go back to that document and I check at the back what did I write I want to do in 2026? Which of them have I done >> and which you know what I mean? So which of them haven't I done yet?

[00:22:43]>> Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. That's that's quite interesting. And you spoke about you spoke about something else that caught my attention in terms of like speaking to people. Mentorship is that something that is something that you would advise someone to do because a lot of young people they're always looking for like good to mentor them because they're so clueless like they don't have clarity yet. So they're always trying to find mentors. But would you say that is super beneficial for them?

[00:23:12]>> Oh yes it is. I I have a mentor myself obviously. So, we all need a mentor, but you have to know what are you looking for to look for someone who's going to mentor you cuz sometimes you go you want to be you're thinking about um going into the tech space and then you want to come and meet me to mentor you. I might mentor you for life activities but for that career mentorship I'm not the right person for you. So, you also have to be realistic about what we are looking for.

[00:23:37]But I think we all need a mentor.

[00:23:40]>> Like someone like you now like let's say I want to I'm asking you to be my mentor. you don't have the time to make.

[00:23:47]>> No, that's not true. If I want to, especially I like I have a give like being an impact, making an impact in someone's life is something that gives me joy. So, I have a lot of people that come back and like, "Hey, God, I had a girl send me a text um text on email um last month and she told me, she said, "Oh, I'm actually emailing you from Shanghai and I wanted to let you know that the 5 minutes conversation I had with you 3 years ago got me here. I couldn't even remember. I had to email her back and I said, "Hey, give me a call. Let's talk."

[00:24:17]I didn't even know the girl. I can remember. And then she told me, she met me and she was doing linguistic and wanted to do Chinese, but she felt it was going to be too much for her cuz the Chinese was going to be a diploma. And she felt linguistic and Chinese was going to be too much for her. And I said, "What's too much?"

[00:24:32]>> Fair enough.

[00:24:33]>> You know, and I said, "What do you mean by too much? What else are you doing right now? Linguistic? How many days a week do you go to school?" So, we probably ran through that. And I said, "So, you can do this. you're just going to have to cut down on certain things. I told I said that's the only thing. I had a time in my life where I was working full-time. I was going to school full time and I had my son too. I was doing all of them. Was it hard? Yes, it was.

[00:24:55]But it's doable and I did it and I'm so happy about you know about this. So I said it's all in your mind. And she said she went back got into the diploma and she finished and she just got a job with a foreign company. She's in Beijing now.

[00:25:06]You know what I mean? So I didn't even know that. So that's the point. So for mentors, I have a mentor. Like I said, do I see her every month? No. Cuz I know she's busy, but I put all my things together, what I need to discuss with her, and we send emails and we fix a date. On that date, of course, I'll come in there. She's I spend like 30 minutes with her, but that 30 minutes is super packed.

[00:25:29]>> So I have I tell people, I hope you're looking for a mentor and not a babysitter cuz they're two different things.

[00:25:36]>> So if you really I I don't have a problem to mentor people. So, I'm about to launch um an initiative that I call Bloom 360 initiative just going to be for women and basically women in Nigeria to kind of help them walk through life things. I'm going to have different other coaches on there for different aspects that I won't be able to come in cuz I don't lie to myself. There's some things I don't have. So, I'll look for people who have that strength to help them. So, I don't think I'll be the best person to tell I'll work better with entrepreneurs. I won't be the best person to work for people who are um employees. I don't think I'll be. So, they'll be a better person for that.

[00:26:11]Teach you HR skills and things about resumes. What are they looking for right now, especially in the Nigerian market?

[00:26:17]So, >> Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing.

[00:26:20]That's amazing. Thank you so much.

[00:26:23]>> Thank you so much for coming on this episode. Where can people find you?

[00:26:29]>> Where can they find me? Lagos. Of course, I have an office. I have an office in Lake One.

[00:26:34]>> But I would say the easiest way to get me is my email.

[00:26:36]>> Your email. Okay.

[00:26:38]>> I'm not on social media. I'm not big on social media, but I'm working on that this year.

[00:26:42]>> I'm going to be >> We need to see more of you. We need to see on stages speaking to people.

[00:26:48]>> I do have quite a speaking engagements that I've done, but have I posted? I guess cuz I don't have my own I don't like think about my social media thing as a thing. That's why. But um I'm working on it this year.

[00:27:00]>> Amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much, Dr. Telma. Thank you guys for listening in.

[00:27:06]If you found this conversation valuable, share with your friend, like, comment, subscribe. We see all the comments.

[00:27:13]Please comment. And don't forget to catch us again next time on the Money Podcast. Bye bye.