March 15, 2025 • 40 mins
The transformative power of lived experience drives Monique Allen's mission to revolutionize healthcare access for Native American communities. As a woman who defied doctors' predictions that she wouldn't survive past age 12, Monique has channeled her personal health journey into founding Ma'at Enterprises, a tribally-owned healthcare staffing company serving Indian Health Service facilities nationwide.
Named after the Egyptian concept representing truth, balance, and justice, Ma'at embodies Monique's servant leadership philosophy. Her connection to this work deepened upon discovering her own Native American heritage through her mother's tribal connections in Oklahoma, bridging her healthcare expertise with a profound understanding of tribal communities' needs and historical challenges.
What sets Ma'at Enterprises apart is Monique's nuanced approach to partnership. Rather than imposing solutions, she builds trust by respecting tribal sovereignty and ensuring communities maintain ownership of their healthcare journey. This stands in stark contrast to broken promises that have characterized much of the historical relationship between government agencies and Native Nations. As Monique powerfully states, "We are not just trying to colonize your data... we want to partner with you."
The innovative services Ma'at provides extend beyond traditional staffing to include partnerships with Hospitals Without Borders for rapidly deployable modular clinics, telehealth solutions for remote communities, and connections to cutting-edge diagnostic technologies. These approaches address the stark reality that in 2025, many tribal reservations still lack basic infrastructure like clean water and reliable internet access.
Guided by her faith and commitment to authentic service, Monique carefully vets potential collaborations to ensure alignment with Ma'at's mission. Her goal is clear: to become a trusted resource for Native American communities by proving reliability through demonstrated action rather than empty promises. Through this work, she's not just delivering healthcare services – she's helping to heal historical wounds while building pathways to a healthier future for Indigenous communities across America.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome everybody to the Foul Brand Podcast.
This is Grant McGaugh.
This time I'm going to take itall the way for myself and my
family in the Midwest.
I'm going to dedicate this showto the Santee Sioux Tribe of
Nebraska, the Dakota Nation.
This is my family.
A lot of people don't know thatmy ex-wife actually is a tribal
(00:23):
member from the Santee Siouxtribe.
Out there, just a little bitnorth of Omaha, nebraska, a
little bit to the south in theMinnesota South Dakota area, a
little bitty corner of thatNebraska world is where the
Nakota Nation is.
I have three children.
They're all tribally enrolled.
And I bring that up becausewe're going to be talking about
(00:44):
some business and technology inthe Native American world that a
lot of people are not aware ofand I want to bring light to,
especially when I have somebodyso articulate and really lives
in this world.
And I want to bring to the micright now Ms Monique Allen,
because she has been workingtirelessly to bring this story
(01:07):
to light.
So, monique, would you like tointroduce yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, thank you so much again for having me on the
show.
My name is Monique Allen.
I am the CEO and founder of acompany called Maat Enterprises
prizes.
We are a woman-owned,tribally-owned business that
specializes on making ourmission to improve the lives of
(01:32):
Native Americans, and we arecurrently staffing Indian
hospitals across the nation anddoing some other amazing things
with some alliances that weformed.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Well, thank you again for being on the show and I'm
sure a lot of people my audienceright now are wondering Maat
M-A-A-T.
That's the name of your companyand it represents truth,
balance, justice in ancientEgyptian culture.
I want to know, and we wouldlike to know, how do these
(02:01):
values shape your leadership andcompany mission today?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
to know, how do these values shape your leadership
and company mission today?
Well, when I was looking for abusiness name, you know I think
it's most people typically nametheir companies either after
themselves or they try to, youknow, make some type of
connection.
From a personal standpoint,when I started studying the
concepts and the 42 principlesof Ma'at, it really resonated
(02:25):
with me.
As a person, I view myself asmore of a servant leader, so
it's not so much a dictatorshipwhat my goal is to be just a
light in this world.
Like I want my energy to bereflective of someone who made a
positive impact.
None of us are perfect, but Ithink that as we try to strive
(02:48):
and live our best lives everyday and showing up and trying to
be the best person, those 42principles resonated very
closely to my heart.
The whole concept of Ma'at andthe Egyptian God is.
I've always viewed myself as achild of God, and you know what
better name than to encompasssomething that I've already
(03:09):
viewed myself as?
And then I want to share thatconcept and those principles
with others in the world.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now you're also of Native American background.
You share the story with me alittle bit about.
You know part of the CherokeeNation with me a little bit
about.
You know part of the CherokeeNation, people from Oklahoma.
How do you bring all of thattogether to now to be a service
leader?
I'll say service and or servantleader in the space that you
are in now?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Well, it's kind of an interesting but long story.
I'll get into some of it in anabbreviated fashion.
But the part that I didn'tshare with you is that I
actually had a kidney diseasewhen I was born with one and I
only have one kidney.
So just to kind ofcontextualize this story, it
(04:01):
started with my life.
Pretty much I lived my life, mychildhood, in a hospital.
So growing up, my mom wasalways being told that I was not
going to make it past the ageof 12.
So here I am, at the age of 53,you know it's like neener,
neener, neener.
Whatever death the physicianshad on the calendar for me, you
(04:23):
know God said otherwise, right.
So initially what ended uphappening is when I was at UC
Davis I wanted to be a doctor.
So by the time, you know, Istart having these aspirations
of because I had a kidneydisease, I wanted to be a
pediatrician.
I was just familiar that thatworld was a comfortable world
(04:46):
for me.
So I decided in my studies totry to pursue being a doctor
until I nearly blew up the labat UC Davis.
So that did work out and I waslike OK, little girl, I think
you need to go intoadministration, we're going to
go into a different aspect ofhealth care.
I don't think, you know, beinga pediatrician is really the
(05:06):
road for you, and in going downthat route I was looking for my
roots because I wanted to workon a tribal reservation, give
back, set up my own clinics outthere and then, you know, make
an impact that way and then goout into, like you know, the
regular commercial space and beable to help communities from
(05:28):
that standpoint.
Well, in the search for who wewere as a family, it came out
that my mom, who initially didnot know her biological father,
we realized that my mom, she wasborn, like, in a home in
Muskogee, oklahoma tribal areaand she's part of two tribes.
(05:51):
So I'm sitting here thinkingthat it's my father's side of
the family.
You know, I knew that there was, there was something going on
there, but in hindsight werealized that it was my mom.
My mom is now the matriarch ofour family and she's getting to
know her people from that sideof the tribe and all of these
(06:13):
contacts, and so we were able totake that information and with
it, you know, I had.
I had been working at varioushospitals all over the Bay Area,
so I've worked at UC DavisMedical Center, stanford.
I was part of the team thatimplemented the first physician
order entry system.
So I've always had a mindset tobe in the health care field.
(06:35):
And then, by the time, Idecided to go into health care
technology.
I'm a tech girl at heart.
Now go into healthcaretechnology.
I'm a tech girl at heart.
Now I decided to step out onfaith and start my own company
because I did some research andfound out that there's a lot of
economic Indian opportunitiesout there where they are trying
(06:58):
to get us to come to the tablewith businesses and
entrepreneurship opportunities.
So it's amazing to start thisstory off with.
I didn't even know that I wasgoing to make it past the age of
12, wanted to be a doctor andnow I'm staffing hospitals with
nurses, you know, looking atbringing in physicians and other
(07:19):
pieces of technology to make animpact in Indian country to
make an impact in Indian country.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And now we've got a juicy story right.
This is a great story, as youhave had to overcome challenges
just having a life on thisplanet and then getting into
healthcare, then understandingyour Native American roots, then
having philosophies embedded inancient Egyptian culture and
now you've noticed that, yes,there is a opportunity to help
(07:48):
out in a lot of these tribalreservations.
A lot of them are remote.
A lot of them definitely are inneed of healthcare and
healthcare type applications.
Now we also know that, being awoman-owned business, we know
there's unique challenges withthat.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So when you're building out my enterprise and
when you're engaging with thesecommunities.
How did you overcome thechallenges?
We're still trying to make animpact on tribal reservations,
and for good reason.
So for every treaty that's beenestablished with Native
(08:36):
Americans, we know that it'sbeen broken right.
So if I'm trying to go in andsay to them listen, we can offer
you remote patient monitoringservices.
We can offer you, you know, amental health application that
would allow you to be anonymous,to start treating the
addictions that we see on thetribal reservations, they don't
(08:59):
want to hear about that, youknow it's.
It's a situation where not onlyhad did I have to, you know,
everybody always wants to say,you know, they want a seat at
the table.
I built my own table becausenobody was going to give me a
seat.
So instead of crying about it,I just built my own table and
decided, ok, I'm going to haveto overcome these challenges,
(09:21):
and I'm doing that by firstproving, you know, to be a
leading service provider toIndian health services.
So under the governmentcontracting space, you know, I
feel like, if we can get, betrusted there, because a lot of
Native Americans are coming toIHS that's the acronym for
Indian health services.
They are coming to IHS fortheir care.
(09:42):
So if they start hearing aboutMa'at as a preferred vendor
there, then we can use that asour track record and past
performance to say, hey, let uscome in.
We're not just trying tocolonize your data.
We are not just trying tocolonize anything that you have
going on on the reservation.
What we want to do is reallymake an impact.
(10:03):
But let's work together andmake you the owner of all of
this and your journey.
And I think that as we start toget this message out, that Ma'at
wants to be a partner, we don'twant to necessarily just lead
you to water.
We want to partner with you andfigure out is the water source
best for your tribe or do wetake a different avenue?
(10:24):
So, when you say what you know,how are we overcoming those
challenges?
I think that we are stillworking that out.
I think that God is going toprovide the right alignments.
I feel like I am definitelyliving a life of answered
prayers right now.
I thought about this stuff,manifested it years ago and here
we are.
So this is just yet anotherchallenge that God is saying to
(10:46):
me hey, we know that we havethese opportunities, as long as
you're bringing it to them witha pure heart and the agenda is
really just to make a positiveimpact.
I think we'll get there.
And it's okay.
If every tribe doesn't want toembrace that, that's OK.
But at least I can say that Igave it the good old college try
(11:07):
and said hey, we have theseresources, we want to share them
with you, and it's not justbecause we're trying to hustle
and make a dollar off of you aswell.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
I'm glad you said that it's so important to
understand the context of whereyou're operating.
In A lot of people, you know,they love Native American
culture.
They see it mainly, you know,from a stereotypical, I'd say,
lens of what they see ontelevision, what they may have
(11:38):
read in a book or not a book.
And because this is a livedexperience for me and it took a
while for me to reallyunderstand, let's say, my wife's
perspective, when people arelooking at you as, like you're
some mythical creature from thepast or something to that effect
, like no, we are a consistentlived experience and our lived
(12:01):
experience has been.
You know, the interaction withwhat you call modern culture
today has not been great.
It's not been great.
You got to remember, 150 yearsago the Dakota Nation was living
as an independent tribe ofpeople and the way that the
American government, the BIABureau of Indian Affairs, they
(12:21):
look at each individual tribe asa separate sovereign nation
which in of itself, especiallyin today's world, has its
complications with it and howyou get services like you're
describing, because each tribeis individual in its own aspects
, right, and they have their ownhistory and their own cultural
(12:44):
aspects.
This is a nation of people whowere, you know, rudely
interrupted by a differentculture, was then, as you said,
colonized in a very rude andinhumane manner, taught to not
speak your language, to notparticipate really in your
culture at all, to adopt mylanguage, to adopt my culture
(13:07):
and adopt how I view you, whichwas not very good, and then send
you back to this, what we calla reservation, which really is a
POW camp.
You were put out there in themiddle of nothing, to really be
depended completely upongovernment handouts for your
survival, because your way oflife was no longer in effect.
(13:28):
You had no other choice but tolive in this manner and a lot of
the treaties for your land perse.
It's not like the tribes hadsomething of value.
They definitely had somethingof value that they extracted
from them and in return theygave them very, very little.
So there's a lot of distrust inthese tribal nations when it
(13:51):
comes to interaction, becauseevery single treaty, as you
stated earlier, has been broken.
Everything that this culture hasstated that they're going to do
for you, they have gone back on.
So every time they came to thetable, as you said, you know,
with an agreement that washonored on one side but not on
the other.
So now, when you come to thetable and say, hey, I am Mahat
(14:14):
and here I come to the table, Iam O'Newt Allen.
I'm here to help you, of coursethey're going to look at you.
They're going to look at what'sbehind you, like, oh okay, you
know, I don't know how, I thinkyou come in in good spirit, but
really, is this going to do yougoing to get the backing?
(14:34):
Is this going to really come toyou?
Trish and you talked about evensome different contracts
recently about broadband.
Bring broadband out to thesecommunities through the
government, through grants thatwe're still looking for today.
Can you talk about that just alittle bit?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Absolutely so.
Under the Biden administrationand I think this was going
through a couple ofadministrations there has been
an effort, a concerted effort,to improve life on the
reservations.
So there was, I believe, a $900million contract out there with
the Department of Commercewhere they were supposed to be
(15:08):
partnering with tribes andbringing basic broadband
services to the reservations,and One of the requirements is
that you had to partner with atribe to do this correct and
doing that, they never receivedthe services.
But you can best believe thatthe consulting companies you
(15:29):
know they're still working withthe dollars that were given to
them.
We don't know where a lot ofthese projects are in terms of
you know, their advancement, butwhat I'm what my point in all
of this is, it's 2025.
Why are we still needing tospend 900, that type of money,
(15:51):
just to bring basic services?
You're talking about sometribes who don't even have clean
water.
You're talking about, you know,basic living necessities that a
lot of tribal members you knowthey're suffering.
And then you've got some of therichest tribes in the Midwest,
like Minnesota.
They have, you know, a verywealthy tribe out there and
(16:15):
they're using, utilizing theirresources very well.
So when somebody like me comesto the table, the first thing
they're going to say well, areyou working with Cherokee Nation
?
Are they picking up, you know,any of these resources?
Are they working with you?
And they're looking at it fromthe standpoint well, if your own
tribe isn't really picking thisup, why should we work with you
?
Or you know they feel like theyhave to to.
(16:38):
They can't just trust anybodycoming in, and I understand that
.
But I think, from thestandpoint of what the
government is trying to do, Ithink that you know eventually
there's going to have to be sometype of trust established to
(16:59):
get things done, because we cantalk a good game.
But if we're not really comingto the powwow with tree
resources and we're just saying,you know, bringing a chair to
the table and saying, oh, Ireally want to help, you then
get the money and you neverprovide the help.
It's just this competitive,repetitive cycle and I
appreciate the fact that you'rebringing up this conversation.
It's a very sensitive one.
The fact that you're bringingup this conversation is a very
(17:22):
sensitive one, but I think tooit's almost like the tribal
leaders.
You know they're comingtogether to fight some inherent
discriminatory things that aregoing on in Native country right
now, but I think overall it'sstill just.
It surprises me that we are inthis shape, given the fact that
United States considers itselfto be one of the greatest
(17:44):
nations in the world, right, andwe've got tribal reservations
that don't even have broadbandand clean water.
You know that are trying tofigure out how to fight
addictions.
I mean, we're trying to figurethat out outside of the
community.
It impacts all Americans.
You know, when you startgetting into the issues of
addiction and drugs whichreminds me I kind of want to
(18:05):
touch on one of the alliances is, like you know, there's so many
resources out there where wecan do testing with like
genomics and you're very awareof what they're doing with
frenetic right.
I had a conversation with atribe that was based out of
Nevada to try to get them topilot some of these
opportunities.
They don't want to hear itbecause the first question they
(18:28):
have is okay, you want our DNA,you want to provide all of this
testing.
You want to.
You know, look at our gene pool.
What are you going to do withthat after you're done?
Jean Poole, what are you goingto do with that after you're
done?
Do we own the data?
I was just at HIMSS last weekand we were showcasing MAAT for
the first time and I typicallyhave attended that more as an
(18:51):
attendee and not as a businessowner, but that was one of the
first conversations we had atthe Native American workshops.
Everybody was up in arms tryingto figure out well, even if you
decide, you determine thatthey're not trying to colonize
the data, who's in charge oftheir health record?
Is it the individual or is itthe tribe?
(19:12):
Does the chief get to decidethey're going to share
everyone's data or is it thatindividual person?
And I stood up at that sessionand I said, when I worked with
the government that was one ofthe things that we looked into
the privacy rules.
When it comes to how your healthinformation is shared, it comes
(19:33):
at the individual level.
You have to empower people.
You cannot make them feel likeyou are taking control of them
and they have no power over theinformation that's being shared.
So how do we get them toembrace the idea of having you
know their genes tested so wecould tell them?
Well, we can tell by this thatyou know your family is prone to
(19:55):
diabetes or you know somebodylike me who has a kidney disease
.
I had a baby cousin who ithappened to her.
Everyone in the family wastrying to figure out where did
this come from and nobody hadtalked to me initially and when
I found out she was in thehospital.
She was probably about four orfive years old at the time.
(20:15):
I said I had a very similarkidney disease and it's on our
father's side, because that wasthe connection between me and
the baby cousin.
And I said you know it hadnothing to do with like my mom's
side, but had we been able toembrace something like, you know
, genomic testing or getting outthere and bringing in these
(20:37):
technologies that can help usprevent these type of illnesses,
I think we can make someheadway.
So it's a deeper conversation.
There's so many differentproblems to be solved in Native
Country that we have toprioritize it.
But just to have basic cleanwater, food, jobs so you can
(21:00):
look for the job transportation,housing when you can solve
those problems, then they'llprobably start looking at
embracing, you know, modern daytechnology to solve some of the
other problems.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You have unpacked it.
I mean, that is the issue andthe problem and understanding a
people you know, a people intheir own country.
It's not like there are peoplein someone else's country.
They are in their own country,have been a sovereign,
independent people for a longtime.
(21:34):
There's a lot of pride there,right?
So just like a lot for my ownAfrican know, african American
heritage.
You don't really want a handout, you want a hand you know,
understand.
First, how did I get in thissituation and what was the root
cause of that, and has thattruly been ever really addressed
(21:58):
?
I didn't just fall into thissituation.
I was pretty much forced intothis situation and then trying
to now navigate this situationand each time you know who I
feel was at fault would try to,you know, rectify the situation.
They failed miserably andprobably because they just don't
have the right intentions atheart.
(22:21):
Let's just call it what it is.
It shouldn't take to your point.
This is 2025.
We're talking about somethingthat happened in the early 1900s
, so why is it taking 125 yearsto first of all acknowledge why
do I have a poor livingsituation?
How did this happen?
Because what people fantasizeabout Native American life when
(22:42):
you look at it prior to Europeancontent.
They weren't poor.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
They weren't impoverished, they weren't sick,
they didn't have disease andthey didn't have alcohol, you
know.
So now you're like, hmm, maybeit's me, you know, and maybe, if
that was acknowledged at firstand I always start at the very
root of that Did you evenapologize for this behavior?
(23:13):
You say you know what.
I see where you're at.
I see that I am definitely acause of that and the things
that I've done to try to helpyou along that path really have
been bad and I haven't done agood job.
I want to do better, I want toshow you, I want to do better,
but I want to allow you, thesovereign nation, to tell me how
(23:35):
do you feel we should help you,instead of me telling you what
I think you should do.
Why don't you?
I listen for once.
Listen and let you explain andtell me your story and let's
just see if we can be of somehelp.
Explain and tell me your storyand let's just see if we can be
of some help.
So, with that said, tell usabout what Maha actually does
(23:57):
and how you can be of service.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Well, thank you for asking that question, because
that's one of the things thatI'm most proud of.
Where we are right now, we areproviding staffing.
So we do a lot of healthcarestaffing at the Indian hospitals
across the nation.
I mentioned that earlier, butone of the things that we're
most proud of is to be able toprovide staffing specifically
(24:23):
for those locations.
Our biggest client is PhoenixIndian Medical Center and also
out in Bemidji the otheralliances that we formed that
I'm so super excited about.
It goes back to that story ofwanting to work on the
reservation as a doctor andeverything else.
I was selected and asked to bean advisory board member to an
(24:45):
organization, an amazingorganization called Hospitals
Without Borders.
Hospitals Without Borders hasthe ability to stand up modular
clinics in a matter of days, notyears.
We've got tribes out there thatare currently building medical
centers that are going to takemillions of dollars to build a
(25:07):
little couple of years.
We are modeling a concept whereyou can order a modular clinic
and it can be stood up in amatter of three to four days.
So think in terms of like I'maging myself when I say this,
but, like you know, the oldschool TV show mash.
So if you've got situationslike what happened with the
(25:28):
fires out in, in out, here inCalifornia, we could have stood
up a modular clinic for them, afully functioning surgery center
, a pediatric clinic.
They just worked to provide theVatican with a pediatric clinic
as well.
So one of the things that we'redoing with Ma'at is providing
(25:50):
that as an opportunity, you know, for the tribes and IHS.
We want all organizations tocome to us and have a
conversation about how can webest serve those needs, because
if you don't have health, youdon't have wealth.
Right, that's the most outsideof time.
I always tell this to peoplethe most priceless commodity
that we own is what Time, andthen, second after that is our
(26:12):
health.
So we know that healthcare is amulti-billion dollar business.
Illnesses and things like thatare not going anywhere.
But if we can positionourselves to be a leader in
being the most responsivecompany out there in areas of
staffing, and then we can nowstand up a clinic for you, hey,
(26:33):
you know, I would consider mywork done if we can make an
impact in that area.
Additionally, one of the thingsthat we're looking at is
telehealth.
I have an alliance with acompany called COMSIS where we
can provide a lot of virtualdiagnostic testing and
opportunities.
A lot of times it's hard for usto get staffing out there in
(26:56):
the remote areas.
So, for example, like thecontracts in Montana that we
have in these remote areas rightnow, there's areas in Arizona
where they are calling for anurse to take a helicopter and
use a donkey to get up a roadand provide staffing.
So imagine if we could just get, you know, some of these folks
(27:17):
to embrace the idea oftelehealth where, if nothing
else, they can use the broadbandthat they need access to, you
know, to dial in and at leastget an initial screening, and
then we can figure out how do weget them in for services.
There's a company calledResonance where they built an
(27:41):
app.
You can cough into that app andit can give you a cursory
screening of do you have COVID,do you have TB, do you have RSV?
Have COVID, do you have TB, doyou have RSV?
And you know, for FDA purposesthey can't diagnose you, you
know, with the app, but at leasta clinician can get a reading
(28:02):
of that.
It's then sent over and thedoctor can say okay, I need you
to head to the ER right nowbecause, based on how you sound.
You know you sound like youmight have something pretty
serious that needs to be treatedat a medical center.
So when you look at Ma'at sortof being, you know the triangle
and the connector to all ofthese different opportunities.
(28:24):
That's the goal in terms of theservices and the provisions
that we're trying to make forthe community.
My goal is to be one of themost responsive companies out
there, not just to NativeAmericans, but to anybody that's
in an underserved situation.
I want to be there, I want tobe able to help, because I've
been on the other end of that.
(28:45):
You know, nobody is reallypromised tomorrow, but when they
tell you that you're not goingto make it past a certain marker
in your life, things become alittle bit urgent.
And so that's that.
Urgency for me is like, ok,yeah, I got past the age of 12.
But what can we do to make animpact on the community?
(29:07):
How can we really help and notjust come in with an agenda and
say, oh well, let me just, youknow, sell you these clinics.
Are these clinics, excuse me,are these clinics going to be
viable?
Are they going to really helpthe community and at what cost?
So I'm really excited and happyto be working with these
organizations.
(29:28):
I don't often I always say, youknow, I prefer to walk alone, so
to speak.
I don't do a lot ofpartnerships because, one thing,
I'm very careful about thepeople that you know I form
these alliances with, but Iunderstand that I also can't do
it alone.
With that in mind, I have tomake sure that the partnerships
(29:51):
that we establish as a company,that they align with not only
the mission, the value and thepurpose of my aunt, but just
with me as who I am, as a personand as a leader, because I
don't want you, I'm not going tolet people do what I wouldn't
have them do to me and mycommunity, me and my family.
I'm very protective of that.
So I feel, like anyorganization that we're working
(30:15):
with and serving, I want to makesure that I'm protecting them
as well 100% on that.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
You have to have positive alliances.
A lot of times we talked aboutthat circle, that wheel of life,
that circle of life time, right, and in that circle you've got
health, you've got wealth andyou also have relationships Very
important.
So when you look at the body ofwork of an alliance that you
(30:44):
may have, it tells the story.
It leaves the breadcrumbs right.
The path that you've alreadybeen walking on, is this a path
that is going to coincide withwhat you're doing to be of
assistance?
And you're right, there's somany rural communities
throughout America that justdon't have the resources when it
(31:06):
comes to health care, rightFrom a technological plane.
And when you look at technology, it actually works in two areas
People really think about.
It is time, the collapsing ofthe window of time, speed to
market, and then communication,very, very good at different
modalities of communication.
So when you marry those twotogether to enhance health care,
(31:30):
to enhance wealth, to enhancerelationships, you can do
certain things, but you have tohave basic infrastructure, as
you just said.
That's really at a point and Iwant to talk to my you know the
we call it the majoritypopulation, and they tune into
my show and try to put yourselfin the shoes of our Native
(31:52):
American people is that we arein what we call a first world
environment.
Right, we're a $30 trillioneconomy.
We're the largest economy onearth Yet the indigenous
population here lives in thirdworld poverty.
And you wonder why?
Why is that?
How come 360 million peoplecan't be operating in the $30
(32:14):
trillion economy at scale?
Why is that?
What are we doing?
Is it because we've just leftthem behind and we only look in
the past, at different historybooks, and not want to go
outside your own door, go, driveout to a reservation and
actually see what this lookslike?
And this is the result ofancestral challenges in the past
(32:38):
that are still present today.
I want people to trulyunderstand the impact and the
implications of all thesedifferent things that have
happened over time, that arestill prevalent today, and that
we have people like MoniqueAllen who say, hey, I see the
situation.
It's not going to just getsolved in a boardroom.
(33:01):
We've got to get out in thetrenches.
We've got to get out and we'regoing to talk to people and find
out what's on their agenda.
What do you feel that we can do?
And then, oh, by the way, thisis something I can do for you.
You're like, okay, and it'sgoing to come down to that one
thing.
Well, what does it cost me?
And now we're not talking aboutmoney.
It's in who I am as a person,my own heritage, how I am
(33:24):
Because this is the only thingthat has allowed people of
Native American descent tosurvive throughout this time
period is their own particularform of faith and heritage, and
they're not going to sacrificethat for anybody.
So it has to be an alignment inthat world and then a healing
(33:45):
can take place.
I'm so happy that you'resharing exactly what you're
doing from a Mahat perspectiveand, before you know, we
conclude this conversation as webridge a lot about innovation
and culture and then the impacton tribal communities, and
you've talked a lot about yourproject things that you're doing
(34:07):
.
I want to know about yourparticular leadership style and
how you're going to bring a newfuture forth for your particular
business.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Well, my strategy at this point, it's been working
quite well for me in terms ofyou know the contracts that we
have right now.
You know the contracts that wehave right now, right?
One of the things that I'm veryproud of is because I lead by
these 42 principles.
It's really allrelationship-based, so my goal
(34:45):
is to forge and align myselfwith energies that kind of match
mine, where we all want to makea difference, we all want to be
, we all understand our part inthe story and that there's no
competition, so to speak.
You know, in trying to buildthis out, whenever I've been
(35:07):
interviewed for like paststories and press releases and
things like that One of thethings that I always like to
talk about is, sometimes youhave to build and be your own
Mount Rushmore, and that's whatI'm looking at this as I am
trying to build our own MountRushmore, and from the
(35:27):
standpoint of bringing togetherthe right people, I think that
is the core of the strategy.
It's like, okay, monique, youknow that you cannot do this by
yourself, and it's almost like,you know, when you form these
partnerships, it's like amarriage.
You have to make sure thatthose are the right people that
(35:51):
you're bringing to the table tohelp advance this, because we
become a family, you know, youbecome your own village, right?
So I have to make sure thatthese tribes not only trust me,
but that they also trust everypartner that I'm bringing to the
table.
So in order for that to happenyou know there's a vetting
(36:11):
there's, you know, for that tohappen you know there's a
vetting there's, you knowinterviewing and understanding,
like who they are at their core.
And it's not just about oh, youknow, I had a company approach
me when I first got into this,just providing the staffing, and
they wanted to partner with me,but it was because they had got
(36:31):
removed from the contract andthey were trying to do a set
aside for Indian enterprises.
Right, there's not enoughNative American companies out
there that are doing this, andthat's okay that we're part of a
small group.
I am proud to be part of thatsmall group, but I'm also not
going to turn around and letanother company come back in and
(36:54):
colonize my odd for money, andit's really based on the value,
the value add that we'rebringing to the table.
So when you ask me that question, you know it's a lot of thought
that I have to put into?
What are the relationships thatI want?
Who are the people that I wantaround me?
One of my daily prayers and Ihave no shame in saying this I'm
(37:19):
always asking God to keep meinvisible to the people that
don't mean this company andanything that I'm doing any good
.
Make me visible to those thatI'm supposed to be in alliance
with, and as long as I keeptrusting him, I think that's
going to happen, and I thinkthat's the core of my strategy
(37:41):
is my faith and understandingthat, no, you're not superwoman.
You can't do this by yourself.
Eventually, you have to forgethose relationships, but make
sure they're the right ones sothat we can really make an
advancement in the community andwork together.
So I want to be, you know, atrusted source for the Native
(38:04):
American community, and that'smy goal.
I feel like if I can be thetrusted source, then you know,
brick by brick as everybodylikes to say social media I'm
building my for you page in mylife around this whole concept.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
That is beautiful.
That is so aptly stated.
That brings us to ourconclusion.
I couldn't ask you to say thatany differently, and before I
let you go, I always ask this ofmy guests.
Now you're toward the end ofthe podcast.
How do you feel about thisinterview?
Speaker 2 (38:40):
I feel amazing about this interview it's you have
really given me a platform totell the entire story.
I usually leave bits and piecesout and I feel like I finally
was able to share the entirestory.
I usually leave bits and piecesout and I feel like I finally
was able to share the entiremessage.
And it's like you know, I don'twant to be a misery merchant
(39:01):
and live in the past, but Iunderstand the past and how it
got me here and I understand thereason why God saved my life
past the age of 12, because Iwas sent here to be a
generational blessing.
So I appreciate the fact thatyou gave me this platform to be
able to tell the entire story.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Thank you.
That's a blessing for both ofus.
That is awesome.
Thank you for sharing yourstory.
I'm sure the entire SanteeNation out there in Nebraska
thanks you for sharing the story.
Nation out there in Nebraskathanks you for sharing this
story.
Tell them how to contact youwhat is the best possible way.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
We have our website, or you can send me an email at
info at maat M-A-A-T.
Hyphen enterprises dot com.
We would love to hear from you.
I would love to hear somefeedback.
If you've worked with ourcompany before and you have some
feedback on how we can docertain things better, I'm very
much open to that.
(39:56):
My goal in life is to make surethat you know we can't please
everybody we're not tequila butat the end of the day at least
if we can do, you know, a semigood job in listening to who's
out there.
That's how you can get to us.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Excellent, excellent, and I want to encourage your
entire network to tune into allthe episodes of Follow the Brand
.
You can do so at the numberfive.
That's star S-T-A-R, b-d-mthat's B for brand, d for
development and for masterscom.
I want to thank you again somuch for sharing your story on
the Follow the Brand podcast andTV series.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
You're welcome.
Welcome everybody to the Foul Brand Podcast.
This is Grant McGaugh.
This time I'm going to take itall the way for myself and my
family in the Midwest.
I'm going to dedicate this showto the Santee Sioux Tribe of
Nebraska, the Dakota Nation.
This is my family.
A lot of people don't know thatmy ex-wife actually is a tribal
(00:23):
member from the Santee Siouxtribe.
Out there, just a little bitnorth of Omaha, nebraska, a
little bit to the south in theMinnesota South Dakota area, a
little bitty corner of thatNebraska world is where the
Nakota Nation is.
I have three children.
They're all tribally enrolled.
And I bring that up becausewe're going to be talking about
(00:44):
some business and technology inthe Native American world that a
lot of people are not aware ofand I want to bring light to,
especially when I have somebodyso articulate and really lives
in this world.
And I want to bring to the micright now Ms Monique Allen,
because she has been workingtirelessly to bring this story
(01:07):
to light.
So, monique, would you like tointroduce yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, thank you so much again for having me on the
show.
My name is Monique Allen.
I am the CEO and founder of acompany called Maat Enterprises
prizes.
We are a woman-owned,tribally-owned business that
specializes on making ourmission to improve the lives of
(01:32):
Native Americans, and we arecurrently staffing Indian
hospitals across the nation anddoing some other amazing things
with some alliances that weformed.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Well, thank you again for being on the show and I'm
sure a lot of people my audienceright now are wondering Maat
M-A-A-T.
That's the name of your companyand it represents truth,
balance, justice in ancientEgyptian culture.
I want to know, and we wouldlike to know, how do these
(02:01):
values shape your leadership andcompany mission today?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
to know, how do these values shape your leadership
and company mission today?
Well, when I was looking for abusiness name, you know I think
it's most people typically nametheir companies either after
themselves or they try to, youknow, make some type of
connection.
From a personal standpoint,when I started studying the
concepts and the 42 principlesof Ma'at, it really resonated
(02:25):
with me.
As a person, I view myself asmore of a servant leader, so
it's not so much a dictatorshipwhat my goal is to be just a
light in this world.
Like I want my energy to bereflective of someone who made a
positive impact.
None of us are perfect, but Ithink that as we try to strive
(02:48):
and live our best lives everyday and showing up and trying to
be the best person, those 42principles resonated very
closely to my heart.
The whole concept of Ma'at andthe Egyptian God is.
I've always viewed myself as achild of God, and you know what
better name than to encompasssomething that I've already
(03:09):
viewed myself as?
And then I want to share thatconcept and those principles
with others in the world.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now you're also of Native American background.
You share the story with me alittle bit about.
You know part of the CherokeeNation with me a little bit
about.
You know part of the CherokeeNation, people from Oklahoma.
How do you bring all of thattogether to now to be a service
leader?
I'll say service and or servantleader in the space that you
are in now?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Well, it's kind of an interesting but long story.
I'll get into some of it in anabbreviated fashion.
But the part that I didn'tshare with you is that I
actually had a kidney diseasewhen I was born with one and I
only have one kidney.
So just to kind ofcontextualize this story, it
(04:01):
started with my life.
Pretty much I lived my life, mychildhood, in a hospital.
So growing up, my mom wasalways being told that I was not
going to make it past the ageof 12.
So here I am, at the age of 53,you know it's like neener,
neener, neener.
Whatever death the physicianshad on the calendar for me, you
(04:23):
know God said otherwise, right.
So initially what ended uphappening is when I was at UC
Davis I wanted to be a doctor.
So by the time, you know, Istart having these aspirations
of because I had a kidneydisease, I wanted to be a
pediatrician.
I was just familiar that thatworld was a comfortable world
(04:46):
for me.
So I decided in my studies totry to pursue being a doctor
until I nearly blew up the labat UC Davis.
So that did work out and I waslike OK, little girl, I think
you need to go intoadministration, we're going to
go into a different aspect ofhealth care.
I don't think, you know, beinga pediatrician is really the
(05:06):
road for you, and in going downthat route I was looking for my
roots because I wanted to workon a tribal reservation, give
back, set up my own clinics outthere and then, you know, make
an impact that way and then goout into, like you know, the
regular commercial space and beable to help communities from
(05:28):
that standpoint.
Well, in the search for who wewere as a family, it came out
that my mom, who initially didnot know her biological father,
we realized that my mom, she wasborn, like, in a home in
Muskogee, oklahoma tribal areaand she's part of two tribes.
(05:51):
So I'm sitting here thinkingthat it's my father's side of
the family.
You know, I knew that there was, there was something going on
there, but in hindsight werealized that it was my mom.
My mom is now the matriarch ofour family and she's getting to
know her people from that sideof the tribe and all of these
(06:13):
contacts, and so we were able totake that information and with
it, you know, I had.
I had been working at varioushospitals all over the Bay Area,
so I've worked at UC DavisMedical Center, stanford.
I was part of the team thatimplemented the first physician
order entry system.
So I've always had a mindset tobe in the health care field.
(06:35):
And then, by the time, Idecided to go into health care
technology.
I'm a tech girl at heart.
Now go into healthcaretechnology.
I'm a tech girl at heart.
Now I decided to step out onfaith and start my own company
because I did some research andfound out that there's a lot of
economic Indian opportunitiesout there where they are trying
(06:58):
to get us to come to the tablewith businesses and
entrepreneurship opportunities.
So it's amazing to start thisstory off with.
I didn't even know that I wasgoing to make it past the age of
12, wanted to be a doctor andnow I'm staffing hospitals with
nurses, you know, looking atbringing in physicians and other
(07:19):
pieces of technology to make animpact in Indian country to
make an impact in Indian country.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And now we've got a juicy story right.
This is a great story, as youhave had to overcome challenges
just having a life on thisplanet and then getting into
healthcare, then understandingyour Native American roots, then
having philosophies embedded inancient Egyptian culture and
now you've noticed that, yes,there is a opportunity to help
(07:48):
out in a lot of these tribalreservations.
A lot of them are remote.
A lot of them definitely are inneed of healthcare and
healthcare type applications.
Now we also know that, being awoman-owned business, we know
there's unique challenges withthat.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So when you're building out my enterprise and
when you're engaging with thesecommunities.
How did you overcome thechallenges?
We're still trying to make animpact on tribal reservations,
and for good reason.
So for every treaty that's beenestablished with Native
(08:36):
Americans, we know that it'sbeen broken right.
So if I'm trying to go in andsay to them listen, we can offer
you remote patient monitoringservices.
We can offer you, you know, amental health application that
would allow you to be anonymous,to start treating the
addictions that we see on thetribal reservations, they don't
(08:59):
want to hear about that, youknow it's.
It's a situation where not onlyhad did I have to, you know,
everybody always wants to say,you know, they want a seat at
the table.
I built my own table becausenobody was going to give me a
seat.
So instead of crying about it,I just built my own table and
decided, ok, I'm going to haveto overcome these challenges,
(09:21):
and I'm doing that by firstproving, you know, to be a
leading service provider toIndian health services.
So under the governmentcontracting space, you know, I
feel like, if we can get, betrusted there, because a lot of
Native Americans are coming toIHS that's the acronym for
Indian health services.
They are coming to IHS fortheir care.
(09:42):
So if they start hearing aboutMa'at as a preferred vendor
there, then we can use that asour track record and past
performance to say, hey, let uscome in.
We're not just trying tocolonize your data.
We are not just trying tocolonize anything that you have
going on on the reservation.
What we want to do is reallymake an impact.
(10:03):
But let's work together andmake you the owner of all of
this and your journey.
And I think that as we start toget this message out, that Ma'at
wants to be a partner, we don'twant to necessarily just lead
you to water.
We want to partner with you andfigure out is the water source
best for your tribe or do wetake a different avenue?
(10:24):
So, when you say what you know,how are we overcoming those
challenges?
I think that we are stillworking that out.
I think that God is going toprovide the right alignments.
I feel like I am definitelyliving a life of answered
prayers right now.
I thought about this stuff,manifested it years ago and here
we are.
So this is just yet anotherchallenge that God is saying to
(10:46):
me hey, we know that we havethese opportunities, as long as
you're bringing it to them witha pure heart and the agenda is
really just to make a positiveimpact.
I think we'll get there.
And it's okay.
If every tribe doesn't want toembrace that, that's OK.
But at least I can say that Igave it the good old college try
(11:07):
and said hey, we have theseresources, we want to share them
with you, and it's not justbecause we're trying to hustle
and make a dollar off of you aswell.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
I'm glad you said that it's so important to
understand the context of whereyou're operating.
In A lot of people, you know,they love Native American
culture.
They see it mainly, you know,from a stereotypical, I'd say,
lens of what they see ontelevision, what they may have
(11:38):
read in a book or not a book.
And because this is a livedexperience for me and it took a
while for me to reallyunderstand, let's say, my wife's
perspective, when people arelooking at you as, like you're
some mythical creature from thepast or something to that effect
, like no, we are a consistentlived experience and our lived
(12:01):
experience has been.
You know, the interaction withwhat you call modern culture
today has not been great.
It's not been great.
You got to remember, 150 yearsago the Dakota Nation was living
as an independent tribe ofpeople and the way that the
American government, the BIABureau of Indian Affairs, they
(12:21):
look at each individual tribe asa separate sovereign nation
which in of itself, especiallyin today's world, has its
complications with it and howyou get services like you're
describing, because each tribeis individual in its own aspects
, right, and they have their ownhistory and their own cultural
(12:44):
aspects.
This is a nation of people whowere, you know, rudely
interrupted by a differentculture, was then, as you said,
colonized in a very rude andinhumane manner, taught to not
speak your language, to notparticipate really in your
culture at all, to adopt mylanguage, to adopt my culture
(13:07):
and adopt how I view you, whichwas not very good, and then send
you back to this, what we calla reservation, which really is a
POW camp.
You were put out there in themiddle of nothing, to really be
depended completely upongovernment handouts for your
survival, because your way oflife was no longer in effect.
(13:28):
You had no other choice but tolive in this manner and a lot of
the treaties for your land perse.
It's not like the tribes hadsomething of value.
They definitely had somethingof value that they extracted
from them and in return theygave them very, very little.
So there's a lot of distrust inthese tribal nations when it
(13:51):
comes to interaction, becauseevery single treaty, as you
stated earlier, has been broken.
Everything that this culture hasstated that they're going to do
for you, they have gone back on.
So every time they came to thetable, as you said, you know,
with an agreement that washonored on one side but not on
the other.
So now, when you come to thetable and say, hey, I am Mahat
(14:14):
and here I come to the table, Iam O'Newt Allen.
I'm here to help you, of coursethey're going to look at you.
They're going to look at what'sbehind you, like, oh okay, you
know, I don't know how, I thinkyou come in in good spirit, but
really, is this going to do yougoing to get the backing?
(14:34):
Is this going to really come toyou?
Trish and you talked about evensome different contracts
recently about broadband.
Bring broadband out to thesecommunities through the
government, through grants thatwe're still looking for today.
Can you talk about that just alittle bit?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Absolutely so.
Under the Biden administrationand I think this was going
through a couple ofadministrations there has been
an effort, a concerted effort,to improve life on the
reservations.
So there was, I believe, a $900million contract out there with
the Department of Commercewhere they were supposed to be
(15:08):
partnering with tribes andbringing basic broadband
services to the reservations,and One of the requirements is
that you had to partner with atribe to do this correct and
doing that, they never receivedthe services.
But you can best believe thatthe consulting companies you
(15:29):
know they're still working withthe dollars that were given to
them.
We don't know where a lot ofthese projects are in terms of
you know, their advancement, butwhat I'm what my point in all
of this is, it's 2025.
Why are we still needing tospend 900, that type of money,
(15:51):
just to bring basic services?
You're talking about sometribes who don't even have clean
water.
You're talking about, you know,basic living necessities that a
lot of tribal members you knowthey're suffering.
And then you've got some of therichest tribes in the Midwest,
like Minnesota.
They have, you know, a verywealthy tribe out there and
(16:15):
they're using, utilizing theirresources very well.
So when somebody like me comesto the table, the first thing
they're going to say well, areyou working with Cherokee Nation
?
Are they picking up, you know,any of these resources?
Are they working with you?
And they're looking at it fromthe standpoint well, if your own
tribe isn't really picking thisup, why should we work with you
?
Or you know they feel like theyhave to to.
(16:38):
They can't just trust anybodycoming in, and I understand that
.
But I think, from thestandpoint of what the
government is trying to do, Ithink that you know eventually
there's going to have to be sometype of trust established to
(16:59):
get things done, because we cantalk a good game.
But if we're not really comingto the powwow with tree
resources and we're just saying,you know, bringing a chair to
the table and saying, oh, Ireally want to help, you then
get the money and you neverprovide the help.
It's just this competitive,repetitive cycle and I
appreciate the fact that you'rebringing up this conversation.
It's a very sensitive one.
The fact that you're bringingup this conversation is a very
(17:22):
sensitive one, but I think tooit's almost like the tribal
leaders.
You know they're comingtogether to fight some inherent
discriminatory things that aregoing on in Native country right
now, but I think overall it'sstill just.
It surprises me that we are inthis shape, given the fact that
United States considers itselfto be one of the greatest
(17:44):
nations in the world, right, andwe've got tribal reservations
that don't even have broadbandand clean water.
You know that are trying tofigure out how to fight
addictions.
I mean, we're trying to figurethat out outside of the
community.
It impacts all Americans.
You know, when you startgetting into the issues of
addiction and drugs whichreminds me I kind of want to
(18:05):
touch on one of the alliances is, like you know, there's so many
resources out there where wecan do testing with like
genomics and you're very awareof what they're doing with
frenetic right.
I had a conversation with atribe that was based out of
Nevada to try to get them topilot some of these
opportunities.
They don't want to hear itbecause the first question they
(18:28):
have is okay, you want our DNA,you want to provide all of this
testing.
You want to.
You know, look at our gene pool.
What are you going to do withthat after you're done?
Jean Poole, what are you goingto do with that after you're
done?
Do we own the data?
I was just at HIMSS last weekand we were showcasing MAAT for
the first time and I typicallyhave attended that more as an
(18:51):
attendee and not as a businessowner, but that was one of the
first conversations we had atthe Native American workshops.
Everybody was up in arms tryingto figure out well, even if you
decide, you determine thatthey're not trying to colonize
the data, who's in charge oftheir health record?
Is it the individual or is itthe tribe?
(19:12):
Does the chief get to decidethey're going to share
everyone's data or is it thatindividual person?
And I stood up at that sessionand I said, when I worked with
the government that was one ofthe things that we looked into
the privacy rules.
When it comes to how your healthinformation is shared, it comes
(19:33):
at the individual level.
You have to empower people.
You cannot make them feel likeyou are taking control of them
and they have no power over theinformation that's being shared.
So how do we get them toembrace the idea of having you
know their genes tested so wecould tell them?
Well, we can tell by this thatyou know your family is prone to
(19:55):
diabetes or you know somebodylike me who has a kidney disease
.
I had a baby cousin who ithappened to her.
Everyone in the family wastrying to figure out where did
this come from and nobody hadtalked to me initially and when
I found out she was in thehospital.
She was probably about four orfive years old at the time.
(20:15):
I said I had a very similarkidney disease and it's on our
father's side, because that wasthe connection between me and
the baby cousin.
And I said you know it hadnothing to do with like my mom's
side, but had we been able toembrace something like, you know
, genomic testing or getting outthere and bringing in these
(20:37):
technologies that can help usprevent these type of illnesses,
I think we can make someheadway.
So it's a deeper conversation.
There's so many differentproblems to be solved in Native
Country that we have toprioritize it.
But just to have basic cleanwater, food, jobs so you can
(21:00):
look for the job transportation,housing when you can solve
those problems, then they'llprobably start looking at
embracing, you know, modern daytechnology to solve some of the
other problems.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You have unpacked it.
I mean, that is the issue andthe problem and understanding a
people you know, a people intheir own country.
It's not like there are peoplein someone else's country.
They are in their own country,have been a sovereign,
independent people for a longtime.
(21:34):
There's a lot of pride there,right?
So just like a lot for my ownAfrican know, african American
heritage.
You don't really want a handout, you want a hand you know,
understand.
First, how did I get in thissituation and what was the root
cause of that, and has thattruly been ever really addressed
(21:58):
?
I didn't just fall into thissituation.
I was pretty much forced intothis situation and then trying
to now navigate this situationand each time you know who I
feel was at fault would try to,you know, rectify the situation.
They failed miserably andprobably because they just don't
have the right intentions atheart.
(22:21):
Let's just call it what it is.
It shouldn't take to your point.
This is 2025.
We're talking about somethingthat happened in the early 1900s
, so why is it taking 125 yearsto first of all acknowledge why
do I have a poor livingsituation?
How did this happen?
Because what people fantasizeabout Native American life when
(22:42):
you look at it prior to Europeancontent.
They weren't poor.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
They weren't impoverished, they weren't sick,
they didn't have disease andthey didn't have alcohol, you
know.
So now you're like, hmm, maybeit's me, you know, and maybe, if
that was acknowledged at firstand I always start at the very
root of that Did you evenapologize for this behavior?
(23:13):
You say you know what.
I see where you're at.
I see that I am definitely acause of that and the things
that I've done to try to helpyou along that path really have
been bad and I haven't done agood job.
I want to do better, I want toshow you, I want to do better,
but I want to allow you, thesovereign nation, to tell me how
(23:35):
do you feel we should help you,instead of me telling you what
I think you should do.
Why don't you?
I listen for once.
Listen and let you explain andtell me your story and let's
just see if we can be of somehelp.
Explain and tell me your storyand let's just see if we can be
of some help.
So, with that said, tell usabout what Maha actually does
(23:57):
and how you can be of service.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Well, thank you for asking that question, because
that's one of the things thatI'm most proud of.
Where we are right now, we areproviding staffing.
So we do a lot of healthcarestaffing at the Indian hospitals
across the nation.
I mentioned that earlier, butone of the things that we're
most proud of is to be able toprovide staffing specifically
(24:23):
for those locations.
Our biggest client is PhoenixIndian Medical Center and also
out in Bemidji the otheralliances that we formed that
I'm so super excited about.
It goes back to that story ofwanting to work on the
reservation as a doctor andeverything else.
I was selected and asked to bean advisory board member to an
(24:45):
organization, an amazingorganization called Hospitals
Without Borders.
Hospitals Without Borders hasthe ability to stand up modular
clinics in a matter of days, notyears.
We've got tribes out there thatare currently building medical
centers that are going to takemillions of dollars to build a
(25:07):
little couple of years.
We are modeling a concept whereyou can order a modular clinic
and it can be stood up in amatter of three to four days.
So think in terms of like I'maging myself when I say this,
but, like you know, the oldschool TV show mash.
So if you've got situationslike what happened with the
(25:28):
fires out in, in out, here inCalifornia, we could have stood
up a modular clinic for them, afully functioning surgery center
, a pediatric clinic.
They just worked to provide theVatican with a pediatric clinic
as well.
So one of the things that we'redoing with Ma'at is providing
(25:50):
that as an opportunity, you know, for the tribes and IHS.
We want all organizations tocome to us and have a
conversation about how can webest serve those needs, because
if you don't have health, youdon't have wealth.
Right, that's the most outsideof time.
I always tell this to peoplethe most priceless commodity
that we own is what Time, andthen, second after that is our
(26:12):
health.
So we know that healthcare is amulti-billion dollar business.
Illnesses and things like thatare not going anywhere.
But if we can positionourselves to be a leader in
being the most responsivecompany out there in areas of
staffing, and then we can nowstand up a clinic for you, hey,
(26:33):
you know, I would consider mywork done if we can make an
impact in that area.
Additionally, one of the thingsthat we're looking at is
telehealth.
I have an alliance with acompany called COMSIS where we
can provide a lot of virtualdiagnostic testing and
opportunities.
A lot of times it's hard for usto get staffing out there in
(26:56):
the remote areas.
So, for example, like thecontracts in Montana that we
have in these remote areas rightnow, there's areas in Arizona
where they are calling for anurse to take a helicopter and
use a donkey to get up a roadand provide staffing.
So imagine if we could just get, you know, some of these folks
(27:17):
to embrace the idea oftelehealth where, if nothing
else, they can use the broadbandthat they need access to, you
know, to dial in and at leastget an initial screening, and
then we can figure out how do weget them in for services.
There's a company calledResonance where they built an
(27:41):
app.
You can cough into that app andit can give you a cursory
screening of do you have COVID,do you have TB, do you have RSV?
Have COVID, do you have TB, doyou have RSV?
And you know, for FDA purposesthey can't diagnose you, you
know, with the app, but at leasta clinician can get a reading
(28:02):
of that.
It's then sent over and thedoctor can say okay, I need you
to head to the ER right nowbecause, based on how you sound.
You know you sound like youmight have something pretty
serious that needs to be treatedat a medical center.
So when you look at Ma'at sortof being, you know the triangle
and the connector to all ofthese different opportunities.
(28:24):
That's the goal in terms of theservices and the provisions
that we're trying to make forthe community.
My goal is to be one of themost responsive companies out
there, not just to NativeAmericans, but to anybody that's
in an underserved situation.
I want to be there, I want tobe able to help, because I've
been on the other end of that.
(28:45):
You know, nobody is reallypromised tomorrow, but when they
tell you that you're not goingto make it past a certain marker
in your life, things become alittle bit urgent.
And so that's that.
Urgency for me is like, ok,yeah, I got past the age of 12.
But what can we do to make animpact on the community?
(29:07):
How can we really help and notjust come in with an agenda and
say, oh well, let me just, youknow, sell you these clinics.
Are these clinics, excuse me,are these clinics going to be
viable?
Are they going to really helpthe community and at what cost?
So I'm really excited and happyto be working with these
organizations.
(29:28):
I don't often I always say, youknow, I prefer to walk alone, so
to speak.
I don't do a lot ofpartnerships because, one thing,
I'm very careful about thepeople that you know I form
these alliances with, but Iunderstand that I also can't do
it alone.
With that in mind, I have tomake sure that the partnerships
(29:51):
that we establish as a company,that they align with not only
the mission, the value and thepurpose of my aunt, but just
with me as who I am, as a personand as a leader, because I
don't want you, I'm not going tolet people do what I wouldn't
have them do to me and mycommunity, me and my family.
I'm very protective of that.
So I feel, like anyorganization that we're working
(30:15):
with and serving, I want to makesure that I'm protecting them
as well 100% on that.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
You have to have positive alliances.
A lot of times we talked aboutthat circle, that wheel of life,
that circle of life time, right, and in that circle you've got
health, you've got wealth andyou also have relationships Very
important.
So when you look at the body ofwork of an alliance that you
(30:44):
may have, it tells the story.
It leaves the breadcrumbs right.
The path that you've alreadybeen walking on, is this a path
that is going to coincide withwhat you're doing to be of
assistance?
And you're right, there's somany rural communities
throughout America that justdon't have the resources when it
(31:06):
comes to health care, rightFrom a technological plane.
And when you look at technology, it actually works in two areas
People really think about.
It is time, the collapsing ofthe window of time, speed to
market, and then communication,very, very good at different
modalities of communication.
So when you marry those twotogether to enhance health care,
(31:30):
to enhance wealth, to enhancerelationships, you can do
certain things, but you have tohave basic infrastructure, as
you just said.
That's really at a point and Iwant to talk to my you know the
we call it the majoritypopulation, and they tune into
my show and try to put yourselfin the shoes of our Native
(31:52):
American people is that we arein what we call a first world
environment.
Right, we're a $30 trillioneconomy.
We're the largest economy onearth Yet the indigenous
population here lives in thirdworld poverty.
And you wonder why?
Why is that?
How come 360 million peoplecan't be operating in the $30
(32:14):
trillion economy at scale?
Why is that?
What are we doing?
Is it because we've just leftthem behind and we only look in
the past, at different historybooks, and not want to go
outside your own door, go, driveout to a reservation and
actually see what this lookslike?
And this is the result ofancestral challenges in the past
(32:38):
that are still present today.
I want people to trulyunderstand the impact and the
implications of all thesedifferent things that have
happened over time, that arestill prevalent today, and that
we have people like MoniqueAllen who say, hey, I see the
situation.
It's not going to just getsolved in a boardroom.
(33:01):
We've got to get out in thetrenches.
We've got to get out and we'regoing to talk to people and find
out what's on their agenda.
What do you feel that we can do?
And then, oh, by the way, thisis something I can do for you.
You're like, okay, and it'sgoing to come down to that one
thing.
Well, what does it cost me?
And now we're not talking aboutmoney.
It's in who I am as a person,my own heritage, how I am
(33:24):
Because this is the only thingthat has allowed people of
Native American descent tosurvive throughout this time
period is their own particularform of faith and heritage, and
they're not going to sacrificethat for anybody.
So it has to be an alignment inthat world and then a healing
(33:45):
can take place.
I'm so happy that you'resharing exactly what you're
doing from a Mahat perspectiveand, before you know, we
conclude this conversation as webridge a lot about innovation
and culture and then the impacton tribal communities, and
you've talked a lot about yourproject things that you're doing
(34:07):
.
I want to know about yourparticular leadership style and
how you're going to bring a newfuture forth for your particular
business.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Well, my strategy at this point, it's been working
quite well for me in terms ofyou know the contracts that we
have right now.
You know the contracts that wehave right now, right?
One of the things that I'm veryproud of is because I lead by
these 42 principles.
It's really allrelationship-based, so my goal
(34:45):
is to forge and align myselfwith energies that kind of match
mine, where we all want to makea difference, we all want to be
, we all understand our part inthe story and that there's no
competition, so to speak.
You know, in trying to buildthis out, whenever I've been
(35:07):
interviewed for like paststories and press releases and
things like that One of thethings that I always like to
talk about is, sometimes youhave to build and be your own
Mount Rushmore, and that's whatI'm looking at this as I am
trying to build our own MountRushmore, and from the
(35:27):
standpoint of bringing togetherthe right people, I think that
is the core of the strategy.
It's like, okay, monique, youknow that you cannot do this by
yourself, and it's almost like,you know, when you form these
partnerships, it's like amarriage.
You have to make sure thatthose are the right people that
(35:51):
you're bringing to the table tohelp advance this, because we
become a family, you know, youbecome your own village, right?
So I have to make sure thatthese tribes not only trust me,
but that they also trust everypartner that I'm bringing to the
table.
So in order for that to happenyou know there's a vetting
(36:11):
there's, you know, for that tohappen you know there's a
vetting there's, you knowinterviewing and understanding,
like who they are at their core.
And it's not just about oh, youknow, I had a company approach
me when I first got into this,just providing the staffing, and
they wanted to partner with me,but it was because they had got
(36:31):
removed from the contract andthey were trying to do a set
aside for Indian enterprises.
Right, there's not enoughNative American companies out
there that are doing this, andthat's okay that we're part of a
small group.
I am proud to be part of thatsmall group, but I'm also not
going to turn around and letanother company come back in and
(36:54):
colonize my odd for money, andit's really based on the value,
the value add that we'rebringing to the table.
So when you ask me that question, you know it's a lot of thought
that I have to put into?
What are the relationships thatI want?
Who are the people that I wantaround me?
One of my daily prayers and Ihave no shame in saying this I'm
(37:19):
always asking God to keep meinvisible to the people that
don't mean this company andanything that I'm doing any good
.
Make me visible to those thatI'm supposed to be in alliance
with, and as long as I keeptrusting him, I think that's
going to happen, and I thinkthat's the core of my strategy
(37:41):
is my faith and understandingthat, no, you're not superwoman.
You can't do this by yourself.
Eventually, you have to forgethose relationships, but make
sure they're the right ones sothat we can really make an
advancement in the community andwork together.
So I want to be, you know, atrusted source for the Native
(38:04):
American community, and that'smy goal.
I feel like if I can be thetrusted source, then you know,
brick by brick as everybodylikes to say social media I'm
building my for you page in mylife around this whole concept.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
That is beautiful.
That is so aptly stated.
That brings us to ourconclusion.
I couldn't ask you to say thatany differently, and before I
let you go, I always ask this ofmy guests.
Now you're toward the end ofthe podcast.
How do you feel about thisinterview?
Speaker 2 (38:40):
I feel amazing about this interview it's you have
really given me a platform totell the entire story.
I usually leave bits and piecesout and I feel like I finally
was able to share the entirestory.
I usually leave bits and piecesout and I feel like I finally
was able to share the entiremessage.
And it's like you know, I don'twant to be a misery merchant
(39:01):
and live in the past, but Iunderstand the past and how it
got me here and I understand thereason why God saved my life
past the age of 12, because Iwas sent here to be a
generational blessing.
So I appreciate the fact thatyou gave me this platform to be
able to tell the entire story.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Thank you.
That's a blessing for both ofus.
That is awesome.
Thank you for sharing yourstory.
I'm sure the entire SanteeNation out there in Nebraska
thanks you for sharing the story.
Nation out there in Nebraskathanks you for sharing this
story.
Tell them how to contact youwhat is the best possible way.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
We have our website, or you can send me an email at
info at maat M-A-A-T.
Hyphen enterprises dot com.
We would love to hear from you.
I would love to hear somefeedback.
If you've worked with ourcompany before and you have some
feedback on how we can docertain things better, I'm very
much open to that.
(39:56):
My goal in life is to make surethat you know we can't please
everybody we're not tequila butat the end of the day at least
if we can do, you know, a semigood job in listening to who's
out there.
That's how you can get to us.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
Excellent, excellent, and I want to encourage your
entire network to tune into allthe episodes of Follow the Brand
.
You can do so at the numberfive.
That's star S-T-A-R, b-d-mthat's B for brand, d for
development and for masterscom.
I want to thank you again somuch for sharing your story on
the Follow the Brand podcast andTV series.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
You're welcome.
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