likely die from something else. He let me know that I would have a difficult year, but that I would come out the other side and live a much longer life. My mind immediately flipped — now that I had a plan, I had something positive to focus on. I had eight chemo treatments. I couldn’t wait for each one as I knew each was a step toward my recovery. I got off the internet and did not speak to anyone who had been through chemo because I wanted my experience to be my own. I didn’t want to feel sick until I was actually sick. I was afraid that if I had it in my mind that something bad was going to happen, I would convince myself that it was happening. The truth is, I never got that sick from chemo. Was I tired? Yes. Did I lose my hair? Yes. Did I lie in bed all day? Hell no! I went to work every day (maybe shorter days but I was always there). I went out with my friends; I ate in restaurants; I traveled. I lived my life and did not give in. Some days were very rough, but I controlled my life, my disease did not. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and before I knew it, I was done!” How did this life-threatening challenge affect your perspective, both personally and professionally? I think about this part of my life in the context of how I handle work adversity, and realize it is much in the same way. While no one likes problems, I tend to run toward them as the faster they are dealt with, the faster they are behind you. Once I have a plan for resolution, the end goal is in sight. It is not that I love the process, I love the result of having dealt with something so it is in my rear-view mirror. I have had to learn that I cannot always control what happens, but I can control how I let it affect me. I can wallow in my adversity, or I can move forward. My practicewas mostly devoted to bankruptcy and real estate, both ofwhich gave me a goodunderstanding of how profitable real estate investing can bewhen done right, and how devastating it can bewhen donewrong.
Susan Naftulin REHAB FINANCIAL GROUP
Susan Naftulin has been in the mortgage/real estate investing world since 1998. This former Philadelphia- based attorney left law for the mortgage industry where she managed the foreclosure and bankruptcies of its borrowers. She became senior vice president, handling all legal aspects of default servicing. Then the “mortgage meltdown” came and she assisted with shutdowns and liquidations for multiple lenders. “While working with a rehab lender in 2008, one of the partners approached me about starting a new rehab lending business together as we felt that markets had hit bottom and were beginning to recover. That is how Rehab Financial Group, LP was born. I saw an opportunity to control my destiny and took a leap of faith. I have not regretted that leap once since RFG opened its doors,” Naftulin said. In November 2018, Naftulin was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. With no family history, no risk factors, and no abnormal scans, the discovery came out of the blue. She spent most of 2019 battling it. While she is on the road to recovery and doing well, working through chemo, surgery, and radiation is a big part of her story. She shares: “My doctors were stunned that such a serious illness had been hiding for such a long time even though I got every test I was supposed to get. I was fortunate to get an appointment with a well-regarded oncologist but spent two torturous weeks researching my fate on the internet. Word of advice for anyone in this position — get off the internet! By the morning of my oncology appointment, I had convinced myself that I had about six months to live. The oncologist quickly assured me that despite what I had read, I could be put into long-term remission and
22 | think realty magazine :: march 2020
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