Dr. Mahsa Khaghani
Mahsa Khaghani is a cypher, a beautiful, talented, accomplished woman, but a cypher, nonetheless. She speaks in a code whose source is song, dance, nature, and family which was not broken, but was clarified during our interview.
When Mahsa was eight years old, gifted with an angelic voice, on her own volition, she entered a contest for the Spanish version of (fill in the name of the country) “got talent.” Her father, however, said “no, my daughter needs to study, this is not appropriate” and the world lost a second Shakira or Montserrat Cabale, but dentistry gained Mahsa.
She referenced being in a chorus at some point but was evasive as to the genre of music and the others she would choose. As you will see going forward, Mahsa is an extraordinarily private person, not evasive in the classical sense of the word, but it is this feature of her personality that draws people to her…she is a flower, a blossom of great beauty turning towards the sun, but strongly rooted in the earth. She is a part of the garden but stands out from it. A cypher.
She loves to fly; it brings her a sense of freedom which is woven into the fabric of everything about her. As an educator, she gives to many, but her sense of personal connection is restricted to a select few. She was “offered” the chance to be a pilot of her own private plane and accorded the privilege of inviting giants in any field of her choosing; her choice was Katalin Nagy, a friend of but a few years, and yet of intense commitment. Always the cypher.
When offered the resources to create the most unique CE program of any generation, her response was typically Mahsa. Bring together a group within the profession to address diagnosis, the fundamentals of treatment, the foundation of structure in all the disparate specialities, but without the facility to interrelate, the creation will crumble and collapse. We are trained in a specialty driven profession to “not stray outside our lane”, but the absence of confluence can fail to take us to the same place. As always, Mahsa declined to name the speakers at this conference. A cypher.
She began her journey in dentistry under the tutelage of Professor Ignacio Calatayud. She worked in his dental clinic as a hygienist at age 18 and he subsequently influenced her to transition from her initial clinical phase focused on orthodontics to implantology and periodontology. Mentored subsequently by Juanjo Aranda, Mariano Sanz and Pat Allen, they brought to her the need for passion and dedication in all aspects of her career. Yet when asked if she would invite them on her private plane to chat, she deferred as she noted her plane was “private”. Again, a cypher.
Planes take a certain prominence in Mahsa’s life as she chose skydiving to feel free, freedom being a recurring theme in her life. “Life is short, wake up each day and choose to do whatever you feel like, never influenced by those around you.” A driven perfectionist, she has evolved as a leader who delegates, encourages others to accept making mistakes, and learn from them to evolve. When asked for the catalyst for this paradigm shift, she shrugged….unrelenting in the preservation of “the code”.
To destress, she hikes through the mountains near her home with her neighbour, walks though the city finding a myriad of coffee shops and tapas restaurants to enjoy the décor and the presentation of the food. And yet, when asked what she and the neighbour talked about, she deferred, “oh, this or that” and when asked the name of the coffee shops or the restaurants, “oh, there are many”. Again, the cypher.
There were, however, several times in our discussion when the inner light that shines within Mahsa shone through. People that did matter in her life were her immediate and extended family. Her aunt, a TV star in Iran, a dancer of classical folklore who was her second mom. A woman whose advice to Mahsa was “enjoy your life, every second, every minute, every day under all circumstances”, a life lesson that Mahsa has taken to heart. Her students, those that have taken the courses she provides through her CE company BeiDE, those who have told her that the course changed them, their career, these are the faces she sees every day.
“Life is short, wake up
each day and choose to do whatever you feel like, never influenced by those around you.”
Breaking the code became easier, as it was apparent that she didn’t care about what others thought, not in a negative or impolite way. She understood that living a full complete life is about doing that which makes you feel good, what makes you happy. Be honest, be professional, be positive, be useful to others, contribute.
This was most reflected in her perspective on the political situation in Spain, her country, her home. Adamantly apolitical about professional matters, she became animated about making change to rectify the damage done by inept politicians. Were she to be president, she would change the voting structure, let a new broom sweep clean, a combination of Dilma Rousseff, past president of Brazil, Maria de Lourdes Pintsaligo, the only woman to serve as prime minister of Portugal, and Corazon Aquino the past president of the Philippines. Still, she would not have invited them on her private plane. The cypher as always, remained in place.
She talked of her mother. I’d seen a black and white photograph of this extraordinarily elegant, beautiful woman she kept in her wallet, creased, somewhat stained and yet, it was luminous. Her guardian angel, who passed all too soon, but from whom she carried the philosophy to always be independent, create your own life and be proud of what you’ve created. “I have achieved whatever she asked”, she said. She talks to her every day, she is her angel, always with her, sharing every moment, listening to every word. The cypher was explained.