Nurse Career Coach, Farah Laurent

[00:01] Michelle: Let me tell you about Farah Laurent. This woman has done it all, and she still has more to do. Longtime nurse, check. Master's degree, check. Doctoral student, check. Board certifications, six of them. Now, add to that mix nurse, career coach, and nursepreneur. I know, I didn't know what it was either, but you guys, she's amazing! She teaches nurses how to become business owners. Brilliant, right? And straight from her website, which is beautiful, by the way, "If you want to be a badass nurse, you need a badass coach."  She helps you with your resume, your interview prep, and just how to level up your skills. Honestly, I don't know where her enthusiasm comes from, but I think I do. It's from her passion for nursing, teaching nurses, and helping nurses live their best life.  In the five-minute snippet: cinnamon for the win. Here is Farah Laurent. Well, good morning, Farah. Welcome to the podcast.
[01:23] Farah: Good morning, Michelle. Such a pleasure to be on your podcast. Thank you so much for the opportunity. So excited to have this conversation with you.
[01:31] Michelle: You are welcome. It's my pleasure. Ever since we kind of met on LinkedIn, I've been very intrigued by everything about you. So we want to talk all about nurse coaching today, and I'm really interested in your nursepreneur program, so we'll get to that too. But just start out by telling everybody kind of just a little background, because you have a very interesting background.
[02:01] Farah: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate your kind words. So, yeah, I actually have quite the background and the story. So I've been a nurse for 19 years, and I joke about it. I say, oh, I started when I was five. So I actually started my career in Canada and in nursing school, I tell the story all the time, my clinical instructor in my last semester asked me, well, Farah, what type of nurse do you want to be? And I said, Well, I want to be an emergency nurse. I used to watch it, like this TV show, ER Life and Trauma, or something like that. And I'm like, yes, that type of nurse. So when I told her that, she basically looked at me and almost, like, laughed in my face and was like Farah, you'll never be an ER nurse. You're too unorganized. And I could not believe it. I said, wow, this is an educator, who instead of trying to motivate me to get me there, she's trying to crush my dream. So in my head, and the type of personality that I have in my head, I was like, all right, watch me, lady. I will do that, and I will be one of the most badass ER nurses around. So that's what I did. I got hired as a nursing student when I was doing my rotation in the ER. So I and another student got the chance to go there as my first pick. So I knew that I had to really work hard and show out there so I could get this position. So that's what happened. And I got hired before I even graduated, which back then was a little bit unheard of to go into a critical care area like the ED. I always tell that story because I want to empower other nursing students or other nurses to really follow their dream and their passions, right, and not really listen to people with negativity. And I'm sure everyone has a similar story about a clinical instructor who either motivated them or somebody that probably wasn't that nice. So I promised myself in that moment, I said, well, one day I'm going to be a clinical instructor, and I'm going to do the exact opposite. I'm going to empower my students and make sure that they follow their dreams and do what it is that they want. So fast forward. I moved to New York City to pursue travel nursing. I left Canada, and I did that for a little while. I pretty much worked everywhere. I worked in Michigan, I worked in Detroit at a Level I trauma center there. I worked in Ann Arbor at the VA, went back to New York, and worked for all the big organizations like New York Presbyterian, NYU, and Beth Israel, which is now Mount Sinai. And what I realized my whole nursing career I always fell into a natural educator. People would always come to me for things, and I would always be teaching or educating, supporting, precepting, and mentoring. So I decided to pursue my Masters in Education. But of course, that wasn't as easy as I thought. Once I graduated, I thought, oh, I'll get a job, no problem. But for some reason, the manager in the ER at that time, for some reason, was not giving me an opportunity. I kept applying for roles, and he basically told me that I didn't have enough soft skills to be an ED educator. And I was like, what? I ended up leaving, and I went down the street, and I joke about it, and I say that I took my talents to South Beach, just like LeBron did when he went to Miami. Literally, I was like, well, if they're not giving me the opportunity, I'm going to make it happen for myself. So it took me two years, but I always say, when it rains, it pours. I got two positions in education at the same time, so I got an educator role in the ICU and then the Ortho unit and I also got adjunct faculty as a clinical instructor for NYU. And that was so important to me, that role because I accomplished what I said that I would, which would be to be a clinical instructor. And I loved it, absolutely loved it. With my students, I used to teach leadership and Management, which is the last semester, and I just loved it. And then fast forward, I did a couple more education gigs and then became the assistant director of education at NYC Health and Hospitals and then became a director of education at a hospital in New Jersey. And I love that as well. But I felt that there were a lot of restrictions on what I could do as the director of education because right, hospitals and organizations have their own motives sometimes, especially since corporate was running a lot of their decisions. I stayed there just under a year, and in the middle of an education meeting with my team, got a call from the COO and said, oh, come to my office for a few minutes. And literally in a minute, I was laid off just like that. And that was like the summer of 2022. And that's when I realized I'm going to go full force with this nurse career coaching business that I started in 2021. So now I am a career coach for nurses, all different types of nurses, both nursing, new grads, and experienced nurses looking to really level up their careers. So I help them with, like, resumes, cover letters, and those types of things. But it's much deeper than that because they go through a transformation, what I find is it's truly mindset and confidence that is stopping them from really accomplishing their goals and their dreams. So in a nutshell, that's what it is. And I currently still work full-time as the director of nursing for a nursing program, and I'm in a doctoral program. I should be done in December. And that's another long story. I was actually supposed to graduate yesterday. Oh, my gosh, it got canceled. Yeah, long story. That's my story, really. I'm pretty much today what my nursing students I didn't have as a nursing student.
[08:50] Michelle: That's a lot to unpack, and I know there's so much in there. One of the first things is the sadness that I felt about your dream-crushing instructor. I think there's no place for that. Why are you here as a nurse if you're going to not be a motivator? If this person saw things that could be improved, there's a way to give constructive criticism and to be more of a mentor and say, okay, if you want to be an ER nurse, this is what we have to do. We have to level up your skills. But to just outright say, you're not going to accomplish this goal because this is the reason, there's no place for that.
[09:38] Farah: Right. And the thing is, sometimes I almost feel like maybe they don't even know that they're doing it. Like, this was back in a little. I mean, it's, you know, this was like early 2000s. But the thing is, I think and this is why I always talk about, I try to break nursing, like old nursing narratives. There was always this narrative of and some, till today still tell students, well, you have to start in Med-Surg. And that's like an old-school way of thinking.
[10:11] Michelle: So old. And I'm seeing a lot that they're getting rid of that. Being a NICU nurse for a long time, I saw the progression of the last five years of my career. We started hiring new grads all the time, and that was pretty unheard of.
[10:33] Farah: Yeah. And it should be that way. It's just organizations need to support education in the sense of creating residency programs, specific residency programs for these specialties, because, as we know, it's difficult to retain nurses or to get nurses in certain areas. So if you create these residency programs specifically tailored to those specialties like NICU, L& D, and ICU, then the students, the new grads will thrive.
[11:05] Michelle: Absolutely.
[11:06] Farah: And that's what we need to do.
[11:09] Michelle: And I've seen that, and I always thought it was so ridiculous to it is kind of like squashing someone's dream when they go through nursing school and they find something that just really attracts them. Oh, my gosh, I love emergency nursing, or I love NICU nursing, and that's what I want to do. And then to have to do something for one or two years they're not passionate about, it leads to burnout. And there are a lot of nurses that leave the profession. I don't know the exact statistics out there on it, but within two years and that old practice might have something to do with it, for sure.
[11:56] Farah: Yeah. I don't know what the latest, but from last I checked, it's about one in five nurses will leave typically their first year. And that's what it is. And it's like when you have that feeling of excitement, you're so excited to start something. This is what I want my clients and my new nurses to feel. And I always say, I don't want you to settle. Do not settle because you want to have that excitement, that feeling like when you wake up in the morning, oh, I'm excited to do this. This is like what I'm meant to do, just do something just because right. So that's why I do what I do as a nurse career coach. And I'm really trying to scale my business and get out there and have other nurses hear about me, nursing students hear about me because I also speak. I also write. I'm a contributor for Minority Nurse. I've been starting to do webinars as well with Minority Nurse Host Springer. And I just think it's important to show new graduate nurses and other nurses as well the different opportunities in nursing. There's like over 100 roles in nursing, right? That we could think. You mentioned that somewhere on your site. And I did a LinkedIn live about it because I remember listing from A to Z. You can even work in a zoo. I had a friend who I worked ER. She worked at the Bronx Zoo as a nurse in New York. I'm telling you, you could work on a cruise ship. You could work for the United Nations. You can be in the government, right? Health policy. That's why I love our profession. And I constantly try to always bring the positive aspects out of nursing. Obviously, I talk about the real stuff that's happening sometimes, but I try to always keep it positive because I feel like there's already too much negativity out there. So I always try to keep things fun and light and positive for my viewers when I create content.
[14:08] Michelle: I love that. And you touched on some of the publications, and I was looking at those, and I will link these in the show notes because I just read every one of these articles, and I think they're so great. So you talked about Minority Nurse. You wrote an article on "Signs of a toxic work environment. A nurse's guide to Planning your exit." Which was fabulous.
[14:31] Farah: Thank you, yeah.
[14:31] Michelle: The Daily Nurse. You were nurse of the week and "Nurse educator becomes nursepreneur to change the game for new nurses."  And we'll talk about nursepreneur in a little bit. And The Nursing Beat, which I just discovered, and that is a fantastic publication, "How to Interview for a Nursing Position and Slay!" and then Sigma, "Follow Your Nursing Dreams, " Go Solo, which I have not heard of, which is also really good, "Top notch career guidance for nurses."  And then you are a member of the National Nurses and Business Association. And you wrote for them, "Seven reasons to start your nursing business: show up and show out."  And one of the things that you said in that particular article was that nursing's superpower is adapting to our environment. And I think that's so true. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?[15:26] Farah: Yeah. Thank you so much for highlighting those articles. I never knew that I liked writing after nursing school and all these essays, but I did find a passion for writing. I'm like, you know what? I actually enjoy writing, so thank you for that. But, yeah, adapting. And I talk to nurses all the time, both nursing students, new grads, and nurses. And I feel like nurses don't give themselves enough credit and they don't brag enough about their accomplishments and how great and fabulous we are. And that's what I'm trying to get nurses to do, because we are so great and fabulous, because, honestly, we can adapt to anything. And we have such high skills that are so transferable to pretty much anything. Like, I know nurses that have transitioned into law. There's a nurse on LinkedIn, can't remember her name, but she started out as a nurse and now is a lawyer as well. So she's kind of merged the two. There's a lot of people that go into legal consulting and start their own business like nursing. I'm telling you, you can do anything. And I just wrote something recently about how nurses are just unstoppable because we really can adapt so well, especially in critical care settings or like being an ER nurse. I felt like that has helped me even in my own life, because you literally just have to just roll with what's going on, right? Like, you figure it out. I have this thing on my desk and it says, everything is figureoutable.
[17:17] Michelle: Yeah, I love that.
[17:20] Farah: Yeah, because it is there's always a solution, and we just have to be solution focused. And nurses are like MacGyver, right? We just, like, figure things out and just make it work.
[17:33] Michelle: So true. And do you think some of our resilience comes from maybe our childhood? A lot of nurses that I've spoken with have grown up in not great ideal environments or they've struggled a lot when they were younger. And I saw in your bio that you had to learn English and you moved at a very young age, and so in your own life, you've had some pretty big struggles to get through. And do you think that is kind of who we are today? That it contributes to who we are today as nurses?
[18:16] Farah: Yeah, absolutely. I think most people in general have a story, right? We all have a story. And we've probably all struggled somewhere in our childhood in some aspect, whether it's financially or fitting in or belonging, or whatever the case is.  Everybody has a story to share. So like you said, my story was we immigrated from West Africa, Ivory Coast. So I spoke French and we went to Canada when I was about nine. So I saw my parents struggle, right?  I was an immigrant. They were immigrants. I saw them struggle. My dad was working two jobs to make things work for us. And he was always such a hard worker. And I didn't even mention this, and I realized it later on my website. I said that I was the first in my family to have a business. But actually thinking about it, I was in bed the other day thinking about it, and I'm like, you know what? That's not true. My dad is like an entrepreneur because I remember back in Africa, he had his own in Ivory Coast, he has his own T-shirt company, so he would make T-shirts.
[19:35] Michelle: Wow.
[19:35] Farah: And he also did a few other things, but he was always trying to start little businesses here and there, do different things. So he was always innovative and really creative in the things he did. So I feel like some of that I've adopted from him and just going to school. I always had this inner motivation like this, how we say there's an internal and external type of motivation and things like that. I was always a motivated kid. I joked about it last time, how I wrote a resume. I think I was in like, grade six, and I handwrote a resume and I showed it to my friend's older sister. Her name was Rose. I'm like, Rose, what do you think about this resume? She just started laughing. She's like, you're so cute.
[20:30] Michelle: Right?
[20:31] Farah: I was so driven at a young age, and I'm like, I'm going to start working. So I actually started working. I think I used to deliver Penny Savers in Canada.
[20:43] Michelle: Oh, my gosh.
[20:44] Farah: Stuff like that. I think everyone has that story. A lot of people are immigrants or their parents are immigrants. And you feel that there's just so much opportunity in these areas that we're growing up in. People would die, literally, to live either in Canada or the US. I'm sure other countries have some good things too, and they have things that you can grow into, but I just feel like the opportunities presented in the US and Canada are far more than a lot of other countries. So to me, I took that as like, I have to do something more. And I'm always wanting to do the next thing. And the people laugh at me, and they're like, oh, how do you do it? You're always into so many things. So my next thing is like, I want to write a book. And I'm like, well, why not? Let's write a book.
[21:43] Michelle: And then next you can start a podcast.
[21:47] Farah: Actually, funny enough, I did, and then on Anchor FM, but then I kind of stopped posting.
[21:56] Michelle: Okay.
[21:57] Farah: Like, I kind of did. And then it just paused.
[22:00] Michelle: I see you in that role. You're such a good speaker, and you have so much enthusiasm and so much experience, and to share that would be awesome.
[22:11] Farah: Oh, my goodness. Thank you, Michelle. I'll pay you later.
[22:16] Michelle: Well, let's get into your coaching a little bit. So one of the things I was thinking about coaching is that coaching is a lot more than just cheerleading. Right? And so coaching is actionable, it's providing actionable strategies to get you from point A to point B. So I wanted to take one of the things that you listed on your website, which was interview preparation. And so what actionable strategies could you give your clients to prepare for an interview? Just give us some examples.
[22:50] Farah: Sure. So one big thing that I actually had a session with one of my clients this morning on interview skills. Honestly, we do a lot of self-awareness type work. I ask them a lot of questions to kind of get a little bit deeper as to what are their actual fears or their self-limiting beliefs about the interview. Because a lot of times it's not just basic like, oh, just look up the mission, vision, values, look up the hospital, look up the organization, and be prepared, right? A lot of their fear comes, honestly, they say that they're anxious or nervous, but why, right? Why are you anxious or nervous? So we dig deeper into that. Why? Because that's really what almost like if you, so to say, the nerve that you have to hit to be able to get them to articulate themselves. What is truly the fear? Is it truly the fear of rejection? Because a lot of them don't actually even truly believe that they can get the position and sometimes they're overqualified for the position and they're still questioning or asking for validation, like, oh, do you think I should apply for this and that's. Like the deep work that we do, it's not simply like, let's just answer questions, which we do to get them prepared, but it's more of that mindset and that deep reflection to get them to realize what is it truly that's stopping you from being confident in these interviews? Because that's what it is. Like, the person who is most confident is the one that will get the job. So that's what we work on. So the actionable strategies, I would say, are really communication skills into practice. And what I tell my clients is to write down bullet points, for example, of your five biggest strengths and be able to give a quick example of each and give an example of a weakness and how you can counterbalance it. So like, if you tell them time management is a weakness of mine, but this is how I'm working on it, I'm really organized, I keep a checklist, blah, blah, blah, right? But I think what it is, is everyone kind of has an area that they have to work on, and practicing I think is important. So we do mock interviews together and we run through it. But I always tell them, don't sound rehearsed and don't sound robotic because some of them want to write it all out. And I'm like, you can't do that. It has to be a conversation.
[25:38] Michelle: Right?
[25:39] Farah: But that's kind of what we work on and different strategies and tips down to even what to wear, how to set up your camera. If it's a virtual interview, we go through the whole phase, like pre-interview, during the interview, post-interview, what you should say in your emails and all that questions. So it's one of my favorite things to coach is interviewing.
[26:00] Michelle: I think you can probably see so much improvement from when the client comes to you, from when they leave. Because those are some things that I think as nurses, we don't really think about. We don't think about the deeper whys we think of an interview as just questions on paper, what they might ask me. And over my career, I've been really blessed to sit on a lot of interview panels and I really enjoy that. And I've seen so many nurses I've seen nurses use profanity during an interview.
[26:46] Farah: Oh, wow.
[26:47] Michelle: Yeah, I've seen nurses dress really provocatively for an interview. I've had nurses cry during an interview. And I think, like you said, many nurses come to an interview with all the right things on the paper. They have all the qualifications, they have all the experience, but they don't have that self confidence. They have impostor syndrome or whatever it is. So having those actionable strategies is super important.
[27:27] Farah: Right. And even just how to stand out. So I go through this whole thing with them, not to shock the interviewer, but to keep them interested and engaged, right? Because I tell them, think about it, they're interviewing so many people. So how are you going to stand out from what you can wear to maybe how you start your introduction? Don't start by saying, hi, my name is this, and I love to help people. Like, please hear that. I know. Oh, my gosh. Let's go a little bit deeper. I never wanted to be a nurse, actually. I wanted to be a doctor or whatever. So we dig down into what their life story is and try to professionally tell it. So I use, like, a story method, like methodology for interviewing, too, and we work on their pitch. Because you're pitching yourself. That's what it is.
[28:25] Michelle: True. And I think like you said earlier, and I've said this in interviews on this podcast, is that nurses don't really like to toot their own horn. I don't know what it is about that, but we don't really like to be in the spotlight or talk about all of our strengths and our skills, and we're just kind of humble that way. And I think it would take someone like you as a coach to say, it's okay, look at how fabulous you are. Let's highlight all those things.
[29:06] Farah: Exactly.
[29:06] Michelle: Yeah. And not feel bad about it. Not feel like you're bragging.
[29:12] Farah: No, you have to brag. I have a method called brag and swag.
[29:16] Michelle: Oh, I love it. That's awesome.
[29:20] Farah: Exactly. Like you're saying, Michelle, they have a problem with self-promotion. If you don't promote yourself, you're not going to get the job. You have to brag. Like, bottom line, and this is why I have my tagline that I created, is like, you have to be that badass nurse. Let's bring out the badass nurse in you. Because you have to self-promote, and not just professionally, like in life. If you don't promote yourself, if you're not confident, you're not going to be successful. That's just it.
[29:52] Michelle: Yeah, I agree. Wow. So those are some great strategies. And you do other things like help them with their resume, the cover letter, and one on one coaching and group coaching. I was very intrigued about, what is group coaching?
[30:10] Farah: Yeah. So group coaching is something I started recently where I think I'm going to have another cohort, try to start soon. Basically, I do it more with the new graduate nurses. So I try to keep it to about five to ten nurses to basically coach as a group. So basically what I would be doing one on one, but in a group format. So there's a couple of benefits to that. Number one, for me, it's more efficient because I can coach multiple clients at the same time, so it saves time and it also is cost-effective for them. I price it at a little bit lower price point and they get to hear from each other. So they're learning from each other and they're also seeing that they have similar struggles, right, so that they don't feel alone. There's more like a supportive type of thing. And I also want I'm going to start a mentoring program, which I'm calling the Badass Nurse Club, which when any of my clients finish, they can join this mentorship program, which will meet once a month and we could basically talk about different topics and then they'll have an opportunity for Q and A. But that's where I'm trying to get my coaching. I still do one on one coaching, but I'm trying to push more for group coaching because a lot of new graduate nurses really need that guidance. A lot of them don't even know how to set up their LinkedIn profiles. That's something that I help them with as well. Simple things like that.
[31:58] Michelle: I love that. Well, because they're all hearing the same message at the same time. And like you said, they're all going to be able to support each other in what they've heard and what they're practicing. And colleague mentorship is so important. So that's great. And I wasn't really sure what group coaching was. So you did a really good job of describing that. Thank you. Yeah, I wanted to talk about mentorship for a second and I wanted you to talk about what mentorship meant to you as a new nurse because we've all had those great mentors, but what did that mean for you?
[32:44] Farah: So actually, even though I describe and some of the content that I put out there, that I was bullied at some points in the ER by certain nurses, but I quickly learned how to stand up for myself and advocate for myself. But I will say I had one of the best preceptors. His name was Dale in the ER when I was that new nurse in the ER and he really took me under his wing and really took the time to teach me the proper things and really pushed me out of my comfort zone and was able to support me in a way that I could feel confident. Because that's important for new nurses, right? To feel confident in their skills and what they're doing.
[33:35] Michelle: Right.
[33:36] Farah: And he was always kind of there hovering to say, no, you got this. Like, you're okay, keep going to the point where I was able to take on the full assignments. And even after I finished my preceptorship with him, he was always kind of there for questions and saying, you could always come to me if you have questions and things like that. And I felt that was important. And also I felt like we had a good preceptorship relationship because I was so used to seeing female nurses because at the time there were some male nurses. But as we know, nursing is female-dominated.
[34:10] Michelle: Right.
[34:11] Farah: I felt like it was a good match because that's important. In preceptorship and in mentorship, you really have to have a good match, and not everyone is a good match. So if you're listening to this and you happen to be a new nurse, or even a nurse transitioning to a different unit, if you feel early on that whoever you're teamed up with, whether it's a preceptor or a mentor and you're not clicking and it's just not working out. Please reach out to the educator or to the leader and have them switch. And sometimes, because I've done this before as an educator and as a director, sometimes you can make it out to be, say, like, oh, the schedules just don't match. So I have to switch, right? You don't have to really divulge why.
[34:57] Michelle: Sure.
[34:58] Farah: So that's important because you really have to be able to connect. I've had students cry where they're like, I feel like I can't ask questions because I'm made to feel a certain way. So to me, mentorship is so important. I feel like early on, I probably didn't have as many mentors as I should have because I didn't really think about it. And then later on in my career, I started having multiple mentors. And now I have formal and informal mentors that I kind of look up to. And especially in this nursepreneur business, it's so important to invest in yourself, right? Both in your professional growth and in the business. Because I'm still learning. I'm still learning how to be a better coach, and how to provide better services to my clients. Because I honestly think that's the only way that as a brand or as a business you continue to flourish. And Nike is like, for me, I did a project on Nike when I was in my DNP early on in my DNP course. To me, they're like one of the best brands because they're constantly reinventing themselves.
[36:19] Michelle: I love your message about mentorship and that new grads working with preceptors, because I've seen that in my own unit where sometimes, like you said, people just don't gel for whatever reason, and it's okay to pause and say, I think I would be better suited with someone else. And there's nothing wrong with that. And it's knowing yourself, it's knowing your limitations. And I think it's great to ask for help in that way. And I like that you're talking with your clients about that. And I also like that what you said about how you're still learning, because that was one of my questions was, you're a coach, but who coaches the coach? Like, who do you go for encouragement or questions or just mentorship in general?
[37:22] Farah: Yeah, that's a great question. And that's exactly it. You never stop learning. So actually, there's several people. So Michelle, who's the president of the NNBA, has been really instrumental in terms of mentoring and guidance. So the NNBA is the National Nurses in Business Association. I have been a member for less than a year, but honestly, I think it's been such a great investment and I'm actually going to be speaking in Las Vegas in August about how to crush self-limiting beliefs and start your own business, and that'll be at the NNBA conference. So I'm so excited about that. Yeah. Michelle has been great from the NNBA. So if anybody's listening and you want to start your own business or maybe you want to scale your business, I would highly recommend joining the NNBA. I also have a referral link. I don't know if we could share that later, but that's one aspect. The other big one is there's a coach that I work with and I've been working with. She's from the UK. Her name is Veronica and she always is dancing and she's helped me with my coaching course. That's the only way I could describe her. She's constantly dancing and I love music and I don't know if you've ever seen her on LinkedIn, but if you don't follow her, she's amazing and I can't even describe her. She's like a vibe. That's what I describe. Wow. So she helps me with a lot of she calls herself the Gold Dust Queen and how she sprinkles gold dust on people. I love it for me. So you should definitely check her out. She's writing a book as well, so she helps with a lot of the deep diving, coaching, and things like that for me. And she does instructional courses for people, so that's what she's helped me with. And then I have another business coach that I'm working with. She's on LinkedIn as well. Shanee Moret is a marketing person on LinkedIn. She has over a million followers. She was a big inspiration for me, actually, in me starting my own business. And I went through one of her coaching courses and that's what helped me to get my LinkedIn live on LinkedIn because of video visibility. And she was big on creating videos on LinkedIn and things like that, so she's helped me with that. So those are a few of the people that I've kind of been working with.
[40:10] Michelle: Well, they sound very supportive and a mentor needs a mentor, a coach needs a coach. And so that's great that you have those professionals to look to. And LinkedIn is so amazing. I had been on LinkedIn for a while and just didn't really understand how it worked and all that until when I started the podcast and then I got much more involved in LinkedIn and it's just been a wonderful source of inspiration and education and mentorship. I think it's great for any new nurse, any experienced nurse, just a wealth of information.
[40:58] Farah: Yeah. And definitely, I've met so many cool people, including you, on LinkedIn, and it's amazing. And I've met some people in person, like another person I forgot to mention. That's a huge inspiration to me. Her name is Precious Williams and she calls herself the Pitch Queen, and she's written multiple books on pitching. You definitely have to check her out. I met her in Newark at a small business conference. And that's the other thing. I feel like even though you're a nurse and you may have a business, you could still learn from other industries because you could always pick up from different industries. So I try to go to different conferences, even if they're not nursing, to try to learn and things like that. But yeah, Precious is awesome. She's another enthusiastic just powerhouse when it comes to speaking. So she's a coach as well, or trainer. A trainer for speakers. So you should definitely check her out. She's amazing.
[42:06] Michelle: Yeah, will do. I like how you just touched on that. Even though you're a nurse and a businesswoman, you can learn from so many other non-nursing businesses. And you had mentioned Nike before, and I think that's true. There's so many different models out there that we can look to for inspiration and for coaching. But let's talk about Nursepreneur. That was very intriguing for me. So tell us what that's about.
[42:43] Farah: Yeah, like I said, it's going to be two years since I started my business. I started on June 21, 2021, and I'm still learning and trying to scale, but I've had a lot of nurses reach out to me and ask me, how can I start my own business? Do you need a certification to start this business? How did you do it? So, because of all those comments, I decided to actually add an extra page on my website, which is Nursefarah.com, and there's a tab that says Nursepreneur. So I talk about my journey on how I started my business and that if other nurses are looking to start their own coaching business, they can contact me and we could basically start it up. So right now, I have two clients that I'm working with and they're just at the beginning phase, and I just helped one basically just register her business. And I don't think people realize how easy it is to actually just start the business, right? Like the registration part, literally, in a couple of days, you can have your own business, right? A couple of that's it. But really, the behind-the-scenes are really not behind the scenes, but the real work is truly the visibility part. So I reached out I don't even know how I got this person's contact, but I reached out to a marketing professor, a retired marketing professor, and he called me back and we had, like, a 45 minutes conversation. And he went on to say, all right, so if you need a plumber or an electrician, how would you get that person? Right? And I was like, well, back in the day, right, you probably look at the Yellow Pages or whatever. Well, you could probably just go to Google. How do you really typically find people? And I was like, you're right. Most of the time you ask around people you'd know. So he talked about the importance of referrals and how important referrals are. So we kind of got into that and then we got into basically if nobody knows who you are and they don't see you, no one's going to know that you have a business and you have something to sell, whether it's a product or a service. So that to me, and that's something that Shanee Moret also talked about a lot. It's like the power of video. Because if people don't know about you, you're not promoting your business, right? No one's going to buy from you. So I've learned these things in business, like the know, like, and trust factor, right? So people have to know that you exist, they have to trust you, and they have to like you to be able to buy from you. So that's why I think it's important to learn about marketing. Because truly, you can have the greatest product ever, but if you are not visible and you're not marketing it, no one's going to know. No one's going to buy it. So that's kind of what I tell my clients. Like, if you're not ready to be on camera and to be all over social media. I don't know if you follow Gary Vee, but he's another big social media business person and he talks about this all the time. He basically says any business should be all over social media. And that's the only way you're going to scale your business, right? A lot of people say you have to stay on one platform and then grow it and go somewhere else. But honestly, he's right. You have to diversify, right? Be everywhere and have people see you. Because that's the only way. So that's what I tell my clients who are nurses who want to start their own business, that it's really not that difficult. And if you're a nurse that wants to start, you really have to be committed and consistent. And that's why I started it. And that's the book that I want to write is something to that effect, kind of talking about my journey as a nurse and also transitioning into this entrepreneurship journey, wanting to do this full time and to scale it and to become a speaker and to help other nurses have that financial freedom. Because that's what we're all working towards, right, is to have that flexibility to spend more time with family or whatever it is. Because obviously nursing, I'm sorry to say, but nursing is not going to get you rich like that, right?
[47:40] Michelle: Yeah. Yes. Not without a lot of really a huge investment in time and energy. And that was one of my questions, Farah, in the last few years, have you seen an uptick in people asking for help in starting businesses? Nurses in particular? Yeah, because I feel like maybe during the pandemic and post-pandemic, it seems like there's been an explosion of nurses that are either getting side gigs or just leaving nursing altogether and starting a business.
[48:21] Farah: And I love it, absolutely love it. And a lot of people will say, oh, why a nurse is leaving the bedside? Or it's not always because they just don't want to work at the bedside. People grow, their interests change, and it's okay, it's okay. And how about let's normalize nurses wanting to make money? How about that?
[48:50] Michelle: That's another thing. I think that's part of our not wanting to toot our own horn or thinking we have impostor syndrome and just underestimating our worth, both financially and also spiritually, and emotionally, all of those things, I think they're tied together. So I like that you're giving the message that it's okay to make money.
[49:26] Farah: Being rich has been kind of I'm not saying everybody says that, but it's almost like a negative connotation. Like, oh, well, money is evil. And it's like, no, it's not. Money is good, and it helps people become healthy, more generous. We have better communities. I think that's the mindset shift that we have to have as nurses and just anybody in business, it is possible, it is attainable, and it's that mindset and that growth mindset, because we've been whether it's culturally in our childhood society, however we grew up, or whatever these stereotypes are, like the stigma with money. I don't know what it is, but this is why a lot of people are not successful, or some people are just comfortable with the status quo, and they're like, oh, no, I can't be rich. That's not for me. I don't want to be rich. I'm like what? Excuse me? I'm sure you've heard that right.
[50:28] Michelle: What planet are you from?
[50:31] Farah: You hear it all the time. If I won the lottery, I would still be working my job. I'm like what?
[50:37] Michelle: Yeah, no. And I think you're totally spot on. It's like people we've assigned moral and ethical and emotional things to money, whereas money is just a tool. Money is a tool, and it can be used in a lot of different ways. I think we need to kind of step back and look at it from that standpoint, especially as nurses, because I think traditionally, as nurses, like I said, we've undervalued our profession ourselves as nurses, and that needs to change, and I feel like you're really making strides towards changing that. So thank you for that.
[51:24] Farah: Well, thank you. And one last thing about that also. I think our profession has been painted as, like, while you help people and you're in the profession of caring, and it's like, yeah, but we have to feed our families, too, and it's okay for us to want more, right? And it's like, well, you're a nurse. You shouldn't strike. You shouldn't ask for more. And it's like, no, you're not the one feeding my family or putting food on the table. So, like, mind your business over there.
[51:53] Michelle: Yeah, and you know what it goes back to I've said it many times, like, you can't pour from an empty cup, and it's like, you have to nourish yourself first. You have to care for yourself first. And I'm glad to see that that's changing in nursing, because for so long, we've had that mindset of we care for everyone else, but we put ourselves on the back burner. So that's definitely changing.
[52:22] Farah: Yeah. And that's my motto. I'm like, put yourself first, be a badass nurse, and live your best life. That's my motto. And I know you're all about books. People have to read this book. It's called We Should All Be Millionaires. I think that's what it is. I think it's by Rachel Rogers. That was an awesome book.
[52:42] Michelle: I'm going to make you a bookshop. And I'll put that one in there. So, yeah, send me the link to that.
[52:48] Farah: And then The Memo is another one. I think it's by Minda Harts is her name. Okay, a $100 Million Offer is another one. So there's a few. So I'm just so happy we're having this conversation, and I hope that it inspires nurses to really take action and do what it is that they want. Because if you're listening to this, I'm telling you, you can do whatever you want. Honestly, sometimes your own friends or your family could be stopping you from reaching your full potential. But just know, whether you're a mom or you're in school or whatever is happening, you can truly achieve whatever it is that you want to do, and you just have to stick to it and don't listen to any negativity. And that's really my biggest message, is that of empowerment and just taking action. And it doesn't matter if you don't even know what you're doing, like starting a business, right? It's like you just figure it out.
[53:48] Michelle: Fake it till you make it.
[53:50] Farah: Yeah, you just jump on. Just go, go ahead, just do it. And it's trial and error, and if something doesn't work, you go back to the drawing board and fix it up and do it again. And that's really what entrepreneurship is all about. And I'm really taking that leap. I haven't taken that leap just yet because I have two small children, so I'm waiting at least to be able to be a little bit more financially stable. So I can really do this full-time, because I will do it, and it's just a matter of time.
[54:25] Michelle: I have no doubt about that. I think you could certainly do whatever you want to do. And I love your message and hearing you talk just now about having family or friends try to stop you or be negative sometimes. That's ourselves, right? We are that negative person that says, you can't do that. Who do you think you are? And I just think you're giving so many people such great advice and coaching and mentorship on how to just be the best person that they can be. So wow. Thank you for that Farah.
[55:05] Farah: Thank you, Michelle.
[55:07] Michelle: Yeah. You know, at the end we do the five-minute snippet. So you sound like a fun person. Like, you are going to be up for this.
[55:15] Farah: Yes. Let's go.
[55:19] Michelle: Somehow I was like, this is going to be so much fun with Farah because she is up for this. Would you rather eat a cinnamon stick or a bay leaf?
[55:36] Farah: I'm going to go with cinnamon because I love cinnamon. And in high school it's funny, we always used to go to the mall. High school kids love the mall. I always used to go to Cinnabon all the time. Probably shouldn't have, but yeah. So I go cinnamon.
[55:51] Michelle: I'm with you on that. I've cooked with bay leaves and I've accidentally left it in what I've cooked and it does not taste good. If you could hire any wedding singer, who would you hire and what song would it be?
[56:07] Farah: All right, so I definitely will say probably Sade because,
[56:16] Michelle: I love her.
[56:18] Farah: I saw her twice in concert.
[56:20] Michelle: No way.
[56:21] Farah: Crazy. But yeah, we went twice. We went to Chicago to see her and then I went to Toronto, Canada to see her. Love Sade. Probably. Sweetest Taboo. Love that song.
[56:35] Michelle: Oh, my gosh, man. You and me, we're like twins thinking that way. Let's see. What was one thing that you begged for as a kid and your parents finally gave it to you?
[56:51] Farah: It's probably nothing big, but honestly, I just remember always bothering my dad when we would be out grocery shopping. I was just like, in love with stickers and I had a sticker blinder, and I would do like, fuzzy stickers, sparkly stickers.
[57:09] Michelle: Like every kid.
[57:10] Farah: Right?
[57:10] Michelle: The sticker fascination.
[57:12] Farah: Yeah.
[57:14] Michelle: Which magazine would you like to be on the cover of?
[57:19] Farah: Oh, Entrepreneur definitely.
[57:21] Michelle: Oh, I see you on that someday. Yeah, someday soon. That's exciting. What's the most creative excuse that you've used to get out of something that you didn't want to do?
[57:38] Farah: Honestly, I can't think of anything because I'm usually the one that's always up for doing everything.
[57:46] Michelle: I knew that's how you were going to answer that. I said she doesn't use excuses. This girl is not about excuses.
[57:53] Farah: Yeah. And I'm pretty transparent and I'm pretty blunt with things. I try to not be rude, but I'm pretty like, you see what you get?
[58:01] Michelle: Yes. Love that. Would you rather never wear black again or never wear white again?
[58:14] Farah: That's a tough one. I love those colors both because they're so classic. You know what I'll say? I guess never wear white because black is just such a classic. And you can wear it with so many things, and I'm a pretty messy eater, so if I spill something, I'm going to say black.
[58:39] Michelle: I love that. What's your number one priority when you wake up in the morning?
[58:48] Farah: Number one priority? Honestly, it's funny just to honestly wake up the kids, but I typically say thank you, I really like gratitude. Thank you. Because I'm spiritual and I believe in God. So thank you for letting me wake up. Thank you for today. That's really it. But really, it's like getting the kids ready.
[59:14] Michelle: Practicing gratitude is so important. And those are two great ones, waking up with your kids and then waking up to your gratitude for where you are in your life. The best female role model in your life, 1 minute.
[59:35] Farah: That's a tough one. Best female role model? I guess I would say well, personally, I would say my mom because she's just so selfless and she sacrificed a lot in her life for us and things like that. So I would say my mom is personally and I think I don't know, I would say, like, maybe Michelle Obama, because I feel like she's just really embodies, right. Like empowerment. And that's what I'm all about.
[01:00:10] Michelle: I so see that. Well, those are two great mentors, two great role models, and you have just been so great today, Farah. I so appreciate it, I feel gratitude for meeting you and for being able to connect this way, and you've just given our listeners so much value, and I just appreciate that so much.
[01:00:37] Farah: Oh, my goodness, Michelle, it was a blast. I love it. And thank you for inviting me on and thank you for all that you do for nursing and for having a voice for nurses and for people like me to spread our messages to the nursing community and globally. So thank you so much, Michelle. I appreciate it.
[01:00:57] Michelle: Well, I appreciate those words, too, and you have a great rest of your day.
[01:01:02] Farah: Thank you. You too. Take care, Michelle. Bye.