Young Aspiring Nurse Entrepreneur - Would Love Some Advice!

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Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by! To all of you seasoned entrepreneurs I have a question about experience and long term savings for a business.

My background: I'm an ADN nursing student not even in clinicals yet (although they are steadily approaching). Before I decided to become a nurse, I had worn many different hats for both pay and for fun. Most of my early 20s involved me being self-employed. I was a freelance writer; I provided coaching to clients with regards to sexual health and education; I've done web designer; and I've been certified as a personal trainer. I've spent time in front of and behind the camera and loved every minute as a performer. I also graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Forensic Psychology. After some soul searching, I decided that I wanted to use my personal experiences with health and my desire to help others to become a nurse. A little further soul searching has led me to the conclusion that I want to start my own business as a motivational speaker, educator, and consultant. I also want to remain a nurse, possibly as a community or school nurse to gain experience, work with the adolescent population, and save money towards my ultimate goal.

My first question is are there any other nurses in this forum that has made a business out of motivational speaking? Or, is motivational speaking part of your business marketing strategy? If so, what are your challenges and what you might tell someone like me to consider? Do you suggest any books or websites that might be helpful?

Additionally, I haven't been able to find too many nurse entrepreneurial groups (at least in New York City) that welcome nursing students and help prep them to become future entrepreneurs - would anyone know of an organization? I'm particularly looking for a networking group that offers mentorships (preferably) and discussions on how to invest in one's business (most importantly).

Any advice you have to offer is greatly appreciated!

Thank you for reading :cat:

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Great question, you sound like you have lots of passion.

No. 1 go with your passion, if its speaking then talk to as many people as possible.

No. 2 utilize the top three websites in the world. Google, FB, and Youtube.

No. 3 Create great content, go with what you know, "speaking"

No. 4. Go with free services. like google + accounts, google hangouts, blogger for a free blog.

go with your passion.

go for it.

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Hell Yea! like @Nursepreneur said! GO FOR IT

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Thank you very much! I really needed that to fuel the fire. I may have a speaking gig lined in the next couple of weeks and next month :cat:

Now I'm working on a website to get things moving!

Thanks again for the inspiring words!!

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Fantastic,

Keep moving forward, stay around positive people and people who support you!

You will encounter people who are negative and people who will not support you if

you haven't already, the hell with them!

Stay on track with your mission and goals. Thats another thing write your goals down, and

set a time frame. The more specific you are with your goals the better.

Keep learning, master your craft.

Lastly, find a good mentor that will help you overcome obstacles that they have

gone through. Model their success.

Congrats on your chosen plan. if you go with your heart, you will succeed!

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Specializes in OB, Women’s health, Educator, Leadership.

I agree with the great advice you have already been given. Particularly with starting with your passion. I have a company (currently working on turning into a nonprofit) that helps teen girls and young adult woman discover their passions, talents and skills. Once discovered, they are shown how to strengthen and develop those skills into profitable ventures. My program encourages ventures that will benefit the community because my target group are low income girls and areas with a high school drop-out rate. I teach them that once you are sure about your passion and have researched and mastered it you can be considered a budding expert in that area. There are five potential avenues of wealth for an expert - speaker, author, consultant, products and real estate. There are other things you can do as well but these avenues are time tested and true. Since you are going the internet route, write a book or e-book. That book will give you a platform and "instant expert" status. Good luck, it is exhilarating and rewarding and if your goal is to help others, the world will open and embrace you.

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Wow thanks so much for the great advice! I truly appreciate the positive feedback and will definitely use it to navigate my career. I think my major issues right now are how to blend so many of my interests together with health and public speaking. For example, I love speaking about art and dance (and performing also), although now I'm investigating the use of creative therapy in specialized populations as a tool for physical and emotional healing.

Additionally I'm still trying to find a mentor to help me stay on track with my goals and provide me with great influence for my own aspirations. I'm not too worried since I know such a person will find me and vice versa so long as I continue on my path.

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Specializes in Emergency, CVICU.

Just an observation: You haven't even started becoming a nurse yet. Why are you on a nursing site asking for tips on how to become a motivational speaker?? How about be a great nurse first and foremost if that is what your soul searching told you. Trust me it's a full time job. Finally, if you're such a motivator why do you need a mentor to stay on track? This is just weird.

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Specializes in OB, Women’s health, Educator, Leadership.

Harrird

I don't think it is weird at all. The poster happens to be young, many people wait and waste many years before realizing that they wished they had gone another route. Maybe she will come to the realization that nursing was what her soul was searching for or maybe not, in any case she isn't dropping out of school, she is still becoming a nurse but exploring all options. Kudos to her for being aware enough to investigate all avenues at the START of her career and not 20 years later.

Also as far as her being a motivational speaker and needing a mentor I don't understand your confusion. Maybe you don't realize that some of the greatest motivational speakers in the world (past and present) have mentors and guides. That's why they become great.

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Hi Harrid,

Passionflower pretty much hit the nail on the head. Right now I'm taking pre-requisites. Next semester I have clinicals and at that point, I will begin to understand if I have what it takes to be a nurse. It may take me a while to know if I have what it takes, actually, but I'm not going to wait until that moment to say "Well what's next?" While I have time now to do the research and ask for guidance, I want to learn how to use other skills I've learned to become more than just a great nurse. Of course, you'll see me posting plenty of times when my nursing courses commence next semester. But, as Passionflower pointed out, I'd rather focus on my opportunities now than later.

Also, this isn't my first career. Something that I've learned is that regardless of which career you're in, whether you're a nurse, motivational speaker, or anything in between, a mentor is an essential asset to cultivating your talents within any given industry. They can also help you manage your goals in a realistic way.

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yup, there used to be some famous greek guy called Socrates, who had a student by the name of Plato,

Plato later had a student by the name of Aristotle, and Aristotle was mentor to Alexander the Great...

Point is, Mentorship and Success leaves clues. All the successful people at one time or another had a mentor

or looked up to someone that had done great things.

We need to associate ourselves with as many people as we can that have the same or greater

visions as ourselves.

PEACE.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
yup, there used to be some famous greek guy called Socrates, who had a student by the name of Plato,

Plato later had a student by the name of Aristotle, and Aristotle was mentor to Alexander the Great...

Point is, Mentorship and Success leaves clues. All the successful people at one time or another had a mentor

or looked up to someone that had done great things.

We need to associate ourselves with as many people as we can that have the same or greater

visions as ourselves.

PEACE.

Excellent observation and comment.

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