Doctor nurse podcast, fam. Man, I've got so much to share
with you guys. I want to First welcome you to
another episode of the podcast. I would like to start off by
saying Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, I hope you guys are
enjoying the holidays and getting lots of rest.
I sure have being that. I'm in my third trimester I am
just tie your there is that is no joke, the fatigue from the
third trimester. But I wanted to tell you guys,
Is that this is the last podcast of 2022.
And I am so excited to share doctor Damaris Grossman, who is
your family nurse practitioner with over 18 years in the
medical field, who is passionate about mindful Life Investment as
well as Integrative Health. She has many years in the
medical field and the military and Trauma.
Rehab College, Health Community Health cute, pediatric care.
She's also a u.s. Navy veteran.
She served on the global war against terrorism And she is
also a mom of toddler. So, super.
Relatable as she describes, how, she is very passionate about her
career, and helping patients with holistic modalities in yoga
meditation breathing. And she's a board-certified
holistic nurse and she's actually studying together for
our functional medicine certification.
So, she's a hustler really hard worker, or you're going to hear
her on the podcast. Share what she's done.
To diversify her income streams and figure out how to make her
business profitable. How she balances, what she loves
to do with what she has to do? I just think it's a great
episode. You're going to get a lot out of
it. The next episode should be
coming out. I think I'm going to give myself
a couple weeks. Probably mid January is when the
next podcast will come out and then I'll try to line up a
little bit of work while I'm out giving birth, which is just
crazy because it's fast approaching.
I mean, I'm You mean like six weeks?
So, yeah, so that's my due date. So, hopefully, lining up some
podcasts while I'm gone and I'll be back and I want to share my
birth story or dwelling with you guys.
And I think that's how I will kind of transition back into
podcasting. I think you guys know, if you've
been listening to the podcast, I'm a pretty open book with
certain things, but my family life and those types of things
that tend to keep to myself. So it'll definitely be a little
bit of a me, leading my comfort. Zone to share about my birth
story. But for those of you that are
faithful listeners, I know you will understand and appreciate
kind of the story and understanding how everything
goes delivering. Our next baby, you keep me in
your thoughts and prayers if you are one of those people that do
that, and I hope to be reunited with you guys soon.
I just want to say that I love you all.
Thank you for your faithful listens for the year 2022.
It's been a course, the best year for the doctor nurse
podcast. The most growth most Everything
is just been super encouraging towards me continuing podcasting
in 2023. I just want to thank you guys
because without you, there's no podcast, there's no Community,
there's no reason that I do the work that I do.
I want you to hear that for the bottom of my heart that I am.
Just so thankful and appreciative for all the
support, all the messages, all the people that said, hey
Sandra, you made me jump out and leap You Made Me Not Afraid.
And so, that's the stuff that keeps me going.
I can't talk too much about it because I'm literally so
emotional that probably will start to cry, but I'm just
really thankful. And yeah, I love you guys so
much. It's your guys are the reason
why I do what I do and here's to 2023.
I can't wait to see what else is coming down the pipeline, guys,
enjoy your Journeys. I want to take this chance to
tell you about another sponsor of the doctor nurse podcast that
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I doctors podcast, fam. Welcome to the podcast.
Today I have on Damaris Grossman doctor Damaris Grossman.
She is a family nurse practitioner, And she is focused
a lot of her doctoral work in Integrative Health, functional
medicine, mindfulness and stress reduction for her patience.
And she has got a Litany of side, hustle deals things that
she's been working on on her own career as well as her own
business. Working P, RN as a Locum tenens
nurse practitioner. And again, like I said, she's
involved in speaking. She's been involved in real
estate deals. She's got a pretty rich history
of different things that she's been involved in for her career.
And she's going to come on and talk to us about how her latest.
Her latest thing is to become a board.
Certified functional medicine nurse practitioner and I just
can't wait to hear all her journey and everything that
she's involved in welcome to Marisa podcast.
Thanks so much. Also, you're a mom.
So you're above a tublat. So you're a special class right
now. It's like a whole other section
where the no sleep, and we're trying to keep up, okay?
Keep our videos. Exactly.
And then keep the kids. Like balance and a good human.
So it's just a coffin job. It totally.
I mean, you gotta, you know, you can.
Well, let's dive in. I'm gonna shoot day to day.
Look like, and I got not intrapreneurial space, but then
also in that side, hustle realm, that you kind of come in and out
of sure. So my day-to-day is, I work,
Telehealth, work web-based, work, and out of an office, that
is actually an acupuncture and wellness centers.
Jennifer leaves acupuncture, Wellness, Group, and I rent a
space from her. Well, I've been working out.
Her office. They before I was a nurse
practitioner as a nurse and integrating arts.
And then I transitioned as a nurse practitioner.
And then I do web-based Telehealth work for patients in
two different areas, like prescription wise like those
that are licensed in and then those that I'm not licensed in
more of like a functional but even just functional medicine.
But a health advisor God and that's kind of like your bread
and butter. That's my day today.
Yes to get extra. Obviously if my patient load is
not as high or depending upon that stricken.
Stream of income. And I'll tell you about being in
a business way, when you think about multiple streams of
income, when one of the streams is kind of trickling, and it's
not as flowing, you have to find your other way.
So I've had other areas to build that.
So whether a Locum Thames or online work with another company
or real estate hahaha, so doing kind of those other things, if
you need, if you need extra income.
Yeah. So when one strand is tripled or
not, as you always have something to build up upon and
is the best as you can. And getting as much Passive and
then thinking of work differently because it's about
trying to build up your time, then build up your time for
Freedom, then it is just about making money.
So you're going to make money when you have the best intention
our. So I found when I was more put
even more giving and more open about the money, and I didn't
think of it about making money, and I think about it as this is
going to give me more freedom than the work is work.
But then, you know, so then you want to figure Her out, what it,
what can you do that? All make you happy but also you
enjoy and then what's these other parts?
So part of business. I wasn't great at it first.
My husband was really good at it.
You definitely taught me some things and I had to learn a lot
of things. I felt a ton of time.
Yeah. Well, you know what can we all
go through? Like I said, one of the things
in my pockets, I say that success is not a linear system,
linear line. That it's definitely this like
EKG when I had Tiffany Gibson on the podcast.
She talked about, you know, it's an EKG, right?
You have high to have lows, you need to have those or you don't
have Heartbeat right? And so that's kind of like how
businesses and how the nature of running a business running side.
Hustles figuring out how to make more income while getting back
more of your time, right? Because time is your currency
and I started to think that my currency was what I got.
Paid an hour. Oh, my currency is I'm $22 as a
new nurse, that's my current see, my currency is actually my
time, that's not what I'm giving away.
Wish I would have had that mindset from the beginning of my
career. That I'm giving away my time to
be at this place. Therefore, I want to make sure
it's the most lucrative. It's the most in tune to what my
in heart, enjoys all the different things and then you
throw a kid in the mix. And now going to this place is
now taking away from time with my family.
One of the things that I like to ask is through owning your own
business. What has been one of the hardest
parts and the hardest aspects of owning your own business?
From when you were in that employee mindset from when you
decided, okay? Now it's time to Going to go
ahead and start owning my own business.
When was that switch for you? So I feel like it took a while,
you know, I was always trying to figure out different things
because why starting a business was out of necessity because I
you know, I was a veteran and my story came because I learn
Integrative Health and holistic medicine because I had a severe
back injury and head injury, you know, a mild injury that caused
me so much pain and suffering that I the conventional.
In wasn't bulimic convention my sin.
But one thing wasn't fixing it. So when I started to understand
my healing process, I then realized that there was other
ways to be better. So then when I was trying to do
this side, hustle, I realized like my work as a just, as a
nurse at that time and that was a nurse practitioner wasn't good
enough. And I was like, there has to be
another way. So it was like me trying to
solve this problem for my suffering pain, stress.
I was like, I gotta figure this out.
So through just the termination of figuring out my own health
journey, I became obsessed with it that they became these little
business part, so it's like, all right, I got to learn holistic
nursing because I can't be a crappy nurse.
Not that that's the word. But I want to be the best
nurses. I could be for my patients.
I want to be calmer for them. I want to be more centered.
I know that my life had to learn it.
So I leave to learn different modalities because when pillows
and, you know, Fix them, once your app isn't going to fix them
one, you know, one, you know, they need to be hugged and
touched and talk to and listen to you and what happened at
that. So it's like that part for me,
had to be learned and then I got so obsessed with it.
That, you know, I ended up getting an integrative, you
know, did my VMP, and integrative work for existing
society and stress reduction, because I was stressed and
depressed and trying to figure out stuff.
So, it was like, if I have to figure this out, I want other
people to know that there's other ways and then for, as I
was talking, About getting the functional medicine part for me
about, it's like a like a whole health circle for me, it's like
the icing on the cake, it's not the full, it's not the full
answer, but it's part of the equation.
And so when I transition now to this business owner, I don't
always think I'm a business owner, because I think sometimes
I'm sometimes I love Beyond it sometimes but I look at it like
it's a stream of income and I want to make a difference.
So if money comes through it, that's great.
I want to, you know, so I do have a little bit different.
But I don't, you know, have a primary test per se.
I like a direct primary with an integrative.
Yeah, yeah. And I think that that again,
like I said owning your own business and why that's so
tough. It's just that because again you
have to kind of break out of that mindset of I need my
freedom, I need a level of flexibility here that the Health
Care System doesn't really want to seem to give nurses.
It seems to Only Want You full time.
It seems only once you there all the time and then You're working
weekends in your own call. And so again whenever you own
your own business and your kind of separate yourself from that
and you kind of pull. Yes.
There's the harder part of. Now you've got to be the
business, right? So you're on 24/7.
I was thinking more so than just when you work, your shift.
Yeah, yeah. What happened was, as my health
issues were unfortunately not giving me as I wasn't able to do
as much at the full time all the time where I was overworked and
that I couldn't and then I would be able like I just kept like
fault. And so it's like the side things
kind of help me hold off. You know getting along.
Yeah. I mean in.
Yeah. And so what are some of the
aspects that you've been learning throughout your career
that you've been finding have been the most challenging?
So I think a lot of nurses Nurse Practitioners have started
businesses or starting side hustles or like, how do I get
involved in marketing, advertising financial planning?
All these different things? What are some of the things that
you have marketing was marketing still to this?
I find it to be like the bane of my existence.
I am not an amazing marketer Finance is.
So what I initially when I talk about money now, I sucked.
I mean, I was really bad at money.
I never was taught personal finance.
I was never taught how to save a dollar, I kind of just, you
know, like, it was like shopping with therapy, like you spend
your money and, and it was different.
I was told to have a partner that's very good with finances
and he did teach me a lot before I started a business.
But in general, Throughout time, when I started to realize that
money was that value and any account interest in a community
support and things could do more.
I was like, oh my God I you know it's so I live a lot but below
my means meaning I don't I don't have a big car fan seek lie live
without a mortgage. So like in the sense of so, what
this means is that I have a two-family, I have a smaller
apartment, you know, I don't have a big house, you know, that
took out eight bedroom. But I Even one unit.
So my husband and I we have the girl yard but we have no
mortgage. So, wait a minute.
So going back to stop right there.
So, you're telling me that you own a plaques, or some type of,
like, oh my goodness. I don't know if you that's
fantastic. So intimate, so you purchase
this look at degree and you have everybody, it's full of.
So I'm a veteran. So I was able to get a veteran
loan. Okay, got it.
And so you got the veteran loan, you bought this, my initial
Okay. Wow, that's fantastic.
That was my initial pass, my first, the real estate, so it's
called house hacking and you'll hear that for people's called
house hacking. And so, it's a different
mindset. I didn't think of, like money,
like that because business is money, right?
And I think when you start to think of things differently and
you go, alright, I will live a little bit uncomfortable but
it's not even uncomfortable. I have a three-bedroom one-bath,
I have a big yard and you know and then I rent out my spaces.
So and then that pays my mortgage Fantastic.
So now you've got that frog out. You've been Freedom, right?
So then they're not worrying about it.
Now I'm not worrying about my mortgage.
Okay, so then you got that part, that's done.
That's out of the way. So now you're like okay what do
I have to pay for? What do I have to work in page?
For my guy looks a huge chunk of our your big chunk.
Yeah. But it's a total different way
of thinking. Instead of me buying the big
house that I might have wanted ten years ago because we bought
about 10 years ago, I bought the big house, then they bought the
nice pool and the, you know, the big rooms and my sons Bill has
this nice room. You know, he still has a place
to live and we live in a great. Yes.
But you have to think of it differently as we live a little
bit below. Your mean, I'm not saying I'm
without, I mean, I My Whole Foods food and like everything's
so that's part of the business part that was new for me.
So it's thinking of money differently so that when I went
to go want to make a difference. And do my integrative work, I'm
going to stress, it's a different way, it's a different
mindset. So the streams of income.
This was a learning process for me because I wasn't like I said,
I wasn't great at my husband. Splint, and he was teaching
along the way and then I started reading, you know, and started
like finding mentors and people that were better at it than me.
I mean, even if your husband's great at it, you still had to
get on board, right? Because the two of you were
joined. So if he was with if he was on
board and you were like whatever, I want a big house,
get it for me, he would have had to work against you which would
have been good for your marriage.
So, it's good that the two of you came together and we're
like, Hey listen, like, what do we both want?
A, my husband and I have those conversations all the time where
it's just like, Kind of like you I live in a small house because
I didn't I wanted to work part-time and I knew that that
was something that I was probably going to end up doing
and so so important I got my doctor.
Yeah, I mean you give yourself margins by not extending
yourself to impress people that don't care about you.
You impress yourself and so you're just like I made these
calls, I make these decisions with my life so that I can live
my life. And so I think that that is one
of the best lessons that you can learn.
As you start a business, is just going.
I gotta live below my means because I'm actually living.
But what most people are living, which is the rat race.
Tired exhausted. Don't see their families work
until they're 65 and then they die and they're like, wait put
it. I just do with my life.
Yeah, and so to look like the Joneses is to look like being
broke and exhausted and tired and not really yeah living the
life that you want at least for me.
Everyone does something different works for you works
for you, but this is what works for me.
And so I'm like I'm not I just I'm not going to chase that
thing. I'm going to chase the Freedom.
Which is what? You're describing beautifully.
Yeah, I mean it's a freedom that like when we went made her first
million, it was like that took like so many years took about
like 15 years total, you know, and it was like, when you get to
that level then you're like, oh but money isn't really what it
comes down to understanding where what you want.
I can making a difference, so I can't make a difference if I'm
worrying about. I know this is a business
podcast, so maybe I'm going. Okay.
Please go. Just think that people have to
understand that it's Like it's not a quick you know it's gonna
take your TV stuff. Yeah, it's going to take time.
I took me about 50. Yeah.
So how many real estate properties do you have total?
So now I'm at a passive sector sponsor way.
So initially I like to three but now I do passive and passively
mostly I was like, GP and active initially.
But now we are because we pretty much some of my business and to
put into passive feel. So now we're at a point where
you'll hear people say it's more on.
Like from syndication so that one bit.
Yeah one business literally does passive apartments and like you
know it'll be pending on the sponsors.
We have like a whole team I don't have a team of we have it
we have people that will look at something and say hey can you
put money into? So now I just use an invested,
maybe angel investor so I'll Angel Investments are real
estate. Angel Investors with it so that
it gives me dividend nice very good.
Yeah it was so I had Savannah overall Yoshi is the net worth
nurse. Yes she would.
What I mean but I'm alike at an even different level I do
believe like now more, I wasn't like that before.
Yeah, yeah, no but that's what she does.
She has people in her Health Care Professionals pooled their
money together by deals together.
She manages the party. So she does all the legwork but
then there are people that are passively making money off on
the side. Yeah.
Sometime in the past aside at this point, I did operate and I
did manage like to, and it's just too much.
I was Sweden. I'm, you know, I'm going to be
an integrated, that was not my business.
Goal, my husband really loves doing most of that stuff, but he
has, it's still a W-2 job to. So, we don't do that fully.
So most of it is our big Investments think, you know, we
put in around 25 to 100 thousand per deal and depending upon the
need, or what we have available in our, but we don't, like I
said, we live below your means. So we do this because we choose
my, so my income most of the time or extra will go into those
because we look at it as We can retire early, we can become fire
or my son. I can have more time with him or
I could do more for him and so it's totally different way of
thinking instead of everything controlling.
And so even my business, I don't want it to control it.
Just I think it's incredible and it's what I want.
More nurses to embrace is the the mindset of Freedom, like,
don't I used to look at like oh that's just an extra shift
instead of looking at it. Like, that's 10 hours of my
life, that's 12 hours of my life I'm giving away.
It's not an extra shift, it's not just a little extra.
Pick up again, unless you're shooting for a goal.
Like, I'm doing this because I need to get to this spot
debt-free or I'm doing this because I'm trying to get here
or we have this purchase coming up and I want to make that goal
sooner. Again keeping that in the
Forefront of your mind is working differently than I just
want a pair of like, you know, x amount of depreciating asset.
That's not going to bring any money.
I lived that way for years. I lived that way I was just like
I was fine just give them a knife or hours of your time
where I was like I could have been in.
Learning how to do another side hustle.
I could have all this other time that I gave to the hospital, for
their pennies and put my license at risk, because I might have
been more tired picked up. Put my health at risk because I
was just working extra, all these different.
Things are sacrifices that you lay down at that altar that I
want. More nurses to realize, invest
in yourself, let that job be the thing that allows you to put
that money back into you, into whatever your priorities are
time, Freedom, Travel, whatever it is.
Let that be what you can do it, you know.
And I think it's not that you can but now it's like I also try
to make a difference to so it's like yes I have a little bit
more but then it's like, well what can I make sure that I'm
not with out of anything but it is differently.
I'm would like, you know, when I'm working in my business I
want to you know I try to take it like this is super important
because I want people to have a better you know, what their
health be better. So of course if I make it, you
know, more Uncommon that but the different Is of income, like I
said, are really the, that's really that was the lesson that
I had to learn. I think me as a business owner,
I love it because I'm passionate about that part.
I'm not really passionate about real estate.
No, it's just if not straight up, it's like it's just it's a
tool in your toolbox which is Feliz.
It's just it just is a tool. The other stuff is like my
integrative that's your mindfulness all that stuff.
I'm super passionate. That's yeah I will do that for
free Price forever but I do still like to make some income
on that and it's only Maybe because you know, if spend hours
of time but the other times I feel see plenty of free things
from me. Yeah.
That is so cool. So it was something.
Yeah. So how have your nursing skills?
I'm sorry. Go ahead, go ahead, you got it.
I need to let you talk know how her mind.
No, no, I was gonna say I want you to finish that Doc's.
I didn't catch it. Finish your thought, oh no, I
just want to always be no BS like in tune or give like the
best, you know, for individuals. You know that.
Yeah. So how have your nursing skills?
Helped you with developing, or in your business?
Like, one of the things I always find very interesting is that we
learn delegation, we learn how to implement interventions.
We learn all these things in our nursing professions.
And so how have those skills kind of helped you as you've
been managing your business and kind of working on the
functional medicine, side of things, oh, on the functional
medicine, holistic, and that. And yeah, yeah.
So I would say, you know, build a team that was The newer.
I really didn't have as much of a team before that was, that was
helpful. So I learned that kind of that.
Delegating. I'm very big on like you do
really putting a whole approach to almost everything.
So say like in a big carrying and you know, listening
listening is huge. I mean, listening above
everything is like a big part and then organizing like, you
know, when you have to organize your day like you know, like
that, here's your brain, your brain, your brain goes a certain
way, you got to kind of have, I mean I was in ICU nurse and a
are so it's like I You kind of have to have organized thought
like when you're super scattered, we better find a
business that will help you bring that together.
So yeah, it helped me, you know, bring it up that and then a lot
of my mindfulness training really helped when with my
scattered - and my anxiety stuff.
So I utilize that a lot because, you know, we all have different
flaws or different things that went on or things that were
really not good at and finding the people.
This is one new part that I learned in businesses, finding
the people When things that I don't laugh.
So, this was huge for me and this has been more recent in the
past year or two is finding the people to do the things that I
don't really love doing. So adjust, for example, hoobler.
Hey, guys, and thanks for listening to another episode.
The doctor nurse podcast. Unscripted, I would like to take
this time to let you guys know about the doctor nurse podcast,
website on this website. I have free resources for nurses
that are looking to up their career, maybe start a side
hustle. I also have my Etsy shop where
I've created, The cute digital downloads for nurse
practitioners in regards to life, pregnancy planning, as
well as portraits guys. Check out my resources at the
doctor's podcast.com and let's get back to the episode.
I have a medical biller now. Yeah, yeah, someone to help me
with my writing. I'm not a great writer but I
have so I have an editor. Yeah, I have an editor.
I people help me out it. I'm not an amazing writer.
I also have a disability so I had to learn with men.
I was written. My doctorate, I do voice texting
so I'm a voice wrecking it. I do a ton of voice recognition.
So when I'm writing and you'll see something, it's usually
voice transcribed. Who how?
And then it said it. So what what happened?
What was your injury? We do in the military, were you
injured? It's a military about my
military was a military trauma. It a mild TBI in effect injury.
Did you really? Yeah, I was in during 9/11 and
it was, you know, so that is there is thank you for your
service. Yeah, but I mean, I Grew From,
you know, that's why I was so upset.
With Integrative Health because it really had that I had, you
know, fix my health issues, so training and stuff.
I was like at the side, hustle was just more because I couldn't
work as this is a triangle. So I was doing these little
thing, he's income coming in, worked out really well, like I
did a lot of yoga nursing in the beginning, this area
implemented, because yoga was a big part of my life.
So what it was, as I was one of the founding members with this
yoga nurse and she's been around for years, but basically, it was
implementing yoga and then yoga became my Passion and then yoga
therapy training in mindfulness training and so taking those
areas to help my back and help my anxiety and my yeah, because
I really didn't. So then I started just using
them with the patients. Yeah.
You know and so in your career and kind of walk me through so
you were in the military, you don't know you were in the
military and then did you become a nurse or where you were
nursing the milk. So I was not a nurse in the
military. I was, I was military trained in
them and so military, trauma training.
So I was in as an Electronics. Mission and I taught people.
My job is really high-stress intelligence and doing I'm
friendly. And for some of that terrorism.
Yeah. Yeah.
At that time. And then I was like during 9/11.
So when we were deployed, we were always trying to different
Target is so stressful, learned a lot, you know what?
It's like, all of those struggles, those failures like
and when I was at Rock, Bottom kind of things when you learn
them, then it's like growing from it.
So, I think I still wanted to help people.
So I'm going to nurse, you know, I had the military trauma
training. So I became an Alpina Corso.
So, as I saw it showed you my vile, like I was now pan because
I have military trauma, trance. When I was deployed, I did my
job and then I did military trauma work.
So that training helped me, become an LPN right away.
So as soon as I got out, I was even coming up yet, was my
health? Good, not great.
I needed to work. So I was now.
Pan first, then I did I did that route of LPS and you know then I
went to RN BSN RN and BSN and MSN 20.
I never stopped going to school. I'm Her like like I specially
when people come back and do something I was the opposite, I
was like, okay no you're a total Hustler is what you're
describing to my guest is that you just are always looking for
ways to supplement. What you need, get what you need
work for what you need. When you have free time, you can
spend time with your family. Can be a part of what's going on
around. You can be present, you've had a
TBI, but you got a doctoral degree.
Like, it doesn't, these things are not holding you back.
The things that limitations quote-unquote with the world
would look is like, okay. You're just like, no, I'm going
to go figure out how to side hustle.
Because I'm not so good at these things and I don't know how much
I can carry. And I need to be able to find
ways to handle my money and make it work for me because, you
know, all these other things that I've got going on that make
it more, that make it more difficult for me.
So when it wasn't always perfect here, I mean, like there was a
ton of failures, you know, there was a ton of times when I felt.
So tell me about one of those times I want to hear about one
of those times that you struggle and you were like, that's it.
Throw the towel in girl ain't gonna make it.
Yeah, I mean, so the part was kind of, actually, as I was
getting my masters in as a nurse practitioner.
So, I was really struggling with trying to see if I needed to go
get my Master's, bring it to become a nurse practitioner to
push to make a difference. And I was like, what do I need
to prescribe to make a difference for my patients and
also like mentally study wise? I didn't know if I could do it.
I'm not that I couldn't because I was high IQ but struggled you
know silly so on I had to learn a different way of practicing so
that was where. So when my writing I have to
write a lot all the time and then I took great for doctorate,
I struggled with thinking tuber teachers and professors were
like, oh, you know, you're waiting is kind of a Enlighten,
your like oh but I know what I'm talking about.
So until I learned a new way of learning and change my
behaviors, I wasn't able to realize that I could help
someone, the reason I went for the MSN and the DMV was, it was
part of the equation. It was part of like, what they
want. To do.
But I knew that the private wasn't necessary this win but it
was it might give more credibility to the conversation
of Integrative Health. So it was that for me that was
just what I felt. I was my ego.
My thoughts doesn't mean everybody.
Sure. And so that yeah.
The struggle was like, I was at home, trying to go, I think I
need this Masters, but I didn't know if I was going to pass or I
didn't know if I was going to be able to write the things, and
write this dissertation and and and then having that struggle of
life, Like sitting on the computer and my neck was hurting
my back was hurting and that not thinking like right well and
teacher saying you were okay how's that?
I know I'm not just okay. And then when I learned and
overcame that feeling when I was at Rock Bottom again thinking
depressed like I'm going to get this masters with it and his
doctor and I'm just it's not going to happen, I sat there and
I you know, went back to my mindfulness, went out to my my
prayer and spirituals and said, there's gotta be a way of doing
so then I went and searched had a Looking at how to learn
different ways. So then that's when I learned
texting and thank God for technology.
So then that's when I learned like speech text, and then I
learned that I could get an editor and then I learned that I
have, you know, I could read more.
And so then I have things highlighted for me and I and so
it's just a different and so then I take that and learning
behaviors and style into my press because you can't teach
someone that this is a, for example than that, struggle was
me learning. I struggled there so then I
ended up doing it even when someone said no.
No. And now I tell that to my
patients, when they say, you can't do it, you can.
But you have to take a difference, then you also have
to change your behavior, then you have to learn, learn a new
learn, like so those things. So it's like my past struggles,
have helped me become a better. Oh, that's so good.
I love that question, because when people share what they are
struggling with it allows people to realize, wait a minute, I'm
not alone in my own issues. I like I think we like to think
that Nobody has a better than we do and when you start to hear
people's Journeys and you start to realize like that means she
was dealing with like pain every single day.
I think it's very inspiring. When people share like, these
are my struggles because then you start to go a, we're all
struggling in some way. Nobody is exempt.
From excuse me. No one's exempt from the
struggle. So just get out there because
we're all doing this broken, we're all doing this with our
problems. We're all doing this with With
the things that we're told, we can't do it and we're doing it
anyway. So just proven wrong, you know,
just proven wrong. Yeah.
So and it and then if you need to pause, like, I'm not like my
lamb in it all the time, if you need to picture her head and
then learning that, you know, that is so good.
I always not. Always got it all figured out,
but sometimes so I just steady, I'm just very yeah, that's so
cool. So I wanted to ask just for
people that are out there that are like possibly interested in
what you're doing and what your practice is like.
Can you tell me a little bit about kind of how many patients
you see? What are some of the things that
you treat and you diagnose and the Telehealth space and in your
office door? I'm not a big Crystal, I take a
lot, I think a lot smaller and more than that.
I'm not sure of primary but I'm more on the smaller end.
So I don't have like the patient side under under of like five
hundred give or take, but not even I would say most of the
time my week is like 6 to 20 patients depending upon the week
on Telehealth versus and that could be anything from from, you
know, just needing to talk to them.
So my patients I give them access to my text messaging and
wow and then they assume it's more time we more time on my
end. And the first visits are because
I take that functional medicine. Integrative approach, my visits
are longer. So when I was a primary
provider, don't get me wrong, I love primary, I did like primary
care, but it was missing and it was very, there's some very
successful. I mean, you've had people on
their very successful in primary, but you have to have
very high volume. Be successful, I'm not that
person and I think ethically, I love it.
I will do it for someone else, but I don't love it for my
business. You have to have high volume to
do primary on a regular picture with them, 10 minutes, I like
love being with the people to talk to them.
So, I mean, that's pretty funny. The real stuff like, so a half
hour, at least an hour of the first visit and the functional
medicine side. I learned because I there's even
more of that needs to be added. But when I learned on that, oh,
there's got to be another element.
Like, so, for example, someone comes in, In even like a
headache headaches, never a headache.
It's just not. It's never like here start yours
to tripped in and here is your whatever your Quick Med.
Or here's your head. No headaches, never headache.
It's you know, is it muscle tension?
Did you sleep last night? Do you have enough magnesium?
What? What's going on in your stress
in your life? How much water you're drinking?
Are you exercising? Like those conversations are way
longer you pregnant. You've not.
You like do you have like did you have a nice?
Injury like the ex never had it. So every illness were so in the
small side they want to just do root cause which I definitely
do. I want to get to the root cause
but that unfortunately is not the full equation because I can
get to the root cause of a headache.
So say you've a neck tension, but are you going to fix that
neck, tension? Hmm.
Are you going to go to acupuncture?
Are you going to go to physical therapy?
Are you going to go do the stretches that I need you to do?
What can we do to make sure we get into that.
So these conversations are long. After my initial assessment to
get, I would love to do like, you know.
So if I do lab work on a functional approach, yeah, I'll
go. Look in micronutrients will do
so initially for some patients. So insurances will cover.
I'll do it out of network. I'll do like a wellness exam, so
we'll try to see what we can get under the basic umbrella, but
I'll do an expanded panel. So, most people like a lot of
people I see are in metabolic health issues, stress issues
hormone imbalance, Okay, so, but it's a good percentage of the
population you see about 20 Pages a week with these common
issues. Yeah.
That's that's, that's pretty good and again because you don't
have mortgage you don't have these Unity is other things.
I mean, it's not a lot. I mean it could be more.
It could be less. No, I think that's good.
And one of the things I was thinking is like, whatever,
you're seeing the patients, and you're working your weeks,
you're doing, you have these other income side streams that
you're doing. Then give the podcast which give
another You know, another, both stream of income is from the
podcast and I didn't fully strain that.
I mean, you're probably better at sponsor.
Yeah, yeah, I know, but you just got to dive in again, with
depending on whatever your load is, somebody told me this advice
and I'll give it to you because it was so helpful for me, he got
a sponsorship with 40 listeners and I was like, we talked about
40 listeners and he's like, that's all that half of this one
podcast, I got a sponsorship and I was like, okay, I have more
than 40 listeners. Like, that is crazy.
And so once he told me that he was like, you have to ask And so
again, I'm giving you this piece of advice because it was super
good for me. But he was like, you need to ask
people to sponsor your podcast. That's how you get sponsorships.
And I was like, okay, I'm going to ask and so that's what I did.
I just started asking and justify.
Yeah, even put that into my, I haven't even put that.
If you don't ask, you won't get it.
And so, Damaris my challenge to you today is to get out there
and have someone to sponsor your podcast.
Because again, companies are looking for people to talk about
their It's so find something that you're passionate about
that. You like, you think is very good
and sponsor. It ask him say listen, this is
something that I naturally use and I would love to have you
sponsor my podcast and so, boom, just like that.
And what's the worst thing going to tell?
You know, and you're in the exact same spot you're in.
So get your podcast sponsored General and yam and well you're
doing the work, right? You doing the work?
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah. Oh and that I'm writing a book,
right? So then I want to let you know
is Writing right? So I never thought I could write
because I'm telling you and that's another business.
So, like whatever you're going to do to add in the streams of
income, whether it's a digital product, whether it's a small
book, they have a small ebook. I look a little coloring books.
I did from whatever you got to do to add those.
Yeah you never know I'm not a big thing.
Keep trying. Yeah but patient lies.
I mean I just want to make a difference.
So like I said to you before I probably give most of my patient
care for free if I could most I mean like you a lot It's all
about trying to make a difference for them and I felt
like I wasn't doing enough. 10 minutes of my time for a patient
is just not enough. I mean I have done differently,
go to local terms, like I was 24 to work to a lake if I can the
like for them for the people I will but for me, I like my
heart. It's like, no, yeah, no.
You've got to do what your heart tells you is the right thing to
do. I totally agree with you and if
you could go back to Damaris, you know, just getting out of
the military starting her LPN. If you could give her a piece of
advice, And you would tell her hold onto this piece of advice
throughout your career, right? It just hold onto this like it's
a lifeline and this piece of advice is garbage.
Don't listen to it, it's not true.
What would be a piece of? I should we tell her to keep and
a piece of advice? Should we tell her to toss?
Hmm. That I used to sew a piece of
ice that would toss is I used to listen to everybody's like,
negativity like oh you can't do that, you can't do that.
And I would sometimes let that fester in there with me.
And then, if I let a piece of advice that I would keep would
hold my gosh. Hmm.
Be okay with not being. Okay, with being okay, with
liking. What do you mean?
Just if it's not finished, it's okay.
If it's not perfect. And I remember being okay, like,
in the, like, finishing as the all pianos.
I call them just an LPN. We're like the just like, I'm
just this, at this time, if that's where you're at.
That's it, just because I got a doctor.
Does not mean you're going to make money you can make money
without having all these Education is one lesson is you
can you can now the technology you can make side houses and
yeah when you know you're telling everybody.
Yeah no exactly. That's exactly what I'm telling
people that have all this education to make a difference.
That's the other big thing don't, I don't need that.
You don't have a lot of Education to make a difference.
And I think if you go forward with a positive heart and like
with good intention, the intentions will ya like that?
Carmen that energy? Yeah if your intentions are not
true. It will come back, like one of
my favorite books is leader without a title.
I love that book because it is a book about, you can be a made
bed you know in a hospital. Not a hospital and made and like
a hotel. And yeah, and be a leader.
You can go outside of your way to show and care for whatever
job you're doing with a with without a title.
You don't need title of CEO to now all of a sudden become this
person that servant And make sure to think about others
before themselves. Like, if you're just doing that
as a nurse at the bedside nurse, which is why I athlete so much
because nurses do this work, we do just pour from our hearts on
our patients. And so that's why I'm like no
nurse should be broke. No nurse should be, you know,
financially destitute or tired, or exhausted and just retire.
Like because we give so much that I'm like study needs to be
out there. Advocating for us to kind of
have this mindset. We take care of ourselves.
Elves. Because if not, we're going to
burn ourselves out because we just naturally are people that
go into the profession to give and to pour in others.
I mean, just hearing you talk about your passion for
Integrative Health and emotional medicine and what to provide
your patience, your like I would do this for free.
I just love when people come into this space of wellness and
health and like, that's what nurses do.
I mean, I remember when I was a nurse, I had a patient who loved
Corn Pops, which now from a, from a health standpoint, I feel
terrible that Of a box of popcorn pops, but corn Puffs,
but like he loved that I made, but it made him happy because I
went through a shift one time and I went and bought this kid
corn Puffs and took them to work and I was just like I'm not
saying that to like to my own horn but it was just like I know
that's what we did. Like why wouldn't I go?
That brought him Joy like and so he's sitting there eating Corn
Pops getting, you know his medicines and that's that's the
joy of what we did as nurses. And what we do is Nurses and why
I think It's so important that again, we have this mindset of
like, hey nurse you're you're you're pouring at this Hospital,
you're pouring on your patients, whatever it is.
Make sure to take care of yourself because at the end of
your life, again, kind of like we're saying if you just burn
yourself out, you're not going to be happy with necessarily the
outcome. So just fix change that mindset
a little bit and put a little bit of care of yourself.
So I love that. And so, for the last part of the
interview Damaris is the rapid fire questions where I search.
Ask you questions? You were not able to prepare
for, are you ready? Okay, sure, thanks so much.
What is your favorite board game play Monopoly?
Of course, you like Monopoly mr. Real estate.
Yes, thank you. And did you man with your son?
That's a good one. And I like this question, if you
would have, you would give a book to someone to read, what
would be? That was the title of the book,
if you could just do that, well, okay, they're two different
area. So, so the who not the How not
the, how I just read because that one was Tommy.
I can't do everything because I like to have control things and
I thought I have to do a lot. You need to learn how to
delegate you do, because you can't do everything because then
you're going to burn out. So instead of burning out
nursing I'll burn out as a business owner and you got to
learn your. It was good, that one was a big
one and then mindset was I'm not like a Cheesy moment for me.
Anything by hand because I'm very much so about trying to
really come back to Center and your mindfulness.
So I'm really realizing that you are enough so they'll anything
from tick not Han books like Appling the step and there's a
lot of good things of that nature because you're really
coming back to within uh yeah. You know it's so funny on my
Etsy shop I'm launching a mindfulness journal and it's the
purpose of it is to keep nurses just to kind of like come home
from a day and just like detox your and so yeah, I love that.
I love exactly what you're describing there.
Because again, the heart of mindfulness is an awareness that
the world is going on around you.
You can take it in but it doesn't necessarily the storm
doesn't necessarily affect you. The storm is around you but it's
not affecting you. And so or if it is affecting
you, you're able to process the storm to where you don't, ya,
what are you gonna do? What are you going to do to
like, yeah, exactly, I love that.
And again, with all the jobs that you've been describing all
the things that you're involved in, what was your very first job
at the gate? When you were like, I don't
know, however, old, what was your very first job as nursing
just in general? How many could be like
Chick-fil-A? Could be like, you know, I
worked at Ross. So I babysat the except for
years and then after that, I did I wanted a grocery store the
grocery store checkout. You notice so funny.
As a kid, I Remember Loving to do that job as a child like
she's being like click click, click like you know like the the
noise from the machine. Anyway, that's probably TMI.
But yes, I am my son loves it. When we go to like the
self-checkout he will cry if I don't let him hit like do the
barcode bleep. I'm like, okay, so we're showing
out in the store because I won't let my kid do the barcode.
Okay, get up here to the back. We literally, who were at the
grocery store and we were like, holding up.
Sorry. Yeah, thank you so much for your
time today. Thank you for coming on the
podcast and sharing all the stuff that you're involved in
and kind of how you gotten started in business and dropping
nuggets. For nurses that are like, Hey
how do I do this? What do I do in any way?
Do it scared. Do it with your disability.
Even has a my last Go Thomas my gosh is Veera patients where
they are. What do you mean be okay with
that? Not always doing the
prescription of what you want them to do or whatever their,
you know, if you're seeing patients be okay with that
because you know what? They're not ready.
Whoo, that's so good. They may be eventually, so be
there when they're ready. That's good, that's good guys,
check out some areas. Check out our podcast, check out
everything. She's involved in again, reach
out to her. If you are interested in what
she's doing, if you want to hear more about her, she's super
open, I mean, she's just she's all over the, you know, she
always has her stuff. Out she's like hey come find me.
I'm here, I'm wanting to chat and talk so guys, check her out
and guys, girl, yay, So that's a wrap, be sure to subscribe to
the show so you don't miss an episode and leave me a review.
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Jim.