Speaker A: Foreign.
Speaker B: Welcome to the Nurse Life Coach Academy podcast where Laura and Shelby, both board.
Speaker A: Certified nurse coaches, talk all about how to get certified and practice professionally as.
Speaker B: A nurse life coach.
Welcome to the successful Nurse Coach podcast. It is Laura today and I am interviewing one of our newest Nurse Life Coach Academy instructors and lead learning coaches,
Alaina Battelle.
And I almost called you Alana because you let me call you Alana for. For too long. And I have a cousin named Alana that's spelled just like yours, but I'm always proud of myself when I say it correctly.
Um, but I wanted to just introduce her to you first and then she's going to speak herself into the space.
So.
Elena Battelle.
Speaker A: Battelle Beidle. It's a hard line. I have a hard name.
Speaker B: I'm gonna say it again. Elena Beidle is a NICU nurse turned Master's certified life and performance coach. She comes from a coaching background with three years of experience, but she's a newly board certified nurse coach and is the author of Elevate youe Frequency, the creator of Triage youe Life, the Burnout Zones Frameworks,
and president of the nonprofit A Scoop of Hope,
and now NLCA's new lead learning coach. And she's helping nurses disrupt burnout culture, reclaim their energy and rise into purpose driven leadership. Which, by the way, our missions,
they just overlap so beautifully.
Do you wanna just share this story, Elena, of how we met?
Speaker A: Yeah, so it's funny because I can't really,
like, neither of us really know the exact story.
I actually was going to go back through my direct messages before this.
Totally forgot. But I believe you messaged me on Instagram and up until that point, I had not heard of you guys. I didn't know who you were. I didn't know who Shelby was.
I didn't know about the successful nurse coaches or the Nurse Life Coach Academy.
You kind of were just like, hey, we're starting this affiliate program. I see that you're a coach. I see that you work with nurses.
Are you interested in. In learning more about this opportunity?
And I've reached a point or a place in my journey that I don't like closing doors to opportunities that I don't know about. So I did do like, you know, a little FBI like we all do Google search all the things.
I was like, okay, this is. This is really cool, you know? Yeah, I'm at least gonna see,
you know, who am I to say no? Let me just say yes and, and see what comes from it.
But the morning that you and I to meet. You guys had a massive snowstorm.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And everything was shut down. And you had emailed me and you're like, I'm so sorry. All the kids are home. It's a school. Like, it's a snow day.
Speaker B: Like, the best time for us to meet Tennessee, East Tennessee. We just all stay home but not do anything.
Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And you were just, I'll reach back out to you,
you know, to reschedule. And then a lot of time passed and I got busy doing things. And at that time, I was working with a coach, and she was like, hey, whatever came from that organization that reached out to you?
I was like,
well, you know what? We never rescheduled. But they. It must not be that important if they didn't reach back out to me.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Kind of stopped me in my traction. She's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's reframe that.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: What?
So it was a little bit of, you know, once I reflect on it, I was like, well, first it was my ego. Like, well, it must not have been anything, right?
Like, they didn't reach back out to me.
And then the second piece, when I actually thought about it was. Was fear. I mean, yeah, you. You Google search it, you look it up, you're like, wow. They're like, this is a big thing.
Like,
they don't want me. If they really wanted me, they would have emailed me back.
Speaker B: Yeah.
But it's actually just like one to one coaching. It's like,
busy, you know, like, it's just so busy. And so I appreciate you following up because the more you follow up, the more opportunities you'll have in your life. Period. End of story.
Like, it's just. It's true. Human beings. And part of what I respected about you is you were persistent. I think you reached out a few times. And so I really liked that.
Like, I like that because it shows, like, initiative and intention, and I like that. And we didn't even know how. We were like, how this is all gonna unfold.
And then once we met, it was like, oh, yeah, you. You're special. You get it. Like, you get coaching. Like, you're living coaching. You're not. It's not this, like, side gig that you're dipping your toe into.
It's like you've immersed yourself in the work and in the modality of coaching.
And that's rare. That's super rare.
And you probably noticed the same in me. It's like I'm like fully living in my mission and everything's about that.
Speaker A: It's beautiful. It is such a beautiful place to be.
And so to. To your point, there is like, I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna email her. Like,
the worst case scenario, she doesn't respond. Best case scenario, we.
We hop on and. And something comes from it, even if it wasn't what either of us thought. And. And truly, I don't think it was either of what we thought.
Like, it just went its own way and it's. Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker B: Love that.
Speaker A: And I think that is, like, a huge takeaway.
There's so many people that want more or they want to change something in their life. And the universe has a beautiful way of putting all these opportunities at our doorstep.
We just have to be willing to open that door and be like, hey, let's just see.
It's not going to hurt us to just see what this could be.
But out of fear, we usually just keep that door shut and we think, like, oh, that's not meant for me. Like, that doesn't work out for me.
Speaker B: What are some of the brands of fear for you? I have my own.
That come to mind very quieter now. Yeah, but what are some of those? Even just in thinking of meeting with me or even just that thought of, like, well, she thought I was really important.
Like, she would've reached back out to me.
What are some of those.
The fears.
Speaker A: The fear for me was.
I think the biggest one was,
you know, you work so hard on your skillset to get to where you are,
but when somebody else acknowledges it and sees it, it's like instant minimization of, like, okay, no, I'm not that good. Like, oh, like, who am I?
Speaker B: Who am I?
Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's. That is my big. That is probably my biggest one.
Who am I?
Insert whatever it is. Like, who am I to coach these new coaches coming in? Or who am I to step on that stage? Or who am I to write a book?
Like,
who am I? Is. Is probably my biggest one. Yeah.
Speaker B: Where do you think? I mean, that's part of the human condition.
Because who am I Is like, fear of the unknown.
It's wanting to stay the same and stay small.
It's really baked into our reptilian brain of like, hey, stay safe and don't die.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: You know, like, it's. Yeah.
Speaker A: That comfort zone.
Speaker B: Yes. Yes.
And how, like,
can you give the audience just some examples of when you,
like, the different steps where you said yes and you took a chance or you took a Risk.
Because you have a very different life now than you have three years ago.
Yeah.
Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
I think the biggest one for me, and this is gonna be a little heavy, but I'm gonna turn it around, I think.
You know,
when I was pregnant with my first son, I. I lost two of my brothers.
And at that time, I was working full time at the bedside. I love,
loved being a NICU nurse, but I always had that feeling that I was meant for more outside of being a nurse. That was the only thing I grew up wanting to be.
And so that feeling of wanting more, feeling like I was capable and more, I constantly dimmed of, like, no, this is my. More like, I am living my dream. Like, this is what I've always wanted to do.
Um, but then losing them and having my first son, I was like, no, there is.
Speaker B: There's more.
Speaker A: There is more out there.
Um,
and who am I not to. And that's kind of how I flipped. It is like, who am I not to see what else is out there?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And I think really the thing that helps me is in those moments, because fear. I mean,
fear can cripple us,
but fear, no matter whether we say yes or no, it's gonna. It's always there.
Speaker B: It's always there.
Speaker A: I think people don't think it's there.
Speaker B: They look at you and they're like, elena's never been scared. She was just born like that, shiny and confident. And it's like, no, dude.
Speaker A: Yeah. You didn't see what I just did behind this chair for the last 10 minutes before I got on this podcast. Like, you know what I mean? Like, there's always that duality of fear and bravery.
Like, they go hand in hand. And the more you step into the.
The scared yeses or the scared opportunities,
the stronger the bravery gets.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: But we get to recognize that the fear is always there. But we. We grow into a place of knowing that fear is growth. And on the other side of me, overcoming this fear is a new lesson.
And then you gain that confidence for the next scary thing that comes your way. And so I will say, stepping into this lead learning coach, like, I'm Like,
I. I love coaching, but there's still that fear component.
Speaker B: Cause it's new.
Speaker A: I've never done it before. And that fear of, am I doing a good job? Am I doing it right enough?
Speaker B: Right? Yeah.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Am I doing a.
Am I doing it how Lauren Shelby want me to do it? Like, those are. That's the new.
Like, who am I? And then am I Doing it right? Am I doing it good enough?
Am I. Am I too much? Am I too. Too little? Am I too loud? Am I too soft?
Speaker A: Yeah, I would say the too loud is a big one for me, but there's a lot of, like, soft grounding presence. And then there's, like, me. I'm like.
And I've always just been a loud person.
Speaker B: Yeah.
I think I. Cause I was a lead learning coach for another certification, or I think they called them co instructors, but I remember very vividly of, like, sweaty pits, like, the first live call,
and just worried that zoom wasn't gonna work or my Internet would go out. So I remember that very clearly. But I also think that stepping into that role, not knowing what it is or if I could do it was like the beginning of stepping into who I was becoming over and over.
And now it's so easy to step into the unknown. It's because you've. You create the new self concept that I am so good at being new. I'm a great new person,
and I'm not afraid to f up, and I'm not afraid to be new. And I know I'm going to. I just started playing pickleball. Every third time I hit the pickleball, I do something weird, and, like, it goes out.
It goes out like, awesome, awesome, awesome.
Speaker A: Weird people make it look so easy. Pickleball is hard,
but then again, that's like. If you look at it, it's like a beautiful life analogy. It's like you think you're taking everything life's handed to you, and then all of a sudden, a curve ball's thrown your way, and you're like, well, that was not the way I had it planned.
Like, right?
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: And it's.
Speaker B: You know, I always talk to nurses,
considering the training, and for most of them, I would say signing up for their. For our. I guess our $4,000 training is scarier than 15,000 on a master's or 25,000 on a DNP.
So it's not about the money.
It's like, about. I don't. Can I be a coach? And what does that look like? Cause I don't even really know what it is. There's no framework. It's not like our whole lives, we've been watching nurse life coaches,
even watching NPS and watching Masters and. And Educ. You know, nurse educators, like, they have all these frameworks. Those are known.
It's a little scary to make an investment.
But for nurse coaching, I think for most of them, it's like, I Do I trust myself?
Am I gonna, am I gonna waste this money?
Speaker A: It's. It's a self confidence.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: It really, really is. And it, and also a little bit of worth. Right. Self worth. Like,
am I one? Am I capable of doing this?
Like, if they just pause for a minute and remember,
like, take you back to baby, baby. Like when you first start nursing school and it's like, oh my gosh, do I belong here? Do I have what it takes? Am I gonna be successful?
Am I gonna hurt someone?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And I just said this to you before we even hopped on here. It's taking the, like pausing for a minute,
reflecting on that part of your life and, and pulling out what,
what got you through that time.
Like,
what you leaned on, what was your motivator?
What strengths did you, did you bring to the table? Because everybody's is different. Some people lecture was their jam. Some people clinical hands on. Like, everybody had their thing.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: I think nurse coaching is, is the exact same. It's not going to look the same person to person.
And if we can pull in the strengths that we gain through nursing school and through our experience at the bedside and not separate them from this space,
you bring them with you. They're a part of you.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Like, they are a part of you.
And it can be hard though, because then it's for some people they're trying to get away from,
well, I'm more than a nurse or I, like, I don't want to just be a nurse. Right. It's that, that little bit of that identity pool.
I think it would just be getting to the core of what makes you, you and what you do bring to the table and just allowing yourself a little bit of silence to gain clarity on that.
I know that this is another skill set.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Whether we choose to open a private practice,
whether we choose to bring it to the bedside,
whether we use it for ourselves and in our home. Like, there's so many avenues that you can take this skill set and apply it in life. You and I know this.
That's what I would compare it to. View it as a new skill set that you get to just add to your toolbox that you know you have no idea where it's going to take you.
Speaker B: So awesome. I often say on sales calls. Cause it's true. It's like this skill set will make you better at everything that you already do.
So you will be a better mom, you will be a better wife, you will be a better employee, you'll be a better nurse, you will be a Better friend. And you will be a better friend to yourself.
And that I can guarantee. There's very few things I can guarantee. I can't guarantee you're going to make ten grand first month out of certification, although it happens. I can't guarantee you're going to get your dream coaching job and you're like, take off the scrubs and go be a full time coach in your organization.
Although that happens as well.
But I can guarantee that if you do the work, if you be a product of the product that you are learning,
you will be better at everything that you do forever. It's like an appreciating asset. It's like if you're a house, you're adding like a brand new roof on and for the, it's just you're adding more value to everything that you do.
It really is like a professional development skill that can be used everywhere.
But what I find is that it, I think it's born from a longing of fulfilling a deeper purpose for most nurses.
Um, and also I've been in coach containers, non nurse coaching containers too. We were gonna talk a little bit about the difference of those.
So I've been in like certifications with lawyers,
international certifications, like lawyers from Zimbabwe and from like graphic artists and moms from Australia and like just all over. And it's like when I see the similarities, like everybody just this deep longing to help people realize their full potential.
Like they feel like that's their gift, you know, like that's really it. It's like this.
You're seeing potential everywhere and you want to do something with it.
And in nursing, holy smokes, we are, it is in our face with our patients, with our co workers, with our leaders.
We're just seeing all the ways that it could be better and we want to do something to make it better.
And coaching gives you a path to help people,
whatever, be better, self actualize better.
Speaker A: Bring more of what,
what we all want to the care that we're giving.
We talked about that. You know, more feeling like,
feeling like we're meant for more. And sometimes it is just the way in which we actually give the care to our patients.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Something I really talk about with my clients is like time, right? We're all,
we're all racing the clock. And it's not that we can't control the time that we have with our patients to a degree right at the bedside specifically, it's very rushed.
But what we can control is the way in which we are present with the time that we do have. And that makes all the difference.
Speaker B: Yeah, it.
Speaker A: It's insane, the difference it makes. Like, let's say you have five minutes with a patient,
and you spend five minutes with a patient thinking about the 10 million other things you have to do for all the other patients you have,
or spending the five minutes being extremely present and extremely intentional in that communication and that time you have with that patient not thinking about anything else but them,
and you walk away with a different feeling.
Speaker B: Absolutely. It's such high roi. Return on investment for the patient and for you. Like, five minutes is an eternity with someone who's deeply present with you.
Speaker A: Yes.
It's even,
you know, you even take that skill set. Right. And you bring it into being a mom.
It's like we're,
you know, life's busy and we don't always have the time with our kids that, that we want to be able to have with them.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: But.
But what we do with that time matters, because if we're extremely present and intentional with those five minutes to kids is an eternity. Let's be honest. Let's be real.
Speaker B: Time is the same as ours.
Speaker A: Yes, it is. Not five minutes of your undivided attention. It's like, my mom just spent five hours with me. Right?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Versus sitting on the floor and thinking about the dishes that are in the sink or the laundry that's in the dryer that's been sitting there for three days. It's. You're. You're not mindfully there.
And so then when you walk away, you feel guilty because you're like, oh, that was the time I had with them, and I was thinking about all the other. And then.
Then you feel like you're failing. Right.
Speaker B: How often do you. With the nurses that you work with, once you get into working with them, how much guilt? A lot. Yeah.
Speaker A: The guilt.
Guilt and shame that nurses carry for working the way they work. And weekends, holidays,
evenings, if you get caught up and you don't get out on time and you miss, you know, bedtime with your little.
There's so much shame and guilt there.
And it's really working to. To peel that back, because on the same breath,
a lot of nurses want to be there. Like, they. We become addicted to that.
That type of work.
And so it's like that pool. Right. I like,
you know, I'm really good at what I do, and when I'm in it, I'm in it, but then I'm missing this. But then when you're home, you feel guilty because you're letting your team down and you're in this, in the middle of this just guilt,
constant guilt battle with yourself.
Speaker B: Yeah. And a game you can't win.
Speaker A: No.
Speaker B: You've set up strange rules so that you're a perpetual loser. Right.
Speaker A: Like it's like all these easy to reframe.
Yeah. And, and for visual learners, the best way to talk about it is like the mental tabs. Like you think about your computer screen and when you have all these tabs open, like sometimes if you look at my browser, I'm like, oh gosh, that's an insight to my brain right now.
Like when you have so many tabs open,
eventually you just get like the doom scroll that your computer just stops working. And, and we do the same thing. Cause we have so many tabs open that like eventually our, our bodies and our brains just can't keep up.
Speaker B: No. And for nurses, a lot of it manifests physically.
It manifests as, you know, weight that you can't get rid of, anxiety of insomnia,
autoimmune disorders of mystery illnesses, chronic fatigue,
the fatigue, trigeminal neuralgia. Out of nowhere, Mississippi out of nowhere. Lupus out of nowhere. Like it doesn't surprise me. Like it doesn't surprise me when I'm working with a female nurse that has a mystery illness.
It's like this makes sense to me. This does not feel right. Like I can see the manifestation of it and not to like place blame cuz I was that woman.
But if you have all your tabs open on your computer and you never restart it, it stops working. Well,
it's like, hey, warning light,
take a break,
Chill out. In our thoughts and our internal reality and our internal world deserves space to be explored.
Like I think about your work and our work at the academy a lot of times is helping nurses change the external. Like there's external. That's the primary reason I want to change my job.
And it's like I'm partially like,
kind of like I'm tricking you because I'm like, actually we're going to change your internal world and then the external world will match it. And I don't know what that's going to be,
but I don't know that we're like taught to think that way. And I feel like that's in line with your work that you do.
Speaker A: Yeah. So I often talk about your in.
So when, when people want to make a change,
it's a lot of,
I don't want to say external validation,
but that's how we've been programmed. Right. Like more Letters to our name. Another certification.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Yeah,
it's. It's really. It's external. Like resume builder. Right.
Versus your internal inspiration. And when you think about just heart and energy and sustainability and really, really just purpose and passionate, it's that's. It comes from an internal place.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: This. And passion comes from an internal,
deeper flame.
And through this skill set, you learn how to pull that out. You learn how to really cater to it, you know,
and realize that the external things just fall into place. Which sounds crazy. Like, that sounds like too good to be true.
Speaker B: It sounds like a bumper sticker. That's real.
Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. And like, I'm such a visual person, so I always go back to these analysis.
Think about starting a fire.
If you just keep putting logs on the fire without really tending to the flame in the center, it's never going to catch fire.
Yeah,
it won't because we're just smothering it with more logs. And when I think about internal versus external, that's really what I think about. It's external is you're just. You're adding more logs to that fire, but you never really lit the flame.
So it's not going to catch fire until you can light that internal flame, let it breathe a little bit. Right.
And then when you light that flame, then begin to add the logs to it to really amplify it. Right.
Speaker B: I'm gonna just so piggyback off that visual.
I feel like we were talking about the guilt and the shame and fear. So fear, guilt and shame are motivators,
but they don't burn clean.
So it's like black smoke. It's not fun to be around.
Um, and then purpose and your values and your higher dreams, like these higher versions of you. It's like the fire starter, like you throw it in there, you throw on a match, it burns, it smells great, it's warm, it's beautiful.
Um, and it's like both are fuel. One burns clean and one doesn't. And I just see nurses specifically.
Maybe it's the archetype that is drawn to the healing profession. I think it's across all professions, if I'm being honest. Like, I think it's just the human experience.
I think I'm just. We're just hyper attuned to nurses, you and I.
But man, sometimes I can see a nurse in scrubs walking and I can just sense that what's walking. That the fuel that she's living off of is not burning clean.
I can just sense it. I can feel it.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: And it feels Wrong to have medicine that solves that and not share it with the world.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah.
When you say it crosses over, it kind of reminded me. I just had a conversation with a friend this weekend who is a teacher, and she's just been sharing, you know, all the.
All the heavy things she's been experiencing this year in the classroom and how she's just become so resentful,
not just at the profession, but at,
you know, her husband.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Everyone.
And on the flip side of that, of, like, how independent she is and how good she is at her job and how she can hold all these plates in the air,
but then having that resentment and that pull and it. It really does come back to.
I think it is a societal way that we've been taught to.
This is what success is.
Speaker B: It's a flaw in the operating system that we got installed through our cultural conditioning.
Speaker A: Yeah. And I feel like we're at such a beautiful place in society and in healthcare right now that people are beginning to open their eyes to, like, okay, yes,
if this is the definition of success, I don't want it.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Um, and so a really good place for people to start is, like, what would be your definition of success?
Speaker B: Yeah. Like. Yep.
Speaker A: Take yourself five years, ten years from now,
and you were able to reflect on the life that you just lived.
What would make it successful? What do you want to remember?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And when you're coming out at a decision from that place, that's an aligned decision. Not out of fear.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Not out of who am I.
It's out of. No, this makes sense. And who I want to be 10 years from now, how I want to be living and how I. And how I want to remember my life.
Not drained, not exhausted. Yeah.
Speaker B: At the beginning of our call, you mentioned the tragedy of losing your brothers and at simultaneously giving birth to your son. So, like,
you. Mortality all around you, like, sounds like it just shook you out of a dream. It was just too real to, like, stay trapped. It, like, broke your. Your cultural conditioning in a beautiful way.
Speaker A: It broke it so fast.
Like, I have tears in my eyes because it's in the hospital. I think I had,
you know, a lot happen leading up to that. You know, I'm still processing. I'll be very honest. I mean, I lost my brothers three years ago, 20, 19.
Speaker B: So six years ago.
Speaker A: Yeah. And then 2020. We all know what 2020 was. I was a new mom. She wasn't even six months old now. I was still working full time in an intensive care unit.
And so I never had the opportunity to process. But I was hit with such a large clarity of, I love what I'm doing, but not how I'm doing it.
Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, I love that. Nice distinction. Yeah.
Speaker A: Like, yeah. And.
And to ask, I mean, if you love what you're doing but not how you're doing it, you have the power to change it.
And at that time, nurse coaching was, like, just coming to fruition.
Yeah.
But I was in the health and wellness world then, which was very heavily tied to life coaching. And I never knew what a life coach was either, until that moment.
And I was like, hmm,
I could just help. Cause I. I was really just focused on helping nurses take care of.
Have the time to take care of themselves,
you know, gain a sense of themselves back. And because for me, I hit, you know, burnout really reared its head when I was like,
I don't even recognize the person looking in the mirror.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Um, and I. That's all I wanted to do was just help nurses remember who they are beneath the scrubs and that there is more to you.
Being a nurse is the most amazing thing in the world. But you're more than just a nurse.
And our nurse hat can't drive everything.
Because then we wake up one day being like,
yeah, where did it all go?
Speaker B: It's robotic. It's a trip. Because I know you and I were talking also before this about how when you've been in this world for so long, that it can sometimes be difficult for me to remember what it was like before.
But I talk to nurses all week long on sales calls, and I just have been talking to nurses every day for. Since 2018.
But so often it's like, well, I just gotta keep, like, especially nurse leaders. I just gotta keep working full time. I carry the benefits. I'm gonna retire in five years.
And. And they're, like, trying to sell me on this. I just have to keep suffering for five more years. So that.
And I'm like, you don't have five years.
You don't have five years.
And so I love that thought experiment or that. That questioning of, like, if things went better than you could ever imagine,
what does your life look like looking five years back? Is it this Is it? This is it completely management? Is it no boundaries? Is it health more and more medications because your health's failing.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: You know?
Speaker A: Yeah.
And.
And truly, if you do make it those five years,
will you even have the functionality or the energy to be able to do all the things that you've been holding out on doing?
Speaker B: Right. Yes.
Speaker A: And you know, not,
not to bring it on the flip side, but we don't,
we don't know.
No, none of us know what our timeline is.
And I think that was one, one large perspective I did gain from losing my brothers is that I live very differently now. Yeah, we do. They were taken way too young and there was so much life that wasn't lived.
And I just swore I was never going to wait for.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And I learned to say yes to, to things that didn't even make sense yet. And I'm like, I don't know. You know, I don't know. It's either gonna work out or it's not gonna work out.
Like when you think about it, you know, I just had this conversation with a nursing client this week and she's been really heavily thinking about nurse coaching. And like, have you asked yourself, what's the worst case scenario?
Speaker B: I love that question.
Speaker A: Stop for a second.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: What is the absolute worst case scenario if you go after this thing that we've been coming back to for the last three months?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: That's what I would say is like if you keep coming back to something, one, it's been placed on you for a reason.
Speaker B: Yes, a hundred percent.
Speaker A: And two, it's seated deeper than you realize. Because if everything keeps bringing your mind back to it.
I like to talk about like when you're driving down the highway and you're zoning out, like, where does your brain go if it keeps bringing you back to this thing?
And well, what if,
well, what if.
Speaker B: Yeah, what if you just go, I don't know why I'm like gonna change the conversation right this minute, but. Do you believe in manifestation?
Speaker A: Yeah, I do. I didn't always, though. I'll be honest. I used to think like, that's weird.
Woo, woo, like one of these people. But now doing this type of work.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And peeling the layers back and learning how to go deeper and really just trusting yourself. And nurses have the most beautiful intuition and gut.
Speaker B: Yes, they do.
Speaker A: And we're trained to lean into those in the bedside and let me just.
Speaker B: Ignore them in our life. Yeah.
Speaker A: Coming back to taking your skill set from the bedside and bringing it into your everyday life. What if you just listen to that intuition.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And that gut instinct that's telling you that there's something here. Even if you don't have all the.
Speaker B: Answers, you never will have all the answers. I mean, never. Most decisions you have to make, that semi dark.
Speaker A: It's true. And even if you did have, you know, an idea of what you Thought was going to happen. Right.
Speaker B: We always won't be that.
Speaker A: Nurses love plans.
Speaker B: We love.
Speaker A: We love. Yeah, we love plans.
Speaker B: I need a plan. When am I going to launch my business? What's my niche going to be? What's my colors? What's my logo? What's my. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A: It never works out the way we have it planned.
It works out sometimes in a roundabout way that seems like you went backwards, but really it ends up happening the way it was always meant to happen and putting you on the path you were always meant to be on.
Yeah, I think that's beautiful. And when you can have such a strong trust in that and manifestation and the fear gets less and that bravery and faith speaks more, you can't be.
Speaker B: You can't intuit or tune into. If you're in fear,
it shuts it off. So I often think of, like, any major decision I have to make. I have to get to neutral to make the decision.
But I can say from 2018 to now, so seven years on this path,
every chance that I have to double down into the unknown, I do, because it always works out better.
It doesn't mean it's not painful or that there's not bumps or that I don't have moments of doubt in my. It doesn't mean that you're not without fear. But it's like all those choice points.
Like, we have all these opportunities. The universe is, like, constantly working with us and, like, giving these little choice points. And it's like,
at this point, if I start hearing a whisper, it's like, move. Don't wait till you get hit. Don't wait till you get knocked. Right? It's like, whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper.
And then you're knocked off. And a lot of those,
you're knocked off through divorce or through chronic illness or through an accident or through an injury or through.
It's these things,
they work.
But you can also pivot without all those things having to happen. And so when I think of manifestation, I think of you're driving down the road, your mind is clear, you're daydreaming.
Whatever that daydream is, like, it's a whisper. A hundred percent.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: And so just pay attention to those. And that's why I love life coaching. Like, you get to ask people about,
what do you dream about? Tell me about it. Tell me in great detail.
Like, you don't have to do it alone. Pull it out of them.
Speaker A: Yeah. I think that's one of my favorite questions, is where does your mind go before you're Snapped back into reality. It's not just a daydream. It's not.
Speaker B: No, it's there for me. It's setting the framework for reality in the future.
Speaker A: Yeah. If people choose to lean into it and believe that it's meant for them.
Speaker B: Yep.
Yep. One of my favorite sayings is the universe always rewards bravery.
And so, like, any chance you have to be brave, whether it be speaking up on something that is not popular or starting a business when all your friends think you're not.
Yeah.
Speaker A: Right. Yeah. Family, too, right?
Speaker B: Like, yeah. No one's gonna get it. Like, no. No.
Speaker A: I think that was a really big hill for me to climb when I shared with my family that I wanted to move forward with life coaching and. And begin to step away from the bedside a little bit.
And it took my family a long time to come down to that because they knew how much I wanted to be a nurse. They live nursing school. Let's be real.
Your family lives nursing school with you.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And they knew that I always wanted to be a nurse practitioner. That was.
That was my. My big end goal.
And then to be like, nope, that's not it anymore. They're like, wait, what? You've worked so hard. You've put in years. Like. Like, it's right there, Elena. I'm like, but it's.
It's not it.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And it was really, really hard for them to see that. But now they're like, I get it now.
Speaker B: Do they notice that you're different?
Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah. They know the energy and I think the passion and the fire. And to see that I'm still working primarily with nurses.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Is. It's like a. It's another layer of caretaking in a.
Speaker B: Way, just a different way. Yeah.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: When you first started your private practice, how did the first six months feel? If you could sum up that experience of, like, getting your first paying client,
of picking your business name? Like, I remember it so clearly. It was such a vivid,
sweaty.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: Time.
Speaker A: Yeah. The first six months. I hate using the word imposter syndrome, but people know what you mean when you say imposter syndrome.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: But it really is that.
Speaker B: It's, like, so uncomfortable. Yeah.
Speaker A: You're like, oh, gosh. Like, do I have. What.
Who am I? Like, coming right back to that for me. Who am I? Do I have what it takes?
Am I gonna fail? Like, everyone told me I was gonna fail?
Is it going to be a I told you so moment for all the people who are like, you should just stay at the bedside? You're Making great money. You're really good at what you do.
But I just had to listen to just that. For me, it was just that internal gut of,
no, like, I. I need to follow this. Yeah, follow this.
I had nothing.
I had nothing in play. Like, a lot of the people I work with are like, I need the website. I need. I'll be honest. I've been doing this for three years.
I just got a website literally two months ago.
Speaker B: We talk about.
Speaker A: I didn't have a website up until two months ago.
Like, I didn't have a landing page. I didn't have. Yeah,
I just had the heart and I had vision and I knew who I wanted to help and I knew how I was going to help them, and I just kind of trudged forward with that.
Speaker B: Yeah. Do you remember when clients would no show and you'd be like, oh, thank God.
Speaker A: Yeah. It's like at Cat 22, I was.
Speaker B: Like, all excited to, like, do the call. I'm gonna be the coach.
And then they don't show up. And you're like, oh, thank God. And then you're like,
this about me. I'm never gonna be a successful business.
Speaker A: This telling me that I shouldn't be doing this.
Speaker B: What's wrong with me? I want a business, but I'm happy when clients don't show up. It's like it's such a strange nervous system.
Speaker A: Or when they do, it's like that. Oh, God,
the sweaty armpits. Like, you said that. Like, that still happens for me. And I.
Now I equate it to. It's. It's funny.
Speaker B: Like, you're on your growth edge.
Speaker A: Yeah. It used to be out of nervousness. Now it's when I'm in a really deep, like, inner conversation with a client.
That's when I notice that I start getting sweaty. And for me, that means I've hit something.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: I hit something that isn't only creating, like, a body experience for me,
but I can feel it.
Their body experience. Like, I'm very energy in tuned.
I've been like that since I was little. Like, I've always had. My friends are like, elena, you have spidey senses. Like, and it wasn't until coaching that I realized it's more than just being in tuned.
It's like really listening to the words that aren't being said.
Speaker B: Oh, I love that. That's like flow state. It's good.
Speaker A: It's.
Speaker B: It's so good when you're just. You say something or they say something and you get chills. And you're just like, yeah, we're here. Like, we're in the right spot. This is a session they'll never forget.
And it's a session I'll never forget. And, oh, my goodness, I get paid for this. Like, how did I create this life? It's crazy.
Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, it really is. You almost start to kind of feel like a mind reader in a way. Because there's times where I'm reading our field.
Speaker B: I think it's spiritual in nature. I think it's quantum physics in nature. I think you could label it a lot of different things, but it is.
We certainly are telepathic in coach state in a container with another human being.
And so I think that's the most magical. We talk about intuition in the course.
You know, intuition is born out of stillness and softness and regulation and trust. And you'll start noticing it in other areas of your life. You'll become a great noticer of things that you knew.
Noticing things and all the mundane around you in that state.
Oh, I love that.
Yeah.
Okay. I want to ask you one more question.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: What are you most proud of when you look back? Like,
if you look back at younger Elena,
you know, just all the little steps that got you here, what do you think the turning point, like, the moment you're most proud of?
Speaker A: Oh, you put tears in my eyes already.
Um,
what came up for me is not giving up to the life obstacles.
Um,
my brothers are only a small part of my. My story.
Um. There were so many points in my life that could have broke me.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: For lack of better terms. But that gumption to just keep moving forward and I had to learn my worth, if that makes sense.
Speaker B: Like, that wasn't innate.
Speaker A: No.
Speaker B: Yeah, no, same.
Speaker A: And so learning my worth,
finding my voice. And it's funny because my friends would probably laugh and be like, elena, you always had a voice, but my voice.
Right. My voice then was out of lacking self confidence and ego. It was an overcompensation.
Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker A: And so,
yeah, I think moving forward,
not letting the things that happen to me in my life stop me or break me or be the. I don't want to say excuse,
but, like,
there's two.
Speaker B: No one would have blamed you had you. You had an out that nobody would like, externally would have been validated.
Speaker A: Yes. In. And you chose not more ways than one. Yeah.
This is, again, how my brain works. Like, I kind of view it as, you know, I don't want to share too much, but we all make choices. Right. And I kind of look At.
At two paths of if I let this break me and I. And I go down this path, where is my life going to end up?
Speaker B: Mm.
Speaker A: But if I let this make me and I choose this path and move forward with heart and intention and integrity, where is that path going to lead me?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And yeah, I would say that's probably the biggest thing is that I just. I never gave up when I had so many reasons to.
Speaker B: Oh, it's a great one. I love that. I love little Elena. I love talking about her too.
Speaker A: She learned a lot. She's still learning. Yeah, she's definitely still learning. And it's.
Speaker B: Well. And it's like so beautiful. I always place as a ex methamphetamine addict who went bankrupt at 22 is also homecoming princess.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: So many highs and lows and like I can say all that with like zero fear. It's like I'm just appreciate her. Like it all makes sense to me. Like I just.
There's like just no shame and no guilt and like there's nothing left unturned. Like there's nothing nobody could find out about me that would make me uncomfortable or I wouldn't care.
Like there's nobody. If anybody judged me, like it just doesn't matter. And that's a level of personal freedom that 15 year old Laura couldn't even imagine. I didn't even know anybody who had ever had that.
I didn't even know that it could be reality. Like I just thought pain was it.
That's it. Just pain and coping. Pain and coping.
Speaker A: Pain and coping. I was just gonna say pain and numbing. Yeah.
Speaker B: Pain, numbing, coping and that.
Speaker A: It's that. That compassionate self forgiveness and that's something that,
you know, I. I've been working on with my own coaches and neurosomatics and other thing and yeah,
that's a.
You want to talk about a weight being lifted is having that compassionate self forgiveness for who you were, what you did and the choices you made with what you had to make it with.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And knowing that we get to add to that through this skill set. Like.
Speaker B: Yeah, I know we're weirdos. Like get us.
Speaker A: I know.
Speaker B: Like this is how we would talk at lunch, be like, let's do this. Yes. Yes, it is.
Speaker A: It's such a beautiful place. It is like.
Speaker B: It is.
Speaker A: I often say it's like you step into the coaching world and you just have gained five lenses.
Speaker B: Oh, I know.
Speaker A: And capacity and perspectives in life.
Speaker B: Courage. Yeah.
Speaker A: What a beautiful way to walk through life. Having you carry a lot Less when you have that many lenses and that much perspective and respect for other people. And why? You know, because then you get to a deeper level.
It's not even about you anymore. You can start to see the layers.
Speaker B: That other people are centered. You're not just coping with you. You get to actually show up.
Speaker A: Now it's like, okay, it makes sense why that coworker always reacted this way.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And then you. You actually start to forgive and, and feel bad for the coworker. That seems to irk you of like, oh, gosh, I can't believe I have to work with her today.
And now it's like, dude, I wish.
Speaker B: It was hard to be her. That's so heavy to be her. Yeah.
Speaker A: Go back and just give her a big hug and just say, I see you. Yeah,
I see you. And to think that this nurse coaching is bringing that to our field.
Can you. Could you imagine? Sometimes I'm like, could you imagine going back to the hospital working on a unit of nothing but nurse,
nurse coaches?
Speaker B: Oh, it'd be the dream unit. It would be where everybody would be like, I'm going to get sick so I can go be on the unit.
Speaker A: Yes. Like, can I send me to that unit. I want that unit. Not even that specific nurse. I want that unit. Right.
Speaker B: Yeah. I bet you that unit. You would walk through the doors and feel it the minute that you walked in. It's a higher level of consciousness. It's like non judgments and like, we call it personal gravity.
Like a bunch of nurses running around without personal gravity with like, yes, I.
That's part of the dream, Elena. We're speaking it into existence right now. That's our goal.
Speaker A: I mean, it's happening.
Speaker B: Let's embed at least one or two on every unit.
Speaker A: Yeah, that'll help. Yeah. Come on, lead the way.
It's happening. I.
It just. I. I feel it in my.
My bones and I feel it in my heart and my soul that there's just so much more conversation around this. And nurses not only need it, but they want it now.
They want it more than ever.
It's just becoming comfortable with.
Nobody likes a new way of doing something.
That's human nature.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Um, but what got us here isn't gonna get us there. And that's a quote from my mentor. He's. What got you here is not gonna get you there. And if we wanna get there,
then we need to change the way in which we're doing it.
Speaker B: Absolutely. Agreed. Nursing needs a. A rebrand.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: From the burnt out martyr And. And the Overworked Badge of productivity and honor.
Speaker A: Honor. The Overworked Badge of Honor.
Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I remember last story. And then I know we're. We're long, so if you're listening to us.
Speaker A: Thank you.
Speaker B: We.
Speaker A: We could talk for another hour. I remember being.
Speaker B: When I graduated, I had just. I was.
I graduated, got a new grad position. I had to work for free as a new grad in ICU for three months in a level one trauma center to even get the experience to get a paid position.
Speaker A: Yep.
Speaker B: And then at my paid position, it was an hour commute. And I got pregnant with my first. Had just gotten married.
I had gone my first solo ICU shift when I was six months pregnant.
And I remember,
like, I was huge, too. I gained so much weight with my pregnancies.
And I remember I was like, 27 weeks,
and I was like, dude, I. I don't know that I can do this, like, physically, mentally, emotionally. I was just too much.
And I remember all the nurses being like, oh, my gosh. She worked until her water broke, and she worked until the day of her due day. And I was like, I am gonna go tell my ob.
My OB that I need to out.
Speaker A: And I got out that week. Yeah.
Speaker B: And I remember thinking, what's wrong with me? Why can't I just sack up and do it like the other nurses? You know, it's. It.
Speaker A: You. You could even put that into holidays.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: I. I. When I had my son. Okay, granted, I. I lost. I lost my brother. So that. It was very. Those. Those first holidays were very, very fresh.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Always in one. Right.
Grief with.
With happiness is like, first holidays with your son is also the first holiday without your brother. It's really hard.
And I, like, I didn't want to work. I didn't want to work Christmas Eve. I didn't want to work Christmas Day. I didn't want to. They want to do any of that.
And a seasoned nurse was like,
I've been doing this for this many years. You just. You work your Christmases around it. My family learned to have Christmas on other days. And I was like,
I love you for that.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And I respect you for that. But. But I don't want to do that. And I shouldn't feel guilty because I don't want to do that. And I think that is a big thing to walk away with is just because other people did it and survived it.
Speaker B: Does it mean you have to.
Speaker A: You have to if it doesn't feel right with you.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: It's not what you want for your life and your family.
That's not what you want for your life and your family. And you don't owe an explanation to anybody.
Speaker B: No, you don't. That's a great win. That's a great one to end with.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Awesome. Well, you guys, hopefully you had a treat. Into two crazy nurse coach minds as we wove little patterns of. I don't know.
That was really fun. I don't even know what our life was. It was a kind of interview, kind of not.
Yeah, we were just.
Just spitballing, which is my favorite type of podcast episode. So thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker A: Thank you for having me. And I'm. I'm so excited to be in this space and continue to learn and grow and alongside everyone else.
Speaker B: So. Awesome. Awesome. All right, guys, we will see you soon. We'll be back next Monday and hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
Speaker A: Sam.
