DNP Ep. 94: Building Your Own Nursing Career Brand with Farah Laurent, MSN RN, NEA-BC NPD-BC, CPXP, TCRN, CPEN, CEN Farah

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Dr. Nurse podcast, fam, welcome to another episode of the Dr. Nurse podcast. I am so happy to have on this next guest today. We are going to be talking all things, nursing, career development, business. I’m chatting with Farrah Laurent. She is a six time certified board certified nurse with over 20 years of nursing experience in the emergency room in education and leadership. She’s finishing her DNP about to step into that doctor status.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: She’s a nurse entrepreneur. Speaker, author, and most importantly, a mom of two babies. That’s your most important role. And she’s going to come on today and talk to us about everything that’s going on. So I’m just so excited to chat with you today. Welcome to the podcast.

Farah Laurent: Thank you so much, Sandra. I am so excited.

Farah Laurent: Thank you for having me on. I love your energy. This is great. And I know I have my three year old over here. I’m so excited to be on. So thank you for the opportunity. So yeah. Yeah. So, okay.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Let’s dive in. Let’s get, let’s get my people hearing about what it is that you’re doing. Give us your multiple hats and kind of, I mean, one of the things I loved about you when I saw you on LinkedIn is your energy.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: You’re just, you’re high energy. You’ve got a lot of happiness, a lot of joy, and I know that it’s taking you a lot of work to get to these spots in your career. So tell me a little bit about what you’re doing.

Farah Laurent: Yes, thank you. And I love that because, you know, for 2023, actually like the word that I chose was energy.

Farah Laurent: Because I’m always about positivity, bringing the energy, and I love that about you too. We just met guys a few minutes ago and we’re like cracking up here. It’s like we’ve known each other for like 20 years. But I love to bring the positivity to nursing because I feel like it’s honestly the best profession.

Farah Laurent: And a lot of times you know, there’s the real stuff in nursing that I like to bring up. But I try to keep it positive. And actually my name means happiness. Fair actually means happiness. Does it? Yes, I was trying to keep it fun. But really what I’m doing now, I mean, it’s so much stuff. I don’t even know how to keep it all up.

Farah Laurent: But I’m the director of a nursing program. So it’s a nursing program. I’ve been doing that for like a year now, but my background, as you mentioned, Sandra, is emergency medicine, and I always tell the story, so I’ll tell it quickly. My nursing instructor, as most people had this experience, told me, like, Hey Farrah you can, you cannot work in the emergency.

Farah Laurent: You’ll never be an emergency nurse. You should go to med surg because you’re too unorganized. And I was like, what? Challenge accepted.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Challenge accepted.

Farah Laurent: I was like, okay, watch me lady in my head because, you know, I was being respectful. So I killed it. I was like in my last semester in the E. R. Only two of us got to go and I was like, this is it.

Farah Laurent: This is my chance. I connected well with them. And this one nurse, his name was Doug. He was like the joker of the E. R. He’s like, you should apply. And I was like, yeah, whatever. He’s like, no, I’m serious. So I applied as a nursing student and I got it. I got hired as a nursing student before I even passed my, my boards.

Farah Laurent: And I actually got two job offers actually. There was two main hospitals, so I got two job offers, but I picked the trauma one. And ever since that day, I promised myself, I was like, I’m gonna be an educator. And I’m going to be a clinical instructor and I’m going to like empower nurses to do whatever they want and I’m going to be fun because there’s no fun faculty.

Farah Laurent: I only had one fun clinical instructor. She used to be like, let’s go guys, let’s whoop in that Foley. So I was like, I’m going to be like her. So I ended up. I ended up working at NYU as a clinical instructor after I got my master’s in education and I became an educator and all that. And then it took me a while to get into education, actually, because after you had your degree, you already know.

Farah Laurent: So I had all these certifications, all the things, all the qualifications, but of course I, you know. I’m, I’m just real. There was a lot of discriminatory type things happening and, you know, sometimes it’s not always the person who’s most qualified, who gets the job, let’s keep it real. So that’s what happened.

Farah Laurent: And I was like, all right, I’m gonna take my talents down, down to the next hospital, down the street. They hired me as an educator and and I got both jobs as a clinical instructor and educator. And then that’s why I was telling nurses like. Keep going, like pursue what it is that you want. Don’t let people like hold you back type.

Farah Laurent: Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you’re someplace else that

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: won’t give you the opportunity, go find it for yourself.

Farah Laurent: It’s like, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So that’s what I did. And then, and that’s another reason why, cause we were laughing about all my board certifications, how I have six. Yeah. That’s three in emergency medicine, one in one in patient experience, one in leadership and one in education.

Farah Laurent: Cause in my head, I was like. I’m going to be like, you know how they say triple threat. I’m like, I’m going to have, I’m going to cover all my bases and like, try to, you know, and keep going to school because I’m like, nobody’s going to deny me of that. And eventually I’ll get to where I want to be. Yeah. And then made it to assistant assistant director of education and then to director of education.

Farah Laurent: That was my ultimate goal. Yeah. Yeah. And then

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: once you went there, how did you get into being a director of education and a nursing program.

Farah Laurent: Yeah, so now I’m the director in academia and it’s funny cause I like to tell this story. I got laid off as the director of education in the hospital.

Farah Laurent: I was there for just under a year, but you know me, like I don’t mess around. Like there is issues. I’m like calling the COO, the CEO. I’m like, listen, I don’t know what’s going on with this. cath lab and the policy. So I was like telling it off, right? I’m like, I’m not going to hold back because it’s all about patient safety.

Farah Laurent: But I felt like, you know, you get a lot of resistance sometimes when you speak up and you try to advocate. So literally they let me go and like, A minute. They called me in the middle of my education meeting with my educators. And then they’re like, Oh, just come to the C suite for a minute. And he’s like, Oh, your position has been affected.

Farah Laurent: And I’m like, Oh, so like, when is it? Oh, effective today. Like right now. And I was like. What? I was like, okay. I’m like, am I done here? Before you leave, just drop off your badge and just, you know, you can clean your office or we can clean it out for you. So that, that’s how that one.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: So you, no warning, just let you go.

Farah Laurent: Wow. Yeah. So that’s why I always tell nurses, like, don’t be, you know, you have to build a brand and always look for opportunities and look for the next opportunity because you got to put yourself first.

Farah Laurent: Right. A lot of these old nursing narratives is like, Oh, you know, be loyal to the organization and this. I’m like, why? You know, these organizations ain’t loyal. So why are you going to be loyal? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So. Because you have bills to pay, families to feed, and I feel like they’re cutthroat a lot of times.

Farah Laurent: And I’m sure there’s probably really good ones out there but I just say to, I tell nurses, like, build your brand. Don’t be all about who you work for. Start building your own brand. So I started my business in 2020 June 21st, 2021. And I decided, I’m like, I’m just going to just put myself out there and brand myself and stop.

Farah Laurent: Branding these companies all the time. So was this

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: experience of kind of walking in, getting fired, kind of on the spot, was that the catalyst to kind of fuel being like, Whoa, like I’ve had the wrong priorities here. I’ve been putting the company and the, you know, these huge organizations first in regards to my career, the move is to put myself first.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: And so is that kind of what was the catalyst for building your, your business?

Farah Laurent: Yeah, so actually one year, exactly one year prior is when I started my business and one year after that is when I got laid off. So it was the catalyst of me being even more fired up and motivated to try to make it work, right?

Farah Laurent: Because we know entrepreneurship is hard. I mean, it’s easy to get started. But as we know, it is hard to kind of transition out of a full time position to do it full time. So, you know the side hustle thing is kind of what I did, but I just went harder after that because I was like, you have to be able to build your own wealth and know that you’re kind of in control.

Farah Laurent: And that’s why I like to also highlight, you know, and thank you for bringing me on to talk about this. And I love what you do with highlighting other nurses and it’s, Wonderful to see our profession with like nurses supporting other nurses and highlighting nurses and showing the new generation of nurses like, Hey, this is, these are the opportunities.

Farah Laurent: Like we were talking about and joking earlier, like it’s not just med surge, right? Like you don’t even have to work in the hospital. You could be a nurse entrepreneur. You could be an innovator. You could go into health policy. Like there’s so many things you could do. And that’s the beauty of our profession.

Farah Laurent: So you know, I thank you for highlighting nurses and really showing. Different nurses, the opportunities that they have and you don’t even have to work in the US. Like I started in Canada and then I moved here. So it shows that you can also travel and work anywhere in the world. Really? If you want, right?

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: 1 of the things that you were. Talking about and you’re describing is just being resilient and that flexibility. Again, the, the, the resiliency it takes to be told you can’t do something and just being like, nope, watch me, watch me work. That’s for 1 and then to the flexibility of realizing, hey, listen, I need to not just be investing in these companies.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I need to be investing in myself and now I can be working as. In academia, I can now be having my own side hustle where I know you do a lot of nurse coaching. Tell me a little bit about what you’re involved in on that side.

Farah Laurent: The reason I started my business is actually, I always say I am today what I needed when I was a new nurse.

Farah Laurent: When I was a new nurse, not that I didn’t have nurses kind of trying to guide me in that. But I felt like I really needed more guidance. So that’s what I decided to do. A lot of new grads were coming to me before I started my business and even nursing students, I would help them with like how to write their entrance letters, how to do their resume.

Farah Laurent: And I’m like, you know what, I could just start a business and do this. So that’s what I ended up doing. And I was on LinkedIn before, but I was never active until during COVID. I started watching a lot of marketing people and I’m like, you know what, if all these other people can start businesses, like why can’t I start a business?

Farah Laurent: Right. And then I saw other nurses doing their entrepreneur type business, like med spas and. All this and I’m like, well, coaching and consulting is very good. So that’s how I started. So I started doing resumes, interview skills, like mock interviews. So that’s really kind of what I do. And then coaching with like guidance, because a lot of them don’t know what they want to do.

Farah Laurent: Some of them like. Oh, I don’t know. Like, yeah, I want to do psych and ICU and L and D. I’m like, whoa.

lDr. Sandra Pagenta: Yeah. I’m like, no, I’mike, I don’t want to work on that floor where there’s a site giving birth was ICU. Like, this is bad. Like, this is a bad floor. You don’t want to work there.

Farah Laurent: You’re saying like, they’re like, they’re not sure.

Farah Laurent: I’m like, everything. I’m like, there’s probably something that you really, I’m talking to another nurse. Okay. Hey honey. Play with your game. Okay. Guys.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: This is classic mom right here, man. This is classic mom. I love it. I absolutely love it. Like this, this happens to me all the time, like getting this door, normally this door is like, like shut.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I’m like leaning up against it as the kid is like trying to open up the door because I’m recording a podcast.

Farah Laurent: Oh gosh. I love it. So yeah. So like I said that’s really what I started and a lot of it. It has really helped them. And they’re like, wow, I didn’t know I could start. In the ED right away or an ICU or in labor delivery because people told me that I couldn’t and I’m like no don’t listen to that mess you could do what you want.

Farah Laurent: Yeah, or and I’ve even helped nurses transition into leadership roles or academia to become professors, because there’s not a lot of people helping them out there with that so that’s definitely what I’ve been doing, and I wrote a book.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Nurses making money moves.

Farah Laurent: Come on. Tell me about this. Nurses making money moves a nurse’s guide to starting a business.

Farah Laurent: And it’s a workbook. It goes through like entrepreneurial mindset basics on how to create your own business concept, business plan, marketing strategies, and how to stand out on social media. That’s awesome. So you can get it on my website, nursefair. com. Yeah, your website is fabulou

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: by the way.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I love your website, the design, everything.

Farah Laurent: It’s beautiful. I didn’t put it on Amazon because somebody told me, just put it on your website. It’ll be better. So that’s what I did. So if you want to check it out. How do you, like, do you have to be certified coach to be able to coach? And I’m like, no, you don’t.

Farah Laurent: So I was like, let me just whip up, whip up this book. And that’s good. Yeah. So whenever you’re,

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: you’re coaching your nurses, and again, like you said, you don’t have to be certified to be a nurse, a nurse coach, like what is it that you do to kind of help nurses all like out in their career? That’s different.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: That’s special. That is something

Farah Laurent: that they’re not going to get anywhere else. So really what I do is I really have, I think, a unique way to connect with them, right? So because I’ve kind of been in their shoes, I kind of know some of the struggles that I’ve been through and I kind of understand, right?

Farah Laurent: Nobody understands a nurse like another nurse. So I really listened to them. It’s like the nursing process, right? Like I do a needs assessment and I really get to know them. So I, I listened to their story. So I basically asked them like, Why they went into nursing and kind of get that background and through that like really series of like systematic questions We get to like how you know, what brought them to where they were typically it’s like a story like they’re like Oh my grandmother had a stroke or something or you know, this is why I like neurology Like there’s something that leads them.

Farah Laurent: It’s like they’re calling yeah, we kind of get under there and understand what it is that they truly want to do and then we also do like a mapping like Pretty much like a strategy. Some of them will call and say, Hey, I want to be, I want to go into like nurse anesthesia or whatever. So I’m like, okay, well, you know, you got to go into the ICU right away.

Farah Laurent: So they save time. It’s not like, oh, well, they told me I had to go to med surge first and then go to ICU. I’m like, no, you don’t got time for that. Go straight to the ICU. This is what you need to do to get to where you want to be. And that’s kind of what we do and how we work together and really it’s a lot of mindset work with mindset and confidence because the majority of my clients are new grads and nursing students.

Farah Laurent: So some of them struggle with that confidence and mindset, but even nurses transitioning still struggle with that. Yeah. Areas. Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: So what are some of the barriers that you remember? Yeah. In nursing school and working as a new nurse that you had to overcome that a nurse that’s sitting there going, okay, so I have X barrier that you experienced.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: How would you kind of give them like, some tips and pointers for improving and overcoming those things?

Farah Laurent: So the main things I would say, honestly, it sounds simple, but it’s honestly continuous learning, right? You never stop learning. So, after your shift, or during your shift, right, if you don’t know something, you’re going to constantly be looking at policies and procedures.

Farah Laurent: Because you need to know what your scope of practice is and you practice safely. Because even if the doctor is telling you to do something and you’re a brand new nurse, Doesn’t mean that it’s within your scope of practice, right? So, quick example, I used to teach preceptor class. I would bring this all the time.

Farah Laurent: I worked in the ED. We would do reductions, right? So, there, the physician would be like, Oh, go ahead and push the propofol. And I’m like no. That’s not within my scope. That’s you, doc. Right? Because only anesthesia or whatever. So, but we could titrate propofol, right? the pump or whatever. But as a new nurse, you may not know that you may go in there and just, yeah, yeah.

Farah Laurent: Oh, the black is asking me to do it. It must be right. But no, then you got to look at like nurse practice acts and things like that. So that’s 1 thing, know your policy procedure, know your scope and keep learning. Number 2, I would say get a mentor, right? Doesn’t have to be someone that works in your unit or your hospital even.

Farah Laurent: But LinkedIn is like a great resource. You could go on LinkedIn, find a mentor, or even when you go to nursing conferences, I love conferences. I don’t go to enough because you know, it’s tough to get to, but you meet so many great people. So you can find a mentor. I wish that I found more mentors earlier.

Farah Laurent: So that definitely is huge. I think mentorship and then really number three Is to really, I would say have someone that you can speak to, like almost like, it’s kind of like mentorship, but have a support system. So, like, you’re talking

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: like a mentor, but then also like nurse friends, like, and it could even just be like family and it can just be your mom or your dad or your sister or like your boyfriend, but like, you need somebody in your corner to kind of help you.

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And let’s get back to the conversation.

Farah Laurent: Like family friends, but more so, like you’ve mentioned an actual nurse, because again, nobody wants to hear you hear how crazy your shifts and they’re not going to understand. I’m like, and then for the time that you’re going to spend to understand, to like explain what a pulse ox is or what this is like, they, they haven’t, like it is good to have a good support system with family and stuff.

Farah Laurent: But. Even better is like your nurse buddy, that person that’s like, yeah, they’re gonna be listening to you because that’s how we get through nursing school. That’s how we get through a lot of our issues in nursing. And we know there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Yeah. I mean, you talk about it.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: You talk about nurse bullying. You talk about kind of like discrimination moments where you’re like, I probably was the most qualified person for that job. And somehow that’s going to this girl because these two are best friends and people are getting promoted above me despite me being well qualified and all these different things that you’re like, what’s going on here?

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: And you need people to like,

Farah Laurent: and then not only

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: that, but just. The hard things we see in nursing, right? Like the people that are, we get in the trenches with people at the hardest times of their lives, especially in the emergency room and the different things that you see that you’re just. Sometimes you need to process that stuff because it’s just hard.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: It’s just hard and heavy. So having those relationships, I agree with you is, is a really great way to kind of help process and they say that, you know, sometimes just talking to a friend is all you need sometimes, you know, right. It’s like a therapist.

Farah Laurent: Right. Exactly. And debriefing. Right. And it’s like, sometimes nurses.

Farah Laurent: Don’t want to create change because they feel like, oh, it’s not going to change. Nothing’s going to happen. But try to create or get on, get on to committees like Nurse Practice Council or health policy is huge, right? Something’s happening that, you know, staffing office is a huge issue.

Farah Laurent: Yeah, but coming to it With a different perspective, I think I had to do a lot of growing up when I first started because communication is is difficult. Sometimes you’re, you’re dealing with high stress. Environments, critically like life and death. So a lot of nursing students don’t know how to communicate effectively and don’t know how to advocate for themselves.

Farah Laurent: So it’s like, what do you mean? I just took like the last 2 stroke patients in a trauma. Nurse Susie over there is sitting down. I think she’s next. Right? You gotta ask for yourself. Or like, Hey, can you get off the chair and come into the trauma room and help out? Like, and that’s just what it is. Right.

Farah Laurent: And I used to tell people it’s nice. Right. But I don’t come to work. Maybe I had a bad mentality, but I’m like, I don’t come to work to make friends. This is life and death. I think communication is huge. Learning how to advocate and telling people no. So I used to tell charge nurses like, no. Like, oh, you’re going to get this whatever, whatever. I was like I got drips here. Dopamine. This is not safe.

Farah Laurent: Give it to somebody else. So you got to learn how to say no. And really, you know, really

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: protect yourself, learn how to protect yourself to a certain extent. Because again, in this culture that can be a little turn and burn, you got to do the work to kind of hold back a level of the, no, that’s not coming.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: That’s yes. I can. You’ve got to do that work. And that takes skill. That takes time. That takes confidence. It takes a lot of different things that a coach can help you with. Because again, just like you go into a game and the coach is telling you, okay, you’re going to take I’ll Okay. As soon as that ball histogram, it’s a pop up stay on, stay on the base.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: If it’s not a pop up, it’s a ground ball. I don’t care where the ground ball is going. You’re going to run like a coach tells you these things, right? And that’s how you win the game. It’s kind of the same thing in nursing. You kind of need someone to help you. Hey, this happened today at work. I’m noticing I’m getting bullied.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Okay, cool. So you know what you need to do? You need to go to your. Your nurse manager, you got to tell him if your nurse manager won’t listen, you’re going to go here. You’re going to get to the union. The union’s going to help you. And you’re like, oh, I didn’t even know these are things I needed to be doing.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I was just going to take this. So it’s good to have somebody in your corner to kind of help you coach you through those things and to know that you’re, you know. You’re able to take your experience and the things that you’ve gone over the last 20 years in nursing and be able to help other nurses in these situations is really neat.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: And you’ve been developing yourself in so many avenues in so many different ways. You can really help them walk through different things and ideas that they might have for

Farah Laurent: their career. Yeah, and like, bullying somebody that’s really good to follow is Renee Thompson on LinkedIn. She does a lot of work with bullying and anti bullying, but.

Farah Laurent: The biggest thing, honestly, I would say is like, you got to directly address them like any bully, right? And you have to learn how to communicate because if you don’t stand up to them and communicate to them, it’s going to keep happening and then be an ally. If you see that it’s happening to someone else.

Farah Laurent: Step in and say, Hey, listen, this is not right. Cause that’s what we got to do to change these environments. Right. Yeah. I wrote an article. It was funny. It was like New Jersey state put it in their thing, but it was like over a chair cause I noticed like the chair stuff. I was like, Oh, this is my chair. You can’t sit in it.

Farah Laurent: This is what we’ve like, this is what we’re coming to. So, so like silly things like that. I’m like, you got to wait on

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: the floor. Somebody was like, you

Farah Laurent: can’t sit in my chair. Yeah, that stuff happens. I used to bring it up in Preceptor and we would discuss it and people had different views on it. And I’m like, no, because you’re enabling the behavior.

Farah Laurent: If you’re like, oh, no, you can’t sit there. You know, this person sits there. I’m like, no, nobody’s name is on this chair. It’s not great school. Like, let’s, let’s. Let’s grow up now. So it’s like, so I tell even like when I coach the nurses too, I also coach them with like clinical situations if they run into, or even, even in interviews, they’ll ask them clinical questions.

Farah Laurent: So we go through that as well. And our mock interviews. Wow, that is amazing. That

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: is

Farah Laurent: so

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: cool. So tell me if you I know you talk a lot about careers, burnout, you know, what are some of the things that you’ve noticed as a shift in nursing? Like, have you noticed that certain things are becoming bigger issues over time as you’ve been kind of working in this field?

Farah Laurent: Honestly, I think it’s the same type of issues that are kind of going on. I mean, Like staffing is huge, but I think nurses are starting to realize like, you know, a lot of nurses now are going on strike. I know in California and New York and these areas. So I think they’re, they’re now learning to like advocate for themselves and really unite in as a profession because I think that’s what we need to do more of.

Farah Laurent: So we can stand up as a profession as a whole. So we can improve like staffing issues and things like that. So really, I think it’s the same type of things. So, so no new issues coming down the

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: pipeline. So we’re talking burnout, staffing ratios, safe nursing. I feel like one of the things I’ve noticed that’s been really coming out a lot for new, for nurses to kind of keep on there is like violence and nursing has been something that I think that we’ve been kind of speaking of, especially you being in the emergency room.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I’m sure you saw a lot of. You know, violence towards nurses and having to just being told, like, take it kind of deal. But these are all things that again, I think a good coach can really help you kind of navigate what it is that your boundaries are in these situations. And hey, listen, this job doesn’t work for me anymore.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Like, and, you know, again, in that entrepreneurial spirit, too, that you can help. Kind of coach a nurse up with as well. If you had to give an advice for a nurse that was like, hey Thinking about starting a business thinking about kind of starting a side hustle What’s kind of some some advice to kind of help them start that you would say?

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Hey, listen, this is something you really need to kind of keep an

Farah Laurent: eye on so I would say number one is really figuring out what it is that they want to do, meaning, you know, what they’re passionate about. And they really feel like they could help with what are their skills that they’re really can come up with, with a good business.

Farah Laurent: Right. But the biggest thing is actually having a business that’s in demand, right? Is there, is there an actual market for it? Right. So a quick example of that. A lot of people use is like Netflix, right? Netflix and blockbuster. So people used to go get, you know, go to blockbusters and get movies. And then they went out of business because Netflix came around.

Farah Laurent: And so there was no need for that anymore. Same thing with newspapers, you know, it’s like out of, so you got to be in touch with like emerging trends, what’s happening and is there really a true need for it? Before you go and spend all this money and try to like create a business. And then number two, are you really committed to starting it?

Farah Laurent: Because a big issue with starting a business, depending what it is, if it’s a service based business or a product, right? A lot of people start service type based businesses, but, and if you’re a solopreneur, meaning like you’re starting on your own, how is anyone going to know about your business? If you’re not out there networking, going to conferences, exhibiting, Or on social media and you know, kind of spreading the word because it’s not a short game, right?

Farah Laurent: A lot of people talk about, it’s a long game and you can’t expect everything to happen over time. It’s going to take time. So you have to be committed to do the work, the work of like creating content and marketing and things like that. And you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money because some people spend money on marketing ads and things like that, but you don’t really, it’s your brand, like you’re the brand if you’re trying to start a business.

Farah Laurent: And then. The other thing I think is operations. You have to get somebody that helps you understand operations and then also building systems. So like email marketing is something I’m trying to learn more about because if you don’t have systems in place, like even calendly, right? Like you setting up this podcast or even, right.

Farah Laurent: Things like that. It’s a game changer.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: It was a total game changer putting that in my, I literally like last night I was, I was like, Oh, did I email? And I was like, no, it already emailed.

Farah Laurent: Automation. Yeah. Automation. Yeah. Yeah, so like learning the operations side is huge. And I’m still kind of learning a little more about that.

Farah Laurent: And then also just understanding business itself, like understanding business terms. So not only do you have to just go to nursing conferences and network, you should also go into business spaces and learn. So I went to the New York small business expo. which was good and some other business conferences, but even get it, get an MBA if you want, because that will really help you with that business side because you understand finance, finances and stuff.

Farah Laurent: So as a whole, I think really that’s what you got to continuously learn. Yes.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I love that. Those are all great hacks and great tips for a nurse that’s thinking about starting a business. So we’ve touched on, these are the trends we’ve touched on what to do if you were thinking about starting a business, if you’re thinking about where do I get, you know, how do I protect myself?

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: What, who do I need in my corner to kind of coach me up and get me going in my career? And so for the last question of the podcast, if you could go back to Farrah coming over from Canada. Getting bullied, you know, in your nursing program, getting fired, all these different things that you’ve experienced in your career coming in and finding out today’s your last day.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: I mean, these are things that like, again, do you go back to Farrah at the very beginning of your career and tell her one thing, what would it be that

Farah Laurent: you would tell her? That I could tell myself? Yeah.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Knowing all that you’ve known about your career in nursing, what

Farah Laurent: would you tell her? I would basically say just keep going, right?

Farah Laurent: So keep going, keep learning, and get mentorship. That’s the one thing that I would say. And also, just keep networking. That’s really the biggest thing that I would say. And I forgot to mention too, is I just started doing business mentorship for nurses who are interested in starting. Their business, because a lot of them have a lot of ideas, but are not sure where to go.

Farah Laurent: Yeah. And then also joining organizations like the NNBA, the National Nurses and Business Association, because it’s like minded people. So they call it like this, this, this is our tribe of, you know, like minded entrepreneurs that want to, you know, grow. So if you are part of those organizations, you’ll meet other people that will help you along your journey.

Farah Laurent: So that’s what I would recommend. One of the things with

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Owning, you know, like you said, when you’re starting a business, you’re creating something, you’re creating content.

Farah Laurent: What

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: people don’t

Farah Laurent: see is the grind. They see the excited, the great

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: photo that you had taken. They see all the excitement. What they don’t see is the grind that it is.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: It’s the quiet grind all by yourself when everybody else is like out doing things that you’re just up at night working on your side hustle or whatever. So it is something that’s not for the faint at heart, but what I love so much about the side hustle game, it’s a challenge to yourself. It’s a growth in yourself.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: You’re putting stock in yourself. And so often we put stock, we feel very comfortable putting stock in to these companies. That we invest our whole careers into. We don’t really diversify our, our, our, our stock in what we put in ourselves. And so that’s what I love about a side hustle and something that you give to yourself.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: It could be making wool socks. I don’t care what it is as a nurse. I just want you doing something to diversify. Yourself, not just go, I’m a nurse. And so when I’m nursing, I’m nursing. And then when I’m home, I’m watching Netflix and chilling. I’m like, no, like, I want you, I want you knitting socks because that brings you joy.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Or I want you embroidering, or I want you to figure out what it is that lights you up inside, away from the bedside. And then maybe that becomes lucrative for you. Maybe it doesn’t, but either way, you’re putting stock in yourself. And I just, I love that. I love the side hustle for that reason. And I think you’re so right to encourage nurses that are wanting that to really pursue that.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: And I agree with you. Mentorship is huge. It’s something that I’ve been thinking more and more. I need to get more of that in my life. I think it’s something that I’m actually. I’ve actually been so busy. I don’t think that I need it because I’m just, everything’s burning. Everything’s on fire and I’m just putting out everything that’s going on around me, but you still need that in the fire of motherhood and working and all the different things to just have somebody that just is pouring into you and helping you kind of figure out and navigate.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: That fire can burn a little bit. We can let it smolder. I’m going to go put this one out and, you know, different things like that. So I think that’s really, really good advice. And for the last part of the podcast, Farrah, we do a rapid fire. We’re just going to hit you with some questions really, really fast.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Are you

Farah Laurent: ready? Ready.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: What’s your favorite title in your life right now? What’s your, like, if you had to pick a title of all the things that you’re doing, what’s your favorite one?

Farah Laurent: Mom.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: That was the setup. I totally set you up and whenever you answer the phone, what do you say when you answer the phone? What do

Farah Laurent: you, how do you do it?

Farah Laurent: Oh, really? I just say hello or what’s up? Yeah.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Oh, what’s up? Okay. One person goes, why? I like this. One person answered why are you calling me? You could’ve texted me. Could’ve texted

Farah Laurent: me. No, I should. I’m a talker, so I’m always like talking, so I’m good with, I know a lot of people. I’m good. Yeah. Okay. So my family tells me in my.

Farah Laurent: Yeah. So that’s what I

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: asked my husband, what is, what should I do for a side hustle? He’s like, we never stopped talking. So why don’t you just get on a microphone and talk to the strangers? So you have to talk to me,

Farah Laurent: my LinkedIn live show too. It’s called a nurse. It’s called a nursing dose with Farrah.

Farah Laurent: So you’re definitely going to come on for sure,

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: for sure. And then. Yeah. Because you’re a mom, because you’re working, because you have side hustles, because you do all the things that you do, when you want to get alone and you want to be alone, where do you go, what do you do?

Farah Laurent: So I would say probably because self care, I know it’s as big in nursing, we talk about it all the time, but I would say Getting massages is probably the best thing.

Farah Laurent: Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Or even just going outside for a walk. I would do that sometimes on my breaks. Get out of the hospital and just go for a walk. So a lot of times they stay in the break room. I’m like, no, sometimes it’s kind of toxic. So go out for a walk. Yes! Yeah.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Reset, reset the nervous system. Love that.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Love it. Well, Farrah, thank you for coming on the podcast. Thank you for podcasting with a baby in the background. I just literally like, I was just like watching you and I was like, same girl, same, I know exactly what that feels like. Yes. I had so much fun.

Farah Laurent: I had a blast talking to you. Great. And thank you for everything that you’re doing to highlight, you know, other nurses and the profession and everything like that.

Farah Laurent: Absolutely. And you know, doing all that you do.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Same, same. And I will be on Farrah’s Chalks. We can talk it up. Let’s

Farah Laurent: do it girl. And she’ll be on the LinkedIn live soon.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Yes. I’ll put all your links in the show notes. People can find you where they can locate you and check you out on your LinkedIn, all your social media links and reach out to her.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: She wants to talk to you. She wants to help you with your career. She wants to just, yeah, see what we see where your red dot is, what you’re going through and see if she can step in. She’s got a book, Nurses Making Money Moves. Who doesn’t like some money moves?

Farah Laurent: You can get it on the website. Love it.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: Thank you, Farrah.

Dr. Sandra Pagenta: And guys, don’t forget to enjoy the journey of your career. Thanks for hanging out.

Farah Laurent: Thank you, Sandra. Appreciate it. Bye bye.