November 4, 2025 • 40 mins
Welcome to Wickedly Branded: Marketing, Magic, and The Messy Middle, the podcast where real conversations meet real strategies. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand clarity at Wickedly Branded. With over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs awaken their brand magic, attract the right people, and build businesses that light them up.
What if being true to yourself makes you the “villain”? In this candid episode, ER nurse-turned-entrepreneur Jennifer Johnson, known as Nurse Jenn, shares her journey from burnout to boldness. After years in emergency medicine and various business pivots, she discovered her passion: helping nurses thrive before burnout. Jenn's story highlights embracing imperfection and owning your expertise. We explored how to activate your brand, embrace your story, and create genuine visibility. If you've ever wondered if showing up “messy” can make your brand magnetic, this episode will transform your perspective on yourself, your business, and your purpose.
Three Key Marketing Topics Discussed:
- Embracing the Imperfect Brand: Jenn asserts that authenticity: pimples, night shifts, and all, is what truly builds trust. She confidently states that perfection is overrated; real connections are forged through honesty.
- The “Villain Era” Mindset: By prioritizing her own needs and setting boundaries, Jenn redefines service, showing that saying “no” is vital for sustainable success.
- Pivoting with Purpose: From nursing to innovation and authorship, Jenn’s journey highlights the courage to evolve, proving that every brand and individual goes through seasons of growth.
Follow Jennifer:
Jennifer | LinkedIn
Nurse Jenn | Website
RX For Growth | Website
Dare to be Wickedly Branded
P.S. Take the first step (will only take you 3 minutes) to awaken your brand magic with our personalized Brand Clarity Quiz
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Beverly (00:00):
Did you know that over 70% of new nurses report
experiencing burnout in theirvery first year?
I'm your host, Beverly Cornell,the founder and fairy godmother
of Brand Clarity.
At Wickedly branded, we'vehelped hundreds of overwhelmed
overachieving consultants,creatives, and coaches awaken
their brand magic and boldlybring their marketing to life so
(00:20):
that they can feel more calm andclear and confident to attract
their absolute favorite and mostprofitable clients.
Today's guest is JenniferJohnson.
She is the founder of Nurse Jen,and she is on a mission to help
nurses not only survive theirfirst year but thrive.
She's dedicated to providingsupport and resources to help
nurses transition into theirpractice with confidence,
(00:42):
clarity, and a sustainablecareer path.
Welcome, Jennifer.
Jennifer (00:47):
Oh my gosh.
Thank you so much for having me.
Beverly (00:49):
I'm excited to dive in here and get to know you a
little bit.
We always start the podcast withthe Spark, the thing that made
you realize that you wanted tostart your business and what did
that those early days look likefor you?
Jennifer (01:02):
So to be very frank and honest, I've pivoted three
or four times now.
It originally had started in2020, working bedside in the er
as a nurse and seeing that thepatients who were actually
coming into the ER in the veryearly days of COVID.
We're so much sicker than wewere really typically used to
seeing them.
And it's because they'd put offseeing a doctor coming in for
(01:24):
days when usually people, thesecond they get a sniffle,
they're off to the er.
So seeing that and thinking,okay, I've already been exposed.
Let me start a mobile nursingbusiness where, I can go to the
home, I can do a quick set ofvitals, I can do a once over, I
can talk with your doc, I can,loop in any specialists that you
need.
I can just keep everybody on thesame page to be like, Hey, this
(01:45):
is what's happening with Mr.
Smith right now.
Something's gonna need to bedone, or else he's probably
going to be ending up in the ERin the next day or two.
Great.
In theory, my nursing buddies,we all loved it.
We thought this was fantastic.
This is exactly what we need.
However, as it sometimes goesthe population didn't want
anything to do with it.
So in the Canadian healthcaresystem, if you have to pay more
(02:06):
than 25 bucks, we're pissed.
We don't typically put out moneyfor that kind of thing.
So it sparked me and go, okay, Iwas able to start it out.
Maybe now we pivot a bit.
Have tried.
IV hydration again was just inthe wrong spot.
It was a buddy of mine who has aclinic and she wanted me to try
it out.
Sure, not a problem.
No big deal.
But it was in a very smallcommunity where there wasn't the
(02:27):
resources for that.
So again, another learning curvepivoted again to where now I've
written my book, I've done somejournals, and am finding now
that I'm really gaining tractionwith, okay, this is my calling,
this is my niche.
This is where I'm supposed tobe.
So as much as I want to helppatients at home or more
holistically than I do in theemerge, it really is helping the
(02:49):
nurses, especially within thefirst couple of years that
really has.
Grabbed me and by me helping thenurses, I'm still helping the
patients.
Beverly (02:57):
For sure.
It makes it more sustainable forthem to continue.
Before we get on the recordingtoday, we talked about how I was
raised by a nurse and nurses area whole special breed of
individual.
And I say that very lovingly,mom.
I don't even know if she's gonnalisten to this episode, but
still, I love you, mom.
It's a very high stressenvironment, specifically in the
(03:17):
emergency room in places likethe ICU and things like that.
My mom did a little bit ofeverything.
She did nighttime emergency roomat one point.
She did hospice care, which isits own level of stress, but can
be very beautiful if you are inthe right space.
And then also home healthcarewhich is what you were talking
about, she would go to people'shomes and do some in-home care.
And she did that during the AIDSepidemic when people were very
(03:40):
isolated.
And she actually was talkingabout how COVID was very
reminiscent of that time forhome healthcare aids because
those particularly men, youngmen were isolated at home.
And mentally it was really hard.
And in COVID we had a lot ofmental struggles with being
isolated as well.
And she said, I'm so glad I'mretired'cause I don't know if I
could do that again.
It was very hard to be a part ofwatching people essentially die.
(04:03):
Being so isolated.
So when you first started andyou had to do all these pivots,
how in the beginning did youbuild your brand nurse Jen, and
what was that like and how hasit evolved since you first
pivoted
Jennifer (04:14):
It's evolved with me.
In the beginning, wanting tokeep myself at a distance, not
feeling like I could be thebrand.
You hear about influencers,especially in the nursing world,
we joke that nursing influencersare they even at the bedside?
Do they even get it?
But you get this negativeconnotation with influencing
where I don't wanna influence Iwanna be a business, I've got a
(04:34):
license that I've got to uphold.
So to come to terms with, it'sokay for me to be the brand.
It's okay for my license tostill be there.
It's okay for me to still be atthe bedside nursing It's okay
that I can be a brand withoutbeing that cringe worthy brand
where they're pushing it to whatI feel is too far.
It's not something that I woulddo.
(04:55):
Do I laugh at the skits?
Absolutely.
I do.
Do, I love that they're sayingthe things that I feel like I
can't say.
Absolutely I do, but it's notwhere I want to go.
So I am going the author route,I'm going the journaling route,
I'm going the entrepreneurialroute.
And then also nurse innovating.
So nurse innovation andinnovation as a whole, it's
really starting to gain a lot oftraction and a lot of steam.
(05:18):
It's the kind of brewingbuzzword that, especially in the
healthcare field, bedsidenurses, we don't think that we
could be innovators.
We don't think that we could beanything more than at the
bedside when in reality we seethe problems first and foremost,
that people 10 steps up aretrying to solve, but have no
context because they're not atthe bedside.
But here we are MacGyvering itand have already thought of six
(05:40):
different solutions for the sameproblem.
We just don't have the influenceto then actually put it up the
stream.
So bending that role frombedside to innovation.
People start saying, oh, you arethe expert.
And you go, I'm the expert.
I don't understand.
And they go, no, you have theactual insight to know what the
problem is that makes you anexpert.
(06:00):
And having that said time andtime again, you're like, maybe I
am the expert.
Beverly (06:04):
You're trying to believe it finally.
Jennifer (06:06):
Speaking of influencing, I just got accepted
to go to HLTH, H-L-T-H.
They have this massiveconference in Vegas every year
for medical startups meeting andbringing in then investors and
matching the two.
And to come in as a nurse, so wehad our own nurses pavilion,
everybody had a booth wasfantastic.
It was so interesting to thengo.
(06:26):
Oh, we are wanted, because thenpeople are coming to us from
tech, from business, from allthese other backgrounds to go,
we need your input.
You're a subject matter expert.
We need your input.
And you're like, nobody's everasked for my input ever before.
And so it's holy cow.
Here's a need, here's an answer.
Let's come together.
And it is phenomenal.
So I applied this year to be aninfluencer think as a joke
(06:48):
because again, I didn't think Ihad nearly the numbers.
And sure enough, I got in, soI'm like, now I get to go for
free.
Where normally it's a$3,500ticket.
I'm like, bank, I'm there.
I'm done.
Let's go.
So starting to embrace theinfluencer role without it being
the cheesy over the top, justfor laughs kind of thing that I
(07:08):
equate it with.
Beverly (07:09):
When you step into your brand as you, what feels
comfortable for you needs toalign.
Otherwise, it doesn't resonatein any way, shape, or form.
I feel like if you did whatother people were doing, you'd
be not genuine to yourself.
And I love that you say that ithas evolved as you have evolved.
Because a good brand shouldn'tjust be stagnant anyway.
(07:30):
A website isn't okay, you do itand then it's done.
No.
It's organic and living andbreathing as you evolve, it
needs to evolve.
There might be a line that feelsmore aligned.
One line that might be morealigned that you say, oh, that's
the one that I wanna put in theheadline.
Maybe I say a sentence, like oneof my favorite phrases that I've
made up is the should suitcase alot of women carry the should
(07:50):
suitcase of society, of what youshould do and what.
It was expected as anentrepreneur when really who
created the should suitcase?
It wasn't us.
And it's okay to put it down andit's okay to create whatever
feels comfortable for you andwhat actually balances your life
for you, not by some otherpeople's standards that was from
a hundred years ago.
Stop it.
So I love that you're thesubject matter expert because
(08:11):
you guys are the ones that aretouching the humans.
You're the ones that are at thebedside.
You're the ones that are dealingwith the day-to-day in and out
constant.
So I feel like the nurses arethe rock stars.
I joke about this.
In the same way, likesecretaries and assistants and
corporations are the rock starsbecause they know everything.
They're the ones that knoweverything.
Jennifer (08:28):
Listen, you go to a new job.
You know who you find?
The assistants.
The housekeeper.
You find the house housekeepers,you find the assistants in
healthcare, you find the wardclerks.
These three people know all.
Absolutely.
They know the entire history ofthe department.
They know exactly who's got beefwith who.
They know exactly which doc toavoid and what makes them better
and what makes'em worse.
They know all these are the keypeople because there's not
(08:52):
nearly that much turnover withyour ward clerks and your
healthcare aides and these typesas there is the nurses.
Nurses, if we get touched out,we're like, okay, six months I'm
out.
See you later.
The whole unit's completelyevolved in three years from what
it was.
So you're not getting thathistory and that core base of
knowledge.
Beverly (09:10):
So you have this niche that I think is really powerful
that you help these newernurses.
Now, the healthcare industry ingeneral is just booming but it's
evolved quite a bit, I feellike.
I've heard from my friends whoare in the medical field, like
it's becoming much more aboutthe billable hours and less
about the human touch.
And it's a lot more about, veryregimented, about you only get
(09:31):
so much time with each patient,there's only so many codes you
can bill for in a time.
It's become very corporate moneyfocused and not as human
centered.
It's for profit centered versushuman centered.
And I believe when you are anurse, maybe I'm wrong, I'm
making some suppositions here.
You go because you want to helppeople.
(09:52):
I don't think you'd go inbecause you're like, oh, I'm
gonna be this master of thebottom line as a nurse.
You go in'cause you literallywant to help people.
So I feel like that's a veryinteresting dichotomy that
nurses have to exist in andmaybe is why more nurses are
having burnout So talk aboutlike the newer nurses, what
their challenges are right nowand how you actually help them
with the work that you do.
Jennifer (10:13):
The new nurses are just overwhelmed and not just
the way we were overwhelmed whenwe came in because not only are
you learning an entire newcareer, it's a whole new
language.
The medical language is a wholenew language.
It's learning how to stand upfor yourself and your patients.
There's so many skills that takeyears to really come up to and
evolve and really get it so thatyou're doing it without thinking
(10:35):
about it.
So the new grads coming in, theywere rushed through they may
have gotten shortened clinicalplacements because there weren't
people to take them on.
Especially those who camethrough COVID, they got nothing
in the form of clinicalplacements.
It was all simulations, whichagain, simulations have their
place, but there's nothing likecoming up and against an
89-year-old grandmother who hasgot a raging UTI and is
(10:58):
delirious, thinks she's in WorldWar II and she thinks you're a
Nazi and she's trying to fightyou off.
There's nothing like asimulation that can deal with
that when you're actually inthat situation and having to go
like.
How are we gonna come at thiswhere she's not getting get
hurt, I'm not gonna get hurt.
We're gonna get what we need andfigure out what's actually going
on.
And you're having to think onthe fly and quickly go and
(11:21):
develop great communicationskills.
so going in and then being ableto, not only being able to very
quickly connect with patientsphysically as in walking into
the room, your confidence, sothat you portray confidence.
They pick up they feel yourvibe.
They feel that you're confident.
They understand that you'rethere to help.
So to then throw these new gradsinto situations where they're
(11:41):
getting little to no support,they may be getting an extended
orientation, which is maybethree months, maybe even six.
So then potentially spend sixmonths to a year, you finally
get some experience where youknow what you're doing, but this
isn't lighting my soul on fire.
I don't feel like I'm helping, Idon't feel like this is where
I'm supposed to be.
Of course you're gonna leave.
Why wouldn't you leave?
That makes total sense.
(12:02):
And then to start all over againand potentially find yourself in
another spot where now you'renot gonna get the extended
orientation'cause you've alreadygot six months to a year under
your belt.
Now you're just going to go getyour maybe six weeks of
orientation on a unit.
And again, to spend another sixmonths to go like this also
doesn't like my soul on fire.
So like, why am I a nurse andwalk away, let alone shift work
(12:24):
and premiums and figuring outdynamics of nursing and how to
work with people and all thatkind of stuff.
It's super hard and we're notexplaining it very well at all
because there's not enough timein nursing school to learn the
basics, let alone what thethings that are gonna help you
really.
Succeed and thrive.
So with my journals, with mybook.
(12:44):
I'm hoping to really give youthe opportunity to have a spot
to reflect and find yourself andfind what really lights you on
fire so that you don't leavenursing because you've spent a
lot of time and energy andinvestment into getting where it
is.
We refer to nursing school asbootcamp for a reason.
It is two to four years of hellon wheels and you get through it
(13:05):
to then walk away in a year andbe, hundreds of thousands of
dollars in debt.
Potentially.
It's not what you're there for,but if we can support you
potentially, even before you getonto the floor to say, this is
where my personality kinda lies,this is what I wanna think
about.
Here's some of the soft skills.
This is how we grieve patients.
This is how we can talk aboutgrief.
(13:25):
This is how we can support oneanother.
Without coming across as aknow-it-all.
So let's really try and flip thenarrative of nurses either
young.
To something where we aresupporting you from the very
first moment.
Beverly (13:38):
So instead of a reactive, it's a proactive
approach for sure.
Jennifer (13:42):
That is very much Canadian We are all about
prevention.
We love our preventative health.
The docs get bonuses forpreventative health up here
where they don't really getbonuses for much else.
We can have time to do more ifwe're more preventative than
reactive.
Because if a nurse has decidedthat they're done and they're
walking away, no amount ofmoney, no amount of time off, no
(14:04):
amount of anything can convincethem.
Otherwise, if they've alreadyreached the breaking point of,
I'm done, I'm walking away.
Beverly (14:11):
You talked about it from the nurse's perspective of
the cost and the investment oftime and money involved.
But also from the hospital'sperspective, like to hire and to
train and then to lose and tohire, to train.
So that's not helping them run awell-oiled machine either.
Jennifer (14:27):
With that, it takes roughly$61,000 to onboard a new
nurse.
Beverly (14:32):
Yeah.
See, so I feel like that moreproactive could potentially save
so much more in the end.
Your health system is so muchdifferent than ours.
I'm married to an active dutyarmy soldier and we have really
good, quite good health carebecause of that.
We didn't get married till I was35, so I had the other care
before we got married, and I'mvery grateful for the care that
I get now.
(14:52):
But it's a very big talkingpoint here in the US.
Jennifer (14:55):
It's a big talking point on ours as well because
it's gonna take you potentiallya year to year and a half to get
your near your hip replaced.
In that whole time.
The other hip is going becauseit's carrying the load.
So by the time you get the onedone, you already are teed up to
need the other one done.
So we know that there's aproblem.
Unfortunately, it's justresources and time and what's
going on.
(15:15):
If you're short nurses, youcan't do the surgeries.
So we're hoping that by doing itacross the board alleviates a
lot of issues.
Again, not gonna fix everything.
But even a 10% retention ratefrom the 70% that's leaving
could mean a world of differenceyear after year.
Beverly (15:31):
I feel like this proactive approach is probably
the best in any kind ofindustry, right?
I love what you're like sayingfrom a token Canadian
perspective, but I feel likethat just makes sense at a lot
of levels.
But it's not often the thingthat people push, which is so
interesting.
It's the bandaid, right?
It's the bandaid not actuallygetting to the actual root of
the problem, the more holisticside of it versus the just treat
(15:53):
it.
So every season we have a theme.
And this season's theme for thepodcast is all about activating
your brand.
Activating your brand in oureyes means like you have a
vision, but does it actuallylive and exist in the vision?
Do your visuals match yourbrand?
Does your website match yourbrand?
Does your social media matchyour brand?
Is your messaging really clear?
(16:13):
Is it truly activated to whereeverything is working together?
So what are the biggestchallenges you face when getting
your brand to actually look andfeel like you and feel aligned
in who you've become, as nurseJen?
Jennifer (16:25):
It's taken time to realize that part of, especially
me, it's authentic.
It's a hundred percent.
You see what you get, pimplesand all post night shift, it is
what it is.
And so I'm messy.
I'm all over the place at times,but I'm authentic.
I'm gonna tell you if you'rehearing it from me, it is from
me.
It's not me thinking of how topolitico a statement it's.
(16:48):
If you're gonna ask me aquestion 99% of the time, I'll
probably give you a full andtruthful answer, but be
prepared.
cause she may not be pretty.
So realizing that, I'm not greatwith taking videos and learning
Instagram and TikTok and I don'tdo editing.
So a lot of what I do is just.
Flat out.
I just tape and I just tape, Ijust record.
So like recording myself.
(17:08):
I'm not great with thetransitions or I don't do
multiple takes.
I don't have the time.
And I refuse to use a filterbecause again, that's just how
I've decided to do, refusing touse a filter.
This is it.
This is me.
This is me in my car, probablyon the way to a shift.
And it's not rehearsed.
It's not staged.
It's not anything other than.
Exactly what's on my mind here.
(17:29):
Oh, I've remembered to includeyou in my day.
Come with me as I go teach or Igo present or I write.
Trying to remember that peopleactually need to see me do what
I do in order to be able to putit out there on the social
medias.
Beverly (17:43):
this is brilliant.
Okay.
Because so many people and somany of our clients that come to
us feel like it has to beperfect.
I was just listening tosomething this week, I can't
remember exactly for sure.
So don't quote me on this, butthe idea was that the world is
becoming so AI focused that whatis going to become sought out is
imperfection.
It feels different and it feelsmore connected than this perfect
(18:07):
AI vision of a video orwhatever, or a script or
whatever, that it actually feelsmore connected because it's
real.
If you're listening to thisright now and this is a piece of
advice that's resonated with youor like maybe it made you go,
okay, maybe I can not be soperfect on social media, I would
love for you to share thisconversation, to give us a
review.
So if you're on Apple orSpotify, let us know.
(18:29):
We'd love to hear your feedbackon these kinds of real tips of
real people doing real things inthe world.
I am the fairy godmother ofbrand clarity.
So clarity is something that Ilove.
And one of the things I think wetalk about is getting clarity
about what kind of work this is.
And how to make it work for you.
And you've pivoted so much, butwhat is one belief or pattern
that you've had to eitherrelease or claim in order to
(18:52):
fully own your message and dothe work that you do?
Jennifer (18:54):
I'm allowed to be the villain.
If me putting myself first makesme the villain, if me finally
taking care of myself makes meselfish, or you think it makes
me selfish, if that's what makesme the villain, I will a
thousand percent be the villain.
Let me be the villain.
And it's a kind of a quirkymindset shift, with all these
Disney movies coming out withthe villain remakes.
(19:16):
And you go of course she's likethat.
Look what she had to endure.
That makes so much sense.
Coming through COVID and workingand being broken down to the
bare bottom of who I am as aperson and coming back up and
deciding that I have to putmyself first or else this is not
gonna work.
It's a done deal.
I might as well just stop now.
And nobody's happy unless mom ishappy.
(19:39):
My husband hates when I teachthis topic about entering your
villain era and putting yourselfas a villain.
He hates it.
cause again, he's stuck in thatmindset where I am supposed to
be the female.
You're supposed to be the male.
We're supposed to be in thesevery set dynamics.
And it's the same with nursing.
We are stuck in the dynamics ofwe're not a good nurse unless we
give absolutely everything ofourselves.
(20:01):
If we leave anything for us.
What are you doing?
What do you mean you didn'tleave it all at work?
Like, how can you possibly bringanything home for yourself, let
alone your kids and your family?
You're not a good nurse unlessyou say yes to overtime every
single time.
Even though you're not even nearmentally worth coming in.
You can't say no because you'llbe guilted into coming in
anyways.
It's one of these things wherefinally putting my foot down and
(20:23):
being like no.
I'm very intentionally puttingmyself first right now to see
what the heck happened and,what's happened in a year, in a
singular year.
When I finally made the switchto nurse Jen, putting myself
first, the book's finally comeout.
I'm about to go to Vegas for asecond time in a year and now as
an influencer and getting a freeticket to do this and post about
something where I was thinkingabout going it anyways.
(20:43):
Phenomenal.
Have taught with Nurse Blake,who's got 1.1 million followers
and I've been able to go in andteach with him, let alone attend
three different of his events.
I've gotten to go to Boston foran Association of Nurse Leaders
conference, which left mefeeling so fulfilled and
thinking that maybe even, I canlead.
That had never crossed my mindbefore, but holy cow, maybe I
(21:04):
could.
Beverly (21:05):
This idea of imposter syndrome to actually have a
voice and be a participatoryelement in the conversation
that's happening aroundhealthcare is something that,
that you're struggling with.
And I see this with so many ofour other clients, that they
feel like they have to getanother course.
They feel like they have to godo another thing.
To feel like they deserve aplace at the table when you are
the one doing the work.
(21:26):
You deserve a place at thetable.
And if you are willing to be thevillain occasionally, which I
think you have to be, if you'regonna give the real story.
So I use this analogy is thateveryone's looking for the man
behind the curtain.
So it's wickedly branded, wickedWizard of Oz, the whole thing.
We have a lot of Wizard of Oz,wicked references.
But you're looking for like forthe man behind the curtain when
all these certifications andreally when you open the
curtain, it's you standingthere.
(21:47):
It's you have to be ready tostand up.
You have to be ready to bevisible.
You have to be ready to have avoice.
So what part of visibility hasrequired you to have the most
courage?
Jennifer (21:58):
Just standing up in the first place.
Nursing, a lot of times we'retold to keep quiet.
We don't talk about patients, ofcourse, we don't talk about
patients.
But we should be talking aboutpatient behaviors that put us at
risk day in and day out.
We should be talking aboutpatient behaviors that end up
keeping our patients sicker.
We should be able to talk freelyabout how our workplaces
actually operate on a day-to-daybasis at ground level without
(22:21):
worrying about our jobs and ourlicense, because again, the
license is almost held aboveyou.
This threshold Hey, if you gettoo loud, we could take this
away.
And what are you if you're not anurse?
It's ingrained in us that it'spart of our identity, which is a
problem.
And you're nothing if you're nota nurse, oh, you're retired.
There's a nursing class oflicense, so you can still call
yourself a nurse, but you've gota retired license.
(22:44):
Again, seems like a money grab,but to be able to use the
classified word nurse, like you,you can't call yourself a nurse
without a license.
Or else risk fines and civilsuits and all the rest.
Cause it's a protected title.
Just like doctor just a lot ofother titles that are protected,
you have to maintain it.
And so they, they hold thelittle piece of paper.
It's don't get too loud.
'cause if you get too loud thenyour board of nursing, all of a
(23:05):
sudden you've gained theirattention.
You wanna be the little mouse inthe back that just goes in, day
in, day out, clock in, clockout, and that's it.
You're not making waves, you'renot doing all the things.
But in the long run, you'redoing us all a disservice by not
making waves.
Because without waves, how doyou know what's wrong and where
the obstacles are?
Beverly (23:22):
Or to make any kind of change that could be helpful for
you and for the patient caresystem.
Jennifer (23:28):
And how much nursing has changed.
We are not subservient todoctors.
They tell us that we arecoworkers.
Yes.
We work together.
You're on the exact same levelas healthcare aide, as ward
clerk, as physician, as physio.
We're all on the same team.
There's no one higher than theother.
It's, that's not how it is.
Maybe I'm directing a little bitmore than anybody else.
But that's cool.
(23:49):
That's part of my job is to makesure everybody's on the same
page.
We're all working in tandem.
We're going in the rightdirection for the patient, but
at the end of the day, it'salways for the patient.
That's why we're all there.
Beverly (23:58):
So one of the methods that we use when we work with
our clients, it's called theStory Brand Model, where we
position our clients as the heroand we're the guides.
And you're talking about that,like you're the coordinator,
you're the guide, making sureeverything happens, right?
And the patient's the hero atthe end of the day that you're
all trying to support.
So I love this kind of likeco-partnership that you're all
on the same quote unquote team.
Working for this hero to makethem better and healthier and
(24:21):
whatever that looks like for theparticular patient.
You talk a lot about burnout andsustainability and being the
villain, which I think isinteresting.
I oftentimes give our clientspermission to say no to things.
And to embrace the power of theno.
And that it's okay.
My business for 10 years wasbuilt on the word yes.
And I was completely burnt out.
And when I started to say no,was when I started to create
(24:44):
clarity for myself, but alsocapture my passion and joy again
for what I did as opposed tothis resentment almost for the
work.
And the power of no is notsomething that's mean, it's
honoring yourself and evenhonoring the client.
When I say no to somebody who Iknow is not a right fit, I'm
honoring them by not saying yes.
I want everyone to be happy andsuccessful.
(25:04):
There's been too many situationswhere I've had to pull people
across the finish line, and youjust simply cannot do that and
be successful and not haveburnout or regret or all those
things.
I have learned what I know I dowell and to stay in my lane and
to get the people that really, Iknow that I can help because my
system works, because I've beenthat system as well.
So what is something that you'vehad to say no to or delegate
(25:28):
that made your business feelmore sustainable?
By being the villain?
Jennifer (25:31):
So getting creative with scheduling.
Again, as an ER nurse, I've gota lot of flexibility with
scheduling.
So right now my husband worksMonday to Friday, eight to four.
We don't have daycare.
My kids aren't quite old enoughto get on the bus by themselves.
It's one of those things whereI'm like I guess I'm going a
straight nights becausesomebody's gotta be here to put
them on the bus.
Somebody's gotta be here whenthey get home.
And I can do that.
(25:52):
So working night shifts,figuring out how that works best
for you.
And stepping away from full-timework with my staff hospital and
picking up agency work, it'skinda like freelancing.
All of a sudden I'm walking intoan emerge.
I've been there maybe a handfulof times, but because I've got
the knowledge, skill andjudgment, I can just be dropped
in.
You go for 12 hours, you'vefilled that place.
(26:12):
The patients are taken care of.
We haven't had to close theemerge because we've got enough
staff.
We're gonna pay you a ridiculousrate.
Your job's not guaranteed, butfor this moment right now, there
it is.
Figuring out that with thatflexibility comes a huge amount
of financial gain plus time gainhas been amazing.
And feeling guilty about leavingthe staff gig, or dropping down
(26:34):
to part-time, you're like, oh,I'm supposed to work full-time
until I'm 65 at the bedside.
Like walking away, making yourown schedule, making it work for
you.
Being okay with not knowing ifyou're gonna have enough shifts
this week but trusting that youwill.
It has been huge.
My husband, it's been more andmore glaringly obvious by the
days that he does not do wellwith my flexible schedule.
(26:56):
He wants something where he canknow six months from now exactly
what I'm working, which hospitalI'm working at, what the hours
are, and that's it.
Whereas I am fine to, go to bedthis morning not knowing whether
or not I'm gonna get a call intonight or not.
That's fine.
I'm okay with that mentally.
I'm fine.
It is what it is.
And knowing that, two shifts ofagency nursing is equal to six
(27:19):
shifts in the same time periodwith staff nursing.
These are bonus at this point.
These two shifts allow me to bemore free.
I have more time for mybusiness.
I have more time at home.
And allows me to be freed up anddo my own thing and kind of be
my own boss within nursing,which is hard to find.
Beverly (27:34):
I think time is the one finite resource that we all
have.
And being really intentionalwith how you use your time and
what results you get from thetime that you invest in the work
that you do, the passion thatyou have the.
System you're a part of isincredibly important.
The thing that's probablytransformed my business the most
is taking control of the time ofmy calendar.
(27:55):
Yeah.
I literally block off time now Ichunk and stack my work
differently.
I have no meetings on Fridays.
Like I didn't realize that youcould do that.
It was once I determined thatthis is my schedule, my day, and
I know when I'm more productive,so I know I need to be in my
creative mode and writing for myclients then, and then when I
can be in meeting mode, which isbetter in the afternoons or
(28:18):
whatever.
So really leaning into whatworks for me from a bio rhythm
perspective, from my family'sschedule perspective has been
incredibly life-changing andempowering for my business.
And the small business owners wework with, if they do the same
thing it's life changing.
And that's where that balancefeels more real than in this
(28:38):
other prescribed reality thatdoesn't even fit anymore because
women are working.
The reason why I started mybusiness was for freedom and it
was quite the opposite for along time.
And now I feel like for thefirst time last three years or
so, that has completely changedand now I get to dictate my
time.
So I love that you've been ableto kind of harness that for
yourself and maximize it as bestas possible for you and your
(29:00):
family.
So I have a magic hat.
It's sparkly and it's a rapidfire questions.
So we're just gonna leave it upto the magic hat and see what
comes out of it today.
What is the worst advice you'veever received?
Jennifer (29:13):
When are you gonna quit?
Beverly (29:15):
Really?
Jennifer (29:15):
Guess where that one came from?
Home.
Beverly (29:18):
Really?
Your hubby?
Jennifer (29:19):
That's left some lasting marks that I didn't
realize lasted until an EFTsession with a girlfriend.
She's oh I'm leaning into EFT.
It says tapping and releasing.
And we talk.
And I'm like, I just need hours.
Would you wanna do'em?
Absolutely.
Let's do this.
What came up, him in 2020 askingwhen I would give it up.
When I was already burnt out,when I was finally choosing to
do this and choosing to moveinto it and, oh, when are you
(29:42):
gonna give this up?
Mind you, now it's starting toturn, now it's when are you
going away again?
Oh, it's just the sixth timeI've traveled this year.
It's fine.
Beverly (29:50):
If your brand hit a theme song, what would it be and
why?
Jennifer (29:53):
I've got an ER nurse playlist when I go into work.
Like it's a total mood that youlike, put it on you, go take
over control.
Oh my gosh, who plays it?
Bright Afro Jack.
Beverly (30:02):
Ooh, they're good.
I like them.
Jennifer (30:03):
It's my go-to.
So every emerge that I'veworked, which has been almost
about 10 now when I'm stalkingthe recess rooms, I listen to
that and I vibe and it's okay,getting into the groove of it.
Beverly (30:14):
I love it so much.
Using music is really powerful.
We actually have a Spotifyplaylist for our clients.
When they do their marketing,like to listen to be creative
and all the things.
What's a surprising way yourpersonal values show up in your
business?
Jennifer (30:27):
I just think being messy.
I love being messy.
It's very much an er thing.
It's very much a me thing.
This whole idea of perfect, I'vetold my kids from moment
freaking one perfect does notexist.
So when they're like, oh, butit's not perfect, I'm like,
perfect doesn't exist.
So now they repeat it.
Anytime somebody says perfect,they're like, perfect doesn't
exist.
If there's one thing that I'vedone as a mother, I think that's
it.
Beverly (30:47):
What's one thing you wish more people understood
about your business or industry?
Jennifer (30:51):
That nurses really do have the key to solving a lot of
frontline issues, but nobody hasever thought to ask our opinion.
If you are looking to solve aproblem, if you're looking to
get into a business, if you'relooking to do a PhD project if
you're looking to do anything inhealthcare or anything, period,
always please and first andforemost, go to the end user
(31:11):
first.
Do not go to them after the factor after it's already done, and
they have no input, right?
Because guess what?
The end user will sink it sofast.
It will make your head spin,especially nurses.
So if you are trying to solve ahealthcare issue, all you need
to do is ask a nurse show uplong weekend, full moon, night
shift, and bring coffee anddonuts or food.
(31:33):
We will tell you everything.
Beverly (31:35):
You'll be best friends.
Love that.
Okay, so that is the end of themagic cat round, but I also have
a wand.
So my wand is gonna help us timetravel.
I'm gonna wave the wand andwe're gonna go back in time to
Jennifer, when she firstgraduated from nursing school.
What is a piece of advice thatyou wish she had then, that you
have now that would've saved yousome burnout, grief, whatever.
Jennifer (31:57):
They are not worth your time.
The ones standing in your wayare doing it because they're
either jealous of what you'redoing or upset that you've got
the balls to do it.
Live loud, live proud, livefully you.
And you know what?
You'll be so much happierbecause carrying a mask day in
and day out is so freakingtiring and people are gonna
(32:19):
gossip about you anyways, sothey might as well be gossiping
about the real you.
Beverly (32:23):
You're not for everyone and it's okay.
Jennifer (32:25):
And that's fine.
What other people think of me isnone of my business.
Is one of my most favoritequotes.
Beverly (32:30):
This is where perfection becomes very
dangerous.
I am not here to live a lifethat's perfect for you.
I'm here to live a life that'sauthentic and real to me.
Yeah.
And if you don't like that, it'sokay.
But there are people who do, andthat's the people I want to
attract.
And I remember when we rebrandedand we took this live, I got a
little bit scared and was like,I don't know, people might think
it's too childish.
(32:50):
What I realized was, it doesn'tmatter because these things
bring me joy and all of itrepresents the magic that's
inside of you, the gift thatyou've been given.
If you believe in God or theuniverse or whatever the thing
is that you believe in.
And if you're suppressing it andpushing it and all the things,
then you are doing a disserviceto that energy.
So it was a very uncomfortablemoment for me to push the
(33:12):
publish and make it out therefor the world.
But it's also been the bestthing I've ever done.
I wanna ask Jennifer, what wouldshe think of where you are now?
Jennifer (33:19):
She would be so freaking floored as to where the
heck we are now.
Like even Jen, five years ago,in 2020 when she was curled up
on in a ball crying her face offcause she hadn't slept in six
weeks.
Even a year ago, couldn't haveeven imagined where I am now.
So it really propels you forwardto be like, if this is just a
(33:39):
year now that I've really foundmyself, found where I'm supposed
to be found, where I'm going,okay, if this has just been a
year, what's gonna happen in twoor five?
I don't know, but I'm open tosaying yes and taking a risk on
it.
And again, people can say no tothings, that's cool.
But funny enough, when youactually ask for things, 80% of
the time people just say yes.
And again, because they'repeople pleasing, it's not like
(34:00):
you're taking advantage, butjust because they say, they're
not used to saying no, that'snot on you.
Beverly (34:05):
But I feel like people want to help each other
inherently.
So that's comes from a goodplace for the most part.
Jennifer (34:10):
Swap services, honestly, if you are really good
at one thing and somebody elseis really good at another and
you're like, I don't really havea ton of money to like, get my
stuff off the ground, talk topeople, be like, Hey, I can do
this really well.
You can do that really well ifyou wanna just swap services.
But again, you're gonna bemaking way better contacts.
You're gonna be.
Putting yourself out there andthen all of a sudden your work
is also out there.
It may not be what you're doingprimarily, but your work is
(34:32):
still out there.
Your name is still on people'slips, even though it might not
be exactly what you're doingright now.
Yeah.
Beverly (34:37):
The connections are very powerful for sure.
So I'm gonna wave the wand andwe're gonna go in the future.
Decades.
Decades.
Decades into the future.
Jennifer.
Oh God.
And we're gonna be at yourfuneral and people are going to
be doing your eulogy.
We're gonna be talking about thekind of life you lived and the
kind of work you did.
What will people be seeing asyour impact with the work that
you've done?
Jennifer (34:55):
Jen was nothing, if not a cowboy.
Anybody who had worked with herknew she did things her way.
It might not have always been.
The policy way, but her patientscame first every single time.
And yes, her schedule was amess, as was she sometimes, but
that's okay.
And that's why we loved her.
Beverly (35:14):
Love that.
I'm gonna bring us back to thepresent and now, and I wanna ask
you, what do you think beingwickedly branded means to you?
And what advice would you giveto our listeners to be more
wickedly branded?
Jennifer (35:26):
Just embrace the imperfect and just go for it.
Truly.
There will never be in righttime.
There's always something that'sgoing to come up.
The key is being able to figureout how to manage your time as
best you can and realizing whatyou're worth.
I can assign a dollar amount tomy hourly amount of time, and
it's anywhere from 56 an hour to105 an hour, depending on where
(35:48):
I'm working.
So when I'm thinking about,doing a website or doing some
marketing or something likethat, they're not my strong
suits.
Am I interested?
Sure.
But if my time would be betterspent elsewhere it is okay to
hand off and this is how teamsare built.
And you're gonna fumble, therewill be bumps and follies and
you typically will get what youpay for, right?
So if it sounds too good to betrue, it usually is.
Just be aware of that.
(36:09):
But if me spending 500 bucks ona website is going to take that
off my plate.
And especially if I need, mywebsite to do a couple of
different things.
That isn't your typical, theamount of weight that came off
there was like, oh, okay, now Idon't have to worry about it.
Know that there's no shame inbringing other people who are
experts in their field.
If there's a certain group thatyou wanna support if there's a
(36:30):
niche where you wanna supportother people, that word gets
around.
You are supporting your others,and karma comes back around a
hundred times.
Beverly (36:37):
I love that.
That's so powerful to me.
One of the reasons why I leanfar into the female founders is
because I feel like it'ssomething that's missing and
there's so many brilliant womenwho just need a little bit of
help and support to find theirmagic and fully live where
they're supposed to be in theirzone of genius.
And that has ripple effects ontheir family, on their teams,
their community, when they'resuccessful, so much can happen.
(37:00):
So Jennifer, this has been agreat conversation, but where
can our listeners connect withyou and your work and learn more
about what's happening and whatyou're up to?
Jennifer (37:07):
You can find me at www dot nurse jenn, J-E-N-N, dot ca.
My books are on Amazon again,Jennifer A.
Johnson rn.
You'll find my books and thejournals.
You can find me on TikTok andInstagram at er nurse dot jen,
JENN and LinkedIn.
I'm probably most active onLinkedIn.
Jennifer Johnson, B-S-C-N-R-N.
Beverly (37:30):
I love it.
Thank you so much for being herewith us today, Jennifer.
I appreciate it.
Anytime.
Jennifer (37:34):
Thank you so much for having me.
Beverly (37:36):
So my listeners, I hope that today's episode, lit a
little bit of a fire under you,gave you some new ideas about
maybe just showing up a littlebit more messy and less perfect,
and most of all, inspired you totake some action for your
business, whether it's timecontrol or maybe.
Not having makeup on when you doa live at some point.
Because here's the thing youmatter.
Your message matters, and yourwork definitely matters.
(37:58):
And the world needs to hear whatyou have to say.
Marketing isn't just aboutvisibility.
It's about the impact you canmake.
It's about connecting with theright people in a way that feels
completely and utterly true toyou.
So keep showing up.
Keep sharing your brilliance andkeep making magic in the world.
And hey, if you ever feel stuck,know that you don't have to do
this alone.
Just like Jennifer said,sometimes it's easier if
(38:19):
someone's there with you.
We're here to help you turn yourspark into a wildfire.
Until next time, dare to bewickedly branded.
Did you know that over 70% of new nurses report
experiencing burnout in theirvery first year?
I'm your host, Beverly Cornell,the founder and fairy godmother
of Brand Clarity.
At Wickedly branded, we'vehelped hundreds of overwhelmed
overachieving consultants,creatives, and coaches awaken
their brand magic and boldlybring their marketing to life so
(00:20):
that they can feel more calm andclear and confident to attract
their absolute favorite and mostprofitable clients.
Today's guest is JenniferJohnson.
She is the founder of Nurse Jen,and she is on a mission to help
nurses not only survive theirfirst year but thrive.
She's dedicated to providingsupport and resources to help
nurses transition into theirpractice with confidence,
(00:42):
clarity, and a sustainablecareer path.
Welcome, Jennifer.
Jennifer (00:47):
Oh my gosh.
Thank you so much for having me.
Beverly (00:49):
I'm excited to dive in here and get to know you a
little bit.
We always start the podcast withthe Spark, the thing that made
you realize that you wanted tostart your business and what did
that those early days look likefor you?
Jennifer (01:02):
So to be very frank and honest, I've pivoted three
or four times now.
It originally had started in2020, working bedside in the er
as a nurse and seeing that thepatients who were actually
coming into the ER in the veryearly days of COVID.
We're so much sicker than wewere really typically used to
seeing them.
And it's because they'd put offseeing a doctor coming in for
(01:24):
days when usually people, thesecond they get a sniffle,
they're off to the er.
So seeing that and thinking,okay, I've already been exposed.
Let me start a mobile nursingbusiness where, I can go to the
home, I can do a quick set ofvitals, I can do a once over, I
can talk with your doc, I can,loop in any specialists that you
need.
I can just keep everybody on thesame page to be like, Hey, this
(01:45):
is what's happening with Mr.
Smith right now.
Something's gonna need to bedone, or else he's probably
going to be ending up in the ERin the next day or two.
Great.
In theory, my nursing buddies,we all loved it.
We thought this was fantastic.
This is exactly what we need.
However, as it sometimes goesthe population didn't want
anything to do with it.
So in the Canadian healthcaresystem, if you have to pay more
(02:06):
than 25 bucks, we're pissed.
We don't typically put out moneyfor that kind of thing.
So it sparked me and go, okay, Iwas able to start it out.
Maybe now we pivot a bit.
Have tried.
IV hydration again was just inthe wrong spot.
It was a buddy of mine who has aclinic and she wanted me to try
it out.
Sure, not a problem.
No big deal.
But it was in a very smallcommunity where there wasn't the
(02:27):
resources for that.
So again, another learning curvepivoted again to where now I've
written my book, I've done somejournals, and am finding now
that I'm really gaining tractionwith, okay, this is my calling,
this is my niche.
This is where I'm supposed tobe.
So as much as I want to helppatients at home or more
holistically than I do in theemerge, it really is helping the
(02:49):
nurses, especially within thefirst couple of years that
really has.
Grabbed me and by me helping thenurses, I'm still helping the
patients.
Beverly (02:57):
For sure.
It makes it more sustainable forthem to continue.
Before we get on the recordingtoday, we talked about how I was
raised by a nurse and nurses area whole special breed of
individual.
And I say that very lovingly,mom.
I don't even know if she's gonnalisten to this episode, but
still, I love you, mom.
It's a very high stressenvironment, specifically in the
(03:17):
emergency room in places likethe ICU and things like that.
My mom did a little bit ofeverything.
She did nighttime emergency roomat one point.
She did hospice care, which isits own level of stress, but can
be very beautiful if you are inthe right space.
And then also home healthcarewhich is what you were talking
about, she would go to people'shomes and do some in-home care.
And she did that during the AIDSepidemic when people were very
(03:40):
isolated.
And she actually was talkingabout how COVID was very
reminiscent of that time forhome healthcare aids because
those particularly men, youngmen were isolated at home.
And mentally it was really hard.
And in COVID we had a lot ofmental struggles with being
isolated as well.
And she said, I'm so glad I'mretired'cause I don't know if I
could do that again.
It was very hard to be a part ofwatching people essentially die.
(04:03):
Being so isolated.
So when you first started andyou had to do all these pivots,
how in the beginning did youbuild your brand nurse Jen, and
what was that like and how hasit evolved since you first
pivoted
Jennifer (04:14):
It's evolved with me.
In the beginning, wanting tokeep myself at a distance, not
feeling like I could be thebrand.
You hear about influencers,especially in the nursing world,
we joke that nursing influencersare they even at the bedside?
Do they even get it?
But you get this negativeconnotation with influencing
where I don't wanna influence Iwanna be a business, I've got a
(04:34):
license that I've got to uphold.
So to come to terms with, it'sokay for me to be the brand.
It's okay for my license tostill be there.
It's okay for me to still be atthe bedside nursing It's okay
that I can be a brand withoutbeing that cringe worthy brand
where they're pushing it to whatI feel is too far.
It's not something that I woulddo.
(04:55):
Do I laugh at the skits?
Absolutely.
I do.
Do, I love that they're sayingthe things that I feel like I
can't say.
Absolutely I do, but it's notwhere I want to go.
So I am going the author route,I'm going the journaling route,
I'm going the entrepreneurialroute.
And then also nurse innovating.
So nurse innovation andinnovation as a whole, it's
really starting to gain a lot oftraction and a lot of steam.
(05:18):
It's the kind of brewingbuzzword that, especially in the
healthcare field, bedsidenurses, we don't think that we
could be innovators.
We don't think that we could beanything more than at the
bedside when in reality we seethe problems first and foremost,
that people 10 steps up aretrying to solve, but have no
context because they're not atthe bedside.
But here we are MacGyvering itand have already thought of six
(05:40):
different solutions for the sameproblem.
We just don't have the influenceto then actually put it up the
stream.
So bending that role frombedside to innovation.
People start saying, oh, you arethe expert.
And you go, I'm the expert.
I don't understand.
And they go, no, you have theactual insight to know what the
problem is that makes you anexpert.
(06:00):
And having that said time andtime again, you're like, maybe I
am the expert.
Beverly (06:04):
You're trying to believe it finally.
Jennifer (06:06):
Speaking of influencing, I just got accepted
to go to HLTH, H-L-T-H.
They have this massiveconference in Vegas every year
for medical startups meeting andbringing in then investors and
matching the two.
And to come in as a nurse, so wehad our own nurses pavilion,
everybody had a booth wasfantastic.
It was so interesting to thengo.
(06:26):
Oh, we are wanted, because thenpeople are coming to us from
tech, from business, from allthese other backgrounds to go,
we need your input.
You're a subject matter expert.
We need your input.
And you're like, nobody's everasked for my input ever before.
And so it's holy cow.
Here's a need, here's an answer.
Let's come together.
And it is phenomenal.
So I applied this year to be aninfluencer think as a joke
(06:48):
because again, I didn't think Ihad nearly the numbers.
And sure enough, I got in, soI'm like, now I get to go for
free.
Where normally it's a$3,500ticket.
I'm like, bank, I'm there.
I'm done.
Let's go.
So starting to embrace theinfluencer role without it being
the cheesy over the top, justfor laughs kind of thing that I
(07:08):
equate it with.
Beverly (07:09):
When you step into your brand as you, what feels
comfortable for you needs toalign.
Otherwise, it doesn't resonatein any way, shape, or form.
I feel like if you did whatother people were doing, you'd
be not genuine to yourself.
And I love that you say that ithas evolved as you have evolved.
Because a good brand shouldn'tjust be stagnant anyway.
(07:30):
A website isn't okay, you do itand then it's done.
No.
It's organic and living andbreathing as you evolve, it
needs to evolve.
There might be a line that feelsmore aligned.
One line that might be morealigned that you say, oh, that's
the one that I wanna put in theheadline.
Maybe I say a sentence, like oneof my favorite phrases that I've
made up is the should suitcase alot of women carry the should
(07:50):
suitcase of society, of what youshould do and what.
It was expected as anentrepreneur when really who
created the should suitcase?
It wasn't us.
And it's okay to put it down andit's okay to create whatever
feels comfortable for you andwhat actually balances your life
for you, not by some otherpeople's standards that was from
a hundred years ago.
Stop it.
So I love that you're thesubject matter expert because
(08:11):
you guys are the ones that aretouching the humans.
You're the ones that are at thebedside.
You're the ones that are dealingwith the day-to-day in and out
constant.
So I feel like the nurses arethe rock stars.
I joke about this.
In the same way, likesecretaries and assistants and
corporations are the rock starsbecause they know everything.
They're the ones that knoweverything.
Jennifer (08:28):
Listen, you go to a new job.
You know who you find?
The assistants.
The housekeeper.
You find the house housekeepers,you find the assistants in
healthcare, you find the wardclerks.
These three people know all.
Absolutely.
They know the entire history ofthe department.
They know exactly who's got beefwith who.
They know exactly which doc toavoid and what makes them better
and what makes'em worse.
They know all these are the keypeople because there's not
(08:52):
nearly that much turnover withyour ward clerks and your
healthcare aides and these typesas there is the nurses.
Nurses, if we get touched out,we're like, okay, six months I'm
out.
See you later.
The whole unit's completelyevolved in three years from what
it was.
So you're not getting thathistory and that core base of
knowledge.
Beverly (09:10):
So you have this niche that I think is really powerful
that you help these newernurses.
Now, the healthcare industry ingeneral is just booming but it's
evolved quite a bit, I feellike.
I've heard from my friends whoare in the medical field, like
it's becoming much more aboutthe billable hours and less
about the human touch.
And it's a lot more about, veryregimented, about you only get
(09:31):
so much time with each patient,there's only so many codes you
can bill for in a time.
It's become very corporate moneyfocused and not as human
centered.
It's for profit centered versushuman centered.
And I believe when you are anurse, maybe I'm wrong, I'm
making some suppositions here.
You go because you want to helppeople.
(09:52):
I don't think you'd go inbecause you're like, oh, I'm
gonna be this master of thebottom line as a nurse.
You go in'cause you literallywant to help people.
So I feel like that's a veryinteresting dichotomy that
nurses have to exist in andmaybe is why more nurses are
having burnout So talk aboutlike the newer nurses, what
their challenges are right nowand how you actually help them
with the work that you do.
Jennifer (10:13):
The new nurses are just overwhelmed and not just
the way we were overwhelmed whenwe came in because not only are
you learning an entire newcareer, it's a whole new
language.
The medical language is a wholenew language.
It's learning how to stand upfor yourself and your patients.
There's so many skills that takeyears to really come up to and
evolve and really get it so thatyou're doing it without thinking
(10:35):
about it.
So the new grads coming in, theywere rushed through they may
have gotten shortened clinicalplacements because there weren't
people to take them on.
Especially those who camethrough COVID, they got nothing
in the form of clinicalplacements.
It was all simulations, whichagain, simulations have their
place, but there's nothing likecoming up and against an
89-year-old grandmother who hasgot a raging UTI and is
(10:58):
delirious, thinks she's in WorldWar II and she thinks you're a
Nazi and she's trying to fightyou off.
There's nothing like asimulation that can deal with
that when you're actually inthat situation and having to go
like.
How are we gonna come at thiswhere she's not getting get
hurt, I'm not gonna get hurt.
We're gonna get what we need andfigure out what's actually going
on.
And you're having to think onthe fly and quickly go and
(11:21):
develop great communicationskills.
so going in and then being ableto, not only being able to very
quickly connect with patientsphysically as in walking into
the room, your confidence, sothat you portray confidence.
They pick up they feel yourvibe.
They feel that you're confident.
They understand that you'rethere to help.
So to then throw these new gradsinto situations where they're
(11:41):
getting little to no support,they may be getting an extended
orientation, which is maybethree months, maybe even six.
So then potentially spend sixmonths to a year, you finally
get some experience where youknow what you're doing, but this
isn't lighting my soul on fire.
I don't feel like I'm helping, Idon't feel like this is where
I'm supposed to be.
Of course you're gonna leave.
Why wouldn't you leave?
That makes total sense.
(12:02):
And then to start all over againand potentially find yourself in
another spot where now you'renot gonna get the extended
orientation'cause you've alreadygot six months to a year under
your belt.
Now you're just going to go getyour maybe six weeks of
orientation on a unit.
And again, to spend another sixmonths to go like this also
doesn't like my soul on fire.
So like, why am I a nurse andwalk away, let alone shift work
(12:24):
and premiums and figuring outdynamics of nursing and how to
work with people and all thatkind of stuff.
It's super hard and we're notexplaining it very well at all
because there's not enough timein nursing school to learn the
basics, let alone what thethings that are gonna help you
really.
Succeed and thrive.
So with my journals, with mybook.
(12:44):
I'm hoping to really give youthe opportunity to have a spot
to reflect and find yourself andfind what really lights you on
fire so that you don't leavenursing because you've spent a
lot of time and energy andinvestment into getting where it
is.
We refer to nursing school asbootcamp for a reason.
It is two to four years of hellon wheels and you get through it
(13:05):
to then walk away in a year andbe, hundreds of thousands of
dollars in debt.
Potentially.
It's not what you're there for,but if we can support you
potentially, even before you getonto the floor to say, this is
where my personality kinda lies,this is what I wanna think
about.
Here's some of the soft skills.
This is how we grieve patients.
This is how we can talk aboutgrief.
(13:25):
This is how we can support oneanother.
Without coming across as aknow-it-all.
So let's really try and flip thenarrative of nurses either
young.
To something where we aresupporting you from the very
first moment.
Beverly (13:38):
So instead of a reactive, it's a proactive
approach for sure.
Jennifer (13:42):
That is very much Canadian We are all about
prevention.
We love our preventative health.
The docs get bonuses forpreventative health up here
where they don't really getbonuses for much else.
We can have time to do more ifwe're more preventative than
reactive.
Because if a nurse has decidedthat they're done and they're
walking away, no amount ofmoney, no amount of time off, no
(14:04):
amount of anything can convincethem.
Otherwise, if they've alreadyreached the breaking point of,
I'm done, I'm walking away.
Beverly (14:11):
You talked about it from the nurse's perspective of
the cost and the investment oftime and money involved.
But also from the hospital'sperspective, like to hire and to
train and then to lose and tohire, to train.
So that's not helping them run awell-oiled machine either.
Jennifer (14:27):
With that, it takes roughly$61,000 to onboard a new
nurse.
Beverly (14:32):
Yeah.
See, so I feel like that moreproactive could potentially save
so much more in the end.
Your health system is so muchdifferent than ours.
I'm married to an active dutyarmy soldier and we have really
good, quite good health carebecause of that.
We didn't get married till I was35, so I had the other care
before we got married, and I'mvery grateful for the care that
I get now.
(14:52):
But it's a very big talkingpoint here in the US.
Jennifer (14:55):
It's a big talking point on ours as well because
it's gonna take you potentiallya year to year and a half to get
your near your hip replaced.
In that whole time.
The other hip is going becauseit's carrying the load.
So by the time you get the onedone, you already are teed up to
need the other one done.
So we know that there's aproblem.
Unfortunately, it's justresources and time and what's
going on.
(15:15):
If you're short nurses, youcan't do the surgeries.
So we're hoping that by doing itacross the board alleviates a
lot of issues.
Again, not gonna fix everything.
But even a 10% retention ratefrom the 70% that's leaving
could mean a world of differenceyear after year.
Beverly (15:31):
I feel like this proactive approach is probably
the best in any kind ofindustry, right?
I love what you're like sayingfrom a token Canadian
perspective, but I feel likethat just makes sense at a lot
of levels.
But it's not often the thingthat people push, which is so
interesting.
It's the bandaid, right?
It's the bandaid not actuallygetting to the actual root of
the problem, the more holisticside of it versus the just treat
(15:53):
it.
So every season we have a theme.
And this season's theme for thepodcast is all about activating
your brand.
Activating your brand in oureyes means like you have a
vision, but does it actuallylive and exist in the vision?
Do your visuals match yourbrand?
Does your website match yourbrand?
Does your social media matchyour brand?
Is your messaging really clear?
(16:13):
Is it truly activated to whereeverything is working together?
So what are the biggestchallenges you face when getting
your brand to actually look andfeel like you and feel aligned
in who you've become, as nurseJen?
Jennifer (16:25):
It's taken time to realize that part of, especially
me, it's authentic.
It's a hundred percent.
You see what you get, pimplesand all post night shift, it is
what it is.
And so I'm messy.
I'm all over the place at times,but I'm authentic.
I'm gonna tell you if you'rehearing it from me, it is from
me.
It's not me thinking of how topolitico a statement it's.
(16:48):
If you're gonna ask me aquestion 99% of the time, I'll
probably give you a full andtruthful answer, but be
prepared.
cause she may not be pretty.
So realizing that, I'm not greatwith taking videos and learning
Instagram and TikTok and I don'tdo editing.
So a lot of what I do is just.
Flat out.
I just tape and I just tape, Ijust record.
So like recording myself.
(17:08):
I'm not great with thetransitions or I don't do
multiple takes.
I don't have the time.
And I refuse to use a filterbecause again, that's just how
I've decided to do, refusing touse a filter.
This is it.
This is me.
This is me in my car, probablyon the way to a shift.
And it's not rehearsed.
It's not staged.
It's not anything other than.
Exactly what's on my mind here.
(17:29):
Oh, I've remembered to includeyou in my day.
Come with me as I go teach or Igo present or I write.
Trying to remember that peopleactually need to see me do what
I do in order to be able to putit out there on the social
medias.
Beverly (17:43):
this is brilliant.
Okay.
Because so many people and somany of our clients that come to
us feel like it has to beperfect.
I was just listening tosomething this week, I can't
remember exactly for sure.
So don't quote me on this, butthe idea was that the world is
becoming so AI focused that whatis going to become sought out is
imperfection.
It feels different and it feelsmore connected than this perfect
(18:07):
AI vision of a video orwhatever, or a script or
whatever, that it actually feelsmore connected because it's
real.
If you're listening to thisright now and this is a piece of
advice that's resonated with youor like maybe it made you go,
okay, maybe I can not be soperfect on social media, I would
love for you to share thisconversation, to give us a
review.
So if you're on Apple orSpotify, let us know.
(18:29):
We'd love to hear your feedbackon these kinds of real tips of
real people doing real things inthe world.
I am the fairy godmother ofbrand clarity.
So clarity is something that Ilove.
And one of the things I think wetalk about is getting clarity
about what kind of work this is.
And how to make it work for you.
And you've pivoted so much, butwhat is one belief or pattern
that you've had to eitherrelease or claim in order to
(18:52):
fully own your message and dothe work that you do?
Jennifer (18:54):
I'm allowed to be the villain.
If me putting myself first makesme the villain, if me finally
taking care of myself makes meselfish, or you think it makes
me selfish, if that's what makesme the villain, I will a
thousand percent be the villain.
Let me be the villain.
And it's a kind of a quirkymindset shift, with all these
Disney movies coming out withthe villain remakes.
(19:16):
And you go of course she's likethat.
Look what she had to endure.
That makes so much sense.
Coming through COVID and workingand being broken down to the
bare bottom of who I am as aperson and coming back up and
deciding that I have to putmyself first or else this is not
gonna work.
It's a done deal.
I might as well just stop now.
And nobody's happy unless mom ishappy.
(19:39):
My husband hates when I teachthis topic about entering your
villain era and putting yourselfas a villain.
He hates it.
cause again, he's stuck in thatmindset where I am supposed to
be the female.
You're supposed to be the male.
We're supposed to be in thesevery set dynamics.
And it's the same with nursing.
We are stuck in the dynamics ofwe're not a good nurse unless we
give absolutely everything ofourselves.
(20:01):
If we leave anything for us.
What are you doing?
What do you mean you didn'tleave it all at work?
Like, how can you possibly bringanything home for yourself, let
alone your kids and your family?
You're not a good nurse unlessyou say yes to overtime every
single time.
Even though you're not even nearmentally worth coming in.
You can't say no because you'llbe guilted into coming in
anyways.
It's one of these things wherefinally putting my foot down and
(20:23):
being like no.
I'm very intentionally puttingmyself first right now to see
what the heck happened and,what's happened in a year, in a
singular year.
When I finally made the switchto nurse Jen, putting myself
first, the book's finally comeout.
I'm about to go to Vegas for asecond time in a year and now as
an influencer and getting a freeticket to do this and post about
something where I was thinkingabout going it anyways.
(20:43):
Phenomenal.
Have taught with Nurse Blake,who's got 1.1 million followers
and I've been able to go in andteach with him, let alone attend
three different of his events.
I've gotten to go to Boston foran Association of Nurse Leaders
conference, which left mefeeling so fulfilled and
thinking that maybe even, I canlead.
That had never crossed my mindbefore, but holy cow, maybe I
(21:04):
could.
Beverly (21:05):
This idea of imposter syndrome to actually have a
voice and be a participatoryelement in the conversation
that's happening aroundhealthcare is something that,
that you're struggling with.
And I see this with so many ofour other clients, that they
feel like they have to getanother course.
They feel like they have to godo another thing.
To feel like they deserve aplace at the table when you are
the one doing the work.
(21:26):
You deserve a place at thetable.
And if you are willing to be thevillain occasionally, which I
think you have to be, if you'regonna give the real story.
So I use this analogy is thateveryone's looking for the man
behind the curtain.
So it's wickedly branded, wickedWizard of Oz, the whole thing.
We have a lot of Wizard of Oz,wicked references.
But you're looking for like forthe man behind the curtain when
all these certifications andreally when you open the
curtain, it's you standingthere.
(21:47):
It's you have to be ready tostand up.
You have to be ready to bevisible.
You have to be ready to have avoice.
So what part of visibility hasrequired you to have the most
courage?
Jennifer (21:58):
Just standing up in the first place.
Nursing, a lot of times we'retold to keep quiet.
We don't talk about patients, ofcourse, we don't talk about
patients.
But we should be talking aboutpatient behaviors that put us at
risk day in and day out.
We should be talking aboutpatient behaviors that end up
keeping our patients sicker.
We should be able to talk freelyabout how our workplaces
actually operate on a day-to-daybasis at ground level without
(22:21):
worrying about our jobs and ourlicense, because again, the
license is almost held aboveyou.
This threshold Hey, if you gettoo loud, we could take this
away.
And what are you if you're not anurse?
It's ingrained in us that it'spart of our identity, which is a
problem.
And you're nothing if you're nota nurse, oh, you're retired.
There's a nursing class oflicense, so you can still call
yourself a nurse, but you've gota retired license.
(22:44):
Again, seems like a money grab,but to be able to use the
classified word nurse, like you,you can't call yourself a nurse
without a license.
Or else risk fines and civilsuits and all the rest.
Cause it's a protected title.
Just like doctor just a lot ofother titles that are protected,
you have to maintain it.
And so they, they hold thelittle piece of paper.
It's don't get too loud.
'cause if you get too loud thenyour board of nursing, all of a
(23:05):
sudden you've gained theirattention.
You wanna be the little mouse inthe back that just goes in, day
in, day out, clock in, clockout, and that's it.
You're not making waves, you'renot doing all the things.
But in the long run, you'redoing us all a disservice by not
making waves.
Because without waves, how doyou know what's wrong and where
the obstacles are?
Beverly (23:22):
Or to make any kind of change that could be helpful for
you and for the patient caresystem.
Jennifer (23:28):
And how much nursing has changed.
We are not subservient todoctors.
They tell us that we arecoworkers.
Yes.
We work together.
You're on the exact same levelas healthcare aide, as ward
clerk, as physician, as physio.
We're all on the same team.
There's no one higher than theother.
It's, that's not how it is.
Maybe I'm directing a little bitmore than anybody else.
But that's cool.
(23:49):
That's part of my job is to makesure everybody's on the same
page.
We're all working in tandem.
We're going in the rightdirection for the patient, but
at the end of the day, it'salways for the patient.
That's why we're all there.
Beverly (23:58):
So one of the methods that we use when we work with
our clients, it's called theStory Brand Model, where we
position our clients as the heroand we're the guides.
And you're talking about that,like you're the coordinator,
you're the guide, making sureeverything happens, right?
And the patient's the hero atthe end of the day that you're
all trying to support.
So I love this kind of likeco-partnership that you're all
on the same quote unquote team.
Working for this hero to makethem better and healthier and
(24:21):
whatever that looks like for theparticular patient.
You talk a lot about burnout andsustainability and being the
villain, which I think isinteresting.
I oftentimes give our clientspermission to say no to things.
And to embrace the power of theno.
And that it's okay.
My business for 10 years wasbuilt on the word yes.
And I was completely burnt out.
And when I started to say no,was when I started to create
(24:44):
clarity for myself, but alsocapture my passion and joy again
for what I did as opposed tothis resentment almost for the
work.
And the power of no is notsomething that's mean, it's
honoring yourself and evenhonoring the client.
When I say no to somebody who Iknow is not a right fit, I'm
honoring them by not saying yes.
I want everyone to be happy andsuccessful.
(25:04):
There's been too many situationswhere I've had to pull people
across the finish line, and youjust simply cannot do that and
be successful and not haveburnout or regret or all those
things.
I have learned what I know I dowell and to stay in my lane and
to get the people that really, Iknow that I can help because my
system works, because I've beenthat system as well.
So what is something that you'vehad to say no to or delegate
(25:28):
that made your business feelmore sustainable?
By being the villain?
Jennifer (25:31):
So getting creative with scheduling.
Again, as an ER nurse, I've gota lot of flexibility with
scheduling.
So right now my husband worksMonday to Friday, eight to four.
We don't have daycare.
My kids aren't quite old enoughto get on the bus by themselves.
It's one of those things whereI'm like I guess I'm going a
straight nights becausesomebody's gotta be here to put
them on the bus.
Somebody's gotta be here whenthey get home.
And I can do that.
(25:52):
So working night shifts,figuring out how that works best
for you.
And stepping away from full-timework with my staff hospital and
picking up agency work, it'skinda like freelancing.
All of a sudden I'm walking intoan emerge.
I've been there maybe a handfulof times, but because I've got
the knowledge, skill andjudgment, I can just be dropped
in.
You go for 12 hours, you'vefilled that place.
(26:12):
The patients are taken care of.
We haven't had to close theemerge because we've got enough
staff.
We're gonna pay you a ridiculousrate.
Your job's not guaranteed, butfor this moment right now, there
it is.
Figuring out that with thatflexibility comes a huge amount
of financial gain plus time gainhas been amazing.
And feeling guilty about leavingthe staff gig, or dropping down
(26:34):
to part-time, you're like, oh,I'm supposed to work full-time
until I'm 65 at the bedside.
Like walking away, making yourown schedule, making it work for
you.
Being okay with not knowing ifyou're gonna have enough shifts
this week but trusting that youwill.
It has been huge.
My husband, it's been more andmore glaringly obvious by the
days that he does not do wellwith my flexible schedule.
(26:56):
He wants something where he canknow six months from now exactly
what I'm working, which hospitalI'm working at, what the hours
are, and that's it.
Whereas I am fine to, go to bedthis morning not knowing whether
or not I'm gonna get a call intonight or not.
That's fine.
I'm okay with that mentally.
I'm fine.
It is what it is.
And knowing that, two shifts ofagency nursing is equal to six
(27:19):
shifts in the same time periodwith staff nursing.
These are bonus at this point.
These two shifts allow me to bemore free.
I have more time for mybusiness.
I have more time at home.
And allows me to be freed up anddo my own thing and kind of be
my own boss within nursing,which is hard to find.
Beverly (27:34):
I think time is the one finite resource that we all
have.
And being really intentionalwith how you use your time and
what results you get from thetime that you invest in the work
that you do, the passion thatyou have the.
System you're a part of isincredibly important.
The thing that's probablytransformed my business the most
is taking control of the time ofmy calendar.
(27:55):
Yeah.
I literally block off time now Ichunk and stack my work
differently.
I have no meetings on Fridays.
Like I didn't realize that youcould do that.
It was once I determined thatthis is my schedule, my day, and
I know when I'm more productive,so I know I need to be in my
creative mode and writing for myclients then, and then when I
can be in meeting mode, which isbetter in the afternoons or
(28:18):
whatever.
So really leaning into whatworks for me from a bio rhythm
perspective, from my family'sschedule perspective has been
incredibly life-changing andempowering for my business.
And the small business owners wework with, if they do the same
thing it's life changing.
And that's where that balancefeels more real than in this
(28:38):
other prescribed reality thatdoesn't even fit anymore because
women are working.
The reason why I started mybusiness was for freedom and it
was quite the opposite for along time.
And now I feel like for thefirst time last three years or
so, that has completely changedand now I get to dictate my
time.
So I love that you've been ableto kind of harness that for
yourself and maximize it as bestas possible for you and your
(29:00):
family.
So I have a magic hat.
It's sparkly and it's a rapidfire questions.
So we're just gonna leave it upto the magic hat and see what
comes out of it today.
What is the worst advice you'veever received?
Jennifer (29:13):
When are you gonna quit?
Beverly (29:15):
Really?
Jennifer (29:15):
Guess where that one came from?
Home.
Beverly (29:18):
Really?
Your hubby?
Jennifer (29:19):
That's left some lasting marks that I didn't
realize lasted until an EFTsession with a girlfriend.
She's oh I'm leaning into EFT.
It says tapping and releasing.
And we talk.
And I'm like, I just need hours.
Would you wanna do'em?
Absolutely.
Let's do this.
What came up, him in 2020 askingwhen I would give it up.
When I was already burnt out,when I was finally choosing to
do this and choosing to moveinto it and, oh, when are you
(29:42):
gonna give this up?
Mind you, now it's starting toturn, now it's when are you
going away again?
Oh, it's just the sixth timeI've traveled this year.
It's fine.
Beverly (29:50):
If your brand hit a theme song, what would it be and
why?
Jennifer (29:53):
I've got an ER nurse playlist when I go into work.
Like it's a total mood that youlike, put it on you, go take
over control.
Oh my gosh, who plays it?
Bright Afro Jack.
Beverly (30:02):
Ooh, they're good.
I like them.
Jennifer (30:03):
It's my go-to.
So every emerge that I'veworked, which has been almost
about 10 now when I'm stalkingthe recess rooms, I listen to
that and I vibe and it's okay,getting into the groove of it.
Beverly (30:14):
I love it so much.
Using music is really powerful.
We actually have a Spotifyplaylist for our clients.
When they do their marketing,like to listen to be creative
and all the things.
What's a surprising way yourpersonal values show up in your
business?
Jennifer (30:27):
I just think being messy.
I love being messy.
It's very much an er thing.
It's very much a me thing.
This whole idea of perfect, I'vetold my kids from moment
freaking one perfect does notexist.
So when they're like, oh, butit's not perfect, I'm like,
perfect doesn't exist.
So now they repeat it.
Anytime somebody says perfect,they're like, perfect doesn't
exist.
If there's one thing that I'vedone as a mother, I think that's
it.
Beverly (30:47):
What's one thing you wish more people understood
about your business or industry?
Jennifer (30:51):
That nurses really do have the key to solving a lot of
frontline issues, but nobody hasever thought to ask our opinion.
If you are looking to solve aproblem, if you're looking to
get into a business, if you'relooking to do a PhD project if
you're looking to do anything inhealthcare or anything, period,
always please and first andforemost, go to the end user
(31:11):
first.
Do not go to them after the factor after it's already done, and
they have no input, right?
Because guess what?
The end user will sink it sofast.
It will make your head spin,especially nurses.
So if you are trying to solve ahealthcare issue, all you need
to do is ask a nurse show uplong weekend, full moon, night
shift, and bring coffee anddonuts or food.
(31:33):
We will tell you everything.
Beverly (31:35):
You'll be best friends.
Love that.
Okay, so that is the end of themagic cat round, but I also have
a wand.
So my wand is gonna help us timetravel.
I'm gonna wave the wand andwe're gonna go back in time to
Jennifer, when she firstgraduated from nursing school.
What is a piece of advice thatyou wish she had then, that you
have now that would've saved yousome burnout, grief, whatever.
Jennifer (31:57):
They are not worth your time.
The ones standing in your wayare doing it because they're
either jealous of what you'redoing or upset that you've got
the balls to do it.
Live loud, live proud, livefully you.
And you know what?
You'll be so much happierbecause carrying a mask day in
and day out is so freakingtiring and people are gonna
(32:19):
gossip about you anyways, sothey might as well be gossiping
about the real you.
Beverly (32:23):
You're not for everyone and it's okay.
Jennifer (32:25):
And that's fine.
What other people think of me isnone of my business.
Is one of my most favoritequotes.
Beverly (32:30):
This is where perfection becomes very
dangerous.
I am not here to live a lifethat's perfect for you.
I'm here to live a life that'sauthentic and real to me.
Yeah.
And if you don't like that, it'sokay.
But there are people who do, andthat's the people I want to
attract.
And I remember when we rebrandedand we took this live, I got a
little bit scared and was like,I don't know, people might think
it's too childish.
(32:50):
What I realized was, it doesn'tmatter because these things
bring me joy and all of itrepresents the magic that's
inside of you, the gift thatyou've been given.
If you believe in God or theuniverse or whatever the thing
is that you believe in.
And if you're suppressing it andpushing it and all the things,
then you are doing a disserviceto that energy.
So it was a very uncomfortablemoment for me to push the
(33:12):
publish and make it out therefor the world.
But it's also been the bestthing I've ever done.
I wanna ask Jennifer, what wouldshe think of where you are now?
Jennifer (33:19):
She would be so freaking floored as to where the
heck we are now.
Like even Jen, five years ago,in 2020 when she was curled up
on in a ball crying her face offcause she hadn't slept in six
weeks.
Even a year ago, couldn't haveeven imagined where I am now.
So it really propels you forwardto be like, if this is just a
(33:39):
year now that I've really foundmyself, found where I'm supposed
to be found, where I'm going,okay, if this has just been a
year, what's gonna happen in twoor five?
I don't know, but I'm open tosaying yes and taking a risk on
it.
And again, people can say no tothings, that's cool.
But funny enough, when youactually ask for things, 80% of
the time people just say yes.
And again, because they'repeople pleasing, it's not like
(34:00):
you're taking advantage, butjust because they say, they're
not used to saying no, that'snot on you.
Beverly (34:05):
But I feel like people want to help each other
inherently.
So that's comes from a goodplace for the most part.
Jennifer (34:10):
Swap services, honestly, if you are really good
at one thing and somebody elseis really good at another and
you're like, I don't really havea ton of money to like, get my
stuff off the ground, talk topeople, be like, Hey, I can do
this really well.
You can do that really well ifyou wanna just swap services.
But again, you're gonna bemaking way better contacts.
You're gonna be.
Putting yourself out there andthen all of a sudden your work
is also out there.
It may not be what you're doingprimarily, but your work is
(34:32):
still out there.
Your name is still on people'slips, even though it might not
be exactly what you're doingright now.
Yeah.
Beverly (34:37):
The connections are very powerful for sure.
So I'm gonna wave the wand andwe're gonna go in the future.
Decades.
Decades.
Decades into the future.
Jennifer.
Oh God.
And we're gonna be at yourfuneral and people are going to
be doing your eulogy.
We're gonna be talking about thekind of life you lived and the
kind of work you did.
What will people be seeing asyour impact with the work that
you've done?
Jennifer (34:55):
Jen was nothing, if not a cowboy.
Anybody who had worked with herknew she did things her way.
It might not have always been.
The policy way, but her patientscame first every single time.
And yes, her schedule was amess, as was she sometimes, but
that's okay.
And that's why we loved her.
Beverly (35:14):
Love that.
I'm gonna bring us back to thepresent and now, and I wanna ask
you, what do you think beingwickedly branded means to you?
And what advice would you giveto our listeners to be more
wickedly branded?
Jennifer (35:26):
Just embrace the imperfect and just go for it.
Truly.
There will never be in righttime.
There's always something that'sgoing to come up.
The key is being able to figureout how to manage your time as
best you can and realizing whatyou're worth.
I can assign a dollar amount tomy hourly amount of time, and
it's anywhere from 56 an hour to105 an hour, depending on where
(35:48):
I'm working.
So when I'm thinking about,doing a website or doing some
marketing or something likethat, they're not my strong
suits.
Am I interested?
Sure.
But if my time would be betterspent elsewhere it is okay to
hand off and this is how teamsare built.
And you're gonna fumble, therewill be bumps and follies and
you typically will get what youpay for, right?
So if it sounds too good to betrue, it usually is.
Just be aware of that.
(36:09):
But if me spending 500 bucks ona website is going to take that
off my plate.
And especially if I need, mywebsite to do a couple of
different things.
That isn't your typical, theamount of weight that came off
there was like, oh, okay, now Idon't have to worry about it.
Know that there's no shame inbringing other people who are
experts in their field.
If there's a certain group thatyou wanna support if there's a
(36:30):
niche where you wanna supportother people, that word gets
around.
You are supporting your others,and karma comes back around a
hundred times.
Beverly (36:37):
I love that.
That's so powerful to me.
One of the reasons why I leanfar into the female founders is
because I feel like it'ssomething that's missing and
there's so many brilliant womenwho just need a little bit of
help and support to find theirmagic and fully live where
they're supposed to be in theirzone of genius.
And that has ripple effects ontheir family, on their teams,
their community, when they'resuccessful, so much can happen.
(37:00):
So Jennifer, this has been agreat conversation, but where
can our listeners connect withyou and your work and learn more
about what's happening and whatyou're up to?
Jennifer (37:07):
You can find me at www dot nurse jenn, J-E-N-N, dot ca.
My books are on Amazon again,Jennifer A.
Johnson rn.
You'll find my books and thejournals.
You can find me on TikTok andInstagram at er nurse dot jen,
JENN and LinkedIn.
I'm probably most active onLinkedIn.
Jennifer Johnson, B-S-C-N-R-N.
Beverly (37:30):
I love it.
Thank you so much for being herewith us today, Jennifer.
I appreciate it.
Anytime.
Jennifer (37:34):
Thank you so much for having me.
Beverly (37:36):
So my listeners, I hope that today's episode, lit a
little bit of a fire under you,gave you some new ideas about
maybe just showing up a littlebit more messy and less perfect,
and most of all, inspired you totake some action for your
business, whether it's timecontrol or maybe.
Not having makeup on when you doa live at some point.
Because here's the thing youmatter.
Your message matters, and yourwork definitely matters.
(37:58):
And the world needs to hear whatyou have to say.
Marketing isn't just aboutvisibility.
It's about the impact you canmake.
It's about connecting with theright people in a way that feels
completely and utterly true toyou.
So keep showing up.
Keep sharing your brilliance andkeep making magic in the world.
And hey, if you ever feel stuck,know that you don't have to do
this alone.
Just like Jennifer said,sometimes it's easier if
(38:19):
someone's there with you.
We're here to help you turn yourspark into a wildfire.
Until next time, dare to bewickedly branded.
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