IAM448- NursePreneur Mentor Empowers Nurses to Monetize Their Expertise

Catie Harris, PhD, MBA, and Registered Nurse is the NursePreneur Mentor who has empowered hundreds of nurses to monetize their knowledge and skills in business while inspiring them to change the way healthcare is perceived and delivered. She strives to undo the perception that nursing care is limited to the hospital setting. Through her intensive mentorship program, Catie shows nurses how their nursing knowledge can transcend the hospital system into a profitable business.

Catie is an international speaker who has been featured in ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and Huffington Post. She has also shared her innovative mentorship work on National and International Podcasts and TV including Be Efficient TV, Dubai One, and Copy Chief with Kevin Rogers.

• CEO Hack: Book – Influence by Robert B. Cialdini
• CEO Nugget: Be persistent
• CEO Defined: Servant leadership

Website: https://www.catieharris.com/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/nurse_preneur/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/nursepreneurs1/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/catieharris99/

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, hello, hello this is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Catie Harris of NursePreneur. Catie, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Catie Harris 0:39

Great to be here. Thank you so much.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

No problem. Super excited to have you on and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Catie so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Catie Harris, Dr. Catie Harris, MBA and registered nurse is a NursePreneur mentor who has empowered hundreds of nurses to monetize their knowledge, skills, and business. While inspiring them to change the way healthcare is perceived and delivered.

She strives to undo the perception that nursing care is limited to the hospital setting. Through her intensive mentorship program, Catie shows nurses how their nursing knowledge can transcend the hospital system into a profitable business. Catie is an international speaker who has been featured in ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and The Huffington Post's she has also shared her innovative mentorship, and work on national and international podcasts and TV, including Be Efficient TV, Do Buy One, Copy Chief with Kevin Rogers. Catie, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Catie Harris 1:38

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 1:39

Awesome, let's do it. So they kick everything off. I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. What led you to get started with the business?

Catie Harris 1:46

Yeah, so I got started with this business because basically, what you just read in my bio is that I was just frustrated being at the bedside and I wanted to do more. So one of the first businesses that I started actually kind of evolved into was the Concierge Nurse business. Concierge Nurse Services, which is a service that helps patients after surgery, we pick them up, take them home with you, we stay with them for a period of time. I've helped coach other nurses in this arena for years. You know, watch all these nurses go off and do great businesses, after coaching them and stuff. I thought, well, this is a business.

So yeah, so I started nursePreneur is really one to start a community to have other nurses have a place to go so they could be inspired. Because I know when I first started, I thought, I thought I was so novel, like I was the only nurse in business. But it was really because there was no real community there. now I see hundreds and hundreds of nurses out there with businesses, and they're all inspiring, and I love to bring them together. The second part is to bring nurses to a place where they can not only get inspired but also get the information they need to get their businesses up and running.

Gresham Harkless 2:58

Nice. That makes perfect sense. Do you find like, I guess that nurses have a certain skill that makes them give them? I don't know, maybe an edge is more successful?

Catie Harris 3:10

Yeah, I always have jokes, and I'm half not joking, in saying that, entrepreneurs could learn a lot by just going to nursing school because there we learn to work with difficult people and to listen very, very, very well. Three delegate activities that need to be delegated. Fourth, we work on a shoestring budget, it's there's never any money to do anything, but somehow the nurses always find a way to get things done.

Gresham Harkless 3:40

Yeah, that's the definition of resourcefulness. Because a lot of times you have to do that. Businesses are able to do that. I always saw, you know, nurses as people that were incredible givers, just because especially in a professional like that, you know, you're giving so much of your energy, a lot of your probably emotional aspect of your yourself to be able to kind of support people and I feel like a lot of times you have to be that way to be successful in business as well.

Catie Harris 4:02

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 4:04

Yeah. So I know you've touched on it a little bit. Could you take us through a little bit more about exactly what you're doing? For if a nurse, here's a bachelor listening to this, like how exactly do they work with you? What are the different ways that they can connect with you?

Catie Harris 4:16

So, you know, I usually bring people into my free Facebook group first or have them take some free stuff off of my website just to kind of get a feel for how I teach. I basically teach nurses how to find the problem and work with an audience that they like, first and foremost, and then kind of check out the competition to see what else is out there. Because a lot of the nurses will come and say, I want to do I want to work with burned-out nurses and I have to help them reframe that. It's not that you can't work with our dealt nurses. It's just that nobody really buys a course and knows how not to burn out. Just like anything.

So reframing that concept around okay, if you're a burned-out nurse, what would you want? You don't want a course on not burning Don't you want a rope or a light at the end of the tunnel, you want something to go towards. So, helping them to reframe their programs and their ideas in a way that is marketable because that's the piece that's missing out of nursing education is how to market those ideas.

Gresham Harkless 5:17

Yeah, that makes sense. I kind of feel like in definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of times people might have those skills, as we kind of touched on those characteristics that can help them to be successful, they want to start a business, but may not necessarily know how, or how best to kind of communicate that. So you kind of need that assistance, so to speak, so that you can kind of be successful or give you a higher likelihood of being successful, and kind of sounds like a lot of the programs you're doing support that.

Catie Harris 5:43

Yeah. you know, to be honest, like, over the years I've been, I've sat with other nurses, and this certainly is not unique, or to nursing, but, you know, just sat around talking about really great ideas. Maybe I have a friend there and we're like mapping out the whole business, and then you leave, and the next day, it's just kind of like, you know, what are you going to do because you don't know what to do next. Then you see somebody who that business comes up a year later, and you're like, that was my idea.

Yeah, and that's one of the worst feelings in the world to have that opportunity. But I think you bring up a really good point because sometimes it's that so I guess there's two different parts, there's a lot of times people kind of deal with that fear of not knowing when to not want it not knowing what to do, but maybe be afraid to do it. But there's also a really large amount of people that don't necessarily know what to do, or what that next step is. You know, I'm glad you brought that up because you hear it, you have that idea, but you have no idea what to do after that.

Right. And it's so overwhelming because and that's the one email that I get all the time that nurses write me and they say, Well, I don't even know where to start. One of the things that I'll say is, you know, we need to start by one, figuring out what your expertise is, and then kind of branding you at that. It's an area that nurses don't think of, you know, I'm not going to brand myself out, I'm not a company, I'm not, there's not that but you have to.

So if you're an ICU nurse, you're specializing in, let's say, cardiac surgery, only healthcare professionals look at this but let's say you specialize in ECMO, which is a special procedure, you want to brand that even if you're not going to start a business, you want to be the ECMO nurse and put it on your LinkedIn put it on, you know, talk about it and Twitter and do all these things. Just to so people know what it is that you do and why they should come to you.

Gresham Harkless 7:26

Yeah, that makes perfect sense and not having and that was that was one of the things I wanted to ask you. Because it definitely sounds to me like you don't necessarily have to be somebody that knows or has been to business school and they know all the ins and outs. A lot of times you have that idea. But you don't necessarily know how to navigate it. You don't necessarily need to have that business know-how but because you can, you know, lean on experts like yourself in order to understand how to cross that bridge.

Catie Harris 7:52

Yeah, absolutely and honestly, like I said, just having that ability to share your message with people, and how to share it without being kind of salesy and spammy.

Gresham Harkless 8:03

yeah, nobody likes spam. That's for sure. So now, I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. You might have already touched on this, but this is for you or your organization. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Catie Harris 8:17

Well, I think, you know, really just focusing on the nurse, because I have had students come to me and say they've been to non-nurse mentors, I hate to say non-nurse, you know? They'll say that they just don't get it. It's the kind of question that I get all the time. Well, what can nurses do? What can nurses do, and they get that from their own coaches? So one, having that community of nurses that are actually doing stuff and showcasing what they do, I think is really important. Then just really working with them, one on one or one on a group.

So I have a group of nursePreneurs that we all work very closely together and share our successes and help each other out. We each bring different things to the table. But that aspect of your camaraderie is so important. You have to be with a group that resonates with you.

Gresham Harkless 9:11

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Catie Harris 9:24

Oh, wow. So a hack? Well, I am a huge book reader so I could give a list of books. One of the most important books that I read for my mindset was actually influenced by Robert Downey and I know that's a really popular book in the business world, but it's not so much in the nursing world, interestingly enough, it really kind of connected the dots for me in really understanding the influential process because you always hear everybody say, you got to do the know, like trust factor know, like trust factor. But I'm Robert Downey. really breaks it down. It really resonated with me. Then all of a sudden, I just got it. I'm like I understand now.

The second book on that would be The Key Person of Influence, which is another book. I can't remember the first I know, it's Daniel Priestley and somebody else, I can't remember this name for the life of me. But you know, and that's a lot of what I do with my nurses, whether they start a business or they don't start a business is helping to become that key person of influence. Because that's so important.

Nice. So now, I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you could happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self? So

Just be persistent. I can't tell you how many times I just, you know, ran into a roadblock. I'm like, Oh, well, I guess this business isn't gonna work. I've done that so many times, which is, and the only reason that one of my businesses didn't succeed was because my brother challenged me. He was just like, Well, I wonder how long you're gonna run this business and stuff? I'm like, That's rude.

So yeah, like, I just, had to show him up. fortunately, you know, he did put that in front of me, because it was something that I look back and say, Yeah, you know, I always gave up too early, mostly because I didn't have a coach or somebody to, but kept saying, You gotta keep going. You're, you're at a point where you need to push harder and push further, as opposed to this, is it?

Gresham Harkless 11:26

Yeah, just know, just just folding them up. I'm glad you brought that up. Because I always wonder that, you know, if, if also part of like, being able to be successful is knowing yourself, because I feel like if you're aware of the process that it takes to run a business, just as you kind of spoke to this, sometimes you just got to push harder. It's not necessarily you need to stop it. Sometimes you push harder, but it's also maybe even knowing yourself to know that. I don't know if your brother didn't know. But that's just assuming that he didn't do that challenge you now know that that's going to be your motivation.

So anytime you try to do something new, it shouldn't be just doing it. It also should be like, I'm gonna challenge myself to do it, and maybe you get a different outcome.

Catie Harris 12:04

Yeah. You know, I also think there are those myths and misperceptions that, you know, your business should be set up, and you should be making 20,000 million dollars or whatever, like, a week later, and when it doesn't happen, you're just like, Oh, this must not be a good idea. It just, the fact of the matter is, and I get this a lot, my Facebook group will say, How can I make $3,000 real fast? I don't know, go do some overtime. To actually put a business together, you're going to put a lot more money and a lot of time first before it starts coming back.

Gresham Harkless 12:34

Yeah, that makes sense. Do you feel like that's one of the reasons that I guess it should be something that you are passionate about? Because it is a process? It does take time, and you want to make sure that you do actually care about it. Because you do have to put in that time? It doesn't happen overnight?

Catie Harris 12:48

Yeah. I mean, you really have to love what you're doing. Because if it's something that's just you can't bring yourself to do every day, then it's just gonna be a pain.

Gresham Harkless 12:57

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. So now, I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different, quote, unquote, CEOs on this show. So Katie, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Catie Harris 13:10

I think being the CEO is just being the servant leader. You know, I worked for corporate Walmart for a long time. Their servant leadership was something that when I worked with them was real and it resonated, and it's something that I want to do as well. So I use my students as my success, right? So if I have successful students, then I consider myself a success. I use servant leadership in that way to show them what I what they can do, and then highlight what they're doing. Because that's true I think that's true leadership is seeing successful students go on and even do better than what you're doing.

Gresham Harkless 13:51

Yeah, absolutely. saying goes, if you can help enough people get what they want, then it helps you get what you want. A lot of times if you have that kind of servant, leadership mentality, that mindset, it allows you to not only you know, help out yourself, but you're also helping out others because it's kind of like this cycle. That's, that's going where once you help somebody else out there to help out more and more people. And this creates an overall tremendous, I guess, energy that goes out. Yeah, absolutely. Nice. Well, Katie, I truly appreciate your time. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and listeners know. Then of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Catie Harris 14:30

Now. Yeah, I think we covered quite a bit just you know, if you're, if you know a nurse, and she's ready for something else, and she can go to my website at Catie harris.com. I have free gifts and resources there. And they can join the free Facebook group as well, which they'll be able to find on the website.

Gresham Harkless 14:46

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes as well so that everybody can follow up with you and see all the awesome things that you're doing. Well, thank you so much for providing so much value. Thank you so much for all the things you're doing for the nurses who are looking for something to do have tried to pivot and try something new or have that burning idea that they have no idea what to do what the next step is how to get started, so I appreciate you. Exactly coming to hang out in the Facebook group. So, again, we will have those links and information in the show notes. But thank you so much, Catie, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Catie Harris 15:16

Thanks

Outro 15:17

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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