Nurse Shark Academy (Episode 56)

🎧 From nursing scrubs to business suits - Tina Baxter reveals how to turn your medical passion into entrepreneurial success! In this inspiring episode, the founder of Nurse Shark Academy shares her journey from curious teen to innovative nurse entrepreneur, breaking down how today's students can explore healthcare careers and create their own path.

Through engaging stories and real-world wisdom, Tina exposes the untapped opportunities in healthcare that most people never see.

This eye-opening episode explores:

• How to discover if healthcare is really your calling before investing years of study
• The hidden entrepreneurial opportunities for nurses beyond traditional hospital roles
• Why early exposure and hands-on experience is crucial for career decisions
• Real strategies for finding mentors and gaining valuable healthcare experience
• The journey from clinical practice to business ownership
• How to blend multiple passions into an innovative healthcare career

Perfect for: Students interested in healthcare careers, teens exploring different professions, young innovators wanting to make a difference in medicine, and the counselors, teachers, and parents guiding youth toward healthcare paths. Plus: Essential insights on turning medical expertise into entrepreneurial ventures that change lives.

To learn more about Tina Baxter's businesses, please click on the links below.

https://www.thenursesharkacademy.biz/

https://www.baxterprofessionalserviceshealtheducation.com/

Transcript

Welcome to Mindshift Power podcast, a show for teenagers and the adults who work with them, where we have raw and honest conversations. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. And welcome, everyone. Today, we have with us Tina Baxter from the Nurse Shark Academy. She is from Anderson, Indiana.

She is a nurse entrepreneur, owner of Baxter Professional Services Health Education, and owner of the Nurse Shark Academy. How are you today, Tina? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm really good.

I'm, looking forward to talking to you. So I like to dive right into it. Tell us a little bit about your background. Well, I am a nurse practitioner. I'm a registered nurse, advanced practice nurse.

So I've been in health care for over twenty years. No way. I started out as a lab tech in high school. I worked summers in the lab, and then I became a certified nursing assistant and worked in long term care and then decided to go back to school to become a registered nurse. And then later, got my master's degree in education and as a nurse practitioner.

What made you decide to go back to school to become a nurse? Well, originally, I was in college at the time. I was studying biology, and my goal was to go to medical school. But I discovered that I did not want to be a physician. I have physicians in my family, and what I saw is I just didn't like the way they live.

They had all the money, but none of the time freedom. And I wanted to know more about how the patient got to where they are and what we can do to help them to to get better, not just fix the immediate problem, but, you know, the other stuff that goes on that led to the issue a lot of times. And so I found nursing was really my calling and my niche, and I love it. Oh, I find that very interesting. So what I what I just heard from what I just gather from, what you just said was that there is more than just money as a an objective.

Yes. Yes. You know what? Nurse nurses can make good money. You know, we can.

But if you're just in it for the money, you're gonna be one of those that burn out really quickly. I can you repeat that, please, and say it louder? Yeah. Because if you're just in it for the money, the burnout factor is there. You have to really enjoy and love what you're doing.

And for me, yeah, there are days when it's tough, and there's days when I'm like, yep. I'm ready to hang up my hat and retire. Yeah. But then I also remember the days where, the patients whose lives have changed and touched and helped. And, you know, for me, that's a fulfilling of a calling.

So it's not just a job. It's a passion for me. Yes. I love hearing all of that because that is something that I I teach and and coach on. Your your passion is a part of your purpose, and that's what you should be making money on, not just working a job.

And if you had become a doctor, you would have been just working a job. You would have been making more money but with more misery attached to it. So what's the point? I I found it kinda stifling, actually. And I'm sure there are doctors out there who feel the same way about nursing because we're not all called to the same thing, and that's a beautiful thing.

Mhmm. I think that's great. So I'm glad that you you, you said that. Now I said you were the owner of Nurse Shark Academy. So what is Nurse Shark Academy?

Do you, like, teach sharks how to be nurses? I actually teach nurses that they are sharks. Oh. So tell us about that. A shark is an expert in their field of of business.

So for example, you know, everybody's seen the show Shark Tank. And and when I came up with the name of the, academy, I've been watching a lot of Shark Tank. And Daymond John happens to be, one of the people that I follow, and I had read his book. And so I got inspired, and I was trying to find a name for my academy where I help nurses to start, build, and launch their own businesses. And I thought, well, if we're experts in nursing, yes, and now we're gonna be experts in business.

So the Nurse Shark Academy came along, and then I also researched the actual animal. There is a nurse shark animal. And what I love about the nurse shark animal, yes, it really is, is that it has a lot of teeth. The shark has a lot of teeth, but it's generally, nonlethal. In other words, it won't bother you if you don't bother it.

And and so I like that aspect because nurses, we do have teeth now. You've been met some nurses. We got some tea. But most of the time, you know, we are compassionate and helpful, and we want to do what's best for the person. But don't don't get it twisted.

We will stand up and advocate for our patients, for each other. And so that's a good thing. And so I thought that's a great way of describing what it is to be a nurse expert in business, is to be a nurse shark. Oh, wow. I absolutely love that.

And I like that analogy because now I I just love that analogy of the the the nurse shark. I didn't know that there was actual real thing. So, give us some examples of businesses that, some of your clients who attend the Nurse Shark Academy have started. Well, one, actually, she's not a nurse, but, one is a social worker, and she developed her own she was in the school system for over, thirty years, and retired. And she wanted to develop a program for, young people, teenagers, on helping them to cope with some of the things that, you know, they deal with and really, put them forward.

So she developed her own, consulting business and coaching business to help families deal with the things that teenagers do deal with. And then she also included financial literacy in her practice. So we, helped her with some of the concepts and getting her started, and really working her through her business plan and and planning that. I had another client, who I have to say she's probably my best one because she she talks about it all the time. I helped her start a CNA training school.

Okay. She she was a CPR instructor, kinda like me, you know, biology major and all that, became a nurse, a nurse educator, and she wanted to have her own CNA training school. So by the time we got done working through her plan, she had called me one day and said, miss Tina, miss Tina, I went to the bank to start my, bank account, and they asked for my financial plan. And I could just hand it right to them because it was already done. I said, I told you that.

That feels really good. Yeah. That little bit of pain that you had in getting it together. We worked through that. It worked out.

So now she's doing so well. She's got contracts with several school systems teaching their, CNA training programs through her company. I absolutely love that you're doing this. I love entrepreneurship. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm very passionate about entrepreneurship.

But I like that you have a special niche that you focus on with it. And and I what I'm hearing is you know how to think outside the box when it comes to your industry and teaching people that they can go from just being a nurse. And some people are happy just being a nurse, but many of them do have ideas of entrepreneurship, and you can help them to to get into that. That's wonderful. So let me ask you this.

How has NurseShark Academy made a difference in the medical world? Have you seen that? I would say just by opening up people's eyes to what nurses can do and be. One of the things when I started the NurseShark Academy, I noticed is that when I was talking to people that were not in the health care field, they would say, I didn't know nurses could own businesses. Exactly.

I said, absolutely, we can. I'm like, if you can write a nursing care plan, you can write a business plan. So I said, yeah. We can do, any type of business and use our nursing skills in in a different way. You're still a nurse.

You just happen to be a nurse entrepreneur. And, one of the things that, that came out of that realization was that people didn't know what nurses could do. And then I had conversation with nurses who said, I've never thought of owning a business. I didn't know I could own a business. And so that's what made me start the podcast.

So I can talk to other nurse business owners so we can find out how they got started. So maybe it will inspire someone else to start their business. So I'm Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. I think you're Tina Baxter, the nurse mind shifter, because that's what I'm hearing. You you are able to shift people's thinking within your field, to to open up their minds to do more, and that is amazing because I think if you are able to do that, you know, like you said, with with nurses in the field, then the entire medical world does benefit by all these other practices, businesses opening up that otherwise wouldn't exist, that aren't just your standard, insurance, you know, rained Yes.

Businesses, which is what most of the medical field is right now. I think that that is that is wonderful. And do you see do you and does anybody ever come back to you and say, wow. Thank you so much, for teaching me because now I'm excited and I'm doing this and that or whatever. All the time.

That's the great part of being in this collaborative space. So I have met so many other nurse entrepreneurs and innovators out there. There's a whole movement that's going on in nursing that I don't think people are aware of. I think of organizations like nurses and tech that are helping nurses bridge the gap between technology and the nursing field. This was a this is a nurse who, her name is Amanda Payne, and she was in the technology sec sectors.

You know, she was in IT and then became a nurse, and now she's marrying that and how other nurses overcome that gap. There's just been so many great nurses out there. There's nurse that nurses that are inventing new devices. Right? And there's this wonderful event that happens.

I think I think they call it, like, nurse con or something like that where, basically, it's a big pitch fest for nurses that have invented something, to get investment into their products that, you know, put on every year. So there's a lot of great things happening, but nobody hears about it. And so that's why I do what I do. So you can hear about these wonderful things that are happening out there. Wow.

I I did not know that even existed, but that's actually exciting to me. And for all of you listening out there right now, I want you to as you're listening to the rest of this episode, I want you to think, what are some things that are inside of you that you could also marry and create some beautiful babies with? Just think about it. So how do you work with youth right now? I'm glad you asked because through, Baxter Professional Services Health Education, I have a group of high school students.

These young ladies are in my CNA training program. So I do have a CNA training program as well. And it's it's very interesting and rewarding to have such a group of young people. I've forgotten what it's like to work with teenagers because I'd work in adolescence as a as a nurse. So this has been really refreshing to work with them on, weekly basis and to see them grow.

And what do you do with them? I help train them so they when they're done with the program, and if they pass my test, they get to take the state test and become certified nursing assistants. And so they can then go out into the workforce and get a job immediately after high school or even while they're in high school. They can start their journey on becoming a nurse or whatever in the health care field if they so choose to do so. So there's room for them to move on.

So when they graduate from high school, they'll already be ahead of the game and already have a certification under their belt. That's awesome. And this is something that you do in person only, I'm assuming. Yes. It's in person.

Well, it's kinda hybrid, but they have to be in person because the state, rules and getting trained as a CNA. Yeah. Okay. And, how do how do you find these students? I actually have a, contract with the school that's offering the program.

So our cup they approached our company to offer the training for their students. And so, we, started the first class for them. So we'll see what happens. I mean, we may grow, and they've got nine campuses. So who knows where this is gonna go?

So CNA training is a good is a good pathway to to nurse them? Yes. Or or, actually, I've had, when I had my other business, training CNAs, we had our very first class. One of our students is now the, he was he became an administrator of the nursing home, kept the CNA, became the administrator. Then now he's the vice president working for the entire chain.

So that he started, what, gosh, about fifteen years ago, sixteen years ago now. Oh, gosh. It's been a long time. And then some of our students have become, physician assistants. They've gone on to be go to PA school.

Some have become nurses. One entered medical school. So you don't know where it's gonna take you. So just getting that that start of how to talk to a patient, how to, help someone with their physical care, what to look for, as far as, the changes in their condition and what to report. That goes a long way.

You'll be surprised at how many people who enter the medical field who have never touched someone else's body in that way, in a professional way, never had a conversation with an older adult that wasn't part of their family. So this is a great way of getting that step into the health care field, and knowing that if it's something you're gonna really like because that's another important thing too. So you can take the class, get learn the certification, and get started, and then figure out is health care really for me without having to invest a lot of money or time? Because some people find out, you know what? This isn't for me.

One of our students, she worked as a CNA for a little while, but she found out that she really liked the culinary arts, and so she became a chef. She worked dietary in the nursing home and then, became a chef. So she has her own, catering business as well as now over the all the kitchens in the nursing home. So, yeah, she's doing good things. Oh, that's good.

But she started out as a CNA. I like the idea of starting off as a CNA, doing some I like the principle or the idea of trying to work in a field first before spending all of that time and investment, especially money, into going to school. Because nursing school is not easy. I I my stepsister's a nurse, and I it it you know, she's a really good one, but it was difficult doing that, especially being a single mother with a kid. You know?

But she did it. She she worked her behind off, and now she's doing well. But, I know how hard that nurses have to work to get to get to that. I just I've known a few. And, and, yeah, you wanna make sure it's what you're getting into.

Just like someone goes into law, make sure that that's what you wanna do Exactly. With all this time and money. And then you're like, I wanna be a dancer because I can't stand that. And you spend all this time you know, and this is what happens to people when they're rushed into, this is the career we want you to do, and it's something I talk about a lot because I don't think that anybody should rush into a career they're not sure about. Now you do need to you might have to do things before you figure it out.

That's normal. But I think one of the best ways to figure it out is, like you said, work in the field that you're considering. Doing it might be doing something else. You might just be an an orderly. Do something so that you're in there so that you could kinda get a gist of what things are like, and then you can make a better decision.

And, like, it might you might go, oh my god. This is absolutely it. I am definitely sure now. Or I I have had people, and I'm sure you've seen this too. I've seen people who have told me that they went to go be, become something in the medical field, nurse, doctor, whatever it was.

And then they find then they go to school and they realize I don't like blood. So you definitely can't work anywhere in the medical field if you don't like blood. So Those are the people that work in administration. Yep. You can't that's something you can't do.

I'm one of those people where I can I can watch you dig around my arm and then with a needle I have and not flinch and just look like, did you find it yet? Like, that doesn't bother me. But don't spit because I'm I'm totally grossed up. You know, the spitting part, the sputum, I don't do well with, but I've been around dead bodies since high school. So, it's for me, that was nothing.

Oh, really? Yeah. Well, I in high school, because I was part of this learning program, and this is what I'm gonna say, for your young listeners. Hey. Listen.

If you get an opportunity to do something that maybe feel uncomfortable, go for it. So I was part of this program called Upward Bound, and we got to work, with these, students. And, also, I had a chance to work on the campus of the medical college, as a student leader in the lab. And because I was there doing these rotations, the physicians there took me under their wing, me and this other girl. And every time they had a autopsy, they would let us come and learn.

Oh, wow. And so I got a chance to see three autopsies, all before I went to to college, by the way. Oh, wow. So I saw, an older gentleman who died from COPD and really bad, lung cancer. Well, when they opened him up and not to be too graphic for your show, but I think it's important for our young people to hear this, One of his lungs looked perfect.

It was pink, healthy. The other lung was so damaged by the cancer and the smoking. It was shriveled and blackened. It was horrible. And he showed me where, on the outside, the lung looked good.

But when he opened up the other lung that looked healthy, he should show me where the damage was Oh, wow. And the lung. And so I want I want to get m p to hear that. Don't smoke. Don't smoke.

Because the ex smoker, that stuck with me in my head. Yeah. Yeah. Don't smoke. It's terrible.

But, I saw that, and then I saw unfortunately, I I watched an autopsy of a baby. They wanna know why the baby died. That was pretty sad. And then I saw Did that traumatize you at all? No.

I'm very good with stuff like that. Okay. I I learned how to detach early. I don't know. I I've I've always been curious about science in the human body, so I was very good with stuff like that.

And my dad my dad brought me, medical books that had, like, the human body in there in in the sections and all that stuff when I was younger. So I already knew what the human body kinda looked like at least I hadn't seen it in person. And so for me, it was a learning opportunity, and I was so focused on what I wanted to learn. And, it was a really good the the only thing that was bad was the smell. That was really bad.

But to say, I've also been around older adults a lot, though, growing up because my mom was a volunteer in a nursing home. So kind of the rule in the house was wherever mom volunteered, that's where we also I get that. I get that. We would go with her when she was volunteering. So I've been around older adults all my life and kind of was used to that population going into nursing homes and and seeing things.

So for me, it wasn't scary at all. Mhmm. Okay. And, what was terrifying for me was OB. Really?

My cousin is an OBGYN or he was. I think he retired retired now. But I spent two weeks with him. And that's one of the one of the reasons why I didn't go to medical school, because I just saw the lifestyle, and I'm like, yeah. Not not for that.

And so, I realized I was never gonna be an OB nurse because of that experience. What got to me was I didn't like being woken up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital for someone to have a baby, and there was no baby. It was Braxton Hicks. I was like, you woke me up at 3AM for no baby. What happened?

Oh, he now he's all happy, you know, whatever whatever, and I'm over there mad. Not for you. I need my sleep. Okay? So like, the experience you're what you were saying earlier really rings true.

If you get an opportunity to have a new experience, do it Do it. Because you don't know what it's gonna teach you. Exactly. It will teach you where you're it'll teach you what you can and can't handle, which is good to know ahead of time. I knew OB wasn't for me, and I worked in the lab for three summers.

And I realized I couldn't do that for the rest of my life. Sorry, lab people, but it was boring. Yeah. It was the same thing every day. And I love my midwifery friends, and I would tell them we were went to school together.

And they would be in we would be in some of the same classes, and they're like, oh, I can't wait to be a midwife. And I'm just thinking, why? They're like, oh, because the first experience is beautiful. And I'm like, yeah. But it's all the same.

And they're like, oh, no. Every every experience is different. I was like, no. It's not unless something exciting happens. And, of course, you don't want anything exciting to happen.

No. So no. It's not for me. But and that's the thing. It it's that's the thing.

It's good that you were able to figure out what is and isn't for you Because someone else that the things that turns you off will turn somebody else totally on. There are people who will sit in a lab all day and it's super exciting. They don't get excited by events. They get excited by information. So for so for that type of person, a lab is amazing.

They get excited by discovery. You you do a lot of that in the lab. So, you know, it's it's different for each of us, and that's beautiful. So it's and I'm saying that because I want all the listeners to to hear more than just about nursing. Hear the principles of what she's talking about because everything she's saying is extremely important, regardless of what field you're getting into.

Take the principles behind what she's saying and apply them for yourself. You know, figure out when you wanna figure out your career, have those experiences. You work if you think you wanna own a store, work at Walmart. If you think you wanna, you know, start there. If you think you wanna own a restaurant, start off at 16 or 14 or whatever age and work at McDonald's.

That's not a regular restaurant, but it's a start and then you can move up from there. There's things that you'll learn, like, oh my god, I can't stand standing on my feet all day and cooking food, so that ain't for me. Or I just wanna eat the food. I don't wanna cook it no more. Whatever it is.

Whatever it is, you know, for you to for people to figure out. So I love that you brought out those factors because I think it's very important for people to hear. And I'm me personally, you know, the the the, medical field has never been an interest to me. So it to me, it's all like, okay. It's just stuff that people do.

But the thing that I do like about nursing and and, being a doctor and a lot of the medical field, actually, but especially in those two positions, you guys really make a difference in people's lives. Like, for real. You guys and nurses and doctors make a difference differently. And I will tell you from my own experience, doctors make a difference because they could kill you or they can help you live better. Okay?

That's enough of a difference right there. Right? Yeah. So they can help you solve a problem or they can kill you. You know, either way, hopefully, they'll help you solve a problem.

But nurses, you guys spend more time with the patients than the doctor just by nature of how things are set up here in The US. So you guys are the ones that sometimes are the ones that are comforting, the patients where where the doctor can't because the doctor has to talk to you and do what he has to do, he or she, and then just, like, dart off to the next patient. By nature, they absolutely have to do that. Nurses, you have to do that too, but you have to spend a little more time with the patient. And I know I've had more conversations with nurses, and, I don't remember the names of the other positions, the other people that take your blood pressure and stuff like that.

Some of those people, they can make a difference too because they also hold conversations with patients. And sometimes they could be the one that comforts us. When you think you know, when you're, like, scared you're about to die or your heart's gonna explode or whatever's going on with you, it's important to have people around you who can soothe soothe you the best they can, whatever that means, because it's gonna be different for each of us. But I know that, you guys do make a big difference in people's lives because, you know, you make you can make or break someone's psyche in in a situation and where how we think, and I know this is a mind shifter, how we think is absolutely everything because how we think affects our physical health as well. And I know as a nurse, you already know that.

So I I just thank you for for all that you guys do. Now I wanna ask you, what advice you've already talked about a little bit, but what advice do you have for a teen considering getting into the nursing field now? I would say, look for opportunities. And Mhmm. In your community, there may be a chance for you to get a CNA training class or even start with getting CPR trained.

Take a CPR class. Learn first aid. One of the things we try to do is to get them involved in making some of those decisions that you have to make, you know, in an emergency. Just learning those little things can kinda open up doors. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Right? Look for some organizations in your community. So in our community, we have the Black Nurses Association, of which I happen to be the president and in in our community. And we look for students that want some coaching, mentoring to help them if they wanna enter the nursing field Because we want to want them to understand some of the, you know, the behind the scenes stuff. So if there's an opportunity for you to go to a job fair or get a job working at the hospital, I don't care if it's volunteering as a as a candy striper like they call back in the day or working as a volunteer, try to do something to get to know some of the people that are doing the things that you're interested in doing.

Get into their atmosphere. Mhmm. You'll find mentors there and people who want to help you. People genuinely want to help you, and you'll find the the right people to do that. And that's one of the things that, was very encouraging to me, as a nursing student, as two of the members of the black nurses happened to be in the hospital.

One was this nursing supervisor of the hospital, and one was a vice president of mission in the hospital. And they took me under their wing and helped guide me through that process and made sure that I got exposed to opportunities. And a lot of times, they're writing. This is who you know. You know?

And so because they we were, part of this, they made sure that I got a chance to work as a nurse tech on the floor and to do other things. I also worked in home care and hospice care during that time, and they, helped me let me work and volunteer in the church health stations and put me on salary as a paid person to work for them. So, you know, they did all these different things to encourage me as a brand new nurse, as a nursing student becoming a nurse. And so find out if there's organizations in your area that's doing what you wanna do. So I'm a mentor with the organization called Pass the Torch in Indianapolis.

And one of the young ladies that I mentored was going into mortuary science. Now I don't know much about mortuary science other than they take care of the dead bodies, you know, yada yada yada. What I didn't know was that that was a very male dominated, industry. Okay. So much so that they actively sometimes discourage women and particularly women of color from going into the field.

And so, this young lady was, she she was also a chef. I don't know why I keep getting any chefs in my life that is great. She was also a chef by training, but she was not in love with food anymore. She she loved it when she was doing it, but she was burnt out on that. She didn't wanna do that anymore.

And so she her heart's desire was to own her own funeral home one day. Okay. And so, I was able to help her navigate some things, get in touch with some organizations, kinda coach her through a problem she was having in her program because in Indiana, there's only two places you can train to be a mortician. Oh, really? And the one program had to shut down temporarily because the person that was over it teaching it retired suddenly, And they had no one to replace that person.

So she had to go back to another school, that she had previously left and went back there because they're the only other school in the state that had a program. I was able to encourage her to continue and say, hey. This is a different experience for you. You you were there before, but this you're a totally different person now, and you're doing something you really wanna do to keep at it. So, I know she's she's doing well, and she's kept at it.

So, I'm just saying, you could start something, enjoy it, love it, but maybe after a while, it's not the right thing in that season for you, and you could always make a shift and change. So don't be afraid to try something new. And if you love it, great. If you love it now and maybe not later, that's fine too. You can always make a change.

You have plenty of time to do that in your life. It is okay to change careers, and a lot of people do that, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. You can get tired of something after a while, and, okay, I I wanna move on. And I've known people to do the opposite when it but I don't know why, but especially when it comes to chefs. Mhmm.

I've seen people go from the medical field to chef free, Yes. To becoming a chef, you know, to to, you know, the culinary arts. They were a beautician and then they decided to become a nurse. There's just it's okay to do that because if you have gifts and talents, which we all do, but most of us have more than one. So you might find a different avenue to to use another or you just get burnt out sometimes.

You just want something new. There's nothing wrong with that. And it is okay to say I'm gonna do this for ten years, and then I'm gonna do something else. And that's perfectly fine and perfectly valid. And then maybe you'll fall into, like, a hobby that suddenly becomes part of your job.

Not a lot of people know that I was a radio DJ. Oh, really? I didn't know that. I was a radio DJ in high school and college. I had a jazz show in high school, and then I had a a gospel show in college.

I went to a Christian university. And I only got into broadcasting in high school because I ran out of classes to take. I seriously did. Nothing There we go. Trying something new.

Nothing would fit into my schedule. And I was, you know, I was getting ready. I coulda graduated early, but I didn't didn't wanna do that. You know? I coulda graduated in January, but I like school that I plus I was on the student council and all that kind of stuff, so I wanted to stay in school, and I was in the band.

And so I needed something to fill that gap, and I said, oh, they have radio broadcasting. That's completely out of my element. Never would have thought about it. So I convinced my mom because she was also in radio and television at the time. She worked in public relations.

So she didn't want me to go into radio and television or music. That's a whole other story. But I, convinced her to let me take the class, and I started taking it. And I loved it, so I kept up the show in college until I had to set it aside because of school. I was a, had a a major in biology and a and two minors, at the time, so I had to let it go.

But I was telling my mom a a couple years ago when I started the podcast. I was just doing my thing one day, and I looked up and I said, oh my gosh. Those skills that I learned back in high school, in college, being a radio DJ just came back to me and naturally added to my work as a podcaster. I just couldn't believe it. And I said, nothing nothing's wasted.

So maybe there's something you've done, like, as a kid that you enjoy that later on you get to do again. And I'm like, this one of the reasons why I'm so comfortable behind a mic. I was on the radio before I did the podcast. You've I you probably didn't know that either, but, I really think it trained me for the podcast. You know?

I was Mhmm. Again, it was an opportunity that was brought to me. I didn't go and I didn't go to them and say, hey. I wanna be on the radio. It was brought to me.

It was like, would you like to be on my radio show? Because you have a lot to say. So I'm like, sure. And, and I really think they gave me training for the podcast, so I'm grateful for it. And, again, I see the running theme here is create opportunities or seek them out and do something different because you don't know what's gonna what's gonna be the outcome of that, and it could change your trajectory for life.

It could change where you're headed career wise, make a difference for you. That's a big deal. Now we talked about the fact that you have a podcast. So, before we go, if you could tell the audience, where they could find your podcast and where they could find your other businesses. Okay.

Great. So it's the Nurse Shark Academy Show, and you can find us on our website, the nursesharkacademy.biz, or you can go to Podbean, and you can find us wherever you get your podcast, Apple, Google well, not Google now. Just YouTube now. Yeah. Samsung, Amazon, Spotify.

Spotify. Yep. Yep. And then we also have the YouTube channel, so you can also, follow us on the YouTube channel and subscribe. Awesome.

Well, Tina, it has been awesome talking to you. It's really been fun, and I've I've actually gotten really excited about just lots of conversation. I love talking about entrepreneurship, and we can hear your passion and excitement, and I think you are doing the right I think you're in the exact right field where you belong. And, sounds like you're making a difference for other people, which is, at the end of the day, the biggest deal. So, again, thank you for coming on.

Well, thank you. Thanks for having me. And now for a mind shifting moment. I wanna plant a thought seed in your head today. I wanna go back to a statement that I made earlier.

It is never too late to make a career change. I wanna talk to a particular portion of my audience today. Are you considering a career change? Are you considering, are you kind of tired of what you've been doing and you think it's time to move on? I want you to know that if that's you, it's actually okay.

It is okay to have a complete and total re rerouting of your career and do something different or sometimes just a different field. I'm sorry, a different career within the same field, whatever it is for you, something totally different. Don't let anyone convince you that you can't. You can. And it's okay.

I just want to add, please use wisdom as you do it. If you need to go back to school, go back to school, still keep your job and go back to school until you're ready for it. And if it's not something that you need to go back to school for, make whatever moves you need to. Career changes are okay. In fact, for some of you, it's a good idea.

So if that's you, it's just something I want you to think about. Thank you for listening to mind shift power podcast. Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel at the mind shifter. If you have any comments, topic suggestions, or would like to be a guest on the show, please visit FatimaBay.com/podcast. Remember, there's power in shifting your thinking.

Tune in for next week.