The Business of Nursing: An Interview with Amelia Roberts
I recently had the opportunity to do an interview with Amelia Roberts, RN for her Business of Nursing podcast, a project that Amelia started to showcase the variety of nursing businesses, what works, and what doesn’t for nurse entrepreneurs. Amelia is a former GI and Endoscopy nurse and digital native who officially became a practitioner of online marketing twelve years ago with a role as a virtual assistant. Student loans from nursing school inspired her to put her marketing experience to use and she started offering social media management support to a variety of purpose-driven organizations.
Shortly after, Amelia had the opportunity to become an online community manager for a health literacy association and later dove into social media data analytics with Stanford University’s MedX project. Along the way she saw a need for other health professionals to start disseminating their expertise and make reliable health content easy to find. One thing lead to another and Amelia now works as a visibility expert and digital marketing consultant, helping under-recognized professionals become thought leaders by skipping the maddening world of Facebook Ads, sales funnels, and algorithm changes. Amelia coaches her clients to engage online collaborative partners such as podcast hosts, bloggers, and social media referral networks who already have the “know, like, and trust” of thousands of supporters.
I asked Amelia a few questions to answer for the New Thing Nurse Blog. Read below to get her perspecive on transitioning from bedside nursing to starting her own business where she helps clients in optimizing their human potential.
New Thing Nurse (NTN): The New Thing Nurse Blog is all about learning from each other by sharing our professional journeys. How did you fall into nursing? And what area of nursing did you start in?
Amelia Roberts (AR): My upbringing was influenced by women in my family who were either teachers or nurses, a group that has sometimes been called the “Pink Ghetto.” While I loved technology and computers, my mom said she would pay for school if I became a nurse like her, so I did. Yet I never loved working MedSurg, nights, weekends or holidays, so I started my nursing career in the outpatient world with GI/Endoscopy Nursing.
NTN: Now that we know where you started, tell us about where you are now. What motivated you to make that transition into your "new thing" as you call it on your website - a Human Potential Optimizer?
AR: Over the course of figuring out what I was born to do as a human, I looked at all of the things I enjoyed and projects that went well. They all had a common thread: I help people survive, thrive and get to their highest potential, at the bedside, in the boardroom or in their business. In short, I help people get visible, be seen and live optimized lives.
This realization is what moved me into this work being a visibility expert and human potential optimizer.
NTN: Do you have any tips for anyone out there who might be considering jumping into a "new thing" of their own, especially for any of our nurse readers who might be interested in launching their own business?
AR: Yes, as nurses our greatest fear is killing someone. Please note that death need not be a concern when it comes to trying your new thing! In short, you will not die nor will you likely kill anyone by choosing a new path that serves you best.
NTN: What has been the best thing that you have invested in to help with your "new thing"? What was the least helpful?
AR: Investing in reputable coaching has been the best thing that has helped me with my new thing. There is a lot of information that they do not teach in nursing school, so a good coach can shave YEARS off of a pretty steep learning curve.
On the other end, some so-called “Experts” have been the least helpful.
Following the advice of some "Gurus" led me to think that I needed to do #allofthethings just to get my business to take off, yet when in reality is was about having a specific outbound client getting plan and then working that plan to get clients.
NTN: I love the idea behind your blog and podcast. Can you tell us more about the podcast and what inspired you to start it?
AR: As I started helping people get visible and grow their audience, other people seemed to be surprised that as a nurse I had the ability to learn something new. In short others were surprised that a nurse could learn a new skill such as marketing and get people results.
Because of this knowledge gap, I created The Business of Nursing Blog to show that nurses are capable of learning MANY new things and our skills ARE transferable and VALUABLE in places beyond the bedside and traditional nursing roles. Related, I also wanted to use my blog to bring new resources to the attention of nurses who are thinking about what else is out there for them.
NTN: Do you have any exciting "new things" in the future?
AR: Yes, I plan to focus on helping under-recognized professionals grow their visibility by being featured as guest experts on podacasts, in Facebook groups and on virtual summits of their best buyers, clients and referral partners.
NTN: Do you have any other advice for our readers?
AR: Yes, when it comes to reaching out for something new, dare to believe that it will be easy.
Sometimes we have fears related to how hard something will be, yet many times people are seeking for someone with just the sort of skills you offer. You just may be the the solution that someone has been dreaming about having in their life!
Listen to my interview with Amelia on her podcast, The Business of Nursing here:
Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL on The Business of Nursing Podcast
How to find out more about Amelia Roberts, RN and her many projects:
About the Author - Sarah K. Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, CNL is an educator, speaker, blogger and owner of New Thing Nurse, a professional and academic coaching company for the nursing world. New Thing Nurse is organized to provide support and guidance to aspiring nurses, newly graduated nurses, and veteran RNs looking to make a change in their life.
Whether it’s a new school, new job or new idea,
New Thing Nurse wants to help with your new thing!