81: Building a New Business as a New Nurse Coach- Whitney Distefano BSN, RN, NC-BC

81: Building a Business as a New Nurse Coach- Whitney Distefano BSN, RN, NC-BC Transcript

Nicole Vienneau  00:00

Welcome, everyone, to the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! podcast. My name is Nicole Vienneau. I am your host, and I’m also a Board Certified Integrative Nurse Coach. And I’m excited about today. I love newer Nurse Coaches. They are the future of Nurse Coaching, and they bring so much positive energy and innovation and just zest for Nurse Coaching. 

So for me, it’s so amazing and so fun to chit chat with newer Nurse Coaches. And today we have Whitney Distefano. She is a brand new, Board Certified Nurse Coach. Graduated in spring of 2024. And she is a business owner. She is the owner of Wellness Within with Whitney. 

And she’s from Wilmington, North Carolina. And what’s really cool is her title. I love her title. She is a Women’s Health and Wellness Nurse Coach. And why I want to have this discussion with Whitney is she has been working diligently to create and build her business. 

And we all know, or we may not know, that it can be really challenging to start a business, especially, you know, coming from a Nursing background where we are conditioned to be in the hospital and punch in and punch out and do our things like we are receiving a paycheck from an organization, all of that. 

And It is very challenging and also filled with many opportunities to be an entrepreneur. So I’ve wanted Whitney on our podcast so that she can share with you some of the challenges she’s facing, some of the opportunities, some of the possibilities, all of these amazing things that she’s been going through as she is working towards building her business Wellness Within with Whitney. So, we welcome Whitney.

Whitney Distefano  02:06

Hi, thanks for having me, Nicole. Happy to be here.

Nicole Vienneau  02:10

Good. I’m happy to have you here too. Yes. So we love to go and take a trip down history lane and learn why did you even decide to be a Nurse?

Whitney Distefano  02:20

You know, this is a really good question, and surface level, if you asked me, I would say that I stumbled into Nursing. But then, if I think back to being a child, my parents will tell stories about me carrying a first aid kit in my backpack in case there was ever an issue. I always had a bandaid on the ready. 

Still do, actually. And in first grade, we all had to write with this prompt. And the prompt was, there is a miracle in me. And then what special thing about us? And little first grade six year old Whitney drew a picture of me as a Nurse taking care of a mom and a baby, which is so interesting because later in life, I worked as a mother baby Nurse for about three and a half years. 

So I think my younger self really knew deep down that I was destined to help care for others. Straight out of high school, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really have plans to go to school right away. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I was very fortunate that a friend of mine’s mom was an optometrist and owned her own practice, and saw potential in me that at that time I really didn’t see in myself. 

And she asked me, as I was waitressing and, like, working at a car wash, you know, doing typical 18 year old things, and she was like, why don’t you come work with me? And I thought, oh, like in a doctor’s office, that’s really interesting. Sure, I’ll try that. And I worked in optometry for a little while, and really kind of enjoyed helping take care of people in a different way than I had done in previous roles. 

And then from there, transitioned to working in ophthalmology, moved to a bigger city, Wilmington, and then one day, really just kind of got curious about what the doctors were doing when they left our clinic and went to the hospital. And so I asked if I could tag along one day and go to the OR and follow one of our surgeons doing cataract surgery. 

And it was that day, as I was in a freezing cold OR wrapped in a blanket, observing these cataract surgeries, that I spoke to one of the Nurses, and it was like this light bulb went off for me, like, oh, I could do this for a living. Like, I could help people in a different way. 

I could move away from the clinic and kind of work as a Nurse in the healthcare system. And so it took me a while. It’s funny now to think about, because by the time I was done, I was 24 which is not old at all. But for me, looking at my peers who had graduated college, you know, two years earlier, I just felt ancient, like, oh my gosh. 

But I worked during the day in the ophthalmology practice, and I took my prerequisite courses for Nursing in night school. And then I was really fortunate that the local community college in Wilmington had the top rated Nursing program in the state, and so I applied. 

I got in first go around, which was amazing, and I went to Nursing school at night, worked part time during the day, and then did my clinicals on the weekends. And found my way to Nursing, which really is where I think I was meant to be all along. 

Nicole Vienneau  05:59

Beautiful story. I’m imagining you as a little girl with the first aid kit. So cute. Little Whitney with bandaids and… 

Whitney Distefano  06:11

Ready to go. 

Nicole Vienneau  06:12

Ready to go. You need it? I got it.

Whitney Distefano  06:15

That’s right.

Nicole Vienneau  06:20

And then finding that one person who could really make a difference for you and saw a lot of potential in you and wanted to see you shine in your unique way. And then, you know, just going to school. I mean, it sounds like you were doing other things, so if you went to school at night, you were working during the day. I mean, that’s hard, to do all that.

Whitney Distefano  06:41

Yeah, it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. I was fortunate that, with the support of my parents, I was able to, once I was actually in the Nursing program, cut my hours down a little bit. But yeah, I was in clinic, you know, most days of the week, and then going to class at night, and then clinical was the weekend. 

So it was a pretty all consuming couple of years as I really pursued my Associates of Nursing, which was the first Nursing degree that I got.

Nicole Vienneau  07:13

Yeah, yeah. We all know that Nursing school is not a breeze as it is. I mean, it’s one of the most challenging degrees, or challenging, you know, education programs that are out there. So yes, kudos to you. So when you graduated Nursing school, what happened from there?

Whitney Distefano  07:30

When I graduated Nursing school, I transitioned away from ophthalmology, which had been such a nice place to be, but something that I knew I didn’t want to do long term, and I began working in the hospital. I really, in my heart of hearts, wanted to do NICU or mother baby, but knew that those specialties were hard to break into as a new grad. 

And so I ended up working on a pulmonary medicine oncology floor. That floor was a really interesting mix. So it was a lot of med search, which was a great learning experience. And then we had the oncology piece, and kind of hand in hand with the oncology piece is we had… 

we had the opportunity to provide in-hospital hospice services on that floor. So that was a very unique experience for me. Working with patients at end of life wasn’t something that I’d ever experienced before, and then I was kind of thrust head first into that world as a new grad. 

I learned a lot. It was very humbling to be able to kind of sit and hold space with patients at their, you know, at their end of their lives, and be with the families. And I learned a lot in the time that I spent in that unit.

Nicole Vienneau  09:00

Yeah. Just those, especially those beginning years of Nursing, they really build a foundation for us and how we show up as we go through our Nursing practice, yeah. And so from there, did you move into different areas, or what areas did you move to?

Whitney Distefano  09:17

So after working pulmonary medicine, oncology for two years, I transitioned from being a full time bedside Nurse to working in a PRN capacity because I had my first of two children. And I think that’s one of my favorite things about Nursing, is that it affords you the flexibility to adjust your hours as needed, to meet the needs of your family and your lifestyle and kind of, you know, just fitting in a better work life balance in some kind of ways. 

So from pulmonary medicine, I found myself working in the med surg float pool for my organization. And so I floated all over the hospital. I was pretty much anywhere other than the ICUs and the emergency department, so all of the med surg floors. I would work in our skilled Nursing like rehab facility, and would help in the psychiatric units as well. 

So got just a whole breadth of experiences, some good, some not so good, as anyone who’s worked as a Nurse could understand. And from there, was really fortunate to have the opportunity to meet the manager of the mother baby department, and I, you know, kind of just fangirled on her. 

Explained that she managed my dream department and mother baby was really where I saw myself working and what in my heart of hearts I wanted to do. And I explained that being a PRN Nurse, I just thought that was something that would never be available to me, not having had experience in that area, I didn’t think that transitioning in and staying in a PRN roll would be feasible. 

And she said, well, no, I think it would be. And so I was able to transition from the med surg float pool to mother baby, which was my absolute favorite bedside and hospital Nursing role. And I worked there for three and a half years, and really, really enjoyed my time there.

Nicole Vienneau  11:25

Well, yes, I mean, you were explaining when you were young and drawing a picture of being a Nurse with baby and Mom.

Whitney Distefano  11:35

That’s right, I made it. I made it and it was great. I really loved that role. It was sobering in some ways, because in my mind, I thought I was going to be going to this unit and caring for families that were happy like mine when they had kids. And then I was faced with kind of the reality that it’s not always like that. 

But a really wonderful unit. I only left that unit to show up more fully for my family. My husband travels a lot for work, and I have two kids that are in school now and trying to manage a 12, which we all know is really more like a 13, sometimes 14 hour shift with a husband that’s often out of town and kids that had school and after school activities, just wasn’t feasible.

 And so I transitioned to the role that I’m still in currently, working in a GYN oncology clinic that’s attached to the hospital.

Nicole Vienneau  12:37

A lot of vast experience for you and so many lessons learned. Yes, yes, through your years. Now, how did you discover Nurse Coaching? 

Whitney Distefano  12:50

How did I discover Nurse Coaching? I think that’s a great question. From the very beginning of my Nursing career, I was always very interested in health and wellness. I remember when I had clinical, was riding my bike to the hospital to pick up my clinical assignment. 

Just always really interested in kind of getting out there and being active and caring about nutrition and what I was putting in my body, and then I would show up to the hospital, and always just felt like this little bit of a disconnect. Like, I know my truth of like eating well and caring for my body and doing these things. 

And then I would go to the hospital and see these patients that were so sick, and the solution would be like, well, let’s put them on a clear liquid diet for this period of time, and then their clear liquid diet would be jello with red dye number 40 and high fructose corn syrup. And knowing that like that wasn’t really helping anybody. 

And so for a long time, I just felt a little bit disconnected, but didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t know Nurse Coaching existed. And then in my personal life, just getting more and more interested in health and wellness, I got my yoga teacher certification. 

And then through the wonders of social media, I started seeing people talking about this thing called Nurse Coaching, which was just a new concept to me, and something that seemed really intriguing and interesting. There for a little while, I had a tiny chip on my shoulder that it wasn’t a graduate degree, and so I just wasn’t sure that it was the path that I wanted to pursue. 

And then I had a really great talk with a friend, and she was like, Whitney, this sounds exactly like what you want to do. Like, who cares if it doesn’t come with a degree, if it’s what you’re passionate about? And so I really started looking seriously into programs. 

I found INCA and man, I just loved their mission, and I loved the heart behind what they were wanting to do for Nurses, and then also, just for the health and wellness of like our whole society. So I decided to take the leap, and I did INCA’s program. I think I started right around this time last year. I think it was September. And, yeah, haven’t really looked back since then. 

Nicole Vienneau  15:20

Yeah, and you got your board certification in Nurse Coaching. So you did the exam. You did that in May, didn’t you? 

Whitney Distefano  15:30

I did, I did, yeah. 

Nicole Vienneau  15:32

So it’s been kind of… it’s been a whirlwind for you, taking the course a year ago, starting the course a year ago, graduating, and then taking the board exam, and now you’re in this stage of your career where you have opened Wellness Within with Whitney. 

And I know from our listeners and from many conversations that I’ve had with our integrative Nurse Coaches from around the world, that some of us want to open our own businesses and practice independently, and it can be a big challenge at first… and not at first, it’s like for a long time, because I am still… 

I’m an entrepreneur, and it is a challenge every day for me too. And so becoming… you know, having all of this excitement about graduating the program, getting your board certification, starting Wellness Within with Whitney, all of that, like, that’s exciting, and that’s kind of pushing you forward and helping you. So I’m just curious how you decided first you even wanted to go into practice for yourself?

Whitney Distefano  16:47

That’s a good question. A couple of reasons. One, I think it always comes back to, like, vision and values, right? And this is interestingly, something that I talk about with my clients. But like, what is your vision, and what is my vision for my life? And then what do I value the most? 

And one of the things that I value the most is being able to show up well for my family, show up well for myself, and then show up well for the people that I’m caring for. And so one of my primary motivators for starting my own business was my family and my kids, and knowing that if I were working for an organization, and say I had a sick kid that day, like that was gonna… 

that could be challenging for me to try to navigate, versus owning my own business where I have this, you know, studio upstairs, and I could be Coaching and working with clients and showing up and doing what I love while having a kid at home if need be, and having, you know, the availability to kind of flex my schedule in that way. 

So that’s kind of the logistical side, and that’s how my brain works, so that’s where I go first. But then also, on a deeper level, I just have felt a calling for a long time to be a part of the solution. Our healthcare system, I think, is doing a better job of shining a light on preventative medicine, but it’s not fully there yet. 

And Nurse Coaching, I think, is just such a great opportunity to help bridge the gap for patients. They have stress, they have comorbidities, these things that their doctors are telling them they need to work on, and they… as much as they may like to make a lifestyle change, they don’t always understand how. 

And I really wanted the opportunity to be able to show up with clients in a way that felt authentic to me and in service of them, and not work on the agenda of a hospital system or clinic, but really be able to make the choices that I thought were best for the clients that I’m working with.

Nicole Vienneau  19:08

So your values and your vision helped you decide that, hey, this is the best, the better way to go. Now you were making money and working full time salary coming in, and how did that feel in that transition for you, as you say, you still are doing some work in the hospital. So what does that look like for you now?

Whitney Distefano  19:35

So what it looks like for me now is closer to what I used to do when I was bedside working in a PRN role. And so rather than leaving my role in the clinic where I work entirely, I decided to stay on PRN which is fantastic. It allows me the opportunity to pretty much work as much or as little as I want. 

So right now it looks like me working three to four shifts generally a month, and so I’m able to kind of show up, feel like I’m of service, help out the team that I’ve worked with for the last couple of years, and then also bring in a little bit of income, which has been really helpful in these first few months as an entrepreneur. 

I think some of us just have this delusion. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but this delusion in our mind that we are going to take this program and we’re going to pass our boards and we are going to form, for me in North Carolina, I formed a PLLC, and I was going to build a website. 

And I was going to make an Instagram, and then people were just going to be knocking down my door to schedule Coaching calls with me. And that hasn’t been the case. And so I think for me, I really appreciate the comfort of having that PRN roll, that way, I can go and I can work, and I can make some income there. 

But it also allows me to have enough freedom in my schedule to do the things that I feel like are important to help build my business and spread the word about Nurse Coaching and what it is I do to help women.

Nicole Vienneau  21:20

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. You know, we have to have income coming in. If we have mortgage payments, children, we need to buy food, toilet paper, all of those things we need. And you know, starting a business is difficult, and getting clients to sign up, to say yes to themselves, is also very difficult. It can be very difficult. 

So this is a… been a happy medium for you, to, just like, have some income coming in, begin to build your business, and, you know, do all these important things, like starting the PLLC and getting your word out, and, you know, and then the realization, like, holy crap, this is not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be, and still wanting to continue anyways.

Whitney Distefano  22:08

Yes.

Nicole Vienneau  22:09

Yes. Okay. So tell us some wins that you’ve had since, you know, you’ve only really just opened Wellness Within with Whitney, like, how many months ago?

Whitney Distefano  22:21

So, good question. I started my Instagram account a year ago as a way to document my journey through INCA’s program. And that’s where that title, Wellness Within with Whitney came from. I just, you know, kind of had all these ideas of different names. 

And ultimately, I really think that happiness and wellness is an inside job. It’s something that we all have a personal responsibility to ourselves to work towards. And so it was just kind of a slow evolution. I started the Instagram last fall, I formed an LLC, and then I very soon learned that I have a professional license and I’m not supposed to have an LLC. 

I’m supposed to have a PLLC, which was my first big learning curve, right, of which there have been many. And slowly started building, created a website, did those types of things, all kind of behind the scenes, and then formally launched in June. 

I really felt strongly that I didn’t want to begin seeing clients until I had finished my program with INCA and successfully passed my boards. So yeah, it’s been just over, you know, just over three months now since formally launching. 

Nicole Vienneau  23:43

That’s exciting, the beginnings, and yet it was like also over a longer period of time too, because if you started your Instagram account, I mean, were you on social media before then?

Whitney Distefano  23:57

I was, I have a personal account, but felt really strongly I wanted to keep my kids and my family, other than my dog Luna, who she’s on my business account, but I wanted to keep the rest of it separate, and so created a formal account just for Wellness Within with Whitney to share.

Nicole Vienneau  24:14

Right. I mean, and these are decisions you have to make as a business owner, like, how do you want to do that? You want to have separate accounts? Do you want to have just your business account on social media? And you know, these are all questions that have come up for graduates to figure out, like, what is it that I want to do? 

Okay, so you didn’t have to learn social media, because some of us, a little bit older, may have, you know, and some of us younger too, may have never even been on social media. Now are deciding want to be entrepreneurs, and here we are having to learn whole new skill sets, right? So tell us some things that you have learned that you didn’t even know you needed to know. 

Whitney Distefano  24:55

Oh, my goodness. So, so many things. From  a business perspective, I think it’s so interesting, like, for example, the LLC versus the PLLC. And then my business is technically called Wellness Within with Whitney PLLC. And then I was writing it places as Wellness Within with Whitney, and I go to form my bank account and open my business account. 

And the really nice woman who helped me set this up was like, I see you wrote you’re doing business as name as Wellness Within with Whitney. And I was like, yeah, that’s what I do business as. And she said, well, where is the form that you filed with the state about this? And I was like, oh my goodness, there’s a form for that? 

So that was a learning curve. I decided to build my own website, which is not something I’d ever done. That was something that I learned how to do. And thank goodness for YouTube, because I feel like there’s a wealth of information there. I was a social media user. However, I didn’t post that often. 

I never made a reel, I’d never done a poll, I’d never reached out to people that I didn’t really know and introduce myself and explain that I was a new business owner in the community. It’s just been one learning opportunity after another, and truly just like a practice of vulnerability, of showing up and putting yourself out there and really doing the best I can to be detached from the outcome, which is what they teach us as Nurse Coaches as well. 

Showing up day in and day out, and knowing that, you know, you’re gonna find things that you don’t know how to do, you’re going to find that there are questions that you didn’t even know were questions. And just having to come back to the attitude that, like, everything is figure out-able. It’s true. I say it all the time, like I made a brochure yesterday. I didn’t know how to make a brochure. I figured it out.

Nicole Vienneau  27:06

It’s totally figure out-able. And, you know, I know some of our listeners would be like, but gosh, that sounds like a lot of time that you put into all of this. 

Whitney Distefano  27:18

Yeah, it is a lot of time. The good thing is, it doesn’t all have to happen overnight. Yeah, there is time. And some of the decisions that I have made are not necessarily the decision that somebody else would make. I spent a fair amount of time building a website, but I’ll be honest, I can see the metrics of that website. 

I don’t have 1000s of people going to that website every month. So perhaps for someone who finds that really intimidating, don’t have a website right now, and I think that’s okay. If Instagram seems really scary to you and Facebook is something you’re used to, like, keep that as your platform. 

I think everybody has the opportunity to build a Coaching practice that is authentic to their journey and going back to those vision and values. And so what I’ve chosen to do doesn’t have to be a blueprint for everyone. It’s just my journey in Nurse Coaching. 

Nicole Vienneau  28:27

You know, that’s beautifully said, because it is very true. We can tend to see others doing so many things and seemingly so successful and/or doing this, doing that, and going to this event and that event, and what we miss in all of that is that we can do this in our own unique way. We don’t have to do it like someone else is doing it, unless you totally want to emulate that person. 

But then again, it has to go back, I think, to what you said at the beginning. It’s your values and your vision of what you really want to do and how you want to show up in the world. Because if you’re going to be spending, you know, 40, 80 hours a week, whatever it is that you’re doing for your business, you really want to be authentic to who you are and do what makes your heart sing. 

And yes, make money too. But making money sometimes… well, I’m gonna say this and some people are going to be like, yeah, whatever, Nicole, but you know, making money is one thing if you’re doing something that is not true to you, making money and doing something that is true to you and who you are and how you want to be and you feel good about it is completely different. 

So yes, things take time, and we can do them piece by piece, moment by moment, find what works for us. And go back to our values and vision. I think a lot of people don’t do that. Maybe don’t really truly know what they really want and how they want to do that. 

Whitney Distefano  30:10

Yeah, I think getting clear on that really requires us to just slow down and spend some time with ourselves, really doing, you know, some introspection and some self reflection. And that can be hard in a really fast paced society, and it can be uncomfortable, particularly for those of us who might have been a little less mindful and woo woo when we were in a more traditional bedside or clinic role— 

that holistic, integrative lens that we all kind of start viewing the world through after going through a Nurse Coaching program, it can kind of change our perspective on things.

Nicole Vienneau  31:00

You’re touching on something that’s near and dear to my heart. Because, you know, I came from a critical care background, which is very black and white, and having been now doing Nurse Coaching for gosh, I’m going on…  I keep on forgetting how many years, because the years go by so quickly, but I’m probably like 12 years or so. 

But thinking back to, you know, just starting and being influenced by these amazing Nurses who are so comfortable and confident in the integrative holistic space, and me coming from the very clinical side of things, and how I have morphed through that, through the years. You know, and still find myself going back a little bit, not that one is better than the other, right? 

It isn’t one is better than the other. It is what it is. And we’re all coming at this the way we want to come at it, which I think is the most beautiful thing, is I get to do what I want to do and do it the way that I would like it to be done, which in a traditional healthcare model, I’m not really able to do that so much. 

That I’m kind of forced to to do things the way I’m supposed to in the clinical model. So yeah, it can be fun, and it can also be a little bit scary too.

Whitney Distefano  32:18

Yeah, making those decisions of what you want to do. I’ve so many times since starting this business, just had a moment where it’s like, oh, well, we should have a team meeting. And then I’m like, oh no, it’s just me. I’m the team. I’m the one. I can actually just make a decision all on my own based on what I think is best, which is revolutionary. 

That’s not something I’ve ever been able to do before as a Nurse, because I’ve always worked on a team with a number of people, you know, sometimes hundreds of people. So it’s a… it’s really a unique opportunity to be able to be the one in the position of decision making power and deciding what it is that I want to do, and deciding how I want to show up as a Coach. 

I think there are some amazing Nurse Coaches that I know that I’ve worked with who really go to the the woo side, I would say, a little farther than I feel comfortable working with my clients. And you know what? I think it’s beautiful, because they have clients to where this really deeply resonates, and it can be life changing. 

And then there are people who are completely on the other side, and are very focused on health and wellness specifically, and are even working, you know, as functional medicine consultants, and being very kind of granular and analytical in their approach. And then I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle. 

I am, you know, I have the yoga background. I’m almost done with the Heart Math training, and so I have these breathing and meditation techniques that I really love. But then I also want to spend time talking with my clients about the importance of protein consumption and strength training and all of these other things. 

And it’s really amazing to have the opportunity to really choose what it is that you want to work on, and then as a new Nurse Coach and small business owner, it can also be kind of overwhelming, if I’m being honest, when there are so many things that you’re passionate about and so many different directions that you could potentially go with the client to come up with a clear, concise explanation of what it is that you do.

Nicole Vienneau  34:46

Yes, a clear and concise explanation of what you do. Okay, I know a piece of what your… an additional piece of your vision is to raise awareness of what Coaches like— specifically Nurse Coaches— what is it that we’re doing? So maybe you’d like to share a little bit about that. 

Whitney Distefano  35:07

Yeah, I feel really strongly about using the term Nurse Coach, and it’s a hard term to explain to people. I have… I’ve been talking about the fact that I’ve been training to become a Nurse Coach, and that I now am a Board Certified Nurse Coach, you know, since last year. And I think people hear Nurse Coach and then immediately assume, like, oh, cool, cool, cool. Got it. 

You coach Nurses. And that isn’t necessarily the case. I think the beauty of being a Nurse Coach is you could coach Nurses if you wanted, but that isn’t necessarily what we’re all doing as Nurse Coaches. And so I try to use my social media platforms and the networking that I do in the community to help raise awareness about this term. 

That as a Nurse Coach, what that really means is that I am first a registered Nurse with experience working in the healthcare system and that medical background, and then also have been trained and gone through this board certification as a Coach and really learning behavior change and motivational interviewing and all of these skills to help guide people on their journeys. 

And it’s really, you know, the marrying of those two things. And my hope is, I feel like we’re kind of on the grounds level, although Nurse Coaching has been around for a while, at the ground level of raising awareness about the unique skill set of a Nurse Coach and how the medical and then kind of the non medical behavior change skills that we’ve developed can kind of marry together to support people on their journeys.

Nicole Vienneau  37:01

My heart is cheering right now.

Whitney Distefano  37:04

I’m glad. I wasn’t sure if it was going to come together there.

Nicole Vienneau  37:09

My heart is cheering. One, because I, too, like to… I call myself a Nurse Coach, and people and many of our colleagues— and we’ve had this discussion in social media platforms and Nurse Coaching groups, and one to one, I’ve had this conversation, I’ve written about it, all kinds of things, blogging. 

That if we don’t use the term Nurse Coach, it will not evolve. And we won’t show up as a professional like, say, I think, like physical… sorry, personal trainers and massage therapists. One time ago, those roles did not exist, and it was because people were using that term that those roles became something. 

And if we don’t use the words Nurse Coach, and we just call ourselves a whatever health Coach, well then we just fall into the same bucket as people who potentially, and not that one’s better than the other, but others who potentially don’t have the same amount of education and experience that we do as Nurses who do Coaching. 

Who have additional skills and training to elevate our fellow human beings in a different way than just and then being at the bedside or being in a traditional kind of Nursing role. So you and I are aligned on that one, Whitney. 

Whitney Distefano  38:42

Spreading the word. 

Nicole Vienneau  38:43

Spreading the word, and using the hashtags, Nurse Coach. Oh, shoot. I want to back up a little bit, because there was a section in there where you were saying, doing things that cause feelings of vulnerability. Showing up places, talking to people, all of the things that are causing vulnerability. 

And in our Nurse Coaching platforms that we’ve… our education platforms, you know, there’s this whole alignment. This is my cat Bumpy for those of you who are watching on video, you see my Bumps. My cat is very loving, and loves to sit with me, if you’re just listening on audio, he’s sitting on my lap and looking at me. 

Yeah, that in our Nurse Coaching education, you know, a piece of what we are learning about is our own self, what we need as humans, our own internal reflection of what’s going on inside us, which in, you know, as a Nurse, I didn’t really reflect on much of that when I was practicing in the bedside. 

One, I didn’t have a lot of time. But two, I didn’t even know I needed to do that, and so I would just stuff everything inside. Just hold on to it forever instead of letting some of this go. And you know, I learned so many fascinating and so many helpful things within the Nurse Coaching program, the integrative Nurse Coaching certificate program, and that have helped me. 

And here I am partnering with women and healthcare professionals in my career as a Coach, and I’m asking them to be vulnerable. And so if I’m asking someone to be vulnerable, then I need to practice that too. And so you’re in this new role and showing up. So tell us some things you’ve done and some of the outcomes potentially for yourself and then for your business as well, maybe even the people that you’ve met. 

Whitney Distefano  40:47

Yeah, so I am on the introverted side, and extroverted once you get to know me, but introverted to begin with, and so putting myself out there on social media has been a challenge for me. I do it, I show up, but it’s not something that I always feel comfortable doing. However, I know that I’m not alone in that experience. 

And I think that’s validating to know that other people also struggle with really putting themselves out there and not only showing up and showing what I look like, but also sharing what’s on my heart in the content that I’m writing. And really, you know, putting myself out there in that way has been a challenge. 

And then even harder: going to networking events in the community is one of the things that I’m trying to do, although Nurse Coaching is beautiful and we can serve clients in any state where our license is active, I am trying to build a network with like minded business owners here in Wilmington, where I live. 

So getting out there in the community and showing up in a room where I don’t know anybody, and having to be brave and walk up to a stranger and introduce myself, ask them what they do, explain what it is that I do, and kind of moving through those conversations has been something that I never did as a Nurse working in the clinic and at the bedside. 

And then my newest practice, which is something that I’m going to be working on, is I have developed a folder to go and take to primary care practices, internal medicine practices, local gyms. And in this folder, I’ve written a letter introducing myself, explaining what Nurse Coaching is. 

I found an article that I think really clearly outlines Nurse Coaching in a pretty concise way, and have included in their brochures and flyers. And this week, I have plans to go and introduce myself to probably, oh, I don’t know, there’s over 50 businesses on my list, which can almost get my hand sweating, just to think about it. 

But also, you know, I’m not gonna get any clients just staying at home and hanging out with my dog all day. As fun as that can be, it really requires us, especially until Nurse Coaching is a term that everyone’s really familiar with. It requires us to have that initiative to go out there and and spread the word about what it is that we’re doing. And for me, that is a very vulnerable experience.

Nicole Vienneau  43:51

Thank you for sharing that with us. It is scary to go out and just talk to people. It feels almost random sometimes, and at the same time, everybody at those events is like, looking to meet people. But I’m the same way. 

I find it’s very nerve wracking driving there knowing that you’re going to have to talk to people. Like, why else are you going to go there? And at the same time it’s like, oh god, why else am I going to go there? It’s  scary. And doing the scary things are what helps us, helps move us forward.

Whitney Distefano  44:30

Yeah, no, it’s true. And ironically, one thing I didn’t talk about, which I might should— for our INCA practicum, where we’re working one on one with clients. One of the components of that is doing group Coaching sessions. 

And we have to find our own clients for those, which was kind of my first real introduction to the level of vulnerability that I was going to have to get comfortable with as a small business owner. But I will never forget— I was hosting a We Can Do Hard Things group Coaching session. 

And the whole session was about, you know, overcoming limiting beliefs, having a growth mindset. And I had worked so hard, and I put it out there on social media, and I had reached out to people, and I had a list of RSVP attendees, and then I sat in this very seat, and I started my Google meeting, and nobody ever showed up. 

And man, if that wasn’t just a little wink from the universe telling me to get prepared for truly understanding on a deeper level how to overcome those types of obstacles and getting comfortable doing hard things. 

And you know, I didn’t give up in that moment, I hosted it again, and it was the best group Coaching session that I’ve ever had. And so I was very grateful for that experience, as hard as it was in the moment, and man, it was really hard. I went and cried at the beach and had a little pity party for myself.

Nicole Vienneau  46:13

Let me say I’ve been there too, girl. It’s not really a Coaching practice that we say I’ve been there too, but this is a podcast, we’re allowed to say all this stuff. Yeah, I’ve had that happen where I didn’t have anybody come, and I rented a place, and I had everything prepared, and people said they were coming, and then nobody came. 

And that is a real blow to our brain ego, and at the same time it is— it does prepare you for the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. And even, you know, when you’re getting clients and they’re paying and everything like that, even then it’s still… it’s not easy. There are lots of things. Oh, here we go. 

I’m going to move him out of the way, everybody. There are lots of things that, you know, show up that test us, and they help grow us and make us stronger and more willing and teach us. Gosh, I guess I wouldn’t still be doing this if I didn’t want to be taught, because I’m getting taught and schooled every day. Oh, my goodness. 

Okay, so we have a few moments left and oh, I’ve so enjoyed, I’ve so enjoyed spending this time with you, Whitney. I know our listeners are just soaking everything up and just really appreciating your vulnerability and your honesty in this journey of being a new entrepreneur. So I’d love to ask this question. And the question is, what is on your heart that you would like to share with our listeners?

Whitney Distefano  47:55

What is on my heart I would like to share? I guess the word that comes to mind is just opportunity. I think that we are all really uniquely positioned as Nurses and healthcare providers to make such a difference in the world, if we believe in ourselves and believe in the possibilities of what we can do working with others.

Nicole Vienneau  48:35

Opportunity, possibilities, believing in ourselves, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, thank you. I needed to hear that. Thank you so much. Okay, so Whitney, I know that you are coming up to an event that you would like to maybe share with us, or would you like to share that? 

Whitney Distefano  48:55

Sure, yeah. So one of the… my kind of tagline for my business is that I work with women who are ready to lead happier, healthier and more balanced lives. My heart is really in women’s healthcare and just supporting women along their journeys through this life. 

And one of the ways that I’ve chosen to do so is by offering a monthly women’s support circle. My intention for the circle is just to have a space where women can come and share, just non judgmentally listen to one another and support each other. I have thus far done these circles all virtually. 

And this fall, I have two opportunities for virtual women support circles that are free of charge. Those are going to be in September and November, and I think you’re going to share the link if anybody’s interested in registering. 

Nicole Vienneau  50:00

Yes, the links are going to be in the show notes. 

Whitney Distefano  50:02

And then for anyone interested in and in person offering potentially, if anyone is listening nearby to Wilmington, I am going to try my first in person event for the month of October, and I haven’t really figured out those details yet, but as I said earlier, everything is figure out-able. 

So more details to come. But I would love to have anybody that’s interested in just a supportive, non judgmental community to join us. I pack these groups at 10 women, and the reason for that is to make sure that we have a group that is small enough to really allow time to share and reciprocate. 

Nicole Vienneau  50:46

Oh my gosh. So all our listeners here, please join Whitney for these wellness circles. I mean, gathering women together is one of the most powerful things we can do— to listen, to bear witness, to share, if we want to, and you don’t even have to share, you just show up and be part of the energy that is supportive and uplifting women. 

So please take a look at the show notes for those links. And if you’re in Wilmington or around Wilmington in North Carolina, I mean, gosh, wouldn’t it be great to just come in person and be together and share that energy with Whitney and just support each other as women should be supporting each other. So thank you for those offerings, Whitney, because you’re not charging anything.

Whitney Distefano  51:36

No, no they’re free of charge. 

Nicole Vienneau  51:39

Yeah. So just coming in with a supportive attitude and mindfulness to love and cherish each other. I love that. Yes, and we will also be sharing all of your social media links. Wellness Within with Whitney on all social media aspects, and I’m going to pop in her website link that she worked so hard on, yes. 

So take a look at that. See what’s up with Whitney. And Whitney, we thank you so, so much for coming here, for opening up your heart for us and all your learnings. It’s so, so amazing to have you here. 

Whitney Distefano  52:18

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.