Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Karin Ashley, NP, a women's health nurse practitioner and health consultant based in Columbus, NE, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am an Integrative and Functional Women's Health practitioner, helping women and couples to optimize overall health and resolve hormonal barriers to healthy conception, pregnancy, and postpartum.

Tell us about yourself

I am a licensed Women's Health Nurse Practitioner in my state, and through working in the conventional medical model, I felt I couldn't give my patients the time and attention they needed to achieve wellness. It was all sick care, and I felt like a birth control ATM, covering up symptoms with a pharmaceutical bandaid. I knew women deserved more time and more investigation into the root cause of their symptoms. I have found that I can achieve this by working remotely for myself. I can control my schedule and give as much time to my clients as we both feel they need. The women and families I serve get better results because they have better access to questions, encouragement, and accountability. I am motivated every day by the feedback I get from my clients. For the first time, they feel heard, validated, and understood. They have clarity and a plan they trust. That is what healthcare should be like. My clients see me balancing my family, life, and work and can relate. It leads to more connection and trust in the practitioner-client relationship.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

The relationships I've formed with my clients are the most rewarding part of working this way. Spending hours together over the course of several months gives us the opportunity to build trust, work through tough issues, and troubleshoot barriers to healing. I'm always trying to work my way out of my job by educating and empowering women to know and care for their bodies well. Usually, by the end of our time working together, women are equipped to manage their conditions on their own through nutrition and lifestyle and can advocate for themselves within the healthcare system.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Starting! I spent many years thinking it would be too hard that I couldn't learn how to run a business AND keep up with my clients, research, lab work, and education. The health and wellness field is advancing so quickly it's hard to keep up if that is all you're doing, let alone adding business and marketing on top of that. There is a learning curve in starting a business when you've spent your whole professional life being an employee, so I've had to give myself a lot of grace.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start scared. There are a lot of unknowns when you go against the conventional model in your field. It's ok to not know everything and fail (a lot).
  2. Realize that you know more than you think you do. Even in highly competitive and saturated fields, you will still have a unique and valuable perspective - a story nobody has heard before.
  3. Ask for help from people in your field. I've been blown away by the amount of support I've received from other women - both entrepreneurs and clients. Women working in my community and all over the US have supported me by sending referrals, lending office space, making connections, and sharing my content. I've done the same. When we should be "competing," we are collaborating, and everyone benefits. I don't have competition; I have colleagues.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://karinashleynp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinashleynp/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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