In this episode, Shelby and Laura take listeners behind the scenes of what it actually means to become a professional nurse coach. This is not a conversation about hype or shortcuts. It is a real, nuanced discussion about capacity, confidence, identity shifts, and why being new can feel so disorienting in leadership and entrepreneurship. They unpack why nurse coaching is inherently pioneering work, why confidence can never come before action, and how repetition, community, and regulation are what allow nurse coaches to stay in the game long enough to succeed. This episode normalizes the discomfort of growth and reframes it as a necessary, meaningful part of building a sustainable practice and a new professional identity.

Highlights in the discussion:

1. Confidence is built through repetition, not readiness.
2. Discomfort is part of becoming a professional, not a sign to quit.
3. Capacity means staying present with uncertainty without collapsing or overcorrecting.
4. Community matters because it prevents isolation and early burnout.
5. Residency acts as failure insurance, giving nurse coaches support, feedback, and structure while they build real-world experience.
6. Sustainable success comes from staying in the process long enough for competence and self-trust to form.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7ncLBZ36bW4

Mentioned in this episode:

Book the call

You don’t need more information — you need a container that makes action unavoidable. If that’s you, book a call to explore the Nurse Coach Residency. https://calendly.com/d/cw5f-cg3-vhp/nurse-coach-residency-fit-call

Nurse Coach Residency

You don’t need more information — you need a container that makes action unavoidable. If that’s you, book a call to explore the Nurse Coach Residency. https://calendly.com/d/cw5f-cg3-vhp/nurse-coach-residency-fit-call

In today’s episode, Shelby reflects on graduating 28 clients and experiencing her first week without active clients since 2022. She delivers a candid reality check about building a coaching business: no one is special or exempt from the fundamental rules of business. Success doesn't come from passion, manifestation, or good intentions alone—it requires consistent action, discipline, and a willingness to do hard things repeatedly. Shelby emphasizes that feeling too comfortable in your business is actually a warning sign, and entrepreneurs must constantly find their growth edge to keep their businesses alive and thriving.

Shelby outlines five non-negotiable rules that apply to every coach:

1. People buy because they feel seen and you invite them (not because you're passionate)
2. Visibility matters because no one can buy from you if they don't know you exist
3. Consistency beats brilliance every single time
4. No one is coming to rescue you so you must execute on your own
5. Time alone doesn't build your business—only action does.

She challenges listeners to track their actual working hours in 15-minute increments for three days to see how much time they're truly spending on business-building activities versus scrolling or just thinking about work.

You don't need to be special—you just need to be willing to show up when it's boring, awkward, or uncomfortable, and follow your plan even when you don't feel like it. While entrepreneurship is undeniably hard and requires grit and repetition, there are also incredible high points along the way—celebratory moments that should be bottled up as fuel for the challenging seasons that inevitably come.

Watch full episode on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/DJcR-_yM1L0

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

Mentioned in this episode:

Nurse Coach Residency

You don’t need more information — you need a container that makes action unavoidable. If that’s you, book a call to explore the Nurse Coach Residency. https://calendly.com/d/cw5f-cg3-vhp/nurse-coach-residency-fit-call

Book the call

You don’t need more information — you need a container that makes action unavoidable. If that’s you, book a call to explore the Nurse Coach Residency. https://calendly.com/d/cw5f-cg3-vhp/nurse-coach-residency-fit-call

In today’s episode, Shelby revisits a crucial topic for nurse coaches: how to confidently transition your pro bono clients into paying clients. Whether you’re a Nurse Life Coach Academy student, a graduate of another nurse coaching program, or just starting out, this episode is packed with actionable advice, real talk, and step-by-step strategies to help you grow your coaching business.

1. Why pro bono clients often don’t convert, and how to change that
2. The mindset shifts needed to confidently offer paid coaching
3. What NOT to do when a client asks about continuing (and what to say instead)
4. How to guide the conversation without feeling “salesy”
5. The power of silence and letting clients make informed decisions
6. How to “future cast” and root client goals in reality
7. Structuring your paid offer (pricing, session count, and more)
8. Handling client responses: yes, no, or “I need to think about it”
9. Why a “no” isn’t a failure, and how to keep the door open for future work

Watch the full episode on YouTube

https://youtu.be/fGp1UNmtw_8

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

Mentioned in this episode:

Nurse Coach Residency

You don’t need more information — you need a container that makes action unavoidable. If that’s you, book a call to explore the Nurse Coach Residency. https://calendly.com/d/cw5f-cg3-vhp/nurse-coach-residency-fit-call

In this episode, Laura kicks off 2026 with a candid and insightful solo discussion about her new approach to life and business: “The Year of Giving Medium Fs.” She explores the pitfalls of all-or-nothing thinking, the value of finding balance, and how embracing “medium Fs” can lead to more peace, consistency, and sustainable growth in both personal and professional life.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Why setting intentions and focusing on who you want to become is more powerful than chasing specific achievements
2. The dangers of living at the extremes—giving all or none of your energy—and the benefits of finding a middle ground
3. Laura’s personal goals for 2026, including financial growth with peace, health and nervous system regulation, and nurturing family relationships
4. The importance of boring, consistent habits for long-term health and success
5. How to balance ambition with emotional availability for family and friends
6. Letting go of algorithm drama and internet outrage to focus on meaningful work
7. The challenge (and value) of embracing “boring” consistency for high achievers
8. An invitation for listeners to find one area of their life to practice giving “medium Fs”

Watch full episode on YouTube

https://youtu.be/94wO9kqUvAU

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

As the year comes to a close, Laura and Shelby introduce a powerful framework they have been using behind the scenes for years to help nurse coaches move through fear, uncertainty, and stagnation. In this episode, they break down the L.E.A.P Framework, a practical and deeply human way to understand why change feels so hard and how to keep moving anyway. Whether you are considering nurse coaching, building a private practice, or standing at the edge of a personal or professional shift, this conversation offers clarity, reassurance, and a path forward. This is not about forcing confidence. It is about building it through action, trust, and repetition.

1. L is for Longing: The internal pull toward something more. This is the moment you realize you have outgrown where you are and can no longer ignore the desire for change.
2. E is for Evidence Seeking: The phase where the brain looks for certainty before moving. This becomes a problem when evidence seeking turns into avoidance and delays action.
3. A is for Ambiguity Tolerance: The ability to sit in uncertainty without collapsing, freezing, or quitting. This is one of the most important skills for entrepreneurship and leadership.
4. P is for Practice: Repeated action builds certainty retroactively. Confidence, clarity, and skill are earned through doing, not thinking.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

https://youtu.be/k2YaK9M_YMA

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

In this solo episode, Laura delivers one of the most honest and confrontational conversations the Successful Nurse Coach Podcast has ever held. After a behind-the-scenes moment with mentors that shook her perspective, she unpacks a core issue holding nurses back from real impact: the inability to receive. This episode explores how nursing culture conditions martyrdom, why under-earning is not ethical, and how learning to receive money, praise, and support is essential for leadership, sustainability, and changing healthcare. If this episode makes you uncomfortable, that is the point. Discomfort is where deconditioning begins.

In this episode, Laura shares:

1. Nurses do not have a money problem. They have a receiving problem.
2. Nursing culture rewards overgiving, endurance, and martyrdom while discouraging receiving.
3. Impact in private practice is not based on hours worked but on outcomes created.
4. Underearning does not make nurses more compassionate. It makes them exhausted, resentful, and exploitable.
5. Learning to receive is an ethical responsibility if you want to lead and create change.
6. Money creates safety. Safety creates clearer thinking. Clearer thinking creates better care.
7. Private practice and nurse coaching force growth by requiring nurses to receive without guilt.
8. Martyrdom is not moral high ground. It is a business model, and nurses have been the product.
9. Receiving allows you to give from excess, alignment, and regulation instead of depletion.
10. You cannot heal healthcare while financially depleted and resentful.

If nurses want to lead the next evolution of healthcare, they must unlearn martyrdom and master receiving. Receiving is not greed. It is regulation, capacity, and leadership in action.

Watch full episode on YouTube

https://youtu.be/554LgCwFq3g

If you loved this episode…

Please take 30 seconds to subscribe, rate, and leave a review — it helps more nurses find this work and fall in love with the boring parts too.

Mentioned in this episode:

Nurse Coach Residency

You don’t need more information — you need a container that makes action unavoidable. If that’s you, book a call to explore the Nurse Coach Residency. https://calendly.com/d/cw5f-cg3-vhp/nurse-coach-residency-fit-call

After the excitement of becoming a Board Certified Nurse Coach, many coaches hit an unexpected wave of uncertainty. In this episode, Laura and Shelby break down the messy middle that happens right after certification: the “am I doing this right,” the fear of visibility, and the pressure to suddenly have everything figured out. They share what actually matters in these early stages, why slow and steady progress builds long term success, and how to create momentum without burning out or expecting perfection. This conversation is grounding, practical, and a permission slip to breathe, soften, and take the next small step instead of trying to leap into a fully formed business overnight.

Things to remember:

• Certification is the beginning, not the final destination. Feeling uncertain afterward is completely normal.
• You do not need a perfect plan. You just need consistent action and willingness to learn as you go.
• Wobbliness is part of the process. Confidence comes from reps, not readiness.
• Visibility grows slowly. You do not have to show up everywhere at once.
• Community support matters. You build faster and stay grounded when you are not doing it alone.
• You already have what you need to start. The next step is always small, doable, and right in front of you.

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

If you loved this episode…

Please take 30 seconds to subscribe, rate, and leave a review — it helps more nurses find this work and fall in love with the boring parts too.

Watch the full episode here:

https://youtu.be/r2ohGjiY5hk

In this week’s episode, Shelby is interviewed by the lovely Meghan Ruttan, sharing all about the inner workings of the successful nurse coaches, and learning some fun facts about Shelby’s personal life.

Shelby shares what she endures behind the scenes every day: the patterns, the breakthroughs, the wobbliness, the resistance, and the moments when everything finally clicks. Her perspective is both grounding and validating, especially for anyone who is in the messy, uncertain, or stretchy season of becoming a nurse coach.

• The behind the scenes experience of supporting new nurse coaches
• Common fears and mindset obstacles students face in their first months
• Why discomfort is not a sign something is wrong
• How to move through overwhelm without shutting down
• The difference between consuming information and actually embodying the work
• Why being coachable matters far more than being confident
• What Shelby wishes every new nurse coach understood at the start
• How NLCA blends emotional support, skills practice, and business strategy
• The power of community and why it accelerates growth
• Real stories of breakthroughs, pivots, and unexpected wins inside the program

Success as a nurse coach is not about having it all figured out. It is about staying connected, staying coachable, and allowing yourself to grow into someone you have not yet met.

Connect with us:

Instagram: @successfulnursecoaches

Website: www.thesuccessfulnursecoaches.com

Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesuccessfulnursecoach

If you loved this episode…

Please take 30 seconds to subscribe, rate, and leave a review — it helps more nurses find this work and fall in love with the boring parts too.

Watch the full episode on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/CXV9-AGuoug