Be the Villain: Authentic Visibility Without the Filter | Jennifer Johnson

Welcome to Wickedly Branded: Marketing, Magic, and The Messy Middle, the podcast where real conversations meet real strategies. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand clarity at Wickedly Branded. With over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs awaken their brand magic, attract the right people, and build businesses that light them up.

What if being true to yourself makes you the “villain”? In this candid episode, ER nurse-turned-entrepreneur Jennifer Johnson, known as Nurse Jenn, shares her journey from burnout to boldness. After years in emergency medicine and various business pivots, she discovered her passion: helping nurses thrive before burnout. Jenn's story highlights embracing imperfection and owning your expertise. We explored how to activate your brand, embrace your story, and create genuine visibility. If you've ever wondered if showing up “messy” can make your brand magnetic, this episode will transform your perspective on yourself, your business, and your purpose.

Three Key  Marketing Topics Discussed:

1. Embracing the Imperfect Brand: Jenn asserts that authenticity: pimples, night shifts, and all, is what truly builds trust. She confidently states that perfection is overrated; real connections are forged through honesty.
2. The “Villain Era” Mindset: By prioritizing her own needs and setting boundaries, Jenn redefines service, showing that saying “no” is vital for sustainable success.
3. Pivoting with Purpose: From nursing to innovation and authorship, Jenn’s journey highlights the courage to evolve, proving that every brand and individual goes through seasons of growth.

Follow Jennifer:

Jennifer | LinkedIn
Nurse Jenn | Website
RX For Growth | Website

Dare to be Wickedly Branded

Transcript

Beverly: 0:11

Did you know that over 70% of new nurses report experiencing burnout in their very first year? I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, the founder and fairy godmother of Brand Clarity. At Wickedly branded, we've helped hundreds of overwhelmed overachieving consultants, creatives, and coaches awaken their brand magic and boldly bring their marketing to life so that they can feel more calm and clear and confident to attract their absolute favorite and most profitable clients. Today's guest is Jennifer Johnson. She is the founder of Nurse Jen, and she is on a mission to help nurses not only survive their first year but thrive. She's dedicated to providing support and resources to help nurses transition into their practice with confidence, clarity, and a sustainable career path. Welcome, Jennifer.

Jennifer: 0:58

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me.

Beverly: 1:01

I'm excited to dive in here and get to know you a little bit. We always start the podcast with the Spark, the thing that made you realize that you wanted to start your business and what did that those early days look like for you?

Jennifer: 1:13

So to be very frank and honest, I've pivoted three or four times now. It originally had started in 2020, working bedside in the er as a nurse and seeing that the patients who were actually coming into the ER in the very early days of COVID. We're so much sicker than we were really typically used to seeing them. And it's because they'd put off seeing a doctor coming in for days when usually people, the second they get a sniffle, they're off to the er. So seeing that and thinking, okay, I've already been exposed. Let me start a mobile nursing business where, I can go to the home, I can do a quick set of vitals, I can do a once over, I can talk with your doc, I can, loop in any specialists that you need. I can just keep everybody on the same page to be like, Hey, this is what's happening with Mr. Smith right now. Something's gonna need to be done, or else he's probably going to be ending up in the ER in the next day or two. Great. In theory, my nursing buddies, we all loved it. We thought this was fantastic. This is exactly what we need. However, as it sometimes goes the population didn't want anything to do with it. So in the Canadian healthcare system, if you have to pay more than 25 bucks, we're pissed. We don't typically put out money for that kind of thing. So it sparked me and go, okay, I was able to start it out. Maybe now we pivot a bit. Have tried. IV hydration again was just in the wrong spot. It was a buddy of mine who has a clinic and she wanted me to try it out. Sure, not a problem. No big deal. But it was in a very small community where there wasn't the resources for that. So again, another learning curve pivoted again to where now I've written my book, I've done some journals, and am finding now that I'm really gaining traction with, okay, this is my calling, this is my niche. This is where I'm supposed to be. So as much as I want to help patients at home or more holistically than I do in the emerge, it really is helping the nurses, especially within the first couple of years that really has. Grabbed me and by me helping the nurses, I'm still helping the patients.

Beverly: 3:08

For sure. It makes it more sustainable for them to continue. Before we get on the recording today, we talked about how I was raised by a nurse and nurses are a whole special breed of individual. And I say that very lovingly, mom. I don't even know if she's gonna listen to this episode, but still, I love you, mom. It's a very high stress environment, specifically in the emergency room in places like the ICU and things like that. My mom did a little bit of everything. She did nighttime emergency room at one point. She did hospice care, which is its own level of stress, but can be very beautiful if you are in the right space. And then also home healthcare which is what you were talking about, she would go to people's homes and do some in-home care. And she did that during the AIDS epidemic when people were very isolated. And she actually was talking about how COVID was very reminiscent of that time for home healthcare aids because those particularly men, young men were isolated at home. And mentally it was really hard. And in COVID we had a lot of mental struggles with being isolated as well. And she said, I'm so glad I'm retired'cause I don't know if I could do that again. It was very hard to be a part of watching people essentially die. Being so isolated. So when you first started and you had to do all these pivots, how in the beginning did you build your brand nurse Jen, and what was that like and how has it evolved since you first pivoted

Jennifer: 4:26

It's evolved with me. In the beginning, wanting to keep myself at a distance, not feeling like I could be the brand. You hear about influencers, especially in the nursing world, we joke that nursing influencers are they even at the bedside? Do they even get it? But you get this negative connotation with influencing where I don't wanna influence I wanna be a business, I've got a license that I've got to uphold. So to come to terms with, it's okay for me to be the brand. It's okay for my license to still be there. It's okay for me to still be at the bedside nursing It's okay that I can be a brand without being that cringe worthy brand where they're pushing it to what I feel is too far. It's not something that I would do. Do I laugh at the skits? Absolutely. I do. Do, I love that they're saying the things that I feel like I can't say. Absolutely I do, but it's not where I want to go. So I am going the author route, I'm going the journaling route, I'm going the entrepreneurial route. And then also nurse innovating. So nurse innovation and innovation as a whole, it's really starting to gain a lot of traction and a lot of steam. It's the kind of brewing buzzword that, especially in the healthcare field, bedside nurses, we don't think that we could be innovators. We don't think that we could be anything more than at the bedside when in reality we see the problems first and foremost, that people 10 steps up are trying to solve, but have no context because they're not at the bedside. But here we are MacGyvering it and have already thought of six different solutions for the same problem. We just don't have the influence to then actually put it up the stream. So bending that role from bedside to innovation. People start saying, oh, you are the expert. And you go, I'm the expert. I don't understand. And they go, no, you have the actual insight to know what the problem is that makes you an expert. And having that said time and time again, you're like, maybe I am the expert.

Beverly: 6:16

You're trying to believe it finally.

Jennifer: 6:17

Speaking of influencing, I just got accepted to go to HLTH, H-L-T-H. They have this massive conference in Vegas every year for medical startups meeting and bringing in then investors and matching the two. And to come in as a nurse, so we had our own nurses pavilion, everybody had a booth was fantastic. It was so interesting to then go. Oh, we are wanted, because then people are coming to us from tech, from business, from all these other backgrounds to go, we need your input. You're a subject matter expert. We need your input. And you're like, nobody's ever asked for my input ever before. And so it's holy cow. Here's a need, here's an answer. Let's come together. And it is phenomenal. So I applied this year to be an influencer think as a joke because again, I didn't think I had nearly the numbers. And sure enough, I got in, so I'm like, now I get to go for free. Where normally it's a$3,500 ticket. I'm like, bank, I'm there. I'm done. Let's go. So starting to embrace the influencer role without it being the cheesy over the top, just for laughs kind of thing that I equate it with.

Beverly: 7:21

When you step into your brand as you, what feels comfortable for you needs to align. Otherwise, it doesn't resonate in any way, shape, or form. I feel like if you did what other people were doing, you'd be not genuine to yourself. And I love that you say that it has evolved as you have evolved. Because a good brand shouldn't just be stagnant anyway. A website isn't okay, you do it and then it's done. No. It's organic and living and breathing as you evolve, it needs to evolve. There might be a line that feels more aligned. One line that might be more aligned that you say, oh, that's the one that I wanna put in the headline. Maybe I say a sentence, like one of my favorite phrases that I've made up is the should suitcase a lot of women carry the should suitcase of society, of what you should do and what. It was expected as an entrepreneur when really who created the should suitcase? It wasn't us. And it's okay to put it down and it's okay to create whatever feels comfortable for you and what actually balances your life for you, not by some other people's standards that was from a hundred years ago. Stop it. So I love that you're the subject matter expert because you guys are the ones that are touching the humans. You're the ones that are at the bedside. You're the ones that are dealing with the day-to-day in and out constant. So I feel like the nurses are the rock stars. I joke about this. In the same way, like secretaries and assistants and corporations are the rock stars because they know everything. They're the ones that know everything.

Jennifer: 8:40

Listen, you go to a new job. You know who you find? The assistants. The housekeeper. You find the house housekeepers, you find the assistants in healthcare, you find the ward clerks. These three people know all. Absolutely. They know the entire history of the department. They know exactly who's got beef with who. They know exactly which doc to avoid and what makes them better and what makes'em worse. They know all these are the key people because there's not nearly that much turnover with your ward clerks and your healthcare aides and these types as there is the nurses. Nurses, if we get touched out, we're like, okay, six months I'm out. See you later. The whole unit's completely evolved in three years from what it was. So you're not getting that history and that core base of knowledge.

Beverly: 9:21

So you have this niche that I think is really powerful that you help these newer nurses. Now, the healthcare industry in general is just booming but it's evolved quite a bit, I feel like. I've heard from my friends who are in the medical field, like it's becoming much more about the billable hours and less about the human touch. And it's a lot more about, very regimented, about you only get so much time with each patient, there's only so many codes you can bill for in a time. It's become very corporate money focused and not as human centered. It's for profit centered versus human centered. And I believe when you are a nurse, maybe I'm wrong, I'm making some suppositions here. You go because you want to help people. I don't think you'd go in because you're like, oh, I'm gonna be this master of the bottom line as a nurse. You go in'cause you literally want to help people. So I feel like that's a very interesting dichotomy that nurses have to exist in and maybe is why more nurses are having burnout So talk about like the newer nurses, what their challenges are right now and how you actually help them with the work that you do.

Jennifer: 10:24

The new nurses are just overwhelmed and not just the way we were overwhelmed when we came in because not only are you learning an entire new career, it's a whole new language. The medical language is a whole new language. It's learning how to stand up for yourself and your patients. There's so many skills that take years to really come up to and evolve and really get it so that you're doing it without thinking about it. So the new grads coming in, they were rushed through they may have gotten shortened clinical placements because there weren't people to take them on. Especially those who came through COVID, they got nothing in the form of clinical placements. It was all simulations, which again, simulations have their place, but there's nothing like coming up and against an 89-year-old grandmother who has got a raging UTI and is delirious, thinks she's in World War II and she thinks you're a Nazi and she's trying to fight you off. There's nothing like a simulation that can deal with that when you're actually in that situation and having to go like. How are we gonna come at this where she's not getting get hurt, I'm not gonna get hurt. We're gonna get what we need and figure out what's actually going on. And you're having to think on the fly and quickly go and develop great communication skills. so going in and then being able to, not only being able to very quickly connect with patients physically as in walking into the room, your confidence, so that you portray confidence. They pick up they feel your vibe. They feel that you're confident. They understand that you're there to help. So to then throw these new grads into situations where they're getting little to no support, they may be getting an extended orientation, which is maybe three months, maybe even six. So then potentially spend six months to a year, you finally get some experience where you know what you're doing, but this isn't lighting my soul on fire. I don't feel like I'm helping, I don't feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. Of course you're gonna leave. Why wouldn't you leave? That makes total sense. And then to start all over again and potentially find yourself in another spot where now you're not gonna get the extended orientation'cause you've already got six months to a year under your belt. Now you're just going to go get your maybe six weeks of orientation on a unit. And again, to spend another six months to go like this also doesn't like my soul on fire. So like, why am I a nurse and walk away, let alone shift work and premiums and figuring out dynamics of nursing and how to work with people and all that kind of stuff. It's super hard and we're not explaining it very well at all because there's not enough time in nursing school to learn the basics, let alone what the things that are gonna help you really. Succeed and thrive. So with my journals, with my book. I'm hoping to really give you the opportunity to have a spot to reflect and find yourself and find what really lights you on fire so that you don't leave nursing because you've spent a lot of time and energy and investment into getting where it is. We refer to nursing school as bootcamp for a reason. It is two to four years of hell on wheels and you get through it to then walk away in a year and be, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Potentially. It's not what you're there for, but if we can support you potentially, even before you get onto the floor to say, this is where my personality kinda lies, this is what I wanna think about. Here's some of the soft skills. This is how we grieve patients. This is how we can talk about grief. This is how we can support one another. Without coming across as a know-it-all. So let's really try and flip the narrative of nurses either young. To something where we are supporting you from the very first moment.

Beverly: 13:49

So instead of a reactive, it's a proactive approach for sure.

Jennifer: 13:54

That is very much Canadian We are all about prevention. We love our preventative health. The docs get bonuses for preventative health up here where they don't really get bonuses for much else. We can have time to do more if we're more preventative than reactive. Because if a nurse has decided that they're done and they're walking away, no amount of money, no amount of time off, no amount of anything can convince them. Otherwise, if they've already reached the breaking point of, I'm done, I'm walking away.

Beverly: 14:22

You talked about it from the nurse's perspective of the cost and the investment of time and money involved. But also from the hospital's perspective, like to hire and to train and then to lose and to hire, to train. So that's not helping them run a well-oiled machine either.

Jennifer: 14:39

With that, it takes roughly$61,000 to onboard a new nurse.

Beverly: 14:43

Yeah. See, so I feel like that more proactive could potentially save so much more in the end. Your health system is so much different than ours. I'm married to an active duty army soldier and we have really good, quite good health care because of that. We didn't get married till I was 35, so I had the other care before we got married, and I'm very grateful for the care that I get now. But it's a very big talking point here in the US.

Jennifer: 15:06

It's a big talking point on ours as well because it's gonna take you potentially a year to year and a half to get your near your hip replaced. In that whole time. The other hip is going because it's carrying the load. So by the time you get the one done, you already are teed up to need the other one done. So we know that there's a problem. Unfortunately, it's just resources and time and what's going on. If you're short nurses, you can't do the surgeries. So we're hoping that by doing it across the board alleviates a lot of issues. Again, not gonna fix everything. But even a 10% retention rate from the 70% that's leaving could mean a world of difference year after year.

Beverly: 15:43

I feel like this proactive approach is probably the best in any kind of industry, right? I love what you're like saying from a token Canadian perspective, but I feel like that just makes sense at a lot of levels. But it's not often the thing that people push, which is so interesting. It's the bandaid, right? It's the bandaid not actually getting to the actual root of the problem, the more holistic side of it versus the just treat it. So every season we have a theme. And this season's theme for the podcast is all about activating your brand. Activating your brand in our eyes means like you have a vision, but does it actually live and exist in the vision? Do your visuals match your brand? Does your website match your brand? Does your social media match your brand? Is your messaging really clear? Is it truly activated to where everything is working together? So what are the biggest challenges you face when getting your brand to actually look and feel like you and feel aligned in who you've become, as nurse Jen?

Jennifer: 16:37

It's taken time to realize that part of, especially me, it's authentic. It's a hundred percent. You see what you get, pimples and all post night shift, it is what it is. And so I'm messy. I'm all over the place at times, but I'm authentic. I'm gonna tell you if you're hearing it from me, it is from me. It's not me thinking of how to politico a statement it's. If you're gonna ask me a question 99% of the time, I'll probably give you a full and truthful answer, but be prepared. cause she may not be pretty. So realizing that, I'm not great with taking videos and learning Instagram and TikTok and I don't do editing. So a lot of what I do is just. Flat out. I just tape and I just tape, I just record. So like recording myself. I'm not great with the transitions or I don't do multiple takes. I don't have the time. And I refuse to use a filter because again, that's just how I've decided to do, refusing to use a filter. This is it. This is me. This is me in my car, probably on the way to a shift. And it's not rehearsed. It's not staged. It's not anything other than. Exactly what's on my mind here. Oh, I've remembered to include you in my day. Come with me as I go teach or I go present or I write. Trying to remember that people actually need to see me do what I do in order to be able to put it out there on the social medias.

Beverly: 17:54

this is brilliant. Okay. Because so many people and so many of our clients that come to us feel like it has to be perfect. I was just listening to something this week, I can't remember exactly for sure. So don't quote me on this, but the idea was that the world is becoming so AI focused that what is going to become sought out is imperfection. It feels different and it feels more connected than this perfect AI vision of a video or whatever, or a script or whatever, that it actually feels more connected because it's real. If you're listening to this right now and this is a piece of advice that's resonated with you or like maybe it made you go, okay, maybe I can not be so perfect on social media, I would love for you to share this conversation, to give us a review. So if you're on Apple or Spotify, let us know. We'd love to hear your feedback on these kinds of real tips of real people doing real things in the world. I am the fairy godmother of brand clarity. So clarity is something that I love. And one of the things I think we talk about is getting clarity about what kind of work this is. And how to make it work for you. And you've pivoted so much, but what is one belief or pattern that you've had to either release or claim in order to fully own your message and do the work that you do?

Jennifer: 19:06

I'm allowed to be the villain. If me putting myself first makes me the villain, if me finally taking care of myself makes me selfish, or you think it makes me selfish, if that's what makes me the villain, I will a thousand percent be the villain. Let me be the villain. And it's a kind of a quirky mindset shift, with all these Disney movies coming out with the villain remakes. And you go of course she's like that. Look what she had to endure. That makes so much sense. Coming through COVID and working and being broken down to the bare bottom of who I am as a person and coming back up and deciding that I have to put myself first or else this is not gonna work. It's a done deal. I might as well just stop now. And nobody's happy unless mom is happy. My husband hates when I teach this topic about entering your villain era and putting yourself as a villain. He hates it. cause again, he's stuck in that mindset where I am supposed to be the female. You're supposed to be the male. We're supposed to be in these very set dynamics. And it's the same with nursing. We are stuck in the dynamics of we're not a good nurse unless we give absolutely everything of ourselves. If we leave anything for us. What are you doing? What do you mean you didn't leave it all at work? Like, how can you possibly bring anything home for yourself, let alone your kids and your family? You're not a good nurse unless you say yes to overtime every single time. Even though you're not even near mentally worth coming in. You can't say no because you'll be guilted into coming in anyways. It's one of these things where finally putting my foot down and being like no. I'm very intentionally putting myself first right now to see what the heck happened and, what's happened in a year, in a singular year. When I finally made the switch to nurse Jen, putting myself first, the book's finally come out. I'm about to go to Vegas for a second time in a year and now as an influencer and getting a free ticket to do this and post about something where I was thinking about going it anyways. Phenomenal. Have taught with Nurse Blake, who's got 1.1 million followers and I've been able to go in and teach with him, let alone attend three different of his events. I've gotten to go to Boston for an Association of Nurse Leaders conference, which left me feeling so fulfilled and thinking that maybe even, I can lead. That had never crossed my mind before, but holy cow, maybe I could.

Beverly: 22:25

This idea of imposter syndrome to actually have a voice and be a participatory element in the conversation that's happening around healthcare is something that, that you're struggling with. And I see this with so many of our other clients, that they feel like they have to get another course. They feel like they have to go do another thing. To feel like they deserve a place at the table when you are the one doing the work. You deserve a place at the table. And if you are willing to be the villain occasionally, which I think you have to be, if you're gonna give the real story. So I use this analogy is that everyone's looking for the man behind the curtain. So it's wickedly branded, wicked Wizard of Oz, the whole thing. We have a lot of Wizard of Oz, wicked references. But you're looking for like for the man behind the curtain when all these certifications and really when you open the curtain, it's you standing there. It's you have to be ready to stand up. You have to be ready to be visible. You have to be ready to have a voice. So what part of visibility has required you to have the most courage?

Jennifer: 23:18

Just standing up in the first place. Nursing, a lot of times we're told to keep quiet. We don't talk about patients, of course, we don't talk about patients. But we should be talking about patient behaviors that put us at risk day in and day out. We should be talking about patient behaviors that end up keeping our patients sicker. We should be able to talk freely about how our workplaces actually operate on a day-to-day basis at ground level without worrying about our jobs and our license, because again, the license is almost held above you. This threshold Hey, if you get too loud, we could take this away. And what are you if you're not a nurse? It's ingrained in us that it's part of our identity, which is a problem. And you're nothing if you're not a nurse, oh, you're retired. There's a nursing class of license, so you can still call yourself a nurse, but you've got a retired license. Again, seems like a money grab, but to be able to use the classified word nurse, like you, you can't call yourself a nurse without a license. Or else risk fines and civil suits and all the rest. Cause it's a protected title. Just like doctor just a lot of other titles that are protected, you have to maintain it. And so they, they hold the little piece of paper. It's don't get too loud.'cause if you get too loud then your board of nursing, all of a sudden you've gained their attention. You wanna be the little mouse in the back that just goes in, day in, day out, clock in, clock out, and that's it. You're not making waves, you're not doing all the things. But in the long run, you're doing us all a disservice by not making waves. Because without waves, how do you know what's wrong and where the obstacles are?

Beverly: 24:42

Or to make any kind of change that could be helpful for you and for the patient care system.

Jennifer: 24:47

And how much nursing has changed. We are not subservient to doctors. They tell us that we are coworkers. Yes. We work together. You're on the exact same level as healthcare aide, as ward clerk, as physician, as physio. We're all on the same team. There's no one higher than the other. It's, that's not how it is. Maybe I'm directing a little bit more than anybody else. But that's cool. That's part of my job is to make sure everybody's on the same page. We're all working in tandem. We're going in the right direction for the patient, but at the end of the day, it's always for the patient. That's why we're all there.

Beverly: 25:17

So one of the methods that we use when we work with our clients, it's called the Story Brand Model, where we position our clients as the hero and we're the guides. And you're talking about that, like you're the coordinator, you're the guide, making sure everything happens, right? And the patient's the hero at the end of the day that you're all trying to support. So I love this kind of like co-partnership that you're all on the same quote unquote team. Working for this hero to make them better and healthier and whatever that looks like for the particular patient. You talk a lot about burnout and sustainability and being the villain, which I think is interesting. I oftentimes give our clients permission to say no to things. And to embrace the power of the no. And that it's okay. My business for 10 years was built on the word yes. And I was completely burnt out. And when I started to say no, was when I started to create clarity for myself, but also capture my passion and joy again for what I did as opposed to this resentment almost for the work. And the power of no is not something that's mean, it's honoring yourself and even honoring the client. When I say no to somebody who I know is not a right fit, I'm honoring them by not saying yes. I want everyone to be happy and successful. There's been too many situations where I've had to pull people across the finish line, and you just simply cannot do that and be successful and not have burnout or regret or all those things. I have learned what I know I do well and to stay in my lane and to get the people that really, I know that I can help because my system works, because I've been that system as well. So what is something that you've had to say no to or delegate that made your business feel more sustainable? By being the villain?

Jennifer: 26:51

So getting creative with scheduling. Again, as an ER nurse, I've got a lot of flexibility with scheduling. So right now my husband works Monday to Friday, eight to four. We don't have daycare. My kids aren't quite old enough to get on the bus by themselves. It's one of those things where I'm like I guess I'm going a straight nights because somebody's gotta be here to put them on the bus. Somebody's gotta be here when they get home. And I can do that. So working night shifts, figuring out how that works best for you. And stepping away from full-time work with my staff hospital and picking up agency work, it's kinda like freelancing. All of a sudden I'm walking into an emerge. I've been there maybe a handful of times, but because I've got the knowledge, skill and judgment, I can just be dropped in. You go for 12 hours, you've filled that place. The patients are taken care of. We haven't had to close the emerge because we've got enough staff. We're gonna pay you a ridiculous rate. Your job's not guaranteed, but for this moment right now, there it is. Figuring out that with that flexibility comes a huge amount of financial gain plus time gain has been amazing. And feeling guilty about leaving the staff gig, or dropping down to part-time, you're like, oh, I'm supposed to work full-time until I'm 65 at the bedside. Like walking away, making your own schedule, making it work for you. Being okay with not knowing if you're gonna have enough shifts this week but trusting that you will. It has been huge. My husband, it's been more and more glaringly obvious by the days that he does not do well with my flexible schedule. He wants something where he can know six months from now exactly what I'm working, which hospital I'm working at, what the hours are, and that's it. Whereas I am fine to, go to bed this morning not knowing whether or not I'm gonna get a call in tonight or not. That's fine. I'm okay with that mentally. I'm fine. It is what it is. And knowing that, two shifts of agency nursing is equal to six shifts in the same time period with staff nursing. These are bonus at this point. These two shifts allow me to be more free. I have more time for my business. I have more time at home. And allows me to be freed up and do my own thing and kind of be my own boss within nursing, which is hard to find.

Beverly: 28:54

I think time is the one finite resource that we all have. And being really intentional with how you use your time and what results you get from the time that you invest in the work that you do, the passion that you have the. System you're a part of is incredibly important. The thing that's probably transformed my business the most is taking control of the time of my calendar. Yeah. I literally block off time now I chunk and stack my work differently. I have no meetings on Fridays. Like I didn't realize that you could do that. It was once I determined that this is my schedule, my day, and I know when I'm more productive, so I know I need to be in my creative mode and writing for my clients then, and then when I can be in meeting mode, which is better in the afternoons or whatever. So really leaning into what works for me from a bio rhythm perspective, from my family's schedule perspective has been incredibly life-changing and empowering for my business. And the small business owners we work with, if they do the same thing it's life changing. And that's where that balance feels more real than in this other prescribed reality that doesn't even fit anymore because women are working. The reason why I started my business was for freedom and it was quite the opposite for a long time. And now I feel like for the first time last three years or so, that has completely changed and now I get to dictate my time. So I love that you've been able to kind of harness that for yourself and maximize it as best as possible for you and your family. So I have a magic hat. It's sparkly and it's a rapid fire questions. So we're just gonna leave it up to the magic hat and see what comes out of it today. What is the worst advice you've ever received?

Jennifer: 30:33

When are you gonna quit?

Beverly: 30:34

Really?

Jennifer: 30:35

Guess where that one came from? Home.

Beverly: 30:37

Really? Your hubby?

Jennifer: 30:39

That's left some lasting marks that I didn't realize lasted until an EFT session with a girlfriend. She's oh I'm leaning into EFT. It says tapping and releasing. And we talk. And I'm like, I just need hours. Would you wanna do'em? Absolutely. Let's do this. What came up, him in 2020 asking when I would give it up. When I was already burnt out, when I was finally choosing to do this and choosing to move into it and, oh, when are you gonna give this up? Mind you, now it's starting to turn, now it's when are you going away again? Oh, it's just the sixth time I've traveled this year. It's fine.

Beverly: 31:09

If your brand hit a theme song, what would it be and why?

Jennifer: 31:13

I've got an ER nurse playlist when I go into work. Like it's a total mood that you like, put it on you, go take over control. Oh my gosh, who plays it? Bright Afro Jack.

Beverly: 31:22

Ooh, they're good. I like them.

Jennifer: 31:23

It's my go-to. So every emerge that I've worked, which has been almost about 10 now when I'm stalking the recess rooms, I listen to that and I vibe and it's okay, getting into the groove of it.

Beverly: 31:34

I love it so much. Using music is really powerful. We actually have a Spotify playlist for our clients. When they do their marketing, like to listen to be creative and all the things. What's a surprising way your personal values show up in your business?

Jennifer: 31:47

I just think being messy. I love being messy. It's very much an er thing. It's very much a me thing. This whole idea of perfect, I've told my kids from moment freaking one perfect does not exist. So when they're like, oh, but it's not perfect, I'm like, perfect doesn't exist. So now they repeat it. Anytime somebody says perfect, they're like, perfect doesn't exist. If there's one thing that I've done as a mother, I think that's it.

Beverly: 32:06

What's one thing you wish more people understood about your business or industry?

Jennifer: 32:10

That nurses really do have the key to solving a lot of frontline issues, but nobody has ever thought to ask our opinion. If you are looking to solve a problem, if you're looking to get into a business, if you're looking to do a PhD project if you're looking to do anything in healthcare or anything, period, always please and first and foremost, go to the end user first. Do not go to them after the fact or after it's already done, and they have no input, right? Because guess what? The end user will sink it so fast. It will make your head spin, especially nurses. So if you are trying to solve a healthcare issue, all you need to do is ask a nurse show up long weekend, full moon, night shift, and bring coffee and donuts or food. We will tell you everything.

Beverly: 32:54

You'll be best friends. Love that. Okay, so that is the end of the magic cat round, but I also have a wand. So my wand is gonna help us time travel. I'm gonna wave the wand and we're gonna go back in time to Jennifer, when she first graduated from nursing school. What is a piece of advice that you wish she had then, that you have now that would've saved you some burnout, grief, whatever.

Jennifer: 33:17

They are not worth your time. The ones standing in your way are doing it because they're either jealous of what you're doing or upset that you've got the balls to do it. Live loud, live proud, live fully you. And you know what? You'll be so much happier because carrying a mask day in and day out is so freaking tiring and people are gonna gossip about you anyways, so they might as well be gossiping about the real you.

Beverly: 33:43

You're not for everyone and it's okay.

Jennifer: 33:45

And that's fine. What other people think of me is none of my business. Is one of my most favorite quotes.

Beverly: 33:50

This is where perfection becomes very dangerous. I am not here to live a life that's perfect for you. I'm here to live a life that's authentic and real to me. Yeah. And if you don't like that, it's okay. But there are people who do, and that's the people I want to attract. And I remember when we rebranded and we took this live, I got a little bit scared and was like, I don't know, people might think it's too childish. What I realized was, it doesn't matter because these things bring me joy and all of it represents the magic that's inside of you, the gift that you've been given. If you believe in God or the universe or whatever the thing is that you believe in. And if you're suppressing it and pushing it and all the things, then you are doing a disservice to that energy. So it was a very uncomfortable moment for me to push the publish and make it out there for the world. But it's also been the best thing I've ever done. I wanna ask Jennifer, what would she think of where you are now?

Jennifer: 34:39

She would be so freaking floored as to where the heck we are now. Like even Jen, five years ago, in 2020 when she was curled up on in a ball crying her face off cause she hadn't slept in six weeks. Even a year ago, couldn't have even imagined where I am now. So it really propels you forward to be like, if this is just a year now that I've really found myself, found where I'm supposed to be found, where I'm going, okay, if this has just been a year, what's gonna happen in two or five? I don't know, but I'm open to saying yes and taking a risk on it. And again, people can say no to things, that's cool. But funny enough, when you actually ask for things, 80% of the time people just say yes. And again, because they're people pleasing, it's not like you're taking advantage, but just because they say, they're not used to saying no, that's not on you.

Beverly: 35:25

But I feel like people want to help each other inherently. So that's comes from a good place for the most part.

Jennifer: 35:30

Swap services, honestly, if you are really good at one thing and somebody else is really good at another and you're like, I don't really have a ton of money to like, get my stuff off the ground, talk to people, be like, Hey, I can do this really well. You can do that really well if you wanna just swap services. But again, you're gonna be making way better contacts. You're gonna be. Putting yourself out there and then all of a sudden your work is also out there. It may not be what you're doing primarily, but your work is still out there. Your name is still on people's lips, even though it might not be exactly what you're doing right now. Yeah.

Beverly: 35:57

The connections are very powerful for sure. So I'm gonna wave the wand and we're gonna go in the future. Decades. Decades. Decades into the future. Jennifer. Oh God. And we're gonna be at your funeral and people are going to be doing your eulogy. We're gonna be talking about the kind of life you lived and the kind of work you did. What will people be seeing as your impact with the work that you've done?

Jennifer: 36:15

Jen was nothing, if not a cowboy. Anybody who had worked with her knew she did things her way. It might not have always been. The policy way, but her patients came first every single time. And yes, her schedule was a mess, as was she sometimes, but that's okay. And that's why we loved her.

Beverly: 36:34

Love that. I'm gonna bring us back to the present and now, and I wanna ask you, what do you think being wickedly branded means to you? And what advice would you give to our listeners to be more wickedly branded?

Jennifer: 36:45

Just embrace the imperfect and just go for it. Truly. There will never be in right time. There's always something that's going to come up. The key is being able to figure out how to manage your time as best you can and realizing what you're worth. I can assign a dollar amount to my hourly amount of time, and it's anywhere from 56 an hour to 105 an hour, depending on where I'm working. So when I'm thinking about, doing a website or doing some marketing or something like that, they're not my strong suits. Am I interested? Sure. But if my time would be better spent elsewhere it is okay to hand off and this is how teams are built. And you're gonna fumble, there will be bumps and follies and you typically will get what you pay for, right? So if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Just be aware of that. But if me spending 500 bucks on a website is going to take that off my plate. And especially if I need, my website to do a couple of different things. That isn't your typical, the amount of weight that came off there was like, oh, okay, now I don't have to worry about it. Know that there's no shame in bringing other people who are experts in their field. If there's a certain group that you wanna support if there's a niche where you wanna support other people, that word gets around. You are supporting your others, and karma comes back around a hundred times.

Beverly: 37:56

I love that. That's so powerful to me. One of the reasons why I lean far into the female founders is because I feel like it's something that's missing and there's so many brilliant women who just need a little bit of help and support to find their magic and fully live where they're supposed to be in their zone of genius. And that has ripple effects on their family, on their teams, their community, when they're successful, so much can happen. So Jennifer, this has been a great conversation, but where can our listeners connect with you and your work and learn more about what's happening and what you're up to?

Jennifer: 38:27

You can find me at www dot nurse jenn, J-E-N-N, dot ca. My books are on Amazon again, Jennifer A. Johnson rn. You'll find my books and the journals. You can find me on TikTok and Instagram at er nurse dot jen, JENN and LinkedIn. I'm probably most active on LinkedIn. Jennifer Johnson, B-S-C-N-R-N.

Beverly: 38:50

I love it. Thank you so much for being here with us today, Jennifer. I appreciate it. Anytime.

Jennifer: 38:54

Thank you so much for having me.

Beverly: 38:55

So my listeners, I hope that today's episode, lit a little bit of a fire under you, gave you some new ideas about maybe just showing up a little bit more messy and less perfect, and most of all, inspired you to take some action for your business, whether it's time control or maybe. Not having makeup on when you do a live at some point. Because here's the thing you matter. Your message matters, and your work definitely matters. And the world needs to hear what you have to say. Marketing isn't just about visibility. It's about the impact you can make. It's about connecting with the right people in a way that feels completely and utterly true to you. So keep showing up. Keep sharing your brilliance and keep making magic in the world. And hey, if you ever feel stuck, know that you don't have to do this alone. Just like Jennifer said, sometimes it's easier if someone's there with you. We're here to help you turn your spark into a wildfire. Until next time, dare to be wickedly branded.