A Mom’s Leap from a Full-Time Career to Building Her Own Business

Episode 4

In today’s episode of Untethered Momentum, we’re sitting down with Kelsey,  founder of Four Pillars Integrative Pediatrics, to dive into her incredible journey from leaving the traditional healthcare system to creating a more holistic practice. Balancing motherhood with building a business is no easy feat, and Kelsey gets real about how she made it work—and why she wouldn’t have it any other way.

She opens up about the loss of her father and how it pushed her to take control of her life, follow her passion, and build something meaningful. Kelsey also shares the challenges she faced leaving mainstream healthcare, why she's an advocate for children and families, and how her integrative approach is transforming lives.

This is one of those conversations that’ll leave you inspired to break out of your comfort zone and chase what really matters. Whether you're a mom, entrepreneur, or someone craving a more intentional life, this episode’s full of raw honesty and powerful takeaways. You won’t want to miss it!

Join us for an inspiring story that will leave you feeling empowered and motivated to take your own brave steps forward.

Learn more about Kelsey's company

Four Pillars Integrative Pediatrics

https://fourpillarspeds.com/

• Transcript

  Welcome to Untethered Momentum, the podcast where we dive into the inspiring stories of women entrepreneurs who are breaking barriers, overcoming fears, and stepping into their full potential.
  
  I'm Leah, your host and fellow entrepreneur.
  
  Whether you're just starting out, you're making a change or taking your business to new heights, this podcast is for you.
  
  In each episode, we'll share raw authentic conversations with some amazing women who have faced pivotal moments in their lives and businesses.
  
  You'll hear stories of courage, resilience, and the messy imperfect actions that led to incredible successes.
  
  Our goal is to create a supportive and uplifting space where we can learn from each other, embrace our vulnerabilities, and find the courage to move forward, untethered and unstoppable.
  
  So come sit down, stay a while, and let's become business besties.
  
  Hello, and welcome back to Untethered Moment.um.
  
  Today, I'm super excited to have someone who has been on a new journey in both medicine and entrepreneurship.
  
  We have Kelsey with Four Pillars Integrative Pediatrics.
  
  She is the founder and a pediatric nurse practitioner who is not only passionate about helping kids and families thrive, but she's also a mom and entrepreneur who's built her practice around raising her young kids.
  
  We dive into her journey of stepping away from the traditional health care system to creating something more holistic and balanced, especially after the loss of her father.
  
  Her story is truly inspiring, so get ready to hear some real raw, unfiltered conversations today.
  
  Kelsey, thanks for joining us.
  
  I'm really excited to be chatting with you about everything from how you balance being a mom and business owner to what pushed you to break free from the typical health care system.
  
  Let's first start with what inspired you to take that leap into integrative medicine, and what made you decide it was time to create something of your own?
  
  That's a great question.
  
  Thanks for having me, Leah.
  
  I'm excited to be here today.
  
  I have always had a passion for integrative medicine.
  
  I think it stems from when I first found my yoga practice and found how much more calm I was able to be after experiencing yoga.
  
  And then I also dived into aromatherapy, so the use of essential oils, and found there are so many benefits for using essential oils in practice.
  
  I was a bedside nurse for a long time.
  
  I've been in medicine for almost 15 years.
  
  And I just thought that there was this big need for doing more education with the pediatric patients I work with and their families, and meeting people where they're at.
  
  Some families are really interested in integrated medicine.
  
  Some are not.
  
  But for those that are, or those that are in the middle, I found that there were gaps in the education we were providing in mainstream health care, and really being able to provide access and resources to those patients and families for different ways to cope with things.
  
  For example, anxiety, you don't need just medication.
  
  There's a lot of other paths you can go down to help manage anxiety.
  
  I love that.
  
  So it sounds like you really advocate for the mamas and parents in general, and just the kids to have more of a say in their health care versus just being told, okay, take this medicine and here you go.
  
  So why do you think it's important for families to know that this is available when navigating this next step in their journey?
  
  Oh, I think it's very important.
  
  I think in health care, you know, I think a lot of families think we have to do A when a lot of times there's also B, C, D, all the way up to Z options.
  
  So definitely being an advocate for yourself and for your children is a big component of what I teach.
  
  I think it's always important to know that you can always slow down on a recommendation, unless it's something that's life-threatening, then I think it's very important to listen to your health care providers.
  
  But if it's not life-threatening, I think there's a lot of room for slowing down, stepping back, and deciding, do we need to do this intervention now?
  
  Can we wait a little bit and then do it in a little bit?
  
  Can we try other things first that are much more low risk and possibly a bigger benefit even than doing medication at times?
  
  There's always a place for medication, but it's just not one of my first interventions.
  
  I consider it more a back burner approach.
  
  I think that there's a lot of other things we can do first that are much lower risk and like I said, a lot of times a higher benefit result can come from doing those other interventions first.
  
  That's so good.
  
  It's very important for that too.
  
  I know that you were in the traditional medical career before you moved to your own practice.
  
  What was the hardest part about leaving the familiar behind, and how did you find the courage to do so?
  
  I had been, so I've worked at three large children's hospitals.
  
  And so I've seen a lot of different care systems, and they all have similarities, but a little bit of differences.
  
  And I worked through COVID, and I saw health care shift.
  
  Instead of quality, it really became all about quantity, and all about the bottom dollar and see more, see more, see more.
  
  And that just didn't mesh well with my personality and my passion for truly meeting people where they're at.
  
  If you needed to in the hospital spend hours with a patient and a family, I felt like that was very appropriate to do so.
  
  And so there were a couple of reasons I left mainstream health care and started my practice, Four Pillars Integrative Pediatrics.
  
  I left, I'm coming up on a year, so that's exciting.
  
  I left December 1st, 2023.
  
  A few reasons, like I said, I saw health care shift from quality to quantity.
  
  I think systems try really hard, but at the end of the day, it's still a big system.
  
  I really like to see the patients I work with and families as not a number.
  
  I'd like to get to know the child, the siblings, if there are pets in the home, the parents' first names.
  
  I really put extra emphasis on getting to know that child and their entire community of support.
  
  I think it's important to know a child's likes and dislikes.
  
  I think it's important to really get to know them so that way you can help them to the best of your ability.
  
  So I left because I saw health care shifting.
  
  I also really wanted to be able to spend breakfast with my kids.
  
  My oldest child, my daughter, would frequently say, she's now four and a half, but she spent a lot of morning saying, mommy, please have breakfast with me, stay home, please.
  
  Why do you have to go work?
  
  Why do you have to go help those kids?
  
  Can't you help me?
  
  And I really wanted to balance being able to help the kids in my practice because I have such a passion for the work I do, but also helping support my family as a mama.
  
  And I think it's very important to show up in both those roles.
  
  Do I do it perfectly every day?
  
  No, nobody does.
  
  And I think that's important for people to recognize.
  
  Nobody does it perfect.
  
  But I wanted to be more present when I was there, not rushing off and being able to really slow down and have breakfast on the mornings before she leaves the house for her preschool.
  
  So I was able to step back, and my husband and I were able to start Four Pillars.
  
  So having breakfast with my kids and my husband, seeing health care shift, and then I had an unexpected loss.
  
  So I had the death of my dad.
  
  He died January 2023, which was really unexpected.
  
  He died from cardiac arrest.
  
  And my dad was this very healthy guy who a month before hiked 15 miles.
  
  He went to the driving range that morning before he died, went to the gym.
  
  He was all about taking life and making what you want out of it.
  
  And so that was a really strong lesson to make the life that I want to have and not just sit back and wait for it to happen to me.
  
  I think it's really important to, if you have a passion, and there's always going to be fear, right?
  
  There's always going to be things that might hold us back.
  
  But if you have a passion for something and you know you can do more, I think it's so important to offer that to the world.
  
  So I just thought, OK, we never know what will happen tomorrow or in a month or in a year.
  
  I would have never expected that.
  
  I, in my mind, if you had asked me, you know, about a year and a half ago, I would have said, Oh yeah, my dad will be living until he's in his 80s, his 90s.
  
  You know, he died when he was 68.
  
  And that was a tremendous loss to our family.
  
  And it just really showed me how, you know, you just have to think about what you want to do.
  
  And it always is okay to dream big.
  
  You always dream big.
  
  Yeah.
  
  Oh my gosh.
  
  There's so much to unpack there.
  
  Let me first start with, you know, this tremendous loss.
  
  I actually am very parallel stories with you.
  
  I had also lost my stepdad in January of 2020 to a heart attack.
  
  And I started my business within like a few weeks after that, because I just needed something to work through and just, you know, take my grief and make it into something positive.
  
  And so what advice would you give to someone that might find themselves in the same position you and I were in that are still grieving, but still want to pursue big life changes?
  
  That's a good question.
  
  I will say, Leah, I did know about your situation when I prep for things.
  
  I like to be really prepared.
  
  And so yesterday, I did listen to your episodes from this podcast.
  
  And so I was listening and I was like, whoa, we do have very similar stories, you know, and how you were talking about how that loss was just so, it's so heart wrenching.
  
  I think until you lose a parent, I think you can't really fathom the complexity that comes with it.
  
  You know, you lose a parent, but then it's also like that other parent that remains, at least for me, I love my mom and she's amazing.
  
  But she shifted too, right?
  
  Because she's going through her grief and her loss.
  
  And then my daughter was really close to my dad, who she called Papa.
  
  And so for her to lose her papa, that was really challenging, right?
  
  She had just turned three and eight days later, and she hadn't even lost like a goldfish before, you know, and she had to like navigate, whoa, this can happen in the world.
  
  And so I think there were so many layers, and there still are, as we go through grief and loss.
  
  I don't think you ever move on, you just learn how to move forward.
  
  And it's just, there's just a lot of layers, it's really complex.
  
  So thanks for opening up, I'm happy to talk about that.
  
  I'm at a really good place now where I can talk about it.
  
  I will say, I think everyone has their own journey, you know?
  
  And I have a friend who recently lost her mom, and it actually helped me process the loss of my dad to help her in her situation, because you start to really understand more what people need.
  
  You're never in someone's same shoes.
  
  But I would have never known, you know, how that heartache would have felt for her had I not gone through what I went through a year and a half ago.
  
  So I think you start to kind of learn more about people around and how you can help them.
  
  I would say if you're thinking about a big thing, like being an entrepreneur and starting your own business, it is scary, right?
  
  Like every day, I could 100% relate to what you were saying in the podcast.
  
  That you're just basically thrown in the deep end without a life preserver, and you're having to figure things out every day.
  
  Like being in medicine, I was never taught how to network.
  
  I was never taught how to do a podcast like this.
  
  I do my own billing.
  
  I wear multiple hats.
  
  I'm admin, I'm my billing person, I'm the provider seeing patients learning about marketing, but my husband does most of that.
  
  So I'll say he takes most of that hat that he wears.
  
  But you just learn it as you go, and if you have the passion, I think it's never too late to try something new.
  
  And if it fails, then you pivot and you do something new.
  
  But I think it's just like parenting, right?
  
  Like it's so wild to me still that even being in pediatric medicine, I had my daughter and everything checks out, and you're about to leave the hospital or wherever.
  
  I birthed my son from a birth center.
  
  So wherever you leave and you're handed this new baby, and they're like, bye, see you later.
  
  And you put the baby in the car seat and you're like, now we drive home with this actual live human, and they're no longer in you and protected and they're in the world.
  
  And they're just like, good luck.
  
  You know, that's totally thrown into the deep end.
  
  So if you compare parenting to starting a business, there's similarities there, but I think it's more scary to be a parent, I think, for the first time, than to start a business, you know?
  
  And you learn as you go.
  
  You learn things all the time.
  
  Yeah.
  
  And I know you mentioned, you know, obviously having young kids when you're starting a business.
  
  What were the unexpected challenges of diving into your own practice and how did you manage to stay grounded through it all?
  
  Well, I'm still working on that, to be honest.
  
  I think we all are.
  
  Here are some of my favorite things that keep me grounded.
  
  A hot cup of coffee.
  
  So I try really hard in the morning to have my coffee while I'm either performing up with one or both my kids or with my son who's two and a half.
  
  He tends to be a little bit more slower paced in the morning, so I can read a book with him while drinking a hot cup of coffee.
  
  So that's a really nice time for the two of us to spend together.
  
  Trying really hard to prioritize exercise.
  
  So after my dad died, I had to really push myself to get back into exercise.
  
  But that's always been something ever since I was a little girl that has brought me peace and a feeling of being grounded and energized about my day.
  
  So I joined an old lady Zumba class and I'm not joking, I'm like the only person under the age of 55.
  
  It's been great.
  
  Today was actually the last morning because the instructor took a different position.
  
  But for the last year and a half, I went one to two times a week and having that community of women to exercise with and grow with.
  
  And it's just, I think you can learn a lot from women in different generations.
  
  I think we have a lot where we can connect together.
  
  We don't have to feel so siloed and separated.
  
  So that was really helpful.
  
  And then really trying to keep up with my boundaries.
  
  So that's why I say I'm still working on it.
  
  Like sometimes I'm still replying to the patient messages at nine at night, but that's because I want to be present for the bedtime routine and there for family dinner.
  
  So I'm still balancing things.
  
  I think if you talk to me a year from now, I'll have it even more balanced between home and work.
  
  But I'm not spending time commuting in the car, 45 to over an hour a day.
  
  I've shifted priorities.
  
  So I think it's important to keep remembering that the to-do list is always there.
  
  That was a thing that I forgot about, but starting a business, it's always like a parent.
  
  You always have laundry or you always have cooking, you always have dishes.
  
  With owning a business, there's always something else you can do.
  
  So I am working really hard on closing my planner for the day and feeling at peace that I did enough I could do that day.
  
  On days where I was really struggling initially after my dad died, and it was just so hard, right?
  
  It's even hard to get out of bed, but I had to for my kids.
  
  They were my motivators, I think, to just keep going.
  
  But I would be like, okay, even if I do one email today, or even if I reach out to one new person, or even if I get one new patient scheduled, that's a win.
  
  So I think owning a business, it doesn't have to look like you do a million things in a day.
  
  You can even just do one and feel accomplished.
  
  If it's a day where you need to rest, or slow down, or cry, or whatever it looks like in your grief process.
  
  It sounds like as you've unpacked all the things that you've gone through, you're learning in those moments of like, all right, that was really hard that I went through, but I can take that now and I can shift and change my practices or different things in your life.
  
  So it's really, really inspiring.
  
  How about like any doubts?
  
  Have you had any moments as you're transitioning into owning your own practice now?
  
  Have there been any moments of like, oh my gosh, how am I going to handle all of this, all of the responsibility?
  
  It's a totally different platform than working for someone to then, like you said, doing it all.
  
  Have there been any doubts that have cropped in?
  
  I would say there have been a few doubts, and that's when maybe I have less patient visits scheduled, or I'm not scheduled out six months like I used to be when I was in the hospital.
  
  Or you think, okay, is this going to work, whatever new thing I'm trying out?
  
  But I'd say at the end of the day, my passion for what I do is so huge.
  
  I just truly feel 100 percent like I'm doing the work I'm meant to do.
  
  That really if I step back, that's where I notice that I don't have those doubts.
  
  I think when I allow myself to get wrapped up in the busy-ness of everyday life, that's maybe when the doubt creeps in more, because you're not present, right?
  
  You're thinking so much about the what ifs of yesterday and the what ifs of tomorrow.
  
  But when I just focus on the present moment, and I take a few deep breaths if I have a patient visit coming up, and I'm like, I don't know if I'm going to be able to help them the way I want to help them.
  
  I'm always able to help because I just have to slow down and think about my expertise and my skills I have.
  
  One of the skills I have that I bring to the table is I'm a really great listener.
  
  And so a lot of kids and families get to share their story, and they haven't before, right?
  
  My first visit is 90 minutes long.
  
  And so we're talking, we go from birth history until now, and we look at, was anything missed?
  
  Was something touched on but never came back to?
  
  And I really think what's neat is I take the different puzzle pieces of what a child is experiencing and help put them back together so they can feel like they're thriving and not just surviving.
  
  I meet so many families who are in that survival state, and I've been there, and it's hard.
  
  And sometimes we are there again, right?
  
  Kids are always changing.
  
  Kids have big developmental changes about every three to four months, and so you're always going to have changes in your house.
  
  But then how do you feel like you're really thriving with those changes and feeling grounded and not just surviving?
  
  So that's where I really like to help families and help kids.
  
  Kids are amazing.
  
  Like why I love working with kids is kids are so resilient, way more resilient than adults.
  
  Kids get told all the time about something bad happening.
  
  And if you give them the right tools that they can use when they're 5 and 15 and 25 and 45, my goal is to teach lifelong skills as part of the work I do, they just take those skills and run with them, Leah.
  
  They don't look back.
  
  Kids don't want to look back.
  
  They just want to keep moving forward.
  
  And that's why I love working with kids.
  
  Kids teach us as grownups, as adults, all the time how to be better versions of ourselves.
  
  The knowledge that you have in your space can easily be copy pasted to start in your own business.
  
  You talked about the shifts and the things that they go through, and just the challenges that they overcome.
  
  Running a business is not a linear path.
  
  You're going to have ups and downs, a twist and turns.
  
  You've got to learn about yourself, learn about your past.
  
  Why aren't we spending 90 minutes with ourselves and reflecting on, okay, what did my journey look like from back then to now?
  
  The puzzle piece example, like you said, why aren't we doing that with ourselves?
  
  It's just such a powerful piece of your practice, I'm sure, of just knowing that you're not just hearing the last five minutes of their story, you're hearing the entire picture.
  
  So that's really powerful.
  
  I guess shifting gears into just speaking to the women entrepreneurs in this group, what do you feel like, I guess, is like the biggest resource that you have at your fingertips right now that has helped you as an entrepreneur?
  
  Oh, that's a great question.
  
  Like, do you have any communities that you're a part of, or do you listen to podcasts, read books?
  
  Like, what makes you thrive in your space?
  
  Yeah.
  
  Well, I will say, so sometimes I talk to different friends who have started their own business, and I talk about how I'm doing different networking things, and you know, sometimes I feel like I've signed up for too many networking events, and then sometimes I feel like, okay, then I step back and I don't do any for a while, and I talk to people who are just, I think, really scared to go to a networking event.
  
  Like, well, I don't know what I would say, I don't know what I do, I'll feel really nervous, I don't know how to talk to people, and it's like, that's okay, because like those are people that are also learning, and I can almost guarantee that when you walk into a room of a networking event, almost every person has some sort of fear or anxiety.
  
  They just don't always show it, right?
  
  Like as adults, we're taught to like hide it.
  
  We don't have to hide it, you can just own, I'm going to this thing, this is a little uncomfortable, but I'm going to learn how to do my elevator pitch.
  
  And so I really like talking to people, I'm naturally an extrovert, but I can also see where that would be really uncomfortable.
  
  And so I feel like it's balancing that, but that's helped me really grow.
  
  You know, as a female entrepreneur is putting myself out there.
  
  You know, we're not always taught, like it's okay to show emotion, or it's okay to admit if something's scary.
  
  And so I think it's good to go to those things, and then keep exploring what else you can do to help.
  
  So some networking events have been helpful.
  
  To be honest, I'm still trying to find what networking group is a good fit for me.
  
  Some I went to have been really formal.
  
  Some have been really informal where I don't get any take aways, but it's fun to chat, which is helpful because I don't currently work with a team anymore.
  
  And that's definitely something I miss is having direct coworkers.
  
  We're talking right now out of the clinic space where I meet with kids and their families.
  
  And so I don't have anyone in here, right?
  
  It's just me.
  
  So that's been nice sometimes to talk to other adults and communicate with them.
  
  Sometimes listening to podcasts, so that's how I came across your podcast.
  
  Sometimes looking at websites.
  
  I think I'm such a person that loves nature.
  
  So when I get time outside with my family and to be out in nature, that helps me feel grounded again so I can jump back in and do the work.
  
  But I will say, yeah, I don't have a perfect, I don't have a mastermind coach.
  
  I don't have a business coach.
  
  I just decided to jump in and be bold and try something new.
  
  And I am succeeding, I will tell you.
  
  I'm slowly growing my business.
  
  My biggest thing is just continuing to get the awareness out there so families and kids know that I'm here and I'm offering help.
  
  But I am succeeding.
  
  I think anyone can succeed as long as you just keep doing something.
  
  If you stop the momentum, if you stop trying, you can still have doubts.
  
  It's okay to have doubts, but if you stop trying, that's when I think a lot of businesses fail, is you're just about to make it and then you give up.
  
  So I show up every day to also teach my two kids, who are four and a half and two and a half, like mommy's going to succeed, right?
  
  Like this is, I'm in it for the long haul.
  
  So I'm showing them every day.
  
  And will I maybe pivot in the future?
  
  Maybe.
  
  But right now, what I'm doing is working.
  
  So it's going really well.
  
  And I think, yeah, I'm still trying to find those exact things of what can help fill my bucket.
  
  But I'm also balancing time with my family.
  
  So if my kids were older, I'd probably say I would have a consistent networking group.
  
  I'd say maybe I meet with the same people once a week or once a month.
  
  But right now, I balance it all by spending time with my family.
  
  I love that.
  
  Is there anything that you do creatively in your daily life that helps you stay inspired?
  
  Oh, not anything for me personally, other than my Zumba class is very fun because I love to dance.
  
  But I mean, I'm doing things with my kids all the time.
  
  So like building things out of model magic, so clay or magna tiles, or we're playing at the water table, or I'm getting sprayed by a hose for my son, you know, and we're playing with water balloons, you know.
  
  So I think I do a lot of play as a mom.
  
  But no, I will say that that's an area that I miss.
  
  I love doing art and I used to do it a lot pre-kids, and I just don't always get back to it.
  
  Sometimes reading a book for fun at bed time, or watching a show with my husband before bed time.
  
  I think that's just an area that I think as a parent, we don't always get to have a lot of.
  
  And I look forward to as my kids continue to age, being able to have more of that time.
  
  I think that that is a win just right now.
  
  And, you know, that can shift and change as your kids grow.
  
  So were there people in your life shifting back to, you know, building your business?
  
  Like, did you get any pushback or, like, were there people around you that didn't understand your decision to step out on your own?
  
  No one direct.
  
  I would say, I'm sure that there were people that thought, you know, wow, she's really brave.
  
  Or they thought internally, wow, that's really scary.
  
  I would never do that, you know.
  
  And I actually, when I think back, there were some people at the hospital that were like, wow, yeah, I could never do that.
  
  That sounds very scary.
  
  In my last role in the Children's Hospital, I did a lot of end-of-life work.
  
  I saw a lot of pediatric patients at end-of-life.
  
  And I will just say, I reached a point where, after my dad had died, going into a room and being present for a family and a child who were at end-of-life was extremely difficult.
  
  I mean, I felt like being in a Western medicine healthcare setting, I was told to basically check my grief at the door.
  
  And not that you can't share that, but you know it's you want to balance.
  
  Like, yeah, it's okay to talk about what you went through.
  
  You do also want to and need to really be present for that child and family.
  
  So it's a tricky balance, right?
  
  I felt like I just wasn't in a place to be able to hold enough space for a child and family anymore compared to what I used to be able to do.
  
  And so when I recognized that I just wasn't doing as great of a job as I wanted to be.
  
  Now, I'm sure I was still doing a fabulous job, but I just wasn't showing up how I wanted to be, and it was impacting me so much.
  
  Like those experiences were just, I just didn't feel grounded anymore because I was still dealing with so much grief about my dad.
  
  And I still think I had a lot of anger at the world, and sadness is hard to hide sometimes.
  
  And so I was just very honest, like people that didn't know, I explained that my dad had died unexpectedly.
  
  I'm leaving, this is really challenging.
  
  And I think almost 100% of people understood, because that work is just so difficult.
  
  And it's amazing the people that have stayed in it so long and that continue to do that work and have that passion.
  
  I will say I'm a much more present mom and wife and provider really, that I've stepped out of that end of life work.
  
  And I'm working more in the realm of kids who are healthy, kids who might still have issues they've had for weeks to months to years.
  
  But I'm not working at end of life anymore.
  
  I still love that work.
  
  I'd be happy to work with any kids and families like that.
  
  But to not have that every day, day in and day out, it's just been so nice for me to have space to continue to heal and keep moving forward with my own grief.
  
  That, yeah, I think almost everybody understood because they see where that work is.
  
  I think that that's really powerful and just a reminder that, even though you enjoy the work, you're not stuck in that.
  
  You could always sprinkle that into your business or like you said, work with patients that are at end of life.
  
  But just because it's not filling you anymore doesn't mean you don't care.
  
  I know being a mom, I'm sure has influenced the way you run your business.
  
  Just like I can feel your empathy, I can feel that you really do truly care about your patients.
  
  How would you say that being a mom has influenced the way that you completely run your business?
  
  Is there anything you can speak to on that?
  
  Well, I was talking to a friend who we were nurses like 15 years ago, and we are both like, we are much better at our jobs now that we are moms.
  
  And so I think after I had my daughter, I became a much better provider because I was like, oh, this is what it's like to be a parent, right?
  
  So my expectations of what I asked for parents to do or kids to do shifted.
  
  And then after I had my son, it shifted again, because then you see for families who have, and not everybody has more than one kid, but for families who do, you truly understand the complexity of caring for more than one kid in a house.
  
  And so I became a much better nurse practitioner, just being able to understand you can't always ask a family to do certain things because they just might not be ready for it or that they just may never be able to do something.
  
  And that's okay.
  
  So then you have to figure out other solutions and be creative.
  
  And that's what I love so much about my job is I can think outside of the box.
  
  So yeah, definitely being a mom allowed me to, I think, have a lot more grace.
  
  It allowed me to have more patience with both, I think, the world around me, myself as a person, and then my kids, which as a mom, I'm sure you can relate.
  
  Sometimes it's really hard to have patience with your child, but practicing that.
  
  And then also, being a mom, it just teaches me, like I said, about how kids are so resilient, you know?
  
  And so here's a good example is we just this week, three days ago, had to put our family dog down.
  
  And our dog, Maya, was a very sweet dog and loved by everyone in the family.
  
  And my son, who's two and a half, if he sees my husband sad with tears, he'll go up and go give him a giant bear hug and then be like, why sad?
  
  And he's two and a half and he'll wipe his tears away.
  
  And then he's just like two minutes later laughing and playing and wanting to get you to laugh and play, right?
  
  Because he wants you to enjoy life.
  
  And I think that's what kids teach us every day.
  
  So that's what I try to do is help the kids I see my practice who are not enjoying life.
  
  How do we get you to be back there?
  
  Right?
  
  Kids are meant to enjoy life.
  
  So are adults, right?
  
  But it's harder to sometimes shift up an adult's mindset than a child's.
  
  And so a lot of times the kids I work with, when they start having a different mindset, you'll see it kind of just like seep into the parents, which is really cool to see that then the parents start relaxing and being more calm, less anxious, or the parents start feeling less stressed about what's going on with their child because we're starting to find answers.
  
  Or the parent starts to realize, oh, I can be in the back seat of the car because we're working with Kelsey now.
  
  We put her in the driver's seat, so she's going to tell us the treatment plan.
  
  I don't have to be researching everything and going down every rabbit hole.
  
  She's going to steer us in this confident direction of what to do.
  
  And that feels good, right?
  
  Not everybody wants that, but a lot of parents I think want that and sometimes need that.
  
  Just step back a little bit and have someone say, I've got this, I've got you.
  
  We're going to figure this out.
  
  We're going to move forward.
  
  You know, I'm 100% committed.
  
  I ask that you're 100% committed and we'll work through this and we'll figure out what we need to do.
  
  And your child will feel better, right?
  
  Or will feel less stressed.
  
  Will feel calm, right?
  
  It's like, we don't have enough of that, people feeling that.
  
  And so that's the thing I love, love to have kids take away is that, is that they feel calm and really they feel in control.
  
  Like kids are amazing at, I teach a lot of kids how to switch what they're feeling.
  
  So right, like with one kid the other day I'm teaching and how, did you know you have this happy switch in your brain?
  
  You have the angry switch, but you also have a happy switch because we're working the kid not being so angry.
  
  You can just flip off the angry switch and flip on the happy.
  
  And so the kid was like, yeah, my happy switch is yellow and my angry is red.
  
  Perfect.
  
  That makes total sense, right?
  
  So the kid is working on switching off the angry and flipping on the happy, and the child left my office being happy.
  
  Wow.
  
  Do you teach adults how to switch off their anxiety or switch off their doubt?
  
  You know, we need that little switch.
  
  Yeah.
  
  I think a little bit by default, but no, I see right now I'm working with newborns up to about age 30.
  
  So I think parents often learn them from their kids, but no, focusing mostly on the pediatric population.
  
  Yeah.
  
  Well, we all need that for sure.
  
  And that is so powerful that you're starting at this age that's so vulnerable.
  
  They're soaking up millions of things per day, right?
  
  They're learning up until I don't know the age that it's really ingrained in them.
  
  I think it was age 7.
  
  You'll know more about that.
  
  But just being able to step into some child's life and giving them those tools will dramatically, I'm sure, change their lives and their future.
  
  So that's really cool that you're doing that.
  
  Is there any big win that you had after opening your doors?
  
  Yeah.
  
  I'll tell you about this one patient.
  
  This is one of my first patients I had.
  
  And he came to me and he had a fear of choking.
  
  And for the last one year, he was not gaining weight.
  
  They tried everything like different nutrition drinks, like protein drinks, and he had a lot of different imaging done, and went to see a GI specialist, and everything was normal, and tried some different medication, and nothing was working.
  
  So he came to see me, and I figured out that his...
  
  It was, he had this fear of choking, and it stemmed from hearing a story from his cousin who choked on an orange seed, right?
  
  Sometimes kids hear something, and then they just get stuck on them, and then they ruminate on that over and over.
  
  So he just had a fear of it.
  
  So he was only eating like three foods when I met him.
  
  By the third session, he was eating everything.
  
  He had already started to gain weight.
  
  He was happy.
  
  He was loving life.
  
  He went to Florida with his family on a trip and ate everything like his siblings did.
  
  I saw him for one more check and visit just to kind of wrap up and really cement the work we did.
  
  And he was doing great.
  
  That was a huge win to see someone that for a year had struggled.
  
  They weren't finding any answers.
  
  And that's preventing something, right?
  
  Like a feeding tube or something that's more drastic and taught him skills he could use to work on with his fear and with his anxiety and underlying anxiety.
  
  And I checked in about a month ago and his mom said he's still doing great, eating everything, doing well, still gaining weight, acting like a normal boy.
  
  And so, yeah, that was amazing.
  
  And so I've had quite a few stories like that.
  
  But those are the things that it's like, it's that life changing magic of integrative medicine where I'm using different tools, different interventions than conventional medicine, which still has its place.
  
  But in this case, it wasn't helping.
  
  And so adding in other interventions, other recommendations, teaching him how to be in control of what he's feeling.
  
  Taught him about his GI system so he knew how everything works.
  
  And really, you know, capitalized on his learning style, right?
  
  We all learn different.
  
  So do we learn best by hearing, by reading, by, you know, how visual, like demonstration type thing?
  
  So how do we learn best?
  
  So figuring that out and then, you know, meeting him where he's at and really helping him, like I said, thrive, which which was so rewarding to do.
  
  I feel like that that's a story that will stay with you.
  
  I feel like every story that you're, you know, being able to help these kids go through things, that just sounds really impactful.
  
  And thank you for having that as a service, because I know for sure I'm going to be reaching out because of my daughter and stuff going on with her.
  
  And, you know, it feels like us as parents, we can finally have a tool that's not just medicine or not just, you know, put a band-aid on it and instead get to the root cause.
  
  So thank you for providing this for families.
  
  I feel like this is going to be really, really cool to watch your business grow.
  
  And when you started the business almost a year ago, you had, you know, certain feelings.
  
  How is your heart now today as you sit in your practice?
  
  It feels good.
  
  It feels a lot more grounded.
  
  You know, every day, it could be different.
  
  But I'd say as a whole, I've done significant work on my own grief to be able to continue having the passion I have for this work and caring for kids and families.
  
  Stepping back from the hospital allowed me to take some space, slow down, and then use my creative side, you know, to figure out what I want to do.
  
  No one's managing me, right?
  
  I'm in charge, so I get to decide what I do, how I do it, how am I helping people the best way that I know possible.
  
  And so that's really helped me.
  
  Back to when you said you have doubts, I'd say on those days, I try to remember my dad.
  
  Like, what would he want me to do?
  
  And he was such a hard worker his entire life.
  
  And so he'd be like, you know, probably in the day where I like watched a bunch of Netflix and maybe did only one email, you know, I think he'd say, it's okay, Kelsey, like, it's okay.
  
  That's what you needed today.
  
  And then the next day, I do more, right?
  
  And so it's figuring out that whole process.
  
  I think it's so important to just figure out what you need so you can keep moving forward and not feel stuck.
  
  Oh, you brought something up that like totally resonated with me.
  
  So I've been an entrepreneur for 11 years now.
  
  That's amazing, by the way.
  
  That's so great.
  
  My poor husband, he's watched me go through all the different things.
  
  But you brought up a good point that it's okay to just have a day to do nothing, not touch your to-do list, not worry about whatever it is.
  
  I mean, obviously, if you have patient stuff, like that's a different scenario.
  
  But if there's something that's not pressing, take the day off.
  
  You know, go for a walk, go for yoga class, or something that's going to just like refill it, or just watch TV.
  
  You know, if you need that data binge and just like rest, you have permission to do that, and it's not going to affect your entire career, right?
  
  Obviously, like you need to develop habits to make sure you're not doing that on a daily basis because then you won't have a business to run.
  
  But it's just so important because I feel like my to-do list is like 30 pages long at this point, you know, especially running this business and having another business full time.
  
  And I feel like there's always things that I could be doing around the clock.
  
  And yeah, so thank you for that reminder that it's okay.
  
  And your dad, you know, like you said, I'm sure he would say, it's okay.
  
  Thank you for that reminder.
  
  Yeah, I think it's important for people to know there's not one right way to starting your own business.
  
  And I think that's where people, I think, don't even start.
  
  Like I'll say one entrepreneur group for all women I went to, some women were just so scared to even start, you know?
  
  And I found that I found that fascinating.
  
  I'm like, well, you're here, you're at this group, you did start.
  
  Now you just need to like, just feel like, okay, I can just jump a little bit more and just start.
  
  And yeah, there's no one right way, right?
  
  Especially when there's so many different industries, so many different companies you could start and programs you could have.
  
  And so yeah, there's no one right way.
  
  But the most important thing to remember is just keep going, you know?
  
  Yeah, that brought up a thing yesterday.
  
  I was listening to a podcast and it was by Kathy Heller.
  
  And she said, it starts with courage.
  
  You don't just have confidence.
  
  Your action through courage will develop the confidence over time.
  
  And so like you said, you just have to start.
  
  And I'm like same thing with my journey is I felt the fear, but I'm just like, you know what?
  
  I'm just going to do it.
  
  I'm going to take messy action.
  
  And then as I continue to go, I start to develop more confidence.
  
  So starting this podcast, for example, I've been terrified.
  
  I'm like, who's going to want to listen to me?
  
  I don't have any good stories, whatever, you know?
  
  But like I decided I'm just going to start and I'm going to see it shift and change and grow into something that I know is meant for me.
  
  Yeah.
  
  And so I just, yeah, I love, you know, the idea of just starting even if you're scared.
  
  Yeah.
  
  And then, you know, thinking about the goals, like mapping out maybe what do you want it to be like in six months or 12 months or 12 years, you know, that could change significantly in 12 years.
  
  But, you know, if you don't have those goals, you don't have anything to work towards.
  
  So I've always had goals.
  
  Some are small, some are big, but something to work towards.
  
  Yeah.
  
  Oh, that's so important too.
  
  I know I'm not very good about writing my goals down and I know that there is a connection and I've read this, I've heard this everywhere.
  
  It's just, it's not a habit for myself.
  
  And I am trying to work on that.
  
  Just to see them on pen and paper, it connects with you spiritually, it connects with you emotionally.
  
  Do you have any habits like that, like that you can speak to our audience about, like how you're tracking your goals or how you're writing them down?
  
  Or do you have any thoughts on that?
  
  Well, I will say that no, I'm like you, my goals are more in my head.
  
  It's more my husband, his personality that we typed up the goals.
  
  We actually made family goals, which I think is a really cool thing to do.
  
  So we did like one year, six years, we did some interesting numbers based on our ages, 12, 24, and so it was certain mile markers with our ages.
  
  And that helped to see, so it was like personal, business goals, family.
  
  And so both of us put self-care goals on there.
  
  I mean, both of us put different things that we wanted for the business, for our family of four.
  
  And so I think it is helpful to put those down, but no, I'm like you, Leah.
  
  I have them more in my head, and I think that's okay, too.
  
  I think if that's how you feel, for me, it feels like it's just the right amount of pressure that I think of it in my head.
  
  But if I think I had them on this giant whiteboard or something, for me, I think that would feel like too much pressure.
  
  And so I think that's where I need to have them be, is mostly just in my head.
  
  But yeah, I like working towards things, so I definitely like that.
  
  I think it's important to figure out what works best for you.
  
  For some people, as a business owner, they incorporate a lot of prayer.
  
  For some people, they're not religious at all.
  
  So I think it's really important to figure out what you need to feel as confident as you can, like you said, and to have that courage before you have the confidence.
  
  Yeah, I think that's huge.
  
  I think that's really huge.
  
  It's like finding your puzzle pieces.
  
  Yeah.
  
  Because we're all different.
  
  Yeah.
  
  It's so cheesy, but it is so true because-
  
  Very true.
  
  My experiences, even though we have a very similar path in losing our fathers, we still experience things differently because of the way you were raised, the children, your husband, different experiences that you went through.
  
  And knowing yourself more feels like how you can grow your business or be a better parent or be a better friend.
  
  You really do have to figure that piece out first.
  
  Yeah.
  
  And what makes you tick and what makes someone else tick might not be the same thing.
  
  Yeah, that's a really powerful thing.
  
  Is there anything that you want to leave the listeners with, or thought, or anything, a question?
  
  Do you want mom advice?
  
  Do you want being a woman entrepreneur advice?
  
  Yeah, let's do being a woman entrepreneur.
  
  I will say, don't be afraid to show who you are and put your best foot forward.
  
  I think at the end of the day, it doesn't matter as much as we think.
  
  I truly don't.
  
  I think it just matters how you show up, whether you're male, female.
  
  I think it just matters how you show up as a person and if you're genuine.
  
  So if you show up with kindness, you show up with passion, show up with dedication for your business, and you're just a genuine human being, that's what people see, right?
  
  They see who you are.
  
  And so if you're an extrovert, be that.
  
  If you're an introvert, be that.
  
  But find a business that works for you, where you really maximize your strengths.
  
  So I think it's just that, it's being a genuine human being and showing up for who you are.
  
  I mean, you don't need everyone to love you.
  
  You just need a couple of super fans, right?
  
  That's true.
  
  That's true.
  
  Yeah.
  
  Yeah.
  
  Well, thank you so much for being here and sharing your heart.
  
  Yeah.
  
  It was incredible to get to know you.
  
  I'm excited to follow your journey and see how many lives you impact with your work.
  
  So thanks again for stepping out into courage and just having faith that this is the right step for you.
  
  So thank you.
  
  Thanks, Leah, for having me.
  
  I really appreciate it.
  
  Thank you for joining us on Untethered Momentum.
  
  I hope you found today's episode as inspiring and empowering as I did.
  
  Remember, every step that you take, no matter how small or how messy, brings you closer to your goals.
  
  So if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
  
  Your feedback really helps us reach more women who need to hear these stories.
  
  And don't forget to share this podcast with your fellow business besties.
  
  Let's grow this supportive community together.
  
  You can join our conversation on social media too by following Untethered Momentum.
  
  And until next time, keep embracing your vulnerabilities, taking those brave steps, and moving forward untethered and unstoppable.