I usually say thatI became a nurse entrepreneur and business owner by accident, but I guess I should have known that I would.

I come from a family of nurses and teachers who always had summer jobs and side-hustles while I was growing up. My family did everything from selling Amway and Tupperware to running a digital type-setting and printing business in the 1980's before computers were cool!

I fell in love with the NICU while still in nursing school and have been fortunate enough to work with the neonatal population for my ENTIRE career!

After graduating from nursing school and getting a few years experience under my belt I was given the opportunity to plan a local nursing conference and was responsible for organizing all the exhibitors and this changed everything for me. In 2002, I was given my first opportunity to be a nurse consultant by a medical device company who needed a NICU nurse to give inservices on a new incubator.

This position allowed me to share my clinical experience and expertise outside my home unit in Southern California for the first time. I was able to travel (all expenses paid) and made some extra money on top of that, and I was hooked!

For more than two decades I have been fortunate to wear a variety of hats as a nurse entrepreneur.Here are a few highlights of the various ways that I make money now as a nurse entrepreneur:

• I serve as the chief clinical consultant to two international medical device companies working on marketing, product development and regulatory compliance issues with the FDA.I am a NICU program consultant to three large academic centers.

• I am an international speaker at nursing and medical conferences.I am a Nursing CEU provider, approved by the CA State BRN.

• I create online courses for NICU nurses. I've launched more than a dozen online nursing courses, with hundreds of students and multiple six-figure launches.I used to plan in-person conferences but since CV19

• I have hosted three virtual nursing conferences and hundreds of Zoom lectures.

• I am an inventor of 4 different physical, consumable, medical products sold to hospitals still today.

• Outside of the NICU, I am also an experienced real-estate investor (residential, multi-family, and commercial)

• I am a top-earner in a direct sales company

• I like donating my time to several non-profits organizations serving on their scientific advisory boards and stake-holder positions for grant submissions.

Which one sounds the most fun to you???