116 - Allie Henderson Pt 1: Nursing School is Harder than NP School

Join nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, and Brazil, Las Vegas, Nevada, and O’ahu, Hawai’i native Honored Guest Allie Henderson as she articulates her incredible journey into nursing (involving a casino?!), her real-life superpower, the importance of her family visiting Brazil, and more!

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Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young podcast. Today I'm with an incredibly special person. I say it all the time, I'm gonna probably say it all the time, so get used to it, but it doesn't make it any less true. But before I do that, a little shameless self-promotion. It's actually not self-promotion, is self-promotion. It's a little humble brag. But more than that, it's actually thanking you, the listening audience. for helping to make this happen. Because in between this morning's session and this afternoon's session, I got a notification from Buzzsprout, who hosts our episodes, that someone had downloaded the 5,000th episode. And it is April 4th, this is the time of this recording. We've been live for less than 10 months, just under 10 months. And I know there's some podcasts that probably reach that number faster, and there are probably some podcasts that reach that slower, but our job is never to look to the left or the right. We're looking forward. because the podcast isn't the end goal. The end goal is the mission, and the mission is changing this culture around eating our young so that we can start feeding our young. So the podcast is only a tool. I don't care about, well, I love numbers, I'm a number nerd, but that being said, blah, blah, blah, I'm not gonna go down that road. I've talked enough. Let's get talking to our honored guest. Allie how the heck are you today? my goodness, number one, I just want to say congratulations. I'm so excited about this. This is amazing. And what you're doing is amazing. So yes and yes and yes. Well, I thank you for that. I actually asked for permission to share that stat before we started going. was like, don't want to like, it's like this isn't about us, it's about you, but we're going to take a quick moment just to thank everybody for listening. wonderful. So, Allie, let's not waste any time. I want to, any more time, I should say. Talk to me. Where is home for you? Where do you live, Allie? I currently live in Hawaii. We've been living in Hawaii for five years, in the island of Oahu. And this is home. This is home. And we were just talking about like that you probably won't hear it on the episode But there was rain first of all during her intro and now there is beautiful bird singing in the background And she says you wanted me to close my window for this and I was like, please No If I can be on the island of Oahu in the comfort of my like room My wife is probably gonna be jealous and we were like, babe. I went to Hawaii today. Just so you know No, all right, so that being said, no, lovely, lovely, you are our second honored guest that we've recorded with that lives in Hawaii, and I'm just so excited about that. But even more importantly than that, where are you from? Because you've got quite the background there. Have you always lived in Hawaii? No, so I am born and raised in Brazil and lived here. I've moved to the United States when I was 18 years old and it all started. It was a long story, but I'll try. I'll try to make it short for you. I. as you want. We'll just make you a double episode, it's fine. Episode 1, all about Allie's background and how she made it to the United States. And go! So, came in when I was 18. I honestly, I was pretty much like the rebel child. Not in a bad way, but I just wanted something different. I wanted something, there was something more in life. So, when I was 18, I should have been married. I should be, like I should have been married. So, I refused to get married, told my parents I was gonna move. My mom actually helped me out, which is she's somewhat of a rebel too. I think I got it from her. So, came. I came to the States, I ended up in Miami living with a friend and I was supposed to be there for six months just to chill, just to kind of clear my head, figure out what I want to do with my life. And that turned into 22 years because that's, I just stayed in Miami. I worked as a nanny, I clean homes, I did what I had to do. I put myself to school and maybe, I don't know, I was 18, 20, when I was 26, I met my husband. Wow. And that's when, like six months later, I married him. So that's, if you look at that, that's how, that's what my story was. And then since we got married, we've been together ever since, of course, traveling, moving, and we ended up in Las Vegas. Yeah, we moved cross country. He got a job with Cirque du Soleil. And yeah, yeah. Doing what? So funny, Cirque du Soleil back, my gosh, 20 years ago, they were doing a show in Las Vegas called Le Rav, which is from The Wynn Hotel. when Hotel was being built and they needed a group of divers. My husband is a scuba diver. He's a certified scuba diver. So they needed a group of divers to go into Vegas, work for Cirque du Soleil and actually train the performers to dive because that was the 70 feet deep pool that the show was gonna be about. And... My husband ended up getting like his buddies ended up going, hey, Owen, do you want to go to Vegas to dive? And it's like, to the desert to dive? That's weird. But sure, we'll go. And yeah, and we just packed our car back then. I still remember we had no kids, just the two of us, not even a dog. So. We just wanted it, just us. And we packed our little Toyota Corolla and we drove cross country. And that's how we made it to Las Vegas. Yeah, and we lived there for, my gosh, like 17 years before we moved to Hawaii. Yeah. And I've been in Hawaii for five, yeah. five years. But I'm doing all the math and you're not that old. You're making stuff up. This is all BS. I'm calling BS on this. This is incredible. Also, we're gonna have to do a second, third episode with your husband. We're gonna get him on and listen to the... Your guys' stories are just incredible. I can't believe that. Okay, so... We'll unpack more of like where nursing fits in all that picture. But, I'm excited. So, but before we do, let's just continue with our standard opening questions. What three words, Allie, did you use to describe nursing school? Honestly, nursing school was intense. It was challenging, but it was very rewarding. And we'll talk more about that at the end of courses we always do. But in the meantime, so in all that, I'm assuming you're no longer a nursing student. What degrees do you hold and roughly when and where did you get them? So nursing school, I did my nursing school in Vegas. I was, once we moved there, I decided I had to find a job. So I learned how to deal. I went to school, became a blackjack dealer and I got a job in the casino. Yeah. So one day at a casino, I promised it's gonna be fast. You know, I love, yeah, I love, see, I love stories. If we don't hear it in the intro, we're gonna hear it later, so you might as well just tell us all about it now. This is a very Vegas-y thing, so let's go. So one day I was in a blackjack table dealing having fun talking to people and this lady comes in we start talking, you know, just chilling and I was dealing to her and she was super nice and then she asked me she's like, how do you like what you do? And I'm like, I like it. It's it's a job. I like it, but I don't see myself doing this for my whole life. I just don't know what I want to do. And I remember I was on my, I don't know, maybe 20. two twenties, almost my twenties, which I'm not there anymore. But okay. So and then she looked at me and she's like, you know, I've been talking to you for a little bit. Like you're really you have a good personality. You're really nice and you look like you're a very caring person. You would be an amazing registered nurse. She said, that's what I do. I'm an RN. And I'm like, oh, OK, what do you what do you got to do to do that? And she's like, you just have to, you know, take your prerequisites, apply. She's like, yeah, you kind of you look smart. You can do it. And she just yeah. And she just talked me into becoming a nurse. And I'm like, and a blackjack table like on a white and put it on a Wednesday night, everyone drunk. I was working at the back then at the Palm. at the Palms Casino, which is like one of the biggest one in Vegas, very a lot of partying, a lot of heavy partying, a lot of people always busy. And I find this woman that sits on my table and talks to me about, should become a nurse. Like you have that in you. And it just sat with me for a week, like to set with me. And I feel like she pretty much told me what I needed to do with my life. How crazy is that? Wow, like. it's something that was meant to be. For sure, I just love, because that's, of all the questions I get to ask people, that's my favorite, is how did you become a nurse? Because some people are like, you know what mean, well I knew since I was young, and others had this immensely emotional, impactful story, and others are like, well there wasn't anything else available, and I want job security, so I did that, and now I love it. Not once yet have I got someone becoming a nurse the seed planted at a blackjack table. This is fantastic. As that was the first time. so, okay, so, sorry, your degrees and when you got them, where you got them. How far have you gone in your nursing progression? So, back in, like I went to nursing school in 2010, September of 2010. I graduated in 2012. I took an accelerated program. And it was amazing and extremely hard at the same time. But let's talk about change, because I had to quit working. I had to quit my blackjack job to just be a nursing school student, like a nursing student full time. So yeah, we made it work, got it. after my, I graduated, I got pregnant. I had my first son. So I went into NICU and PICU. But because I had a little baby at home. it became very emotional for me. It hit home, right? Going to work with sick kids and trying to be supportive to parents and family members and coming home to a healthy child. And I kind of felt like, I know there was no reason for me to feel guilty, but I felt guilty that I was so blessed with an amazing baby that was just there waiting for me and what other parents didn't have that. blessing, not even a luxury, it's a blessing. So that was too much for me to handle. So I finished PICU, finished NICU, and I said, like, what am I gonna do? And I said, I'm gonna go into home health. There's nothing that can stress me if I go into home health. So I went from the little diapers to pretty much the big diapers. So. ma'am. So I started working with Kindred Hospital in Las Vegas, and it's an amazing group, and I was their home health nurse. And I went from assisted living facility to assisted living facility just taking care of my peeps, my geriatric folks. And I loved it. And as a nurse, I did my nursing, had one kid. to it like a year later, got pregnant again, had to have my second one because seriously, my gynecologist told me, my OB told me, time is ticking. If you want, it has to be now. Yeah, yes, you gotta go, sis. And I said, OK, fine. So we had a second child. And at that point. I kind of told myself, okay, I really have to think about this because I'm not getting any younger. What do I want to do? Do I want to be a nurse for the rest of my life or do I want to do something else? And I've always had that weird, that little bug. I call it a bug. There's something else. There's something more. I can do more. I can improve. So I said, I'm going to become a nurse practitioner. And my, yeah. I'm gonna do. This is what I'm gonna do. and my husband is like, okay, all right. And mind you, I had just found out I was three months pregnant when I received the congratulations. You got enrolled into South University online program. So I'm like, okay. And my husband's like, no, maybe you should back down. Let's just have a baby. I'm like, back down? Nah, that's not what we do. think I can't do both these things at the same time? Do you not know me? we push forward buddy. We got this so throughout my NP program I was pregnant going to school. I was working. had a baby. had my son was about a year already so after you know like I seriously I remember perfectly I was in labor I was at the end of one one class I had submitted paper and he's like we have to go and I'm like we go once I press submit I am not failing this class you don't understand so it was funny I press submit he's like okay we're going to the hospital you're Your doctor is waiting. We gotta go. So, you know, had a baby, took maybe, I don't know, three weeks off or something, and then went right back at it. I have, you guys, like literally the I'm taking three weeks and having a baby, like that's the aside in this story. Like I'm just taking a break having a baby and then we're gonna go right back to it. Unbelievable. to it. Yeah. So I graduated graduated in school and let me tell you the dates because I have it all written down because I can't keep dates in my head. So in school was from 2014 to 2017. And yeah, so it was it was very interesting. But I'm to be honest with you, Eric. Nursing school. was harder than NP school. If you can get in, you can be, if you can pass that in class and if you can go through nursing school, please, you can do anything in life. And that's what I wanna tell your people. Like if they don't get anything from this, they need to get that. Yes. nursing school is harder than the education that comes after it. And, oh, it's so hard. yeah, NP school because I guess I got prepared from my RN program. NP school, I'm like, when does it get harder? Is that it? I'm like, bring it people. know, like I'm like breastfeeding on the computer, finishing up a note, finishing up a post. and the APA and all that stuff that you have to worry about that I completely put it on the back burner now. It just came to me, the APA format, God. don't, yeah, I, there's so many people whose butts just clenched when you said that. Mine included. Ah! Make sure the citation is 100 % accurate. Like, no, stop, stop, stop. Ah. Okay, so, I mean, okay, we're gonna, I'm sure we're gonna talk more about this. There's so much that you have to share. I'm already feeling, we're only 15 minutes into your episode here, and I am feeling like you might be a double episode. So, with your early permission, You got it. Awesome, thank you. I'm so glad you're willing to like do that. I again, like you you warned me beforehand. You said you like to tell a story. You like to talk. And I was like, well, that makes two of us. So we're in trouble. All right. So before we continue with the stories, before we continue with the wisdom that you want to bring and what you're doing with that nurse practitioner degree, I have warned you but not prepared you for our patent not pending unofficial Feeding Our Young personality test. Are you ready for the five questions? Here's what I love about this, as people listen to this, when they hear your episode, they're gonna be like, well we've heard this so many times before, how do people not know? Here's why, because I'm doing the same five questions from the first person I did this with all the way through until that first person's episode airs, and then when that first person's episode airs, I'm gonna pick five entirely new questions. So don't worry everybody, if this is your least favorite segment, new questions are coming, but not yet. All right, so, Allie. Here are five questions. I give them to you rapid fire style. You can just give simple answers. You can give rationale if you really feel compelled. It's up to you. Okay? Let's do this. Alright, would you rather instantly learn a new language or instrument? instrument. Would you rather have the ability to fly or breathe underwater? Breathe underwater. says the Hawaiian. The living on Hawaii. Are you team pie or team cake? Mmm, none. Ooh, neither. Okay, so you're in like this horrible, horrible room, someone is punishing you, and you have to pick one or the other. Which one are they gonna force feed you? I guess I'll go with the cake if I have to. Yeah! to, otherwise none. Is Wham's song titled Last Christmas actually a Christmas song? I don't know. What song is that? Aha! You got me! I'm 0 for 2 today on people who have heard this song. So that's gonna be your homework assignment. George Michael, before he was George Michael, the performer, he was in a band called Wham! And so now you're gonna have to listen to this when we're done. Anyway, it's a whole story, people know the story, I'm not gonna share it again. But is Wham!'s song, titled Last Christmas Actually A Christmas Song, he talks about like, breakup, how he gave this lady his heart and she... gave it away and blah blah. It's kind of a sad, but it's like, yeah. Yeah, that one! Yes, ma'am. So, is it a Christmas song or not? It has to be a breakup song. Yeah. There you go. question. Congratulations, you've just won a time machine. Are you going to go back in the past or are you gonna go see the future? I'm going forward, Mm-mm. Mm-hmm. kind of suspected that from you. And with that, the results are in. You're amazing. Congratulations. Yay! Okay, now that we've established she's amazing and now that we know exactly what type of person she is, we can get back to her story. Everybody's like, why are you doing this segment? She's telling amazing stories. Get on with it! So a few more icebreaker questions just because you have them here and I kind of loved your answers. What's your superpower, Allie? My superpower. I am very personable. And this is not something I try. This is not something I want to do. Excuse me. This is not something it just it's just me and it's the weirdest thing. Like I find out the weirdest things about people and that yeah and I don't want to sometimes. They just tell me and they just like you know what I don't know what I'm telling you this. But, and in the back of my mind I go, boy, here we go again. Okay, well then on that subject, Allie, since you and I go way back for about 21 minutes and 33 seconds by my reckoning so far, I will tell you something, and apparently the listeners, that I don't tell a bunch of people except my coworkers and my family. I can't burp. I can't burp. so interesting. can't do it. I do it half a dozen times a year, usually on accident with a hiccup. There it is everybody, my deep dark secret. Allie, I don't know why, I just felt like I needed to share that with you. But also, on a serious note though, on a serious note though, you saying you're personable, like, I mean, that's kind of what landed you in nursing based on your story, right? Like, that person at your blackjack table is like, you've got something, you've got something, you should do this. And you're like, yeah, okay, sounds good. see you next time. If you could have a meal with one person, who would that be and why? are Mel Robbins. I've been, I mean I've been stalking her for a while. And I don't know the word, excuse me, the word stalking is kind of weird, but I've been listening to her books and her podcasts and like listening to her and to her message is the most genuine thing someone can do for themselves. Like it's not for, it's not for anyone else but for you. And it's all about self care. And it's just something that we don't have nowadays. Like everyone is so busy. We're just doing like 5,000 things at the same time. And I just, I found her and I started listening. I seriously, I have to listen to books because as you can see, I can stop to read, but I can listen. I'm a good listener. So I've been listening to her books and her podcasts and the message is amazing. Like if you, you people go find her, it's life changing. Yes. And you don't want to miss it. I've dabbled in a little bit of her stuff. I want to not dabble because I feel like that's like insulting. And for those that don't know, it's literally the Mel Robbins podcast. That's the title of her podcast. But she is incredible. Her books like that's the next I have it on my list. And because I don't take the time to listen to audiobooks, I haven't read it yet. So I'm going to have to take a page out of your notebook there. You have to listen to the Let Them Theory. the Let Them Theory. That's the one that I see pop up all the time. Everybody like, okay, okay, okay. Done, done deal. You've heard of her first. changing. You understand why things happen and that you understand that's not your fault. Yeah. And I imagine the lack of control you have over the things that, you know what mean, outside of ergo, let them. Yeah. Okay. Ah, all right. Well, there's a little promo. Mel Robbins, if you get a wind of this at all, I'll happily come on your podcast. I'll happily have you on my podcast. Why do I care? Okay. Anyway, what, a couple more tidy up questions there. Cause I, again, I like, I want to see where you go with this based on what you wrote here, but your greatest regret. And on the opposite side of it, what day in your life do you want to relive? My greatest regret, think, I mean, I say regret, but regret is when you do something consciously, right? To me, that's what it is. I don't think I did anything consciously in my youth, but my greatest regret of the whole situation is wasting so much time not knowing what I wanted. Like not having that vision. Like my goodness, if I knew I wanted to be a nurse when I had just got out high school and moved to this country. That would have been amazing. He would have saved me so much time. But again, I wouldn't have met my girl at a blackjack table, you know? And if she's listening to this podcast, I really wanna thank you. You changed my life. Oh, I- that would just be a dream of mine if just some random person is like, no, she's talking about me. Like, this is amazing. Oh. Oh, I just, I love that story. I love that story. I don't know why I keep going with you. Like I'm like, it's because I want to hear more, but you know, like you could just end there. That's just so incredible. man. All right. So let's talk a little bit more about your family. Cause tied up in that too is kind of, was the question that you said you wanted to answer as far as like who your hero is. So tell us a little bit more about that. My hero is my mom. Yeah, she is. She's awesome. Yeah, she's the yeah, she's amazing. She's a strong woman, very calm, very kind, but very strong and stern. So she's able to have all of that in the perfect measurements. Yeah, so she is. She is like she's my person, my go to. Is she in the States as well? Is she still back in Brazil? Like what does that look like? She's back in Brazil. my goodness. So do you get to travel often? Like what does that look like? I don't get to talk to anybody who's from Brazil, Allie, so feel free to share that with us. So I talk to her every day, I call her every day. And it's a, that's here we go with the time zones, right? It's a seven hour difference. So it's early in the morning for me, I call her. So it's like, you know, almost like seven o'clock at night for her. So we, talk to her every day. It's, I feel like, yeah, it sucks that she's away. But I have her, I call her every day and I feel like we're close. Yeah. we can FaceTime, thank God for technology. We can FaceTime, we can do all this, right? So we kind of, makes it easier. I try to go to Brazil, I try to go to Brazil every two years, but since the pandemic, it's been rough. So they came two years ago. My parents came two years ago. And now at the end of the year, I'm taking my whole family. because I want my kids to see where I grew up, what school I went to. I want to kind of take them down memory lane. And I want that will be their first time that they remember in Brazil because they want to have babies, but they have no clue. And I want them to see, Eric, the difference, the difference what it is to living in a country, a third world country. Right? Like the struggles. want them to see what kids go through. I want them to see how privileged they are to be able to just get up in the morning and go to school, have a roof under their head, or have food on their plate, or just know that, you know, from high school you can go to college, then from college you can go to university if you want to. In my country, it's completely different. It's a struggle. to from high school you have to apply and take this crazy test and if there's not enough, if there's enough space, you don't go, you can ace it. But if there's no space, well sorry, you try again next year. And guess what? They all do. It's the mentality. You have to keep on going. So it's just, I really wanna instill that in them because I want them to know that they have it pretty good here. Yeah, yeah, for sure. mean, and it's one of those reminders that we all need every, you know what mean, every day of the very things that we take for granted, right? Yeah, wow, wow. Anything else you want to share about your family, your husband, your kid? How old are your kids? Did you say that earlier? This is the blonde moment in me, so yeah. all good. I have two boys. I have a 10 and a 12. So yeah, so they are like, they are tweenagers, right? They're not teens yet, they're tweens. So we're going through the phase, you know, it's just like, I know everything, mom. You know, you know. Yeah, you don't understand, mom. Don't talk to me, mom. Yeah. but you don't understand like I do oh No, no, so it's been like very, very interesting and challenging at the same time. Because as a parent, you want to be there for them, right? You want my goodness, you want to catch them before they fall. And you can't you can't do that. You just really have to kind of step away and let them fall, but make sure that they're not falling so hard. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. sure that even if they fall, the bandaid is right next to them. So it's that balance as a parent that I'm learning. This is a different part of, it's a different learning opportunity for me as a parent. And so is for my husband. Yeah, I wish there was a parenting practitioner degree. know what I mean? Something that you could just go and learn and yet everybody's story is too different. There's nothing that's totally applicable to everybody. Yeah, I agree. Oh, well, okay, wonderful. And then your husband, you said you guys have been married how many years now? We've been married for 23... 23? Almost 24 years. I know, I don't do numbers in my head. So, here's my number, guys. So, yeah, but it's been a long time. Yeah, yes. He'll probably say, no, no, just, sheesh, sheesh. Let me give you the dates. I loved your answer to the following question too. Do you have any pets, Allie? There it is, everybody. We don't need pets. We've got kids. Okay. Alright, so with that, I'm gonna, let's just, we're gonna pivot here. We're gonna end this episode. This was the kind of get to know Allie episode. And the second episode will be all about the nursing, nursing school, and what she's doing with her NP degree, which, man, I'm just excited for you to unpack all that. So, Allie, you ready to make the flip to the other side? Let's do it.