13. Janine Kelbach: From Freelance Writer to Building a Nurse-Led Agency

Welcome to The Bossy Nurse Podcast, a show about nurse creators, innovators, risk-takers, and the ideas that shape their success.

In this episode of The Bossy Nurse Podcast, Marsha speaks with Janine Kelbach, RNC-OB, nurse writer and host of The Savvy Scribe Podast. They discuss what it really takes to go from “I like writing” to building a nurse-led agency— and why credibility matters even more in the age of AI. 

Find the all the resources mentioned in the show and full details at The Bossy Nurse website.

Transcript

Awards, Free Resources, And Housekeeping

Marsha 0:02

Voting is officially open for Nurse.org's 2026 Best of Nursing Awards, and the Bossy Nurse Podcast is included alongside some incredible nurse content creators. If this show has helped you or you simply love listening, we love your consideration. Visit nurse.org to cast your vote, or you'll find the link waiting for you in the show notes. If you're a nurse ready to level up your career and boost your nursing income, I've got free resources ready to help. From guides on landing the right remote nursing role to my top strategies on increasing your nursing income in the workplace and more. Head on over to thebossynurse.com forward slash free. That's thebossynurse.com forward slash free. To learn more about today's guest and get resources we shared in the episode, you can find all of that information in the show notes over at thebossynurse.com.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Healthcare content demand is rising because of AI actually is making us want to create more. And it's also given us an opportunity to show validation of our subject matter expertise. So that said, 2023, when ChatGPT came out, I thought I was going to lose my entire business and I was scared every single day.

Marsha 1:33

Welcome to the Boston Nurse Podcast, a show about nurse creators, innovators, risk takers, and the ideas that shape their success. I'm Marcia Backtie, and on the show today, how Janine Kelback went from freelancing to leading a writing agency and what it takes to stay credible in the age of AI. Healthcare content is exploding, and AI is making it faster to create and harder to trust. So credibility is a new currency. But when anyone can generate a health article in seconds, the real question becomes who can validate it? And that's where nurses with real clinical context and subject

The AI Content Boom And Credibility

Marsha 2:16

matter expertise step into a whole new life. Janine had a skill that proved valuable far beyond the bedside. She began taking on freelance writing work, learning how the business side of content really works, and over time, that one writer operation grew into something bigger. A nurse-led agency model built around matching real healthcare expertise to the words that brands publish. And for Janine, credibility is personal. It's built over years inside real patient stories, real systems, and real life. Until writing stopped being a side thing and started becoming a mission. But before she ever turned nursing know-how into a business, it started right where she's always been.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

So I grew up in this same area that I live in now. It's called East Lake, Ohio, but I actually live in Willoughby right down the street. And I worked, grew up, everything's still within this city. It's not that I haven't traveled, it's just that I haven't moved. My family, uh, I have three sisters, and my husband has four siblings, and we're all within like a 10-minute radius. So we're very lucky, and parents are also. So like we're very close with our family. And so

Meet Janine: From OB Nurse To Writer

SPEAKER_01 3:33

you can't leave, you're stuck here for a little while. And it's great. We love our families. And um, growing up, I have an identical twin sister. So we did a lot of things together, obviously, and including nursing school. So we went to nursing school together. And uh throughout our whole lives, we've always had some sort of like entrepreneurial itch in a sense. We always had like little businesses trying to sell everything, saving our money. And it was cool. Like growing up, it did the oddest thing you never knew, you know, you could make money for. We did as kids. And I think that kind of turned me into the entrepreneurial today.

Marsha 4:11

Yeah, I'm curious about the twin sister, which I already knew about a while ago because you and I have worked together in the past, which we can probably talk about briefly. But I'm curious about your twin sister and the field you went, the field that she went into in nursing, and then the field that you went into in nursing.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah. So when we we both went to nursing school, we had to do in high school, we had to do service hours for our school. And part of that was volunteering at the hospital. So we both were candy strikers back in the day. So we started in like patient transport, and which was funny because like we are not big people, like we're both like four foot ten, 100 pounds, and we're pushing these like big linebaggers and these wheelchairs. And I'm like, this is horrible. I can like run people into the mall all the time. Ever. And then so then we got the chance to volunteer in obstetrics. So we would make we would let people in and out the doors because locked unit, and then we would make charts and stuff. And we were, I mean, like 14, 15 years old then. So we just thought we were so cool because like they had coffee machines, like, oh my, we get our coffee. Back then you could get free dinner because you're a volunteer. We're like, oh, yes, because we want dinner, and we would make these charts, and then girls in the unit just loved us, and so towards the end of that, um, stent, like we were probably 16, 17, we were both working at Burger King and babysitting, and then we also were still doing our service hours, and by that point, we were very close with all the nurses, and we got to go see our first delivery. So they were like, girls, do you want to come in? But yeah, yeah. It was incredible. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Um, long story short, then we would walk past the nursery all the time and see like the aide in there with the babies. I'm like, that would be cooler than like Burger King. I was probably all the smell coming home. Like the book for mindset like that, right?

Early Nursing Path And Twin Stories

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Nobody in our family went to college, nobody was a nurse, so like the whole nursing thing just wasn't in like I I don't know, I just never knew what a nurse really did. So going into nursing school wasn't even a thought until I was probably a junior in high school. And I was like, Yeah, maybe nursing school is something I'd want to do. So became a nurse aide in OB. So did my twin. We would work opposite each other a lot of the three to 11 shifts, enjoyed it, and then they would float us to different units um just to help as an aide. And you're like, I have no idea what I'm doing. Like the flu list. So um long story short, we went into nursing school kind of with an open mind of not knowing what we really wanted to do. Um, I really enjoyed labor and delivery, but I also really enjoyed like ER trauma, fast paced kind of stuff. So I thought I wanted to be in Pete's ER until I realized P's ER is a lot about family and dealing with them all the time and abuse and such. And I was like, I don't think I want to do that. And then my twin actually went into NICU. So she did NICU. I stayed with labor and delivery and realized labor and delivery kind of filled my whole bucket because I got the emergency, I got OR, I got postpartum, and I got labor. So I was like, I get I get all that. The only thing that's different than AR is I know it's a woman and she's probably pregnant, or maybe just lost a baby or something like that. Like, there, there's that. So that actually gave me a little more comfort because I was like, it's the unknown all the time, but at least there's something known. So, and I really think it was the calling that I I went into was totally OB. I actually don't see myself in any other area of nursing. So Jackie, my twin, did NICU for about 15 years, and then she went into women's oncology research, and now she's a manager at the Clean Clinic doing that. So it was definitely a switch for her, but she really enjoyed that a lot. And both of us actually we did some contract work with a nurse named Jen, and that was in research, and we did a lot of newborn baby studies, and so that was cool because we did it was a lot of formula research, so we both got this this you know different area of nursing that you just didn't really know. Yeah, and she took off with it and was like, I think I want to do this instead of NICU. So yeah, that's how she got into the oncology research side.

Marsha 8:36

How was nursing school for both of you? I'm assuming you had each other as a support system. How both of you?

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Yeah, yeah, it was it was very helpful. Like we always use each other. We had a nice study group, it wasn't just us, but we um we always had each other, like one of us would drive to clinical. We always we did ask for the same clinical site for transportation wise, we were like, it's just easier, and we were able to do that. So um, but you know, it's your twin and you're close, but you're also close to a lot of the people in your nursing school because you're together all the time. So we would actually have a lot of the same people in our clinical groups all the time. So we all would transport together and have our same study groups and whatever. And yeah, it worked out, it worked out really well.

Marsha 9:21

So, in terms of OB, I know, well, from what I know, that's been your the breadth of your career is working in OB. So when you were preparing to apply for your first job, how did you make the decision of how did you and your sister make like the decision together? Like, hey, let's try to go to the same hospital, let's do this. Or were you at was there only one hospital in May?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, so we're we're in the Cleveland area. So we got Cleveland Clinic, we have Metro, and we have UH, which is university hospitals, all big hospitals. Everybody knows Cleveland Clinic, but I mean the other two are very close competitors. And so going out of nursing school on the personal side, I was a single mom. I just had a baby during nursing school, and I was only 20 years old. So I was trying to navigate that, like trying to like it was stressful enough having a child, being pregnant in nursing school, being young, being single, and financially, like I'm like, I really want to do ER, I want to do Metro because Metro was our trauma trauma center. So that's where you got like everything. And I love my clinical rotation there. I was like, I really want to be a metro, however, Zach is only a year old, and I need to establish like life for a second. So I stayed at the hospital that I was the aide at. So I I was they're like, you have a job, just you know, you're great, like just the pasture boards, and you can work here. So that's what I did. And then Jackie, she worked a year at Rainbow, which is UH, and then she took off and did travel nursing. So she did that for a little while, and that was cool because then Zach and I would go visit her. Um, so she she did that and she did NICU throughout the nation for a little while, and then I stayed at Lake for um it was two years or about a year and a half, and then I was like, I still want to go to Metro, still wanna do it. So then, you know, I was probably like a salad at my own place, and like everything was good. So I was like, I am, I'm gonna apply down there. And then I was a chicken, so I knew it was a trauma center, and I was like, I don't know if I can do labor and delivery, I'll go to postpartum. So I like dipped my feet in the water. So did that, did charge ended up being charge nurse there, train people, whatever. And then I was like being charge nurse on night, I always had to go over to labor and delivery and see their census and check on things, and then you know, come back and make my staff report. So I would go over there every night, and they're like, Janine, why do you just work over here? I'm like, I don't know. Yeah, I don't think that's I don't think I can do it. Not yet, not yet. Yes, you can't, yes, you can't. I'm like, they're like, you do

Choosing OB, Career Moves, And Management

SPEAKER_01 12:06

labor and delivery? You're on their hospital because I stayed PRN. And I'm like, I know, but like it just seems like you guys have like so much more critical stuff. And they're like, actually, no, like we do, but you guys have like three nurses, and it's different. Like, you don't know what's walking in your door. We have the resources all the time, so I'm like, and we have residents, you don't you're on your own, so you're doing everything than resident does too. I'm like, Yeah, I mean, but still, like you guys do everything that's so good. Long story short, I eventually, you know, interviewed, went over there, loved it, and still staying PR end at my other job.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Oh wow. So then working 12-hour shifts, working 12-hour shifts.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Oh, at both jobs, okay. Night shift, you know, it was all night shifts, and then um then me and my husband that are then friend, we were friends forever. We've known each other since we were like 10 years old. Um, but we finally started dating in our 20s. And when we started dating, uh actually, no, it was actually when we were engaged, we had to figure out a wedding date. And because I was a low man at a total pool at Metro, my vacation was going to be February. I don't know. February.

unknown 13:19

February wedding.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Well, then on the other side, I was PRN, and they're like, We have this assistant nurse management position we want you for. And I'm like, Well, I don't know, you know, weigh in the pros and cons. And while I stayed had seniority over there to be a PRN, I was like, I can get whatever I wanted for vacation. So ended up, and I was like, and it's management, I should probably go that go that route. So, because I was then charge nurse at Metro and doing all the things there, so I was like, you know what? I will, I'm gonna take it. So then I took that position, stayed full-time there for a while, and um finished out my career there. But I did all different things between educator and the management role and precepting and charge nurse and all the things, but it it was the right move. And so that's that's kind of the the journey through nursing, but it was it's been fun. I loved it.

Marsha 14:16

Yeah, I was gonna ask you about your other roles too, just so the nurses who are listening can see the arc of where you started, and we're gonna talk about your agency a little bit later. But I wanted to know, I know you've done some nurse ed. Well, you were a nurse educator at one point in OB, I'm assuming, right? Correct? Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

So it was um like the way it went, I did the assistant nurse management, then day shift opened up and I was like, it is time tired. 11 years a night, I was exhausted. So then I'm like pregnant with our with our second child, and I was like, Yes, it is time to go to day. So yeah, by the time Jimmy was born and I was off maternity leave and he was about six months old, went to day shift. Well, then I lose the management. So now I'm charged nurse on days all the time. Okay, so which was fine, it was whatever. So, but then it goes to this. Then you're like, Well, now what? Like, yeah, I was bored, but I wasn't bored. I mean, you're charged nurse, so you're constantly going, but there was something missing, and I couldn't tell what it was. And I was like, Is it is it OB? Like, should I be leaving OB? There's just something in me that was like, something's gotta change. It's not that I'm unhappy, but it's not I'm not being fulfilled every single day when I go to work. And if that's how I'm feeling in OB, we're supposed to be the happiest place and whatever, something's wrong. So yeah, I was I was picking up a lot of shifts, and so then it was okay. So let's see. So before the educator role, I got offered a position where I could be PRN or like per diem, and it was home care, and then only pregnant women home care around Cleveland. So these are the patients that were like going to Metro and going to UH, downtown UH. So I did that for a little while, and that was cool. That was definitely different, and it was filling the bucket at the time until somebody's a dog attacked me, and it was like god awful animation. I'm going on it's horrible. And then you know, I saw this newborn baby at home, and my elders like, is it worth it? Like, you're going to really, really run down neighborhoods all the time. And it was it was horrible, horrible.

Marsha 16:23

Like, weren't you asked at one point, did you have a gun or something?

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Or oh, yeah. I actually got my concealed carry because my agents told me you what do you mean you don't carry? You don't carry? I'm like, well, no, I've just come out here and like take care of you guys. They're like, like, we'll take care of you, Jenny. Like what they would like, you're an angel dog. Like, nobody's gonna hurt you, but there are still some crazy people, like you should carry. I'm like, I mean, okay. They're like, everybody does. I mean, probably illegally there, but um, but yeah, so they would. I mean, like patients, I loved medications, and even to this day, some of them still have my number, they'll text me pictures of their kids, like they're and they're old now. I mean, they're like 12, 13. But I mean, just the craziest stories. I could I could write a book about the stories from home care days. Like, yeah, they were in charge of their medicine, like I couldn't bring their medicine, they would get shipped their medicine, and you know, they call I don't have my medicine. I'm like, and I always had like spares, and I'm like, what do you mean? You don't where is your medicine? Like, I'm like, Do you leave in your mom's house? Like, what happened? No, my cousin was driving with his friend, and they got shot in the head, and so it's actually they're dead. Like, and my car is the detectives have my car and it's in the car. I'm like, Oh, okay, yeah, we will, and you know, there's no emotion. Like, that's just what happened. And like, same thing. One day I I went to someone's house and she was up all night. And I was like, You like, is it kind of your pregnancy, like, or your other three kids? No, there was a uh shooting outside our door last night, and I'm like, Oh my god. And then here I am. I'm like, oh my god, look at what I mean. They send you up like there's no elevators in their apartments, it's all like steps, these dark stairwells, blood all over the walls. And you're like, oh my god, like so. It was an adventure for sure. I actually, like I said, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed my patience and enjoyed that work, but then I got attacked, so I was like, I don't want to do that anymore. Um, so then I went back to, you know, I'm still at the hospital. So I'm like, what am I gonna do next? So then um the educator role opened up, went into that, and that was down the road

Home Care Realities And Safety

SPEAKER_01 18:36

now a little bit. So that was 2020, and then the world fell apart, right? And yeah, pandemic. And so that was stressful because now I have the two sister hospitals because that's what the my role was. So I was trying to work, like I had no like set hours, it was just like get night shift, get day shift because you're in an educator, so besides like classes, so and I I love simulation, I love like playing out like roles of hemorrhage and stuff like that. So I would try and hit my news nurses and then the nurses that have been there and just throw them off like during their day. So I love that. Well, then the pandemic hit, and we um I was on every committee for COVID, and me and the um ob director, um, the medical director, she's head of OB. She and I are really good friends, so I would just go with her a lot to all these CDC meetings and whatnot. And so, but you know, at that time was also still had my freelance business because I started that in 2015. That was the only thing I did that alongside of my um home care job. And then I also had to start homeschooling the kids because the pandemic, and then still trying to balance work, and it was like something's gotta get like I was like I can't do it all, but I did it for a couple years, and in 2022, well, I think end of 2021, I was like, I want to be PRN, just PRN in staffing. I don't want to do education more, just let me do like Randall Greeners for a little while. So I did that, and then by 2022, I was like, all right, now I'm the worst PRN employee. I don't want to pick up for anybody, I don't want to pick up any extra.

Marsha 20:17

Well, that's the point of PRN. I do want to go back to your freelance in 2015. So was that when you started the writing career in 2015? And how did that get started actually?

SPEAKER_01 20:30

So that was another thing where I was like, look at what can I do to be home more because I'm working so much and the boys need me. And my husband worked at the bank, so he was gone all all the time. And so it was like, I feel like I can do something more because I love to write as a kid, and um just I just felt like I was getting a lot of misinformation from patients all the time. I was like, there's gotta be like something different. Like, so I thought maybe I should be like, I don't know, there's gotta be there's gotta be something. So I actually was Googling like many of us, and back then it was like there was like this nurse, not nurse, mom writer group. And I was like, Well, I'm a mom. I didn't even think nursing, I'm a mom. I'll just join this group, and then I was like, Titling, I'm a I'm a mom of two, and you know, I'm also a nurse, and they're like, You're a nurse? Why aren't you just writing about nursing? I'm like, I don't even know what I'm writing about, I don't even know what this is. They kind of led the way, and my first um client was actually Healthline at the time because before Healthline got huge and hired all internal, they used a lot of freelancers. So I would review a lot of their maternal health content. And so I remember being on vacation, we were in Florida and sitting with my laptop on our bed in our condo. And the kids were at the pool with my husband. I remember sitting there, like reviewing articles, and I'm like, this is just unbelievable. Yeah. This is so cool. And I'm enjoying it. I love this OB content. So yeah, that gave me like the taste of this is kind of real. So that's when my husband like found out I was doing it because I didn't even like tell him because I'm like, this isn't

Educator Role, Pandemic, And Burnout

SPEAKER_01 22:20

real. This isn't real. And then I got a paycheck, and I was like, no, it is real. This yeah, this actually who knew.

Marsha 22:28

And before you went to Healthline, were you basically doing it on your own, or were you in a contractor for Healthline? Or how did that setup kind of work for you?

SPEAKER_01 22:37

That's that's the first client that I was like a contract contractor for. I I think I had a uh Fiverr profile at first. Oh yeah. Where I was just kind of like getting five dollar gigs. So I did do that for a little bit too. Yeah. But um, my first like real client was Helpline.

Marsha 22:54

Okay. And you approached, I'm assuming, head uh headline first. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Okay. I I approached them asking if they needed any um help with writing and then told them my credentials and sent them over my resume. And they're like, yeah, we we need somebody to do a medical review on these articles. Okay. And then I end up writing some too for them.

Marsha 23:15

Yeah. And I remember Helpline. I haven't been online to look at them in the recent past or anything, but I remember Helpline as one of those websites that wrote a lot of content about medicine, medical work, and things like that. So is that how you found them? Did you like Google Helpline and just found their website? Yes. I remember the content they used to put out that was under Helpline or by Helpline or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yeah, no, it's actually probably pretty crazy that they wrote me back back then because they were pretty big and I was nothing back then. So I wish I bet I don't even know how they wrote me back. The same through real need.

Marsha 23:53

So you know, it was a blessing to me for sure. Yeah, yeah. And so did you get the idea to write them through the nursing group? I mean, not the nursing group. The mob group. The mob group. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Yeah, because I was just kind of like, well, who hide who like who writes this content? I had to think. Yeah. Is it hospital? Do I just approach hospitals? And I did actually write from my hospital for a little while. I did some of their like brochures for like knee surgery and stuff, but that wasn't it. I was like, I had to think bigger. And yeah, when we go to nursing school, they they make us think like this. Yes.

Marsha 24:34

That's the only thing you can know how to do as a nurse. That's the only nursing job they'll be getting.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

The four walls inside a hospital is where you belong. And so to even think health content, I knew people were coming to me with wonky information, but I didn't know where they were getting this wonky information, but I knew that there needed to be a change in that. So that's always been like my mission is to get content out there that's evidence-based and that people can actually trust. So, which isn't always easy. Yeah.

Marsha 25:07

And so that was around, I think you said maybe 2015? 2015. So you were right. So I opened the right IRS. Okay. Okay. Okay. So you were writing for a while. And what type of gigs did you get before we go to 2020? Because that's when we actually met. So what kind of gigs did you have during that time or contracts did you get between that time and when you went to them, those companies, did you introduce yourself just like you did with Healthline, or did it evolve over time, obviously me?

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Well, once I said I worked for Health Line, they thought I was cool. So that's what they're like, oh no, we're in general. Yeah, it's your calling card. Yeah. So I use them a lot in my backpack of, oh, I work for them. And so I got a few, like nowadays, I don't feel like they're um they're smaller companies, but back then in the OB world, like the maternal health world, they were kind of bigger. Um flow, I think Flow is still around. They're um they went more towards an app nowadays. Monthly gift was another one that was like more about cycle, your cycle. And then I remember

Launching A Freelance Writing Career

SPEAKER_01 26:16

writing for a company called Love to Know. Um they did stuff, but I don't even think these companies are probably doing much anymore. Um but nowadays I have like I tell my writing students, I'm like, there's so many companies that you don't even there's so many. Like I I wish I would have known how many back then to approach because I know I did. And actually back then, I'll tell you what I was doing. I was looking on Craigslist. Craigslist had a lot of writing jobs, yeah.

Marsha 26:51

And it's a and there's uh a listing on Craigslist that says writings or gigs or something. I bet I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

I haven't been there a lot. And then I also there were like um writing job boards back then that I would apply to. Now these are super low paying, like I mean, super low paying. But to me, it was more let me get my feet wet, let me see how this works, and get some samples under my belt, and then eventually, hopefully, it'll pay me as much as an hour of work at the hospital. And we'll go from there. So my lofty goal was never six figures, be home with the kids 24-7. It was how many of these can I write to help bridge a gap and see where it goes, you know? And more like that than it was like I would never think I was where I am now back then because I didn't know. You don't know what you don't know.

Marsha 27:45

Yeah, you don't know what you don't know. And it's it it is um interesting that you have to, I think you have to be a curious person. You have to be curious. Very, and I am yeah, you have to do searches. And when you said you found the mom writing group, was that on Facebook or Facebook? It was on Facebook, okay. So that was probably when groups were if this was like 2015. I can't remember when Facebook came out. Was it 2012? I can't even remember when it came out, but that was in the early days.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

It was, it was early days, and it was um, and actually Gina Horky was her name. She like had that group, and I actually had her on my podcast like years later.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

Yeah, I already know. I those of you.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

And so she um she was a big influence for me nowadays. I don't even think she's doing that. She's doing um, I think health coaching now. So, you know, she pivoted her own way, but and you're exactly right when you say you have to be curious. I feel I tell my kids this. I'm like, because people think I'm really smart. I'm like, I'm not really smart. I'm like, truly, I'm curious. I said if you can find resources, like if you're resourceful, you can figure out anything. Yeah, it's it's not about how smart you are, it's about can you find the way or think outside the box a little bit? And if you can, you're gonna be successful in whatever you do. Like even you go to bedside, you still have to be resourceful, and you can become a better nurse if you're just a little more curious, if you're thinking, how can I solve this problem a little bit easier? And it all it all just comes together, but you have to be curious. And I don't know if that's some people are, some people aren't, but I always want to know why.

Marsha 29:20

Why, why, why yeah, I think that keeps me going in a way too, and the different things I've done over the years, like I've had these random roles as a nurse that people are like, oh, that's a job. Yeah, yeah, it's a job. And it's just because I'm curious, and I'll just I'll hear something on a podcast, or I'll hear something on the news, and I'll just type it into Google or you know, now it's AI. But you know, I used to type things into Google all the time and say, oh, that's interesting. Let me, you know, let me apply for that or let me try that out hard to repeat it. Yeah, I was always like a curious person about anything and just wanted to learn about anything. And that's how I've kind of you know gone about my nursing career as well, is just finding different opportunities that weren't typical. Because, like you said, nursing school, we're we are in a box, you know, we go into nursing school. Um, and I'm assuming it's this way still. I mean, it's been it might be a little different. Yeah, it might be a little different. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Yeah, there's a lot of remote nurse jobs out there. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. But honestly, I don't know about you, Marshall, but when I was in school, I wasn't even thinking about anything else than bedside because that's that's that's what I was being trained for. So I never I never even thought, oh, I want to be my clinical instructor one day. I was never even thinking that. But I mean, I think we we I always say, like, oh, they only teach us, you know, inside the box. And I'm like, but maybe that's okay. Yeah. Because you got it. I I don't think I regret them not telling me that because right I needed that foundation. I needed those years of work before going off on my own a little bit. Because I don't think I'd be as strong as I am as a clinician now if I didn't have that. So, and maybe it would be even more overwhelming than nursing

Building The Nurse-Led Writing Agency

SPEAKER_01 31:03

school already is. I don't know.

Marsha 31:05

Yeah, to probably maybe throw something else in the mix besides actually clinical care, because that's what you're doing. Um, well, that's what I did. I did an accelerated nursing program. So it was just a year and a half of just nursing and clinical, that's all we had time for. Yeah. Um, so yeah, maybe it maybe the box is good for a lot of people. I do know that if you want to do something outside of the bedside or beyond the bedside is the popular phrase. If you want to do something beyond the bedside, but still health related or clinically related, I do believe it's good to get a foundation in nursing. And I'm always one, and I wrote a blog post about this years ago, that it doesn't have to be med surge. We were taught, right, um, all the time, you know, med surge is where you start. But I'm always one, and I've said this many times, that any specialty will give you a foundation in your nursing practice. Any specialty. So whatever it is that you're in, whether you're starting in OB, starting in med surge, starting in the EER, starting in ICU. There are nurses. I had friends who started in ICU first as a nurse because they wanted to do it and they got that. Really enjoyed it. And they really enjoyed it. And it didn't hurt them as a nurse. There's they were excellent nurses. So yeah, it just depends. The box, I think, is, like you said, necessary in a sort of way where you need that clinical foundation before you can do those opportunities beyond the bedside because you need to know what the clinical is like, whether it's clinic work or the eight to five family clinic type work or the hospital work. So I think that's a great point that you did bring up that I didn't really think about, but yeah, I think that's a great point. So we actually met in 2020. I don't remember exactly how we met. If I I I'm pretty sure I reached out to you because back then I had the Boston Nurse blog and was blogging on a lot of different content. And I I remember reaching out to you in some way, but I remember saying, hey, I I see that you're a nurse writer. And I wanted to learn more about that. And I wanted to show the people who were following my podcast at the time to show them that there's this opportunity. And so it's funny because before Janine and I started recording, I was telling her how I wanted to go back and try to find a workshop that we did together. And I found the workshop. So those of you who are listening, Janine and I, well, I'll link it in the show notes. You'll be able to see this workshop Janine and I did together. So I'll put a link in the show notes for that. And I'll also send the copy. If Janine, if you don't have it, I'll send the copy to you as well. Oh, I can't wait. So yeah. So go ahead and look in the show notes of this particular episode. You'll see a link to get access to that Become a Help Writer workshop. And we did that in times of COVID. So it was December 8th, 2020, is when we did that workshop. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

That's how I don't remember. I like to black it out of my mind.

Marsha 34:02

Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah. So and and and that was, I think, I'm not sure if you were you had the podcast at the time, correct? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

Starting podcast in 2019. Yes, okay.

Marsha 34:15

You did have your podcast. And let the audience know what your podcast is about, the savvy scribe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

So the savvy scribe podcast. We talk about everything from writing, like getting your first clients to getting paid to marketing yourself to starting a business to everything in between. I mean, we're talking to experts in the industry. We talk to other nurses, other nurse writers, other nurse business owners. Um, and you know, it's expanded because we have 344 episodes. So we've had to expand to figure out like how can we still relate this back to nurse writing? And we do on every episode. So we just did one that's not published yet. So I think it'll be 345. Um, and it's talking about just your soft skills as a nurse. So, how can you bring your skill from back in the day of like Janine working at Burger King to the bedside, from the bedside to my nurse writer career, to business, to whatever. So, you know, we talk about all that because it's just something different, but it's not, it's not unrelated to starting a business too.

Marsha 35:23

So yeah, and Janine has, like you said, 344 episodes, and the content is so rich. Um, I love the interviews that you've done with other guests, your solo episodes as well. But you yeah, you talk a lot about the art of writing, the how-to of writing, or the how-to of starting as a nurse writer or a health content writer. You talk about all of that. So, for those of you who are interested in learning um how to get in this particular arena, to start off easy, you can start by listening to the Savvy Stride Podcast, which is where she teaches you all of her latest strategies, tips, and things that you can actually use to help you in this career. And then we'll also talk about some of the other opportunities that Janine has a little bit later in the podcast. But I wanted to start with how did you move from writing for yourself to now having an agency where, for lack of better words, you hire out work or nurses to do the writing for some of these, you know, big companies who are using help writers or nurse writers for their content. How did you go from single being a single nurse writer to doing it as an agency?

SPEAKER_01 36:43

So I think it all goes back to everything. Everything goes back to helping people. So I always I tell my kids this like whatever you go into in life, I don't care if you're a plumber, I don't care if you're a janitor, I don't care if you're a teacher, I don't care if you're a CEO of a huge company. It has to go back to how are you helping people? So nursing, it's obvious we're helping people. My writing career, how how am I helping people? And sure, with the content, I help people, but then it was well, how can I help other nurses do this? So then I started the podcast and I started my my course. So then after that, I was getting approached by a lot of companies during COVID. COVID was actually very busy for my business, and it was I need COVID content on cardiology, oncology over here, over here. And I'm like, but I'm OB. This is my area. I can look it up, I can take some time, but I don't have time right now. Like there's everything I don't have, it's time. So I was in I I had a lot of nurse writers that I've were in my program that I helped along the way, mentored, and I was like, but you know, like how about

Community, Vetting Writers, And Quality

SPEAKER_01 37:57

Rachel? She's oncology nurse, she's worked with me, I can trust her. Hey Rachel, do you want some work? Because I can't, I cannot take it on right now. Yep, of course she does. So it became an idea because I'm curious, how can I help more people? And I was like, the light bulb went off. Like, okay, if we can help in this industry, decide this specialty, can we help in this area? Can we help in this area? So back then I did have my assistant Cheryl. Cheryl helped me with social media back in the day and and the podcast. She would edit the podcast. So that's what she did back in the day. But then I was like, hey, I have this great, and she's always been such a great support for my crazy ideas. I was like, I have this crazy idea. What if we expand this? And I didn't know the word agency. I didn't know that that existed. I didn't know what that looked like. I thought an agency was more like um based in New York City within a big tower, and it was like this big corporation media thing. I I didn't know there was like a content thing you could do. So I was like, okay, so what I'm thinking is I have so-and-so, so-and-so, so and so and so. And what if we came together as like five people and we just all produce the content? She's like, okay, but who's gonna like manage all the content? I'm like, well, yeah, that's a good question. I'm like, well, how about you and I kind of do that and like they can write? I said, but and I could because then I kind of like transitioned out a little bit of being the writer and being more of the head of the agency that I know is an agency of the the business, we'll call it the business. So I would find the client, I would have the conversations with the clients, I would do all the invoicing for their clients, I would do the contracts, I would do the onboarding, the um just everything with that. Like where you're not writing, I wasn't doing the assignments. Then Cheryl would take the assignment and divvy them out to the writers. Perfect. So it started going really well. Then I was like, well, maybe we should make it bigger. Maybe it should go a little bit bigger. So we started this because I can't kept getting so many emails. How can I be a writer? How can I be a writer? I mean I was like, okay, well, we can do this, we can make a database. Well, then I have more clients. Hey, we need more nurses to write. Okay, cool. I have this database. So these people had great credentials. Yeah, they can write, they can write. Well, not everybody who has great credentials are deadline focused, detail focused, and a great writer. So we would put them on projects and we're like getting burned. They're not finishing. Clients are like, what is this? And I'm like, oh my god. We were like, okay, put on put on the brakes. We need to vet these people. But I don't want to be the better because I'm a writer, but I don't think I'm a good editor. Like, I am a good writer. I love my editor because she makes my writing polished, but I'm not a good editor. So I came across a girl named Nicole, and she teaches in Chicago writing and English at a college level, but she also like specializes in health writing. She's not a nurse, that's what she does. She's an incredible teacher. And so she helped put together a writing skills course. So before nurses would join us and we would vet them, we would make them go through this writing course. And they loved it, it was helpful. But then we were like, we can't make everybody go through the course because that a lot of people are good writers. We just don't know they're good writers until we put on a climate project and we're burned. We haven't figured that out. So we're like, let's do a sample. So we would have them do a sample for us. Nicole would edit it and do a star rating. If you get a three to five star, you are like our top-tier writer. So that's what we've done now. We have our vetted nurse writers, and then we have our database. Our database are people that want to be nurse writers that are willing to get vetted, and then we have our vetted that we're like, these are good, we're putting them on client projects. So our clients are always satisfied because they are now future. Yes, we are in there. So Nicole edits all of our content, and um our clients are really happy. So when did I decide it was an agency? I don't know. Somebody told me, Oh, you have an agency. I'm like, is that what? All right.

Marsha 42:25

Yes, so so when you were starting, yeah. When you were starting with the nurses and the nurses in your um community, I'm assuming they were probably hearing your podcast. And did you have your Facebook group at the time?

SPEAKER_01 42:37

When Yes, our Facebook group's been around for a while too. So yeah, we have a free Facebook group, Savvy Nurse Writer community. And so people come in there and just kind of test the water, see what it's all about. And um yeah, that's when they would join the database and whatnot.

Marsha 42:52

Okay, okay. That's what I was wanting to know, that missing piece. So you you had a community of people who were interested in writing or nurses who were interested and learning what you did. And so when the time came when you were getting, like during COVID, you were saying, Hey, we need some writers dealing with cardiology in COVID or OB in COVID or your OB, but you know, other you know, specialties in COVID, um, you were able to go to your community and say, Hey, I have a need of a writer. And did you at the time when you had your community, how big was that community at the time that you felt like, okay, I'm getting all of this incoming request that I have enough writers to actually do this? And was

Membership, Training, And Leads

Marsha 43:36

there like sometimes a lag in between, okay, I'm getting a request for a writer wanting content about cardiology or cardiac and COVID, but I don't have a writer yet. Let me go out and find a writer. How did that sort of um get filled?

SPEAKER_01 43:52

So a lot of times we would have clients that just wanted nursing content. So all nurses.com, we worked with that. Okay. Um, like different scrub. Companies, travel companies, they wanted content about nursing. So that was easy because we were like, okay, we have a lot of nurses. So that was easy. Now when clients have come to us with those specialty requests, we just let them know up ahead. Like we so that's also when we like made our database a lot more um user-friendly in a sense where we can search uh a lot easier. So the database kept growing and growing and growing because the word got out. And so we can filter it now by um specialty, by writing specialty, by um just even a keyword to see if how many nurses we have, then we have to see their availability. So that's what I tell clients up front. Like we may have the nurse, but she might not be available. So if that happens, I will go on a search for more nurses. And usually we haven't had an issue where we can't find a nurse. It's usually like there's so many nurses, we have to get more clients, is usually what it is. And it just means Gerald and Nicole. So we're like, we fill in.

Marsha 45:02

Yeah, exactly. So with the opportunities that you have now, and I know you have your free Facebook group, and I know you have a membership community as well. Now, with the free Facebook group for people who are interested in joining that, do they get the same opportunity? Or how does it work where you provide those opportunities for people who are just in your community who are just like filling it out and saying, okay, I want to join the free group. Let me join the free group to see what this is about. And then do you give more opportunity for people who join the membership, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Yeah. So if you are in the Facebook group, you could see all the opportunities you can apply, but we always do the opportunities for two, the members in the membership or the vetted writers. So andor. So those people get the pick, they they everybody sees it at the same time, but we go behind the scenes and we pick the writers that are either vetted or in the membership first. And yeah, so we get a lot of applicants, but then we kind of weed it out where we need to. Now, if we don't have somebody in the vetted side or the membership that's a specific certification that we're looking for, I'll shoot it out to LinkedIn, I'll put it in our Facebook group, we'll put it on our email list, and usually we're able to find somebody in in due time. So yeah, that's kind of how it goes.

Marsha 46:25

So if a nurse wants to become a vetted writer with your agency, now that we know it's an agency, if a nurse wants to become a vetted writer, what is their first steps? Do they have to like have some proof of writing content for you? Or what if they're new and they're thinking, oh, I've always like loved writing. Like, you know, you liked writing. Is it something I can do? Can they just apply to be a vetted writer? Or how does that process work for nurses?

SPEAKER_01 46:50

So right now we have it that you join our membership and that's part of the program. You can become vetted. You don't have to take any of the courses or anything in there. You could just become vetted. Um, but then you're already in the membership, so you might as well take stuff while you're in there. The other, like we just did around like no, it was Christmas time. We did uh like get vetted just because like we just let it out there for yeah, like five days. Like, if you want to get vetted, you can do that for free today. So, you know, we sometimes we'll throw a deal out there to just if you want to become vetted, you can't, but we'll get inundated. We'll get so many people want to get vetted that we'll be like, oh, okay, hold on. What's the right side? Nicole can't edit all the client work and all these to figure it out. So right now we have uh, and sometimes we're like, let's just kind of add more to our vetted side to see if we can get more writers, and so we'll throw that like around Christmas. I'm like, oh, before the new year, let's see if we can get anybody else. So because people come out of the woodwork all the time, and and you realize where these people is in this great writer, so you know, we love them. We see that. Um, but yeah, and then inside the membership, it's cool because we have we I I always made it so difficult, you know. Now we have it so simple that the membership, what we used to be like, okay, so we're gonna have this product and it's gonna be the writing skills course. And then if you don't need the writing skills course, you don't have to buy that. You could just do the business side, and then I'd have people go, but I kind of want both. Okay, well, then we'll do this package for both. And I'm like, what are we doing? Like, this is like too much. Let's just do everything all in one. So there's like a monthly price, and they're like, Okay, so can I do a pay in full and have lifetime thing? I'm like, no, because then that's pressure on me that you have to do it for life the rest of my life, which I don't know what that means. So is it your life, my life? We're not doing it. So no, we'll just do a monthly price. Well, how long? Whatever you want. If you want to quit, you want to pay for this month and then you're done. Don't ever pay again. Yeah, we're done. Make it that simple, and that's not working great. So you like inside the membership, you can get the course, you get well, you get the writing skills course, and then like I said, we'll teach us that. And in there, what's cool is you go through the course, and then by the end, you have five portfolio samples. So then you're like, okay, cool. So now I have some samples. I'm not

Side Gig Vs Business And Income

SPEAKER_01 49:08

Janine back when she was with Health Line, and that was her only thing. And then I have the business side, which is everything that I teach, and that's um where you can then say, Okay, I have these five samples now. Now I'm gonna do the business and build my own business. So, and it goes through everything from like mindset to all the way to you know getting clients and having the conversations and what to do when things get hard and and all so yeah. So then we have inside there gotten so much. We have like different resources. We have every every month I do a master class and about a certain topic, we go kind of really deep into it. Um, the replay library where I have like the guest workshops where we it's part of the podcast, but we also have you can come in live to the guest workshop and ask questions. Um, and then we have it's all on an app, so you can listen to it on the go, which is cool. And we also do every Thursday, we do a writing leads list. So this is like where Cheryl and I go out and we search, I don't even know how many different websites of writing jobs that are out there right now. And these are like not so much contracts, sometimes they're full-time, but the point of it is that they're leads. So these are the companies that are going, we need a writer, we need a writer writer. Okay, well, hey, I might not be your senior medical director manager of writing, but I am a writer and you might need some extra help. So I'm a freelancer, here's my information. So you can contact those companies and you know, because it's hard, it's hard to find like who's hiring for writing all the time. So that that's just part of that too. And then um, yeah, so it's and you get coaching. Like we I have we use clickup for like our project management. Yeah, and inside there now they have a free chat. So if you're in our membership, you could just chat with me all the time and be like, hey, how's this like outreach sound? Or hey, they want to they want to pay me this. Is this good enough? Or and so I love it because I used to do the one-on-one calls, and it's just time gets a wit, like time zone is different. It's just it's hard and everybody works, and so this clickup chat is great because it's just whenever you want to do it. So people send me messages at three in the morning and they'll respond at 8 a.m. and it's perfect.

Marsha 51:28

I like how you have it set up too, because it seems like you have two opportunities for nurses. And correct me if I'm wrong on this. You have the opportunity where you actually and your team go out and find those opportunities with these companies to that, right? You have that opportunity, and then you have the opportunity for nurses to learn how to do that on their own. Now, do you find that most nurses who are new to the whole writing, the writing arena or the writing gig economy, do you find that they're mostly interested in the freelance type work, like one-offs that you may find for them? Or do you find that more nurses are finding it easier to start their own business or agency? Or how are you finding with your potential nurse clients or your clients, your nurse clients?

SPEAKER_01 52:19

So I think the easier side is going, oh, Janine will find me work. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. But are you going to be as lucrative? Absolutely not. So I think you gotta put the hard work. Sorry, sorry, nurses. You gotta do the hard work to build a business. Once you build that business, that's where it gets lucrative because now you're double dipping. Now Janine can give you work and you have your own thing. Uh, one of our students, Alyssa, I'll just call her out. She joined the membership recently, and she had done the thing to build a business on the side. I needed actually somebody in her field to do some work for one of our clients. She was building her stuff on the side. She had a client, and it wasn't the greatest client. It was, she said it was like by the time she did the hourly rate, it was like insane. So we worked on her pricing, we worked on this, and I'm like, you have to give this client up. And she's like, it's like, I have it, I got it. I'm like, I know, but I promise you it will work out, and it all does. And so she did, she gave it up, which gave her a ton more time, and she was able to land another client pretty quickly after, and now she's had even more clients, and so now she has that and us, and she's like about to have her second baby and leave her job because she's able to provide for the kids and her husband stuff being from home now. So it's you gotta put the work in though. Like, she won't tell you that it happened overnight. It's a lot of conversations, a lot of pitching, and so I like I wish I could say all you have to do is pitch 20 clients and boom, magic will happen. But it's not how it works, it's it's definitely hard work like building a business in any industry. I don't care if you're a window cleaner or a roofer or a freelance writer, it's all the same. You have to market, you have to do outreach, and you have to have conversations and pricing and contracts

Timelines To Full-Time And Mindset

SPEAKER_01 54:21

and such. But there are there many days that I'm like, can I just go to the hospital, get my cup of coffee, take care of my patient, go home? Yep. A lot of dates, a lot of dates. And then I look at it and I'm like, but I wouldn't be able to go on a walk at 11 a.m. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to go to lunch with a friend who's retired. I wouldn't be able to pop down on a Wednesday to, you know, southern Ohio to visit something. Like I can do all the things. I can go to my kids' school, I can do, I have so much more flexibility, and that now is what I love. Like back then it was like, yeah, I want to be home a little more. Now I'm like, I don't think I can ever work for anybody again because I'm gonna lose all this. And so I'll have another conversation. I'll do more outreach. I'll do the things I need to do to keep building my business. Because until you get that flexibility, you're like, you don't even know it existed. You didn't even know what it felt like. So, and that's that's the hardest thing is you can't, you don't, you can't see it or feel it until you actually have it.

Marsha 55:28

A question with that. So there are nurses, of course, who just want to do something on the side, but then there are other nurses who are completely burned out and want to do something completely different from just being at the bedside as a staff nurse. Is this an opportunity that you've seen in your own agency or working with other nurses? Is it an opportunity where nurses can actually, if they do the work, like you said, you have to do the work. If they do the work, this is something that can completely replace their income if they needed to. Say, for instance, they can't work anymore because of just extreme burnout or other circumstances. Is this an opportunity that can lead to them making a full-time income from writing?

SPEAKER_01 56:13

Yeah, absolutely. Because I did it, right? 2015 is when I started, and it was clearly slow progress. Now we're looking where we are, but it's definitely doable. But I was getting up at four in the morning and writing and drafting things before I would go to work because I knew I could and and just think off but yeah, just bite off little chunks. Like, don't say I want to be full-time at home. That's my goal. Do one 12-hour shift, go part-time, get get just that burnout factor away. Because once I did that, that was so much help, so much more helpful in pushing me even further in my business, but also it relieved me at the bedside too. Because when I was full-time, I was the same way. I was burn out, I was exhausted. And that's why I think why I started going, I need something different. I need to do something different. Yeah.

Marsha 57:08

How long do you think in your process, because it was different then when you first started? So it may have been a lot longer time period for you to get up and running and try to figure that out. How long would you say on average, like your success stories of people that you're working with, that it may take them from saying, okay, I want to start writing and I want to go full time at it and I want to do it as quickly as I can. Is that possible to do in a short period of time or what's the time frame?

SPEAKER_01 57:41

Every everybody asked me that for like our course. So how long is it gonna take me? But I would say if you dedicate like the course content itself won't take you that long, it's gonna be establishing everything. So um all of our students that have gone full time have been less than one year. So wow from the start to the end. And it's always the beginning is the hardest because that's everything, right? So you gotta get through momentum, you gotta get past that like tough point, and then it gets a little bit easier. Um, and then you start to just then it's piling on clients, right? It's math after that. You get retainers, you get different projects, and you get this freakout factor all the time because we're used to having a paycheck every two weeks that if you lose a client or project's ending, that you're gonna starve and go back to work and whatever. So personal story. Um, my husband has left his job as a banker and started his own contracting company. He left also in 2022 because he saw me building mine and saw what it could go to, and I was the one pushing him. Like, I don't know,

AI’s Impact, Tools, And Standards

SPEAKER_01 58:50

he really loved flipping houses, do it, just do it. Yeah, and so what our mindset is all the time, because every same thing with him, he could lose a client, he cannot get projects every month, something like that, too. We're both in this inconsistent income every single month, and it's terrifying. But then we have to ground ourselves and say, okay, what is the worst thing that can happen? Well, the worst thing is we lose everything and we have to go back to our jobs. And if that is the worst, right, it's not that bad for 20 years, yeah. So I think it's gonna be okay. We didn't burn bridges, you know, and I think even now, if that happened, I don't know if I would go back to bedside. I think I would find a remote job because I'm so used to working from home. Yeah, and that's also something to think about too. If you're like, I don't really want to build my my business, but I want to be a writer, there's writing jobs for nurses. So, like uh, you know, you're gonna get your paycheck every two weeks kind of thing. So there are positions out there for nurses to do that as well. So, and of course, all the remote opportunities there are these days are countless. So, yeah.

Marsha 59:59

Many opportunities I would imagine out there. But um, one topic I did want to talk about that may seem to have changed that reality of the opportunities. And I would love for you to talk about AI. Yeah, yeah. But the easy sometimes way it is for a lot of content out there. I can tell Chat GPT writing from anything. Oh, sentence. Yeah, yeah. I, you know, that from the M dashes to the common phrases that they use, Chat GPT was really good for using phrases like in this type of landscape, in the pet competitive landscape, or I think so. Yeah, use now they're big, uh they're ever evolving. Yeah, ever evolving. Now they use the the hard truth. They use truth a lot now in their writing. So you can sort of tell what's AI and what's not, I think. If you've been using Chat GPT for a while, and I've been using it now for now almost going on three years. So I'm curious how has AI affected the writing business for nurses or the opportunities out there, or has it even made a difference?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:11

I am going to pull up really quick a stat because this is gonna be in my upcoming webinar, but stats I just pulled, medical writing industry is growing 3.94 billion in 2025, projected to be 6.8 billion by 2030. So shows that it's growing. Okay, yeah, healthcare content demand is rising because of AI actually is making us want to create more. And it's also given us an opportunity to show validation of our subject matter expertise. So that said, 2023, when ChatGPT came out, I thought I was gonna lose my entire business. I was scared every single day. Yeah, yeah. And then I saw it start writing, and I was like, this isn't great, but I mean, I get it, I get what it's saying, and I get why companies because that also that year was like, we don't have you in the budget anymore. I was like, Oh crap, here it is, yeah. I guess it's over, yeah. So I did. I lost clients that year, and so did many other writers, and it was terrifying. But these were the clients that are now coming back, yeah. Second, um, or they they just don't do content anymore, so or they still do that and nobody's reading it. So Google is right alongside us. So Google's like AI is great, we love Gemini, Gemini's great, but there's a time and place, and they're saying you still need credible people reading this stuff, and that is how it's looking at websites. So it's looking for if you Google anything now and you see that AI overview, it's only doing content that's validated by medical expertise people. So, same thing with your your financial, your money, things like that. So those high areas of specialty, they still want people looking it over and writing it. Does that mean we never use AI? No. Now, if you become a better writer for Right RN, we're looking at your content. Every single piece you do, even when you're vetted, we go through AI detectors because our clients, we tell them there's no AI used. That said, do we use AI? Yes, we use it to do outlines, it does an incredible job with outlines and it does um also brainstorming. It helps us with a lot of like, here's an outline we have. How can we make it a little more deep? Um, I also like when it does like what am I missing? Kind of like filling in those gaps. Um, but it's very generic sometimes because it's still it's generative, it's pulling off of the internet. So the stuff that you can Google is what it's pulling from. So you gotta use your brain to be a little more creative because it's already done. So yes, we use it. Has it affected us in the beginning? Now, not so much. Now it's we're getting great clients because they value our content. So it's it's been a game changer, to be honest. And you know, I would say even up until like mid last year, people were like, I don't tell clients that I use AI, like they don't even want to tell them that they use it in in um outlines. Clients expect us to do that, and they want to know what we're using, what chat, if we're using chat, if we're using cloud, if we're using perplexity, well, what are we using? Um and I also, if you have ever played with chat GPT, you can make your own GPTs. And I've done that too to help with client voice and tone and such too for outline. So there's a time and place for it, absolutely, and we have come to adore it because it gets things done faster. And so some clients want us to then make their content faster because we're able to do the outlines faster. That's not the case, though. Sometimes we still we still need time to write, and yeah, most of them understand that.

Marsha 1:05:09

So if a nurse is coming to you and to get your help into getting into writing, um just know, I would think, that you may use tools to help make your writing more efficient and more effective. However, you won't be using those tools to actually write the content. That's what I'm saying. Correct. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

Correct. Okay, yeah.

Marsha 1:05:30

Yeah, yeah. So that's um, so that's something to be aware of. So um you can't just come

Webinar, Resources, And Final Reflections

Marsha 1:05:36

to Janine and say, I'm gonna just put everything in Chat GPT and write it. Nope. And then there are better tools. Yeah, yeah. And I think there are better tools than ChatGBT. I have my own personal opinions about that. I think Claude is very, very good at content writing. Of course, is the research like place to go if you want to learn about if you're writing content, any type of content or researching anything. Complexity will actually give you the sources of where it's getting content, which is excellent. And it's only gonna get better and better.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:09

Because how many times have you done like research and like you start the Google thing and you start Googling, you find one? And then you're like, oh wait, but then this one. Then you're so you have 45 tabs open. Yeah. So yeah, it's perplexity really is a game changer for that too.

Marsha 1:06:25

Yeah. So yeah. So those are some tools to take a look at, even if you're not thinking about nurse writing or helping.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:32

Yeah, use it in your life, daily life.

Marsha 1:06:34

Yeah. And I've even used Quad and Perplexity a lot more than Chat GPT most times now, but I do use custom GPTs that can help me create my podcast intros and things for Boston Nurse Podcast and ChatGPT. So custom GPTs are basically almost automated chats or chat box that you can create for yourself if you haven't used them before or done them before. I know there are many, several nurses out there on LinkedIn who are actually teaching AI type content. I just do it for fun. So I use them all like, you know, Claude, Perplexity. They're all different. Ross, Gemini, yeah, everything. So yeah, so that was that was interesting. I wanted to really know how AI is really affecting um the writing economy, or for some who call it gig if they're not doing it full time, the gig economy in terms of writing. And then it's affecting writing. Um, well, it was affecting writing a big time a couple of maybe a couple of years ago. The writers in Hollywood were being really concerned about that. Yeah, I'm not sure how that's going, but so yeah, so great to know. And you're having a webinar. Um, yeah, it's coming up soon. What is the title of that webinar? Or what's the webinar about?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:49

Yeah, it's how to replace one 12-hour shift per month as a nurse writer. And I'm gonna teach you that in in uh hopefully an hour. Yeah. Yeah. But um, and now nowadays it was okay. Yeah, nowadays you just keep going. Yeah, it works out. Um, I remember back in the beginning of my podcast, we would like cut out all the umps and all the causes. And I'm like, nowadays, I'm like, you know what, right? You hear the reality here and I forgot that and it works out great. Um but yeah, so we I'm gonna talk about in there um basically just that, like trying to just make it like a $400 or $600 a month side gig for you, and how we do that, walking you through a little bit my program, my um like business side is called Plans Produce Profit. So walk through that framework a little bit and then um case study, a little bit about case studies and strategy for 2026 on how you you can do it. So yeah, it's gonna be pretty interactive too because I don't like boring webinars. So yeah, yeah, I don't either.

Marsha 1:09:00

But yeah, so you'll you'll find for the listeners, you'll find the details for the webinar in the show notes. If you happen to hear this episode after the webinar is passed, you'll still have the opportunity to get that recording through Janine and her website, and we'll make sure we include those links and have those links updated in the show notes.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:20

So And if you don't want to come to the webinar, if you don't want to come, that's okay. You won't hurt my feelings. Yes. You can come, you can just come to savvy nursewriter.com. There is a, we call it the Kickstarter workbook. So if you just want to download that and it's just a workbook to go from nurse to paid writer, so you can get a little roadmap that way.

Marsha 1:09:39

Awesome. And I'll include that link as well. One last question before we wrap up. So curious right now, if you had to describe you and the work that you do, or you as a nurse or you as a person in life, if you had to describe yourself as one of these three words, which one would you choose and why? So would you describe yourself as a creator, innovator, or a risk taker? Innovator. Innovator.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:11

Innovator for sure. Okay. Creator, I feel like is too creative for me, even though I'm creative, like it's like too like it reminds me of like an influencer. I'm not there. And then risk taker, I'm a chicken. Like, like I said, it took me to 2022 to leave my job. I probably could have left in that 2019. Like I do that a lot. Not a risk taker, which is funny because a lot of people think I am because I started a business, I left my job, but uh clearly I am that like behind the scenes. I'm very calculated in what I do. So um, innovator, I think is probably it because I created this business, I created this agency, and I just did it because it just made sense. So it's like all the time, and just like this just seems like it works. I don't know. Yeah, made up. I called my made up business, and here we are.

Marsha 1:11:02

Well, it works, and here we are. Like it works, yeah, it works. So innovator, wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:07

So I had a MacGyver. You should call me the MacGyver. I always like figure out things to like my kids. Yeah. Like the other day, we hadn't we didn't have any whiteout or like tape, but my son had a a math test we need to do. So we had like a worksheet. I just wanted to blank out the answer. So I like cut up paper and like just covered it. Yeah. Like, I go, you know what? Mom's not the smartest, but I will always do that.

Marsha 1:11:32

All you need is a paper clip and a rubber band. That's what MacGyver worked with back in the day. So that's all you need. That's all you need. Awesome. Well, I got it wrong because I was like, Oh, I would think first I was thinking creator. And then I was like, well, you know, because you've provided a lot of content. Yeah, not only the podcast, but just everything that you've created over the past several years in your writing and your content as well. So I was thinking creator, and then I was also thinking risk taker. So I never went to innovator. Those are my top two, and so I was completely off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:05

What if everybody else said too?

Marsha 1:12:07

Yeah. I was I was, yeah. So I wrote creator. So I wanted to see if if you knew I could guess. There you go. Now you know. Okay. Well, innovator. Thank you so much, Janine, for being on the show. Uh, it was such a pleasure for everyone listening to the podcast. You will find all of the resources that Janine and I spoke about in the show notes, um, including her upcoming webinar, including her um resources and guides and tools, and also that old episode of how to become a co-provider workshop that we

Closing Credits And CTA

Marsha 1:12:40

did back in 2020. That'll be my treat to you that you can hear in the show notes as well. So thank you, Janine. Thank you so much. Take care. That was Janine Kelbat, nurse-led agency owner and host of the Savvy Scribe Podcast. Hey, thank you so much for listening to the show this week. Please make sure to rate and review this episode in your favorite podcast app. And don't forget to click the follow button so you won't miss an episode. This episode was produced and edited by yours truly with administrative and research support from Liz Alexandri and Renan Silva. I'm Marcia Badti, and you've been listening to the Bossy Nurse Podcast.