We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Clayborne a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

2020 was a difficult year for most people, but for me it certainly was a life defining year. In February of 2020 I was 6 months pregnant, working full time as an Emergency Physician at PG County Hospital and juggling all the demands of being mom to a 16 month old toddler, struggling in my marriage and trying to survive at work while building a new business. Little did I know that a few short weeks later my life would be turned upside down. I worked through the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the hardest hit hospital in the state of Maryland, heavily pregnant and all the while going on to national television networks such as CNN, ABC News, Yahoo Finance and MSNBC to share the story of the frontline pregnant provider who understood why were all asked to stay home at the time. It was a scary period when we didn’t really know the risks to ourselves and especially to my unborn child. I would drive to work on empty highways and then come home stripping down naked in my garage to shower before entering my home, hoping to not infect my family. Fortunately, I survived and delivered a healthy baby girl on May 30, 2020. You may think that I then finally took a deep breath and rested during my maternity leave. Nope! I rolled right into doing an accelerator program for my medical device startup, NasaClip. I had an idea as a resident to help the more than 500,000 people who visit the ER for nosebleeds every year have a solution they could use at home. NasaClip provides hands free nasal compression combined with intranasal sponges that can be medicated sized for adults and kids; essentially, it is the Band-Aid of nosebleeds. The accelerator program “required” that I was a full time CEO so the only time I could participate was during my maternity leave. Since the program was fully virtual due to COVID I was able to breast feed my newborn infant through the program and received my first funding and executive management support which was all the lift I needed to go on an raise my first $1M in capital and bring NasaClip to market. In the background of all this chaos, I was also dealing with the devastation of infidelity and my marriage was ending. When I look back on this now I can hardly believe that I survived. However, when I really think about it, I didn’t just survive… I thrived. I used the motivation from all that turmoil and uncertainly to build a successful business. In many ways, these challenges sharpened my edge and made me into the resilient founder I am today. So now, I can say that summer of 2020 when I was breastfeeding my baby girl, unsure of what was to come, I was clear on one thing… this was my moment to make sure I moved forward, I have never looked back.

Elizabeth, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a CEO, Physician, Mother, Leader and Woman of Color. I am Emergency Physician faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Medicine with an academic focus on ethics, health policy and innovation/entrepreneurship. I still work clinically a few times a month but my primary job is now as CEO & Co-Founder of NasaClip, a hands-free nosebleed rescue device I invented while I was a resident. NasaClip combines hands-free compression with intranasal sponges that can be medicated and sized for adults and pediatrics. NasaClip provides the doctor’s solution to nosebleeds for anyone in any environment and we are currently being used in hospitals, urgent cares, schools, sports medicine, cruise ships, amusement parks and homes all over the US. We have been on the market for a little over a year on NasaClip.com and just launched on Amazon in April 2025. I have raised over $4M in funding and was awarded a NSF SBIR Phase I grant for $256K to assist with the development of my device. As a Black female founder, this is no easy feat, we only give 2% of venture capital to women and only 0.34% of that goes to Black women. Outside of introducing a simple but elegant solution to nosebleed emergencies, I want to serve as an example and inspire the next generation of founders who know that excellence comes from all backgrounds. I look forward to continuing my career as a practicing emergency physician, innovator and leader in health care policy and reform. Follow me on IG, X, Facebook and TikTok @DrElizPC.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the most challenging decisions I had to make was to stop working full time as an Emergency Physician and start working full time on my business. I was used to the stability and respect that comes with being a doctor and it was very hard for me to leave that behind and but my all into starting a business I wasn’t sure was going to make it. However, it became clear that I didn’t believe in myself and my technology no one else would either. So in 2023 I took the plunge and the significant pay cut to put my all behind NasaClip, it was the best decision I have ever made.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I always tell anyone who is a founder or business owner that one of the most influential podcasts I have every listened to is called “Founders” by David Senra. He summarizes and pulls out key learning points from biographies and autobiographies of successful founders and businessmen both past and present. There are certainly themes that you see over and over in these stories such as belief in self, resilience, confidence to a near delusional point and for several of them regrets about time spent with family when they are rich but potentially lonely at the end of their days. There is a goldmine of learning in these stories and David is superb at summarizing and pulling out the most important points. I highly recommend… hopefully I will be on a episode he covers in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nasaclip.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drelizpc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565897416866
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethpclayborne/
• Twitter: https://x.com/drelizpc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NasaClipInc

Image Credits

All credits to Elizabeth Clayborne