We were lucky to catch up with Novia Markes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Novia , thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

Novia has been a nurse for over a decade when she decided to advance her career and become a Nurse Practitioner. As she completed her studies towards the end of 2019, the world was on the verge of a major shift, the pandemic. While she knew this was the right career for her, the direction of health care in America was in the spotlight for all the world to see. The pandemic placed extreme stress on the health care workforce, and health care providers were burnt out. During this crisis, Novia tried to find her place a Nurse Practitioner in this new climate. The precarious state of health care made it extremely difficult for her to find a position as a nurse practitioner, Interview after interview, things were looking grim.

Until 1 interview at a biohacking center changed her outlook. This clinic focused on health promotion and propelled its client to improving overall health and performance levels. These clients were well informed happy and consistently working on their health. This, she thought was her dream job. Although both interviews at this clinic were positive, she was not hired. However, this planted a seed that this type of health care model exists and is needed!

Novia’s husband, who was already a business owner at a popular area restaurant, encouraged her to open her own business based on the standards and principles in which she believed.

From this encouragement, Novia opened Be Env Wellness and Aesthetics.

Be Env isn’t a traditional spa. It performs effective aesthetic medical services under the supervision of a licensed physician. By offering the latest technologies and treatments, its team can help you achieve your most ambitious aesthetic goals. Talk to us about improving acne and acne scars, sagging skin, sun damage, visible aging, volume loss, and more!

To see the discouragement from not getting jobs at other companies turn into this beautiful location where Novia serves so many clients on a regular basis truly is a defining moment for her!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started my career as a nurse and have been working in health care for nearly two decades. After working in almost every area of hospital nursing – hospice, cardiac care, and the ER as a registered nurse, I decided to go back to school and in early 2020 I became a nurse practitioner. I believe in always learning and growing.

As I continued to grow, I learned more about the benefits of functional medicine.

I believe in fixing the core issue. I would like to know why this is happening and how I can fix it. That is why I created Be Env Wellness & Aesthetics and opened it earlier this year. We offer a wide variety of services focused on holistic wellness while also serving those who prefer injections.

I’ve always enjoyed being able to serve patients face-to-face and giving them the treatment that best works for their needs. At Be Env we say, “You’re now going to be the envy of your former self,” and my staff and I love watching you transform right before our eyes.

At Be Env we offer:
We offer a wide array of services which include:
~IV Hydration Therapy
~Vitamin & Mineral Intramuscular Shots
~Medically Managed Weight Loss
~Teeth whitening
~Infrared sauna
~A large variety of facials and skin treatments
~Injectables

and much more. We’re adding new services all the time so get on our email list to learn about all we do!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Here is a bit of my story from a chapter in an anthology book in which I’m featured called A Nurse’s Journey to Entrepreneurship. You can find it on Amazon.

Being the first-born grandchild, I spent a lot of time with various family members, and by far one of my favorites was my aunt. In my childlike memory, I remember spending most of my time with her watching as she studied nursing. Even now with the blink of an eye, I’m back to that place…The big books with pictures and “big” words that I enjoyed trying to pronounce, the smell of alcohol, my aunt and her fellow nursing students’ crisp white uniforms, stockings, and hats. This was my favorite, too: the constant prompts from my aunt to read something from one of her books for her friends as they cheered. It’s still such a clear memory.

I remember watching them and how I was drawn to what they were doing. My love for simply watching made it clear to me – I wanted a career in the medical field.

Over the years I entertained the thought of being a physical therapist, physician, optometrist and even a dentist. I think I thought of these professions because what I wanted was not what my family and friends saw for me. They’d say, “You’re too smart to be a nurse. You should be a doctor,” but nursing always had a hold of my heart.

I decided to follow my heart. But as we all know, following our heart doesn’t mean life is easy.

As I endured the unsettling culture shock, I also had to advocate for the way I wanted to complete nursing school. I made constant trips to my advisor and Dean of Student Affairs to allow me to take double my course load. She warned me this would be extremely difficult, but I convinced her I could do it. I was determined. As much as my heart tugged toward nursing, it tugged even more toward my infant at home. As a new mom, 3 years away from my child seemed too much to bear.

Other things that we don’t think about anymore but when I was in school over 20 years ago, cell phones were a luxury, and WhatsApp was nonexistent. I had to buy overpriced calling cards, sometimes paying as much as $1 per minute for a phone call back home to check on my son. It was heart-wrenching! A new mother, thousands of miles away and under pressure to not fail any courses all while dealing with postpartum depression. Not to mention the financial burden of paying twice the cost of tuition of local students, and I was at the mercy of family members to help me foot the bill. I eventually got a part time job at the school bookstore. Even though the pay was small I managed to be able to pay for my bus passes and a simple daily lunch.

As with every trial we face there is also hope. One professor was such an angel. He gave me great encouragement and helped me find resources for loans and grants, even though I was told as an international student I wouldn’t qualify for anything.

Once I was close to finishing my prerequisites to enter the nursing program, I went to the nursing department daily to gather information and ask questions. All the employees at the front desk knew me by first name; “Hey Novia, what’s going on today?” Oh, the joy of building some community! A little ray of hope in the middle of despair.

One day, as usual I walked in, and one of the ladies I always saw who never spoke to me was standing at the copy machine. Mid-sentence while I was talking to others, she called me to the side, and peppered me with questions: “What’s your full name? How old are you? Why do you want to be a nurse? This is a very difficult program. Are you ready for that?”

Of course, I was ready with the answers. Turns out she was the assistant to the Dean of Admissions. Right there she told me she had been telling the dean about me and my persistence.

Hope kept showing up because I kept showing up!

To read the rest, please go get my book!

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I would not. I went through a lot to get through nursing school and then to open my own practice. Healthcare is constantly changing. I enjoy being a part of that change as well as finding the best solutions for my clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: beenvwellness.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/be.env/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beENVwellnessandaesthetics