We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Velasco. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.
Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
The Pedi Dose: How One Nurse Turned a Frustrating Moment into a Lifesaving Solution
In the winter of 2013, Amanda Velasco, an ER nurse with five years of experience, found herself in a moment of frustration that many parents know all too well. Her baby was teething, crying in pain, and she reached for a bottle of Tylenol to provide some relief. But when she read the label, it hit her with the all-too-familiar phrase: “Children under 2, ask a provider.”
It was late, her pediatrician’s office was closed, and the after-hours service never called back. Left to navigate this alone, she knew there had to be a better way for parents to get the information they needed quickly and accurately.
On maternity leave and armed with years of experience in the emergency room, Amanda sketched out the idea for an app that would later become The Pedi Dose. It was a weight-based dosing calculator designed to make medication administration easier and safer for parents.
However, like many busy moms, the notebook with her initial ideas got lost in the chaos of motherhood. But the problem stuck with her. As a charge nurse, she saw countless parents bring their children into the ER because they were unsure of proper dosing. Some had underdosed, while others had overdosed because multiple caregivers didn’t communicate or because language barriers and complicated instructions got in the way.
“I knew there were other parents out there, just like me, who needed dosing assistance at their fingertips,” Amanda says. While physicians provide printouts, those often get lost or forgotten in the panic of a sick child. The solution, Amanda believed, had to be simple, accessible, and multilingual.
Determined to make this a reality, she funded The Pedi Dose through double shifts and personal sacrifice. Now, the app is a go-to resource for parents, offering clear, weight-based dosing guidelines in multiple languages.
Amanda’s journey from that frustrating moment in her bathroom to the founder of The Pedi Dose is a testament to her dedication to solving a widespread problem for parents everywhere. “In this digital age, we all have smartphones,” she says. “Why not use them to give parents peace of mind?”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Amanda Velasco: The Mom, Nurse, and Innovator Behind The Pedi Dose
Meet Amanda Velasco, a single mother of three boys and a dedicated healthcare professional who turned her personal struggles into a practical solution for parents everywhere. Amanda’s journey into the world of pediatric care and medication safety wasn’t planned, but it was born from a genuine need that she experienced firsthand as a mother.
After years working as an ER charge nurse, Amanda found herself standing in the bathroom with a crying, teething baby, unable to quickly determine the correct dosage of Tylenol. Frustrated by the lack of easy access to weight-based dosing, she realized she wasn’t alone in this struggle. She knew countless other parents were facing the same challenge—unsure of how much medication to give or when it was last administered, all while navigating language barriers or confusing instructions.
That moment inspired her to create The Pedi Dose, a secure, user-friendly website that helps parents accurately dose medications like Acetaminophen (Tylenol TM) and Ibuprofen (Motrin TM) based on their child’s weight. It’s a simple, powerful tool designed to make medication administration stress-free and safe for parents.
What sets The Pedi Dose apart is the fact that it fills a crucial gap in pediatric care. Amanda is one of the few who provide this service free of charge, making it accessible to everyone. “There’s such a need for this service, and offering it for free was important to me,” Amanda explains. For those who prefer an ad-free experience, she also offers a subscription option. Revenue comes from both the ad-supported and subscription versions, but as Amanda puts it, “It’s nothing compared to the joy I get from knowing I’m helping parents feel confident and independent when it comes to caring for their child.”
What Amanda is most proud of is how personal the project is to her. From the design, colors, and fonts to the content itself, everything was created by her. “There’s a lot of pride in my work,” she says. She’s also passionate about sharing relatable, educational content for parents on her platform and social media, where she thrives on engagement. “I love hearing from parents, getting likes, follows, and reposts—it all makes a difference.”
For Amanda Velasco, The Pedi Dose is more than just a business. It’s a personal mission to empower parents and help them feel confident in managing their child’s health. Whether through the free version or the subscription option, The Pedi Dose is making a difference, one parent at a time.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Finding Resilience in Business: Amanda Velasco’s Journey of Refusing to Accept ‘No’
In the world of entrepreneurship, one word can make or break your dreams: “no.” For Amanda Velasco, the founder of The Pedi Dose, hearing “no” became a regular part of her journey, but instead of letting it stop her, she turned it into a source of resilience.
As the creator of a digital dosing calculator—an idea that was new and innovative in the pediatric care space—Amanda faced doubt from others who questioned the need for her product. Some even waited for her to fail. “I’ve been told ‘no’ a lot,” Amanda recalls. But instead of seeing it as rejection, she saw every “no” as an opportunity. She shifted her mindset to believe that if there is a will, there is always a way.
For Amanda, resilience meant refusing to accept a single roadblock as the end. When doors closed, she found new ways to knock them down. “If one approach didn’t work, I would try another,” she says. “If one person didn’t believe in me or see my vision, I didn’t let that shake me. I kept moving forward.”
Bringing a new idea to the market isn’t easy, especially when it challenges the status quo. Amanda’s digital dosing calculator offered a solution to a problem many parents face but didn’t have a tool for—safely dosing medications for their children using a weight-based algorithm. Despite the doubt from some, she knew the need existed, and her conviction to solve that problem kept her going, even when it felt like the odds were stacked against her.
One key lesson Amanda has learned is that a “no” doesn’t mean your idea lacks value. It simply means you need to find another path. “When you get a no, try again,” she advises. “Go about it in a different way, find different avenues to approach the problem or roadblock.”
Amanda’s resilience and refusal to give up helped her bring The Pedi Dose to life. Her digital dosing calculator now helps countless parents navigate medication safety for their children. While the road wasn’t always easy, and the doubters were plenty, Amanda’s belief in her idea—and her relentless drive to see it through—allowed her to build something that truly makes a difference.
Her advice to other entrepreneurs is simple: “Just because one person doesn’t believe in you or see your vision, don’t let your idea slip away. There’s always a way forward, as long as you refuse to quit.” In a world full of “no’s,” Amanda found resilience in her unwavering “yes.”
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Amanda Velasco: How Hard Work and Determination Funded The Pedi Dose
Starting a business is a challenge, especially when you’re a single mother of three young children and working as an Emergency Room Charge Nurse. For Amanda Velasco, founder of The Pedi Dose, the journey to bring her idea to life required not just determination but immense personal sacrifice. Her story is one of resilience, resourcefulness, and relentless drive to turn a vision into reality, even when the odds seemed daunting.
At the time Amanda decided to pursue her idea of a digital dosing calculator for children’s medication, she was juggling her role as a mom of three boys under five and her demanding job in one of the Bay Area’s busiest emergency rooms. Despite the overwhelming responsibilities, she couldn’t shake the belief that her idea could make a real difference for parents.
Like any smart entrepreneur, Amanda began with research. She knew she needed a website developer and coder to help her create the platform, but she didn’t want to jump in blind. Amanda interviewed several professionals, learning the ins and outs of their processes to ensure they understood her vision. “I had to make sure they saw what I saw,” Amanda recalls. “I needed to know exactly how much money it would take to bring my idea to life.”
Knowing the costs involved was the first step; the next was figuring out how to fund it. Grants and external funding options were unknown to her at the time, so Amanda knew she would have to fund the project herself. To build up the savings she needed, she took on as many double shifts as she could at the hospital. These long hours were grueling, pushing both her body and her family life to their limits, but Amanda stayed focused on her goal.
“I worked so many double-time shifts to stack up savings quickly,” she says. “It was hard on my body, and on my family, but I finally had enough to start.”
With her savings in hand, Amanda began turning her idea into reality. The hard-earned capital from countless extra shifts paid off, allowing her to fund the development of The Pedi Dose, a weight-based dosing calculator for parents. The result? A platform that empowers parents with quick, accurate, and accessible medication dosing information for their children—a tool that Amanda herself wished she had when her kids were younger.
Looking back, Amanda acknowledges that if she had known about grants or other forms of funding, her path might have been easier. But at the time, self-funding was her only option. Her story is a testament to the power of persistence and sacrifice in pursuing a dream, especially when you believe in your idea as strongly as she did.
“I made it work,” Amanda reflects. “And now, I can proudly say that I built this company from the ground up.”
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Amanda’s journey is a reminder that sometimes, success isn’t about waiting for the perfect opportunity or the right funding—it’s about working with what you have and making it happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.thepedidose.com
- Instagram: @thepedidose
- Facebook: @thepedidose
- Linkedin: https://LinkedIn.com/in/amanda-velasco-159651252
Image Credits
Angela Seats-Photographer