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

Kathleen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

As a young lactation consultant, I tried to fit my lactation work time into my family’s schedule and became dismayed when a new mom kept canceling her appointment with me. Finally, I explained if I didn’t come that day, it might be another few days before I could reschedule. She said I could come over but it might be an abbreviated visit because her baby had been sick with an upper respiratory infection. They had just returned from the pediatrician’s office who said it would simply take time.

When I arrived, I was surprised to watch the baby struggling to breathe and told the mom I thought she needed a second opinion. As a nurse, this was a bold step but I couldn’t help myself. I phoned the pediatrician with whom I worked part-time and since he was already making rounds at a local hospital, agreed to meet them in the ER. When they arrived, he ordered a chest x-ray and the baby but diagnosed with double-lobe pneumonia – the baby was quickly admitted to intensive care and the mother was incredibly grateful for my help. The baby recovered well.

That day, the pediatrician with whom I worked, asked me how it felt to out-guess a doctor who had been practicing for 35 years and told me I had great clinical instincts. It was just what I needed to hear. He urged me to return to nursing school for my nurse practitioner’s license and I started part-time classes a month later.

Fast forward nine years to my clinical rotation when I had one more patient to see. I gleefully burst into the room and announced to my patient’s family that they were the very last patient I’d be seeing as a student, as my clinical rotation would be over after our visit. The mom took one look at me and said “Oh my! You don’t remember me but I remember you……you saved my daughter’s life.” It was the now nine-year-old child that had been diagnosed nine years earlier with pneumonia.

This defining moment felt like I had come full circle and made me sure that I was on the right career path.

Kathleen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a family nurse practitioner with a doctorate and also board-certified in lactation. My defining moment story explains how I got into the industry. I own and operate Metropolitan Breastfeeding in Bethesda, Columbia, and Northern Virginia. We help breastfeeding women reach their lactation and parenting goals. We have consultants spread throughout the DMV area and work hard to ensure we provide our families with options. We are most proud of our team approach and ability to offer different types of services; we have an OT, SLP, several RNs, a nutritionist and the ability to prescribe medications and other clinical treatments when needed. One of our specialties is inducing lactation in non-biological parents. We also see parents who simply want to ensure they’re doing everything possible to maximize their breastfeeding and parenting experience. We love when mom;s partner, dads and grandparents join us in the office. The more people listening, the easier mom has it at home. We give printed care plans and stay available to follow-up with families.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The pandemic was the most difficult time I had with the practice; employees and consultants were so scared that they abandoned their positions. Our business dried up within a matter of days and I had to figure out how to do telehealth visits. I stayed home for three weeks and then had a mom call in desperation stating that she had three telehealth visits but no one would put eyes and hands on her breasts. She was afraid she had mastitis but antibiotics weren’t working.

I decided I had to see her, so donned full PPE and went to the office. She had three abscesses in one of her breasts and needed them incised and drained.

Having seen an incredible need, I continued to work alone in the office for about two years. It became so difficult that one day I was answering the business phone, responding to knocks at the main door and trying to see a patient all simultaneously. My partner, Craig came into the office to work the front desk and a girlfriend, JJ, came in to do some other urgent chores. It was then that I felt most supported and knew I would make it through. The only other option was for me to quit and close down the business and that never seemed like something I could ever do. I had spent a lifetime building this practice and wasnt’ about to let it go.

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

I recently sold a postpartum doula business I had with a partner. I think the takeaways are to have your business professionally valued, find an attorney who understands the process and is well-versed in speaking to the buyers’ attorney, and make sure you cross all your Ts and dot all your Is throughout the process.

Buyers can be “interesting” and just because they’re buying a business doesn’t mean they necessarily understand how your particular business operates. Sometimes, they focus on details that have no real bearing and you might have to help them understand best practices and explain why you’ve made the decisions you have. I also don’t think I was prepared to have it take as long as it did, to complete the entire process.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.metropolitanbreastfeeding.com
• Instagram: @metropolitanbreastfeeding and @littlebeamnursingpillows
• Facebook: metropolitan breastfeeding
• Other: www.littlebeam.com

Image Credits
Photo credit; Erin E. McCue (blue shirt) Jake – Boulder Digital Media (purple sweater)