We recently connected with Melissa Schreibfeder and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I was a conventionally trained nurse working in the hospital system and struggled for many years with an undiagnosed autoimmune condition I had very little knowledge on natural medicine and nutrition. When I recognized how much the conventional medical model failed me I learned as much as possible about natural medicine and experienced tremendous healing! This experience lead me to starting my own functional medicine practice (Integrative Nurse Coaching) and as I became successful in this field I launched Functional Nurse Academy to train other nurses on how to start their own functional medicine practices.

Having the courage to put myself out there and go against the grain way key! I have been confident that this is what God wants me to do and with my skillset and I am blessed to help so many patients and nurses!

Being organized and persistent in my business operations and providing an excellent level of service. This has helped with my referral basis for both of my businesses!

Key challenges – overcoming self doubt and criticism and maintaining a work life balance.

Things I would have done differently:

delegated out more tasks for things I’m not good at (Like tech!) that way I can focus on more content creation and scaling.

Advice for young professionals:

confidence is key, if you are not confident this will affect your work quality and your clients will pick up on this

don’t just be transactional, you are a soul helping another soul, be authentic!

set boundaries and have a work life balance, if you do not do this you are at risk for burnout!

strive for excellence but do not be too hard on yourself! You will make mistakes a long the road but brush your self off, learn from your mistakes and keep going

Seek out a business coach/mentor

Get comfortable with public speaking (podcasts, speaking events, radio shows are an excellent way to promote your brand and boost your SEO!)

Melissa, 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 was a conventionally trained RN and was sick for several years. I was not happy working in our healthcare system because it is so clearly pharmaceutical focused and is not centered around addressing the root causes of disease.

After healing naturally I decided to learn as much about functional medicine and holistic health as possible! I then left sick care and opened up a functional medicine practice. After having success setting up a functional medicine concierge package I decided to start Functional Nurse Academy.

Chronic diseases are rampant in our country and we must create a parallel healthcare system that can support patients holistically and focus on root causes of disease! This is why I am so thankful to have created the Functional Nurse Academy! Most nurses are unhappy with current work conditions and clearly see that the pharmaceutical approach to chronic disease management is lacking and many of the protocols used in conventional medicine are highly outdated. Patients are also unhappy and are growing sicker and more distrustful of the healthcare industry.

I am so excited to play a role in this movement of transforming healthcare from the inside out! As patients experience reversal of chronic disease processes they share their stories and the demand for functional medicine continues to grow! Nurses play such an important role in functional medicine because we are continuously ranked the most trusted profession in the country and have a vast amount of clinical experience.

I provide training to nurses on how to review labs functionally, order diagnostic testing and facilitate healing through lifestyle and dietary interventions. They are also provided with business mentorship training that way when they graduate they are prepared to start their concierge practices.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Being personable and providing excellent service!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being honest, having great attention to detail, being friendly and consistent.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.functionalnurseacademy.com www.integrativenursecoaching.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/functionalnurseacademy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeNurseCoaching

Image Credits
https://taushadickinson.com/