Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michelle Destefano. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

The health care industry has been fascinating for me. It appears that we move 10 steps forward and then 10 steps backward even though we have some of the most dedicated professionals that an industry could ever imagine.

Corporate America, in the nursing industry, has never really been able to figure out the cost of nursing services. It has always been part of the room and board for hospitalized patients. This makes it very difficult to ever get nursing services ahead of truly being professionals, professionals that can bill for patient care. However, it is the only profession in the acute care setting that has 24-hour responsibility for patient care.

If we could just decide to decide to charge for nursing services, either through bundle payments and/or through acuity systems (regarding the severity of illness and the skills needed for that particular patient) we may be able to discern better nursing salaries or at least create a cash stream to cover the cost of appropriate staffing models.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Michelle DeStefano. I am a Registered Nurse, Healthcare Business Consultant, and Nursing Executive with expertise in driving strategy, clinical, and operational improvement. I have had over 30 plus years in progressive hospital/Nursing leadership positions, including that of Chief Nursing Officer. Most recently, I have transitioned my career focus to that of Business Development Consultant and Career Influencer/Coach. With that experience and dedication to the healthcare field, comes a proven track record in inspiring individuals and teams to thrive at their highest potential. I graduated with a BSN in Nursing and pursued a master’s degree in Public Administration both from Penn State University. To continue my self-development and continuous learning philosophy, I received my Nursing Certification in Nursing Executive Practice and am credentialed as a John Maxwell coach, speaker, and trainer.

Despite my many career milestones and successes, personal growth, and development, I did experience setbacks in my career in corporate healthcare. However, I found I had a much larger vision and purpose for myself. I wanted to make a bigger impact. I wanted to connect with more individuals from multiple and varied organizations. I was drawn t consulting and coaching, not staying in a corporate leadership position.

Due to this personal transformation, I now serve dynamic professional women who want to unlock their own inner genius after experiencing their own crossroads. My passion and calling are to inspire dynamic professional women to SOAR., Because I believe that everyone has the potential to achieve their dreams and obtain positive professional and personal results in their lives. Through my own journey and passion, I founded SOAR Career Coaching for Professional Women in October 2021.

SOAR Career Coaching for Professional Women’s main objective is to assist professional women to create a career path with a clear sense of purpose, clarity, and vision to ultimately show the world who they really are. Specifically, through my coaching methodology, I help professional women monetize their skill set, experience, and passion in a fulfilling way, whether it is discovering how to navigate a path to promotion in their existing organization or a new path best suited for them. This new path may consist of total rebranding and entering a new career that they may never have deemed possible.
In July of 2022, I added an additional service line is consulting with physician practices and small business to assist in the growth and prosperity of their business via online presence and referral management and direct to consumer strategy.

My services include one to one coaching, group facilitation in the form of Mastermind classes on specific topics, as well as online webinars. I am very proud that I have been able, through my partnerships with my clients increased their business growth as well as assisted individuals with jump starting a new career that is best suited for their top talent/skill sets. I also provide organizational team coaching to build effective work teams so that employee engagement prospers.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

So, my major reason for creating SOAR and becoming a business develop consultant and career influencer/coach is that I experienced my own personal journey to a career pivot. I wanted to give back to other successful career women to ensure first and foremost, they aren’t alone in the need to sometimes pivot in life and careers.

Despite my many professional achievements and positive performance appraisals, and large annual bonuses for a job well done, I encountered career challenges and setbacks. Specifically, I have been passed over for internal promotions even when promised organizational mobility. I have been in position where I was devalued. I was even threatened about organizational longevity in a position despite excellent performance appraisals that came with high ticket bonus awards.

At first, these setbacks made me lose faith in myself and my skill set. I also experienced lack of trust in others and my emotions ran amok leaving me crippled and unable to take the steps to redefine myself and to achieve full professional and personal outcomes.

I wanted to turn my emotional roller coaster around and knew I needed outside support to make the next career decision that was best for me, my talents, my vision for my life, and my purpose for my life. I knew I would get another position/job, but I wanted to STOP and EXHALE to ensure that I was making the right decision.

I decided to fully invest in me, and I was introduced to a career coach. My coach drew out in me my inner genius, mu leadership style, my courage and helped me realign my skillset. My coach stimulated me to re-engage to pursue my calling and passion life. Namely, that of mentorship methodology to develop and support future dynamic professional women inclusive of my leading by personal example.

My transformation, based on my own coaching cause me to re-evaluate what success meant and looked like to me. Success was no longer a title but serving my calling and passion. I forged ahead and rebranded myself, perfected my current skill set, and learned new skillsets blazing a continuous successful, fulfilling career trajectory.

Guess what, I SOARED to new career heights. I stepped out of my comfort zone and landed on my feet. Due to this personal transformation, I now serve dynamic professional women who want to unlock their own inner genius after experiencing their own crossroads. These crossroads may be wanting to do more and increased their value added and skill set, or it could be totally rebranding and experiencing another career option. See, I believe that everyone has the potential to achieve their dreams and obtain positive professional and personal results in their lives.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As I reflect on my journey there is so much that I had to unlearn about myself and about corporate executive positions in general. My biggest lesson to unlearn was that I, Michelle, cannot and will not ever again define my entire world by a job title or salary. Michelle is more than that. Michelle is a mother, a friend, a confidante, a person who leads by example and wants to inspire and make a difference in the world.

The second lesson to unlearn, is that keep your ego intact. Corporate restructuring, corporate layoffs, corporate decisions are basically business decisions. And while, at the time, you feel it’s a personal attack on you, it isn’t. Therefore, I stress in my sessions with my clients to work through your SCAN phase of career pivoting. Are you in the right position? The right Culture? Do you excel at certain skills sets? Do you have skills that need to be learned? Work hard to gain the respect of your team, but at some point, staying in an unhealthy culture is not assisting you in moving forward with a life that you anticipate for yourself.

And the last lesson which is a life lesson: What is happening today only makes you stronger for your future. Embrace challenges. Challenges are only nuances that come into your life to check and balance you. I now see challenges as not obstacles and fata complete. I now view life challenges and setbacks as an opportunity to continuously move forward. There is always something bigger and better out there if you keep your emotions in check.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.soarcareercoaching.com
• Facebook: soar career coaching for professional women
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-destefano-rn-mpa-nea-bc-86b56a85