We recently connected with Nico Misleh and have shared our conversation below.

Nico, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

When I was a kid back in the early ’90’s, my mother (a former early childhood educator) recognized the public school systems, and schools in general, were failing in a lot of ways. She recognized that schools tended to put people in boxes, and limit in many ways their ability to be creative and entrepreneurial. She decided the best thing she could do was homeschool us (back when it felt like it was just us and the Amish). Many people at that time thought it was strange and bewildering, but my father supported her 100%, and it is and forever will be the most important thing that could have ever happened to me.

Being homeschooled meant learning and diving deep into things I was especially passionate about. I would explore subjects deeply, and my mother would help me meet people in the subject field to converse with and go on fields trips. My parents spent lots of time with me, and helped me learn how to change a flat tire, call the doctor’s office when I was ill, and speak with adults and children of all ages. If anything, it allowed me to learn how to function in the real world, but also how to break away from the typical stereotypes.

I knew from an early age I would never work in an office, or work for anyone else for that matter. My father was a small business owner, and his father before him, and so on. My maternal grandfather was also a small private practice owner, and physician. I regularly would visit him at his office and see him help patients, and found it so freeing that he could be his own boss. In many ways, the culmination of learning for the sake of learning, and the ability to think critically and creatively, opened up the opportunities of being a small businessman and entrepreneur. There’s no question that my parents had such a powerful influence in this development, and it’s something I’m extremely grateful for.

Nico, 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 by trade, and own and operate my new and beautiful private practice called Apollo Health Optimization, here in my hometown of Cincinnati, OH. My family is in the Skyline Chili business (Google it!) and we’ve been here for some time now.

We provide integrative medicine and hormone replacement therapy for men and women. This line of medicine looks at the person holistically and attempts to treat them from a foundational and root-cause approach. It’s an extremely meaningful way of practicing medicine and healthcare. I also regularly educate students, and give lectures and presentations around the nation, speaking on mental health, integrative medicine, and hormone optimization.

At Apollo, we are deeply connected with our patients. We want to know about you in a way in which we can truly help you heal. We don’t just want our patients to be “normal”, as we always say. We want them to be optimal. By operating outside of insurance, we can get back to real patient centered care, meaning we don’t have busy waiting rooms, and short appointments. We get to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, and get to the root of your problems. Our patients usually enter our clinic feeling frustrated, scared, and disappointed, and leave feeling hopeful, educated, and confident.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

To forever be open to learning, and admitting when you’re wrong. There is no end to learning in medicine, and it takes an open mind and open heart to pursue what’s best for your patients and your community. Similar, because medicine and new research changes so quickly, it’s important to stay humble and recognize where you may have been wrong in the past, and more importantly adapt and move forward.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Meeting other people in parallel lines of work and networking has always been so pivotal for me. You can post as much as you want on social media and spend money on ads, but there’s just nothing like establishing a relationship with someone else who you can grow to trust and appreciate.

Work with people who I can collaborate with and will mutually benefit from one another, and try to create incentives for them to send clients your way. The more people get to know me, the more comfortable they are sending a loved one to seek care. Medicine isn’t like visiting the new donut shop in town. A bad donut isn’t going to kill you (at least, not right away) but a bad healthcare provider might! There’s inherently more trust and value that needs to be brought to the table, and people these days are desperate for both.

Contact Info:

• Website: apollohealthop.com
• Instagram: @apollo_health_optimization
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Apollo-Health-Optimization/100090847640683/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Mackenzie Fulcher