Nakia Marunowski is the Owner and Operator of The Concierge RN, currently servicing Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Her mission is to provide affordable, professional, quality, and loving alternative healthcare and to assist with navigating the healthcare system by removing frustrations and burdens from patients and family members to her surrounding communities and eventually throughout the US.
Q: What would you like to see your team accomplish in 2020?
I currently do not have a team, but I am eager to grow my business and add a team of strong, influential nurses who will assist me in bringing more awareness to this type of nursing, which benefits both the patient and the nurse.
Q: What were the most challenging areas in the early stages of the company’s growth?
The biggest challenges I have faced all revolved around making sure I did everything I was supposed to do, legally, especially being a licensed healthcare professional who is spear-heading this new type of healthcare. Unfortunately, there’s no step-by-step manual for what I am doing, but I hope to write a book and start a mentorship program next year so that I can expand my reach and change more lives.
Q: Who is your role model or hero?
Rachel Hollis has changed my life! I also recently met a very positive, intelligent, and influential man in the industry. His name is Michael Tetreault, and he is the Editor for Concierge Medicine Today. He strives to shape the future of healthcare from a patient’s perspective…and I am obsessed!
Q: What is your favorite book?
To give credit to someone other than Rachel Hollis, I would have to say The Business Boutique by Christy Wright. I would recommend that anyone with the slightest urge to start a business, start by reading her book. It is my business bible.
Q: Do you use any specific method or system to run daily operations?
I stay in my business daily. What I mean by this is, at any given moment, I could tell you exactly how my business is doing financially, when each bill is due, what invoices are out for payment, what events I would like to attend and their order of importance, etc. I even have the entire upcoming fiscal year and event year mapped out, tentatively, of course. This is super important not only to stay on task but not to be taken by surprise or be taken advantage of… especially for women entrepreneurs.
It’s a real challenge at times, especially when things get hectic, but I cannot recommend this part enough. Women especially need to know at least enough to make them dangerous; then, they can outsource the tasks that suck all of their time and energy so they can focus on growth. I am always regrouping and re-prioritizing based on how the business is doing. I think it’s the ER/trauma nurse in me!
Q: Why did you choose your present industry at this time?
After 10 years of hopping around between nursing specialties and facilities in search of a decent, fulfilling job, I realized that there isn’t one. This is because our healthcare system is broken. Nurses and doctors are forced to focus on paperwork and numbers, and our patients and their families are suffering. Our healthcare professionals are suffering. The healthcare and pharmaceutical system focus too much on money, and this isn’t why I became a nurse. Instead of quitting nursing altogether, I have made it my focus to improve healthcare, where I have the ability to do so. I’m starting with improving how I deliver care to my patients.
My patients are happy, truly happy no matter what ailment they are struggling with because they don’t have to leave their home to be seen by a medical professional, and that is a huge deal. I come to them. I listen to and cater to their needs. I help make their day better any way I can. In turn, they help make my day better! It has been the most rewarding experience in my nursing career, and I look forward to going to work and making a difference every single day!
Q: What is the best/worst moment you can remember in your career?
Hands down, the absolute best thing that has happened in my career has been the decision to work for myself. I wake up every day, excited to see my patient’s, run my business, research, reach out, network, grow, and answer to only myself. I’m not one to brag, but I make a pretty great boss! (Lol). The worst moment in my career would most likely be a HIPAA violation if I told it. But as a former ER/Trauma nurse, I will let you use your imagination.
Q: Looking back – if you could advise a younger version of yourself to do something different – what would it be?
My thoughts and feelings regarding wishing I could do any part of my life over again have recently changed. The thing is, if my life back then had been any different back then; if things had been easy for me; If I didn’t have such a constant intake of some of the most unbelievably ridiculous things happening in my life; I wouldn’t have become such a strong-willed woman, who can endure and push past anything that life throws at her, and always come out better in the end. And for that, I am grateful.
