I am Priscilla Jankins, a mom of two, and founder of
NurseproCEO and BrandproCEO.
After leaving my job as a nurse executive at one of the largest hospitals in LA,
I followed my entrepreneurial dreams and help other first-time entrepreneurs
launch their own profitable business.
I grew up in a household where my father always instilled the importance
of getting an education, but more importantly, being a business owner. He
taught us that if you know money and you know it well, you'll never go broke.
I was 20 years old, an
open-heart registered nurse, one of the largest hospitals out here.
I went from my associate degree to a doctorate.
I really enjoyed the corporate hospital and healthcare,
but even though I was a nurse executive, it was very hard
for me to express my own ideas.
So I went out on the limb and started my own side business.
I had the clothing shop.
I put 50 percent of my own savings into it, but I also was able to raise about $25,000 just
from campaigning through social media.
It was doing really well and actually sold it in 2017
because, at that time, I was still a full-time registered nurse.
At that time,
I was trying to make extra money.
Even when I was a registered nurse, I was still in school
so I still had education to pay for,
on top of my bills.
So I actually worked for a staffing agency.
I would say, "I wonder if I could start a medical staffing agency?"
So I started my LA Nursing Services.
We staff doctors and RNs and therapists to hospitals in the LA area.
I had to get venture capitalists.
I had to get business loans and then it just spiraled.
I went from maybe five clients to maybe a hundred clients per month.
I had my first child at 33.
So it really goes from I,I,I,
and then you have another person who takes priority over all of that.
That's when I realized it's really about being here and being a present
mom. The boiling point was when I found myself working 26 hours in a row and
I actually missed my son's birthday.
Once I realized that I can work as an independent contractor
under my own staffing agency,
that's when I made the decision to leave
my job and to work for myself.
It was very scary leaving my financial security at that time, the income as a
registered nurse was paying my bills.
So here I am with my husband, my child, we've just taken on all of these new
responsibilities and now I have no job.
People think that it's easier to be an entrepreneur,
it's actually easier to just get a paycheck and be an employee.
When you're an entrepreneur, everything kind of falls on you.
LA Nursing Services has kind of snowballed from maybe five of us to over 200
of us, and then helping other people start their companies was almost
like hobby. Because I was pregnant that took out of the hospital completely,
so that's when I realized I can take all of the things that I've learned and help
other people start their own business.
So NurseproCEO and BrandproCEO is a company that's designed to
help the aspiring business owner be successful at not just opening a
business, but sustaining a business.
It was very risky taking this on because not only did I have the two
year old at the time running around, but I also had my newborn baby.
So I really had to kind of scale back a little bit on my lifestyle and get
smart about the way I spend money.
What made it all worth
it was knowing that a lot of people needed to start their own business,
like yesterday, in order to survive,
and that motivated me to keep going.
So we went from about five or six clients per month to about a hundred per month.
Being an entrepreneur has changed my life. It taught me how to
be a self-starter. When you have an opportunity, you go for it.
Had I waited, maybe the need for my product
wouldn't have been there.
The biggest piece of advice for moms who want to start their own
business, it would be to start small.
You can still start your entrepreneurial journey while you're working.
You have to kind of rework the way you save money. How much you save every month,
it should be a different number, depending on what your needs are.
A lot of people think they have to have a lot of money to save, that's not true.
It's not based on how much money you have, it's based on your discipline.
If you put in some of your own sweat and tears and a little bit of
your own money, you're more likely to do well, because now you're
personally invested in that business.
Two takeaways that I want my kids to have is you have to be self-accountable.
Opportunities can be given to you, but you'll be even more secure.
if you create the opportunity. There's no easy way to be an entrepreneur,
but if you make it through and you do the work, it's the most rewarding
thing I've ever done in my life.