Michelle Greene Rhodes, Founder and CEO of Michelle Rhodes Media LLC in Tampa, Florida, has created a place for nurses to personally develop and meet their big goals outside of the traditional roles. The RNterprise™ Academy is an online brand that helps nurses go “onward and upward” in business. The program, developed in 2016- was created to help nurses meet their maximum potential and avoid burnout, a common problem in healthcare. For those nurses who enjoy business but feel stuck, this could be an excellent option to support healthcare. This can also help alleviate the swinging door in this field where statistics show up to 33% of nurses leave the field withing the first two years of beginning the profession.
With burnout knocking on her doorstep back in 2008, Michelle found herself feeling physical symptoms daily while at work. A nurse of 23 years, Michelle states “I remember finding myself reflecting the good days when I loved what I did daily and was happy to serve day in and day out.” She served many years as a hospice nurse who witnessed death frequently, found herself experiencing compassion fatigue. In addition to heavy caseloads and 365-day schedules, she saw her personal life suffering. Once those relationships began to deteriorate, she knew that it was time to get some help. It was through therapy after losing her mother and husband that put her life back on the right track. “It was then I found my sense of purpose and a new way of legacy thinking that made me want to leave my mark in nursing, on behalf of my mother.”
Michelle is from St. Petersburg, Florida, and is an International Speaker who has empowered nurses and black women in Jamaica, Bahamas, London and Paris, is also an 8-time Author. She developed the RNterprise™ Academy to provide participants with 21 hours of coursework focuses on business startup, business planning, paid public speaking, and how to self-publish books of their own. Her Mastermind produces nurse brands, speakers and trainers across the nation (NurseEntrepreneurSociety.com).
She comments, “After finding success with my first book RNterprise!, I knew there was a need for this type of personal development training for minority nurses. I heard reports of bullying, hostile work environments and even racism at work from colleagues who felt stuck. I realized that with entrepreneurship, there was no ceiling and the lane that is created, is from one’s own expertise as a professional nurse.”
She continues, “When launched in 2016, there were not many coaches who were pouring into other nurses like I envisioned, so I created this brand. Fast forward and now we have helped over 65 nurses become self-published authors, 40+ open businesses, and 25+ get paid as a public speaker or trainer.” Her Facebook group holds almost 4,000 nurses from across the globe.
“It brings me joy to walk in my lane, and still support healthcare in an ancillary way. These nurses excel by leaps and bounds, once they come into alignment of their true message.” Participants can take courses individually, or they can complete a deeper and broader program by personally engaging in a year-long Mastermind.
The Mastermind gives a much richer experience that develops a sisterhood and network of nurses who become lifelong members. An official certificate following its successful completion, along with obtaining this skill set, they leave with opportunities to expand across the globe. The next cohort launches October 24, 2020.
Michelle has given powerful talks on these topics at Florida State University for the past 2 years, The American Managed Care Association Conference, The Commission for Case Management Symposium, and has won the Florida Nurses Association ICON award for Nurse Entrepreneurship.
Her articles can be found in the Care Management Journal, Brainz Magazine, and Journal for The National Black Nurses Association. Selected as a Linkedin Future Leader in Nursing, Michelle was chosen to visit Linkedin Headquarters February 2019 to discuss with the platform what the future might look like for nurses.
“In the culture that we live in, we would be remiss not to add more entrepreneurship/ intrapreneurship education for nurses within the curriculum. I am excited to expand this program as a certificate program or full elective for nursing programs. Our goal is to train nurses in these less explored areas of Healthcare so that we not just give the best care, but can be extremely mindful of costs, be available for public speaking, writing, and to develop programs in our areas of expertise,” she adds.
Additional information about the RNterprise Academy, including the upcoming yearlong Mastermind schedule can be found at MichelleRhodesOnline.com. The new enterprise version of courses will be available for Schools of Nursing only. Look for the pre-release in early 2021.
For press inquiries please contact Bianca Flemister at 813-750-7375 or [email protected]
