This Nurse Can Do it All- Ep. 22
Kiiyonna Jones is a Registered Nurse of 11 years. Kiiyonna received her Bachelors of Science in Health Promotion Disease Prevention (2006) from the University of Southern California, graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a Masters of Science in Nursing (2008) in the first class of the Masters Entry Clinical Nurse (MECN) program at the university and Kiiyonna has recently completed the PhD program at the University of San Diego and will graduate in May of 2019. Kiiyonna has been an educator for baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing students at a large private university in California for 8 years and has assisted with course curriculum development and NCLEX success for students. Kiiyonna also works as a Nursing Administrator at a hospital in South Los Angeles and works per-diem at a large university-affiliated hospital in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. With a myriad of accolades under her belt, Kiiyonna added entrepreneur to her title in October of 2018 and opened a Beauty and Wellness Boutique in Artesia, California.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema McElroy (05:12): All right Nurses on Fire Podcast listeners, I am ecstatic to welcome Dr. Jones to the Nurses on Fire Podcast. Welcome Dr. Jones or Ms. Kiiyonna.
Kiiyonna Jones (05:27): Thank you for having me here. I am so honored to be on your show.
Naseema McElroy (05:32): All right, so let's dive right into your story. Tell me what you're all about.
Kiiyonna Jones (05:37): Well, I am a registered nurse of 11 years. It'll actually be 12 years next year. As far as my background, I actually am a high school dropout. Actually. I'm a teenage mom, so I had some obstacles and challenges starting out early in my life, but I'm fortunate and blessed enough that I was able to overcome them and I feel like nursing put me, basically leveraged that for me. So I've actually have a bachelor's degree in public health from the university of Southern California, USC. And I have a... Yeah, Trojan fight on. And I have a, my master's is actually in nursing. I was the first master's entry clinical nurse class at UCLA that dates me as well. And I just recently completed my dissertation and obtained my PhD in nursing in May of 2019 and my dissertation topics was topic was studying CLPD in African-Americans. So I completed that in may and so now I'm on to bigger and better things all while while I've been working, a mom, a wife, you know, just other life things still happening,
Naseema McElroy (06:53): Doing all of the things. And congratulations on obtaining your doctorate. That's a major, major accomplishment. I often joke and say I'll never get my PhD because I'm not a player hater, but it's just because I'm lazy.
Kiiyonna Jones (07:16): It was a weird place. So I had a goal completing my masters. I was like, research has always been a challenge for me. Right? I don't like statistics and I knew PhD would mean a lot of statistics, high level statistics. So that had already always been my like, you know, my little Achilles' heel. And then you know, I had set a goal that by the time I turned 40, I wanted to have my PhD and I was going to go ahead and
tackle that fear. So my daughter was graduating high school, she was going to Howard university and I was thinking, now this is my daughter that I had, I was pregnant with that 17, had her at 18 so I was like, I don't know, I need to do something with myself. So I decided to apply to the program. I got in and then I was like, what the heck am I doing? Like why am I adding on additional stress in my life? And then I was honestly considering resending my application and then they offered me a scholarship and I was like, damn, now if that's not going to be ungrateful to actually decline a cup scholarship 'cause I'm scared. So I was like, forget it. I'm just about to go on and do it. That's exactly what happened.
Naseema McElroy (08:25): Yeah. That's how we have to push through life. We gotta do it scared. We gotta do it scared sometimes. And so yeah. So, was at UC San Diego, so was this a distance program?
Kiiyonna Jones (08:34): So it's actually the University of San Diego that I went to and you know, that's the private school. You know what, it's not distance. I drove once a week to San Diego in the morning on the freeway at five and came back home every single Thursday. So it wasn't distant. I don't mind distance education at all, but I just hadn't ever, you know, I'd never done a distance education program, so I was just kind of uncomfortable with kind of switching it up. So I was like, forget it. It was just one day a week I thought like, Oh, that's not much for baby that drive and coming back took me three and a half hours. And then of course I had to complicate things because being the person that I am, I ended up pregnant my second year, so I had to drive back and forth, big and pregnant girl. So yeah, it was definitely, it's, I was tested and I'm very, very, very proud of myself that I still stuck to it and pushed through in spite of all the obstacles and challenges. So, yeah.
Naseema McElroy (09:42): And I am proud of you, too. So let's talk one. Let's talk about your journey through your nursing career. So where'd you start out when you first graduated as a nurse?
Kiiyonna Jones (09:54): So my background is actually critical care. So I started out at the VA and I worked there in ICU. Step down. We rotated to ED as well as PACU. Of course, initially I was like, Oh my God, like this is way too much. But now it provided me with so much experience to be able to rotate through those units and I did that for four years. It was great. It was a great experience. However, for me there was something missing and I knew that when I started into nursing, I always said that I wanted to, you know, be an entrepreneur. I really wasn't one that wanted to just commit my time totally to the bedside. I always knew that, but I was discouraged often from senior nurses. I was like, no, you have to do this. You have to do that. Even I got backlash from starting in critical care and not going to med/surg first. You know, they're like, no, you got to go to med/surg first.
Naseema McElroy (10:52): Wait, let's spend a moment there because I hear that way too much and I never worked as a med/surg nurse. I started off in my own baby and then I went to labor and delivery and that's what I do and that's what I love, but I don't know where this comes from that you're not a well-rounded nurse unless work in med/surg. I don't know. So I just want to dispel that myth for people who want to go into nursing or people who want to do other things in nursing, like come into the hospital environment. You do not have to start in med/surg. It does not make you more or less of a nurse. But I think I just wanted to dispel that. Sorry.
Kiiyonna Jones (11:28): For me, I totally agree with you on that and it's unfortunate because even at the philosophy level of nursing, what I've learned is that we minimize our profession when we do that. Like we are a scientifically-based profession, so we're not skill-based. Yes, we do spend most of our time at the bedside and that's what we teach our students and the curriculum for nursing. But we are scientists also. We are researchers, we are administrators. And I'm going to be honest with you, you don't have to start there because if we want to be respected as a profession, we have to change that. You are not just a good nurse if you can start an IV. You know you're a good nurse also if you contribute to the science of nursing. And that is something that people do not realize. I get a lot of backlash for that because how my experience was when I first started, I am so supportive of new nurses and millennial nurses and as I teach also at the university, I tell my students, listen, I want them to know that you are entering into, yes, it's the most trusted profession, but there are so many things out there you can do and you can still add to the body of nursing and contribute to our profession. And it does not just matter how good you are at starting an IV. So you and I, we're here girl, because that's exactly that has to say.
Naseema McElroy (12:53): Yeah. I think I'm just all about nontraditional paths and breaking stereotypes in general. I think even the way that I came into the personal finance space, most people are like mature nurse and I'm just like, but I can still impact people and I still have a message to share and that's all that matter is. At the end of the day, if I inspire somebody to do better for themselves and for their family and to create freedom and unlock levels of freedom and generational wealth in their life, that's the hot job. So you know, we should have the same goals. So it shows it shouldn't matter how we get there. Yeah.
Kiiyonna Jones (13:28): And I'm gonna tell you something you and I have that in common, but there is also an undertone to that and that is career nurses. See, a lot of that stems from traditional nurses that go straight into it. Because even getting my master's entry in nursing, they were pushing back on our program. Like how are you going to get your master's degree? Well, you don't even have a bachelor's degree in. I was like every other profession, you can get a master's degree, you don't have to start at the baccalaureate level. So I think that we share is what has us thinking outside of the box as well and not just following the status quo of what they have set for nurses. And that's changing the narrative.
Naseema McElroy (14:07): Yeah, and I think that ability for us to think outside the box also attributes to us being successful in other areas in our life. So not only are you a nurse and being successful in multiple areas in nursing, different units being in administration, but you also have another business. Let's talk about that.
Kiiyonna Jones (14:25): All right. So I actually have an aesthetic business that I opened. And actually, I have my soft opening in January of this year, but I actually obtained my location in October. So this makes my one year anniversary. Yay! What I do is I'm permanent makeup. I still do have a nursing piece to that. So like vitamin B injections, IV infusions. But my original, like I started in more non-nursing, which was the permanent makeup, so everybody knows the word microblading. So it's like microblading, ombre brows, you know, there's lip tinting, so it's all permanent makeup. And then I just recently started adding on other services, which like teeth whitening, tooth jewelry. That's a popular one. And so yes, so I've been open for a year and that's my baby and it kind of gradually, you know, making my side gig, the hospital and you know, get jobs and making this my primary gig, you know? So that's kind of it right now in that transition.
Naseema McElroy (15:29): I love it. Yeah. But I love that you have a nursing component to it, but it's not all nursing-based, but because you are a nurse, you're able to do so many more things than just an aesthetician or anybody else in that industry. You can do both types if you want to. I mean like the possibilities are endless. And this is the whole purpose of this podcast is like, yes, we're nurses. No, we don't just have to be at the bedside. We have so much opportunity out there. And so for people who are like stuck, like thinking that they just have to do this one thing for the rest of their life, let me just tell you, there are so many ways to make money, infinite ways to make money, infinite ways to use your license. You just have to know what's possible and just go for it. So talk to nurses out there who may be interested in opening their own business. I know you coach people in finding their passions and doing side businesses, but I want to talk specifically about your beauty business and how you would encourage somebody or how can another nurse do... I'll say it again...
Kiiyonna Jones (16:39): Permanent makeup. So especially us nurses, because this is one of our disadvantages to our profession is we are so in a box. So you have to first give yourself the time to really see what you like and be open to it. Not being a home healthcare agency or a staffing company or opening a CNA school, no shade to any of those by the way, they are very lucrative. But you have to find what you love. And then if you're into makeup and beauty and you find that that's something that gives you joy, by all means, you can go that route and it's, the startup is nowhere near as much as it is. Or like I just mentioned, home health and staffing companies because basically you just go get your training. It takes a good... From the time you start training, a good program should give you your initial practical and didactic training, which is like a couple of days of training.
Kiiyonna Jones (17:38): But then you get a month at least before you start working on a model because, well my philosophy is I'm working on someone's face and that's your identity. That's what people, the first thing they see and ethically and morally, and this is something that I can attribute nursing to. I know that that is something that I have to make sure that I am good at before I actually start working on people's faces. Okay. So if you have a love for, you know, permanent makeup, it'll be an easy transition to go into the permanent makeup space. And then you don't even have to start out with a brick and mortar. If you have, you can do it from your home. Out here in LA County, you don't have to have like a whole brick and mortar location. You can do it out of your home, but you do have to get it inspected by the department of public health and things like that because you are dealing with blood, which also puts you as advantageous for you because as nurses we know how to make sure that we do not contaminate and that we are using contact and standard precautions.
Kiiyonna Jones (18:38): So all you have to do is get your licensing, get your trainee and then have you a location. Even you can rent rooms, some like boutiques and beauty salons offer like where you could just purchase, I mean rent your room weekly, monthly and charge initially like you know, $200 per client. It takes like three and a half hours when you first start. But as you continue in your craft, you can go up in price dramatically and you go down in the time it takes. So it's such a win. So I started, I was just charging like $200 trying to ramp up. Now I'm up to $450. It doesn't take me three and a half, four hours anymore. I'm down to two and a half, three hours, which means I could do three clients in a day and that is a win. Okay. And that's just, you can start off small.
Kiiyonna Jones (19:30): You don't have to get into it like too big and then continue to grow and learn, learn how to sell. I think that's one of the challenges, especially for nurses because we're such carers and givers, we have to switch and learn how to be business people, which is something that I also had to learn during this journey and I'm still learning. So, but yeah, it's something to get into. Super lucrative, increasing by 30% next year, billion dollar industry. Like it's a good little gig to get into.
Naseema McElroy (20:00): Let's talk about the training because a lot of out there that may not be reputable that I want people to avoid. I want people to know how to go to a reputable school and that things that they should be looking for.
Kiiyonna Jones (20:12): Here's the thing and I don't, so permanent makeup itself is still yet to be regulated. Okay, so it's not like you know with a CNA school like you have to go through certain accrediting bodies in order to start taking students. Right? With this, it's like a trade. Just think about it. If you want to start tattooing, you get an apprenticeship and that's how and you gradually, you know as you meet certain milestones, that's when you start doing your own clients. So that's pretty much how it is. However, there are some programs out there that take you in, a couple of days and then send you on your way. That's not the ideal program that you want to go to. The reason why is because you need a lot of support and I realized this like I've so far trained with three different people. They were great, taught me different techniques that helped me learn. But at the same time, I still, even to this day, sometimes I'll send a text RDM like, Hey, well you know, what'd you think about this? Or this, you know, look at this client.
Kiiyonna Jones (21:08): Like how do you think? You know? So you want to make sure that they don't just take you on those couple of days and then just drop you off in the ocean and say swim. You know? So that's one of the main things. And then another one is you want to make sure that you see their product. So if you like the work they produce, then they're gonna teach you how to create that same work. Okay? So once you do your homework and you look into that, then that's how you decide which of course you really want to take. But you, the main thing is, because it's not a lot of people out there think that, you know, you just go and by the time you leave there, you're ready to get started and you're going to be making $400 for a client. Like that's not how it works.
Kiiyonna Jones (21:48): And we have to keep in mind, I mean I know we see Instagram and we think everything is instant, but it's not instant. It takes time. It takes energy, it takes sacrifice. And it also takes investing in yourself. So that's what I tell people and I try to, you know, if nothing else, I'll, you know, people, they DM me, they ask me questions, I'll say, look, I'm just going to let you know, these are the main, the things you need to look for, whether you go with me or not, in order for you to be successful. These are the things I want you to know that you need to put on your checklist and then decide whoever you're going to go with. I don't compete against other, I support everyone I want. In my words, those are bonded so I don't compete. Right? So there's plenty for us all.
Kiiyonna Jones (22:28): And what's mines is always going to be mine. So I just say, but I in all consciousness can't just, you know, send people on their way without providing support because I know as much needed in it's field. So permanent makeup. A lot of nurses are trying to get into it because we're typically taught or we think when we need extra money, we go pick up extra shifts. That's not my philosophy. I worked smart. That's how I've been able to kind of finagle my way throughout nursing and I haven't had a full time job since I left the VA because I've been like doubling down on here doing this that, but I'm not picking up extra shifts. Sorry.
Naseema McElroy (23:08): So what is a typical price range for a training program for permanent makeup.
Kiiyonna Jones (23:12): They range between $2,000 and $3,500 and that depends on the techniques. So there's different techniques like the microblading. That's the most popular one, everyone know about. The next one is ombre, which is more of density look and that's with the actual tattoo machine. And then the other one is like a combo brow. There's several names. They use a blade in shade combo brown, micro shading, but it's basically a combination of the microblading as well as the powdered look. So it's anywhere between $2,000 and $3,500 for each technique they charge.
Naseema McElroy (23:47): What about the equipment?
Kiiyonna Jones (23:49): So there are so many different permanent makeup machines. They range anywhere from $200 to, I've even seen some as high as $2,000. It's such a range, you know, and you just have to, you know, once you get your clientele and you start, you know, upping your prices, then of course you increase your machine value. So I'm not at the $2,000 yet, but I have moved up and graduated from the one I had when I first started. So it ranges...
Naseema McElroy (24:16): So to get started, the start up costs aren't a lot like $5,000 at the most. Like to really like get your foot like in, you know, to get the basics of what you need to get started. So it's totally doable.
Kiiyonna Jones (24:28): Let me tell you. And that's the thing, like I just want to shake people sometimes and like, do you want to know how much dead on meat? Like if, I mean I'm just saying like I love nursing and I wouldn't really change it. However, if I was given the opportunity to pay $5,000 total, I'm just saying $5,000 when everything licensing, all the fees, whatever you have to pay your training, all of that, literally you can recoup that in six months and everything else is profit. Come on.
Naseema McElroy (24:59): I know, but we're not ashamed to go on $100,000 of debt to be a nurse.
Kiiyonna Jones (25:02): Man, hello! And I'm saying like, but we have to, especially as nurses, we think in shifts and so we're like, okay, I can pick up another shift. But what we don't realize is that you picking up those more shifts, you're making less and less and less on those shifts.
Naseema McElroy (25:20): Yes, yes. So true. No, we have to diversify our income streams. The most wealthy people have at least seven income streams. And so we have to think like that if we want to build real wealth. So, I love it. All of it.
Kiiyonna Jones (25:40): So it's just the, I think it's a mindset and I feel like, you know, everyone is on their own time, but I think we can all agree that as nurses, we do labor intensive work. Okay. And we can see our senior nurses who were old school working six shifts for 10 years a week. And we know we don't want to be like that. So, in order for us to get to a point where we have a good balance and we are really making the money so that we can live the likely want to make and we can have that financial freedom, we have to seek it up a little bit.
Naseema McElroy (26:20): Yes, I love it. And talk to me about the education or the training that you do.
Kiiyonna Jones (26:25): So the training that I do is ombre eyebrow training. That's one and that's just related to permanent makeups. So my target right now is nurses because I just love us, right? So I want to get us in there. I know there is a lot of nurses 'cause listen, you know we have that false sense of like we make so much money but we know after taxes and everything else, especially living in Southern California and the time that we take away from our families, like you can't recoup that. Right? So my target is them because I want us to be exposed and to have a better sense of what else is out there that's enjoyable. So one of the criteria is I'm like, do you like beauty? 'Cause I'm not just as well as I tell my students don't be nurses because of the money. I will tell someone who wants to do permanent makeup, like don't say or I want to do it because I know a lady who makes $700 per client.
Kiiyonna Jones (27:18): I'm like, yeah, but you don't love it. And so do you want to work on somebody space and you don't have that passion just because of the money. Like it's not gonna work. Like you're not going to be able to, you're either going to not enjoy it or somebody's going to sue the pants off of you because of your products. So, I train them. My training is two days, it's a weekend. The first day is pretty much didactic. The second day is a little bit of didactic. I also add a business piece, drop all the gems that I wish somebody told me when I first started and then I do a model demonstration. No one touches a client within those first two days. I'm not comfortable with it. I give them a month and that's of them sending me back and forth their practice skins.
Kiiyonna Jones (28:01): So it's like little skins that look like regular skins where they're actually working on drawing the brow, shading it in. We go back and forth. I critique, I require a minimum of a month. Some may take longer if I'm not comfortable. I have to be comfortable with you working on someone's face even though I'm going to be there. And so once they complete that, we go back and forth. It can be a month, it can be two months. My thing is at six months you're not practicing enough. So I can't be like forever and ever just whenever you're ready and you come a year later. Right. So I have to give them like a little urgency. So then they come to my shop 'cause I'm only training right now here. They come to my shop, they do a model demonstration, I critique, they pass, and then I still provide backup for them in case they have questions and things like that for up to six months.
Kiiyonna Jones (28:50): So, it's a long process and I really want people to know that you want that support. You do not want anybody going to send you off in two days and say go and be great because it does not happen like that. I do also teach women or I'm working with women and I call it FI-preneurs because I also feel like there's a hole for people like me who also still, you know, you have a financial responsibility. So although it's great to say like jump, you can do it like burn all the boats and you know, that sounds good, but we have other obligations. So a lot of us are kind of testing the waters and we're gradually getting up there, seeing what it's like. So I really work with women on like that mindset shift, like being realistic. Although I am one who has these motivational talks and I go to motivational conferences and I support that totally.
Kiiyonna Jones (29:43): Still, I go that to have mindset and understand the process. If you are getting into it, ready for it to happen within six months, within four months, within two months, then you're not really in it for the long haul and so your chance of success diminishes if you have unrealistic expectation. So I try to train women through that process and also the whole setup part, like from the name to the type of entity you choose, to you know what you want to do, like kind of getting you through that part and then still keeping you with realistic expectations.
Naseema McElroy (30:18): Yes, I love it. I love it. And I know that you mentioned something about ways that we can use leverage in our credit to build a business. You want to talk more about that?
Kiiyonna Jones (30:28): Yes ma'am. Okay. So before, I was one of those nurses who had to have this big cushion in my bank account, my savings account, also credit card. I don't want to be in debt trying to pay off these student loans. And then I started with this journey where I was, you know, resetting my mind and I was meditating and praying and I'm like, you know, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. That never was a question, but how and what was always an issue for me. And then I realized that, you know, I've got this money sitting in my savings account and I'm getting 0.000 on my return. What am I doing? Not to mention, you know, my 401K and I'm allowing these hedge fund people to invest my money and then it goes up and down. And even that return is not so great, right?
Kiiyonna Jones (31:24): But yet, I won't invest in my own self with my own money? Like something's wrong. So, so that was really a big part of my thinking. And I'm like, wait a minute, hold up. I've got a cash advance or not a cash advance. But you know how you could write the check and you don't have to pay no interest on it for a year. So maybe I'll take that and then I have a good strategic plan where I could pay it back and forth all the years out. I just took out a loan, no interest on it 'cause I'm paying back and I did that. That's exactly, I was scared. But you know, things started to make sense for me and I'm like, even with my savings I'm like I have to, this money is not making me any money. I was looking at them staying the same yearly. Like, wait, what am I doing here?
Kiiyonna Jones (32:06): Like it's a false sense of security. And the saddest part about it is we won't even invest in ourselves. Honestly, my education is increasing my value every single day. So like, and by a large amount, not like what they've given me at the bank. So like I had to reprogram my mind about money and understanding the energy that I'm putting out there when I'm hoarding it 'cause I'm afraid of something happening. And you know, all of that. I started looking into all that and I'm like, I need to be open and understand that this flows. Money's coming to me. Like I don't have to sit up and hold it. But you know a lot of that comes from childhood and you know a lot of issues you experienced growing up. So you have all these fears that you have to do with and let go. And the bottom line is scared money don't make no money. So you got it.
Naseema McElroy (32:57): That's right. And you know the two things that I really want to address there, the first thing is that I don't know why people are so afraid to invest on themselves. Your greatest investment is in yourself. The another thing is that you know, and this is part of our conditioning and you know as a culture we have been taken advantage of a lot. So a lot of people you know are really risk adverse. Like they really don't want to take any kind of risks with their money. And then that's why, you know, from generation to generation, we start from zero because we have nothing to leave behind. And so, you know, everything is a risk. It's a risk leaving your money under your mattress, 'cause your mattress can get burned down. It's just you know, how much level of risk do we want to take? And I really feel like we need to step out of that fear like we talked about earlier, a lot of great things in life come from operating knowing that you know, it is scary but pushing through and doing it anyway.
Kiiyonna Jones (34:06): And so let me ask you, and so this is something that is interesting. We don't want to take risks, but we allow other, I mean I just think that speaks so much to us. And I was guilty of it too by the way. So I mean like now, so, but I do want your, you know, your listeners to know, like it's something to be said that we could trust other people with our money. Like our money is sitting in the bank and they're collecting major interests off of our dollars and giving us pennies. Like, so when you think about it like that and who's better to trust with your money but you, but I think it's like you said, it's how we're conditioned to think like our money is safe in the bank. But if our economy crashes, they're going to tell you, sorry. They ain't gonna say we only guarantee $400,000.
Kiiyonna Jones (34:52): So if you got five, sorry. So why are we so okay with trusting that and not trusting in ourselves? Like, and I get that we have to be responsible, especially when we have obligations. We have kids, we have to make sure they're fed or a roof over their head. But we literally are comfortable when we have this little cushion and if money starts being, it pulls from it, we get anxious and afraid and it's like, no, if you have a good plan and you have done your research, then your chances of success is much greater than leaving your money in that bank where you feel it's so safe.
Naseema McElroy (35:30): Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And then, you know, as women, you know, most nurses are women, female pre-dominated workforce, but you know, we have, we also have like the security thing and where we want our money, we kind of just like hoard our money, like in our banks. And even if it's in our investment account, we only put it in like the cash equivalent fund or the money market fund in there. And we're scared to make it grow. We have to be better. We have to be better, we have to do better. And because it's not just you that it affects. It's your whole family and it's your circle around you that you have the opportunity to help and influence if you know you're not operating out of a place of fear. And so I really feel like we have a responsibility just in general to do better. So yeah. So right now, you're working still as a nurse, so you work in administration and you work on the unit?
Kiiyonna Jones (36:29): All right. So I work at UCLA four days a month. I'm per diem. And so they call that the resource pool. So I go where they send me four days out of the month. I still work as administrative, a nursing supervisor at a local hospital here and I do per diem as well. And then I teach my students, actually I've been faculty at this university for about eight years and now I'm adjunct. So like those jobs and primarily my courses are online. So pretty much I work like two days a week and then I dedicate my time visiting my students who are out at clinical sites and at first doing homework that's done from home or from my place of business. And then everything else is dedicated there and it really gives you a good rounded picture of nursing. Let me tell you, at the administrative level, like organizationally in a healthcare organization and then at the bedside like right there, ground zero with my patients and then the students who are entering the future, you know, so like I really get to see it on all levels and the ability to actually flex between the two.
Kiiyonna Jones (37:41): 'Cause when I'm at the bedside, I'm at the bedside, my four patients, I don't worry about, nothing's going on around me, just taking care of what you know. But at the organizational level, of course I'm responsible for the hospital. Then you know, you're looking from a 30,000 foot level. And then as a professor, like just getting my students to be passionate about our profession. Like it's my obligation to make sure that they come out and they know what we're about. And it's not just that for me, my little handle is not just bedside. So I want my nursing students also to understand, and it's public health that I am adjunct for. So we are not at the hospital, thank God. So they're out in the community and I'm able to expose them to other things besides bedside nursing. So I get to see it all. I love it. Honestly, I don't see myself ever getting out of academia. I'm probably going to, when I get old, that's where I retire, you know, and do research. That's the plan. But definitely that one is really close to my heart. Like really cool.
Naseema McElroy (38:37): And I know people are like, Oh my God. So you basically have your three jobs plus your own business and you're a mom of five. How do you juggle it all?
Kiiyonna Jones (38:46): Let me tell you. What I tell her like, Oh my God, you do this, you do that. And then after they finish all the, you know, find out everything I do, I'm like yeah and I probably work less than you because I don't work 40 hours a week. So I know it sounds busy, but I actually get to spend time with my daughter and with my husband and with my kids. Like with the business. It does take a lot of my time right now c'ause I'm still at the start up, but I'm getting this business set up so it can function independently. I have chairs out, it's going to be rented like so I have a plan, but I, you know, as, as with any startup, you're taking a loss. So that's where we're sacrificing the time now so that we can have the time and financial freedom later. Right? So that's the goal.
Naseema McElroy (39:29): I love it. And I mean your skillset is just like impeccable, like unbeatable. Like you have so many skills that are transferrable, though. But that's what makes you a good business owner because you've got the administrative skills, you've got the bedside skills, which is your customer service, your guild base, you know, skills like, yeah. And then you have, you know, your teaching skills, which all is encompassed in your business. And so love that. And the thing is every nurse has that. Every nurse has that executive skill, that bedside skill, customer service skill and that education, that's part of our nursing model. And so we can do anything. And so I'm glad to see what you're doing. Yes. And you're modeling that.
Kiiyonna Jones (40:19): The thing I want people to know is don't look at someone. Oftentimes, we look at people and we try to find a reason that they are where they are and why we're not to give ourselves the excuse not to pursue what we want to pursue. So let me let you know now you don't get off of not pursuing your dreams. You owe that to me and everyone around you to pursue what your heart is telling you to pursue. I was a teenage mom. I dropped out of high school, I got my GED, I didn't start college 'til I was 20 and it was a community college I went to. So you don't have no excuses and I'd still complicate things, I had a baby at every level of my degree. So, you don't need to have an excuse. You owe it to me to achieve your dreams because your dreams may come true and that can help someone else realize their dreams based on yours. So you owe it to me and I'm challenging your audience,
Naseema McElroy (41:18): Girl, mic drop! You know, that's it. That's all I'm saying is like, I love that. You know what? People are going to listen to this. They don't try to poke holes in it. I can't do this because, well if I, you know, believe me, I hear it every single day that don't have nothing to do with me or Dr. Jones. That has something to do with how you feel about yourself. So step back, check that, but then come back and get this knowledge that these gems that we're dropping for you, because we wouldn't be here if we wasn't trying to inspire you. We're not here touting like all the things that we're doing. We are here to let you know what's possible for you. We got you boo. After you finish making all those excuses, we are here, reach out, holler at us okay. [both laugh] We're going to close things out. But I want you to let everybody know where they can get in contact with you and then what's up next for you?
Kiiyonna Jones (42:27): All right, so my primary means our Instagram. So my Instagram is the_happy_nurse_life. That's my IG page and that's everything nursing. And I actually allow my audience to see my personal life, like my kids, my husband, like whatever. I just introduce everything, struggles. But the main portion of my page is really about motivation and inspiring. And so that's when I talk about that on the high school drop out. That's when I talk about my first car was a 1983 Datsun, I mean, Nissan Sentra that I loved. Okay. And I was so proud of my little self for that. But then my other page, which is related to my boutique is called luxebeautyandwellness. So that IG handle is L, U, X, E, beauty and wellness. And that's when you can see the work. I show the shop, what services. I do have a blog that's called The Millennial Nurse and it's www.themillennialnurse.com and there I just share like exactly what we just talked about, how we discouraged other nurses.
Kiiyonna Jones (43:32): You know, I share a story about me starting into nursing and really wanting to be in other areas, but feeling obligated to be at the bedside because of pressure. So I'm pretty much supporting nurses who are nontraditional, who don't want to go with the status quo, who you know are outside of the box thinkers, whether you want to go at the bedside or not, I don't discourage it. But I even with my students, I just feel like a lot of times we say what we hear people say and not what we feel. You know when you ask somebody why you wanted to be a nurse, because I care and I love people and I know it's the typical. So I really want to kind of target that community that understands. If you don't know how to start an IV, you're still a nurse because we are more than skills.
Naseema McElroy (44:23): That's enough. Right. And then if people want to take your training, how could they do that?
Kiiyonna Jones (44:30): Okay, so my website is www.luxebeautyandwellness.com. All my services are there, trainings included. It sounds like I do a lot. Even when I'm talking I'm like, I also have products I've gotten into this Yoni Be Seen, which I love. I actually tried it and then I was like, I want to sell this because that's just how much I believe in this. But, I love it. So I started selling the product, so that's also on there. But everything Luxe does and has to offer is on the website, www.luxebeautyandwellness.com so you can look there.
Naseema McElroy (45:05): Yes, yes, yes. So make sure you guys are following Dr. Jones, Ms. Kiiyonna Jones on all her platforms. If you're interested and glowing up and increasing your knowledge base and your ability to make more income, make sure you tap into her training. Super grateful for you joining me, Kiiyonna. You have got the bomb. As I said, we are here to inspire you and you know, wherever you're at, we are here to support. And so just showing you what's possible and what other nurses are out here doing. So yes. Thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you for sharing and being open. Love all of it.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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