This Is How Future CRNA Leaders Are Built: Advocacy, Mentorship & Early Involvement

Most nurse anesthesia residents believe advocacy is something you do later in your career, after you get experience, after you finally feel like you belong in this profession. But today's guest became involved at the national level while still in CRNA school, and only a few years after graduation is already serving as the AANA PAC Chair and helping shape the future of nurse anesthesia. This episode is about what happens when somebody pulls you into the room early. And how quickly your trajectory can change when you realize you actually have something valuable to offer this profession. Now joining us today is Dr. Jacob Bonoma. He is a practicing CRNA who has become deeply involved in advocacy and leadership early in his career. Jay currently serves as the chair of the ANA Political Action Committee and a board member of the Illinois Association of Nurse Anesthesiology, where he works to advance autonomy, political engagement, and the future of nurse anesthesia at both the state and national level. What makes Jake's story especially compelling is that his involvement in advocacy began when he was still in anesthesia school as a nurse anesthesia resident. Through mentorship, organized involvement, and a willingness to step forward, Jake quickly discovered that leadership in this profession is not reserved for people with decades of experience. It begins when you recognize that you have something meaningful to contribute. Welcome to the CRNA Mentor Podcast here, Jake.

Hi Tyler, thanks for having me.

Yeah, I'm absolutely excited to have you today. Not only, you know, as my friend joining me on the podcast, but you've had some experience in podcasts before and you were showing me your setup right now. I'm super impressed. It's better than mine. I think you might have a future in podcasts here, Jake.

It's always fun to join people on their podcast because you guys put a lot of work into it.

Yeah, no, no. And you've done a lot, a lot of work and we're going to get into it here today, into the field of anesthesia. And really the big reason I wanted to bring you on aside from all the work that you're doing is you've really shown us that you don't need decades of experience to really get involved in this profession. And, you know, I think that's really a big take-home message for all of our nurse anesthesia residents as well as our CRNAs. As we get into this, Jake, I, you know, I want to learn a little bit more about your background. You know, maybe I feel like sometimes people who jump into this profession early maybe have maybe a family member that's connected to this profession, or you have some sort of like inside track. So let's kind of go back to nurse anesthesia school for you and when you first started to want to pursue nurse anesthesia.

Well, I, uh, went to nursing school back in 2010 with the intent to become a CRNA. That was always my goal. I knew that I wanted to pursue anesthesia. Um, I had a family friend, uh, who went, uh, to my parents' church who kind of told me about it and told me about the autonomous role that CRNAs play in the operating room and the high degree of autonomy that they have over their practice. And that was what really interested me in the beginning. Um, so I went to nursing school, uh, graduated in 2014, and then I went back to CRNA school in 2020, um, right before the pandemic, which was, uh, interesting, and then graduated in 2023.

Nice, nice. Um, now did you— like, when you figured out you wanted to do anesthesia, um, how did you learn about it? Did you have some sort of connection or Uh, you just kind of stumbled onto the profession?

I kind of just— I— we had a family friend who was a nurse, um, who told me about CRNAs and the, you know, the autonomous role that they play in the operating room, taking care of their patients, all of the technical skills that are involved in being a CRNA. And that was what really interested me in the beginning. Um, so like I said, I went to nursing school with the intent of becoming a CRNA. I feel like a lot of people discover CRNA after becoming a nurse and maybe wanting to move their career forward a little bit. Um, but that was always my personal goal.

That's great. Uh, that was mine as well. And, and I think, you know, the earlier that you can identify this is your goal, the, the more you can kind of take these, uh, steps along the way that can position you to not only learn about the field but, but do these intentional things that are going to help you stand out, you know, as you're getting into this, this field and applying to school. Jake, one of the things that, you know, I want to highlight here is you graduated in 2023. You already hold these major leadership roles within this profession. Did you ever really envision your path would be happening kind of this early on where you're having these major leadership roles?

To be honest, not really. I kind of got involved When I was a junior, my program director suggested that I be a part of the mentorship program that happens every year at Midyear Assembly in Washington, D.C. And so I said yes and went there, and I was very fortunate to have the great Beth Westermann as my mentor that year. And she just really encouraged me to stay involved after I went home from Midyear, and everything kind of went from there. She introduced me to a lot of great people that very first year at Midyear, and I've just kind of been involved ever since, but I never really, I didn't really see being this involved for myself at that time.

Sure, sure. You mentioned, you know, your program director saying, "Go to Midyear Assembly." Looking back on that kind of interaction with your program director, how pivotal was this moment in shaping the trajectory of your career?

It was huge. I mean, shout out to Dr. Karen Gomez, who was my program director at Midyear. North Shore then, which is now the Endeavor School of Nurse Anesthesia.

Mm-hmm.

She was very instrumental and made me feel empowered to go.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I think a lot of times nurse anesthesia residents are encouraged to focus on their schoolwork as the number one priority, understandably.

Sure.

But I think she saw maybe some kind of passion in me that might get something out of being part of that mentorship program at Midyear. And I'm very grateful to her for suggesting that to me 'cause my career would look a lot different right now, I think, if I hadn't done that.

100%. And it's these instances where these individuals see something in you and it's like, all right, let's open the door for more opportunity. And that sounds like it's really exactly what happened for you. Can you talk a little bit about your first role as a resident representative with the ANA Political Action Committee and kind of how this experience expose you to different things?

Sure. So after that junior year that I went to Midyear, you know, Beth had introduced me to a lot of people in the association at that time, one of which was Sarah Tweedy, Julie Linton, those— that core group of her friends kind of all encouraged me to get involved in some way and told me about the resident positions that are available on all the AANA committees. And Sarah Tweedy was currently on the PAC committee and was going into the final year of her term as chair. And so she was kind of the one who encouraged me to apply for that resident representative position on the PAC committee, which I did and got, and then came back as a senior as the resident representative for midyear, having a whole lot more insight into the inner workings of the association by being on that committee throughout that last year of my training.

That's great. You mentioned, you know, you had these leaders, these mentors, you mentioned Beth, you mentioned Julie, they begin including you in these conversations and in leadership. What did that do for your career and your voice, you know, as a nurse anesthesia resident, still kind of figuring stuff out?

I think having people encourage you to be involved just makes you believe in yourself a little bit. You know, when you're in residency, you're always trying to achieve, achieve, achieve, impress other people, you know, get a favorable outlook on the way that you do your job. But, you know, there's always this kind of underlying sense of, am I doing enough? Am I, is it good enough?

Yeah.

And when you have people that you respect who are major players in the association telling you, there's a seat here for you, you should apply for it, it makes you believe that you have something to offer to the association and to our profession. And so I think that people like Beth, Sarah, Julie, Dr. Gomez, having all those people in my corner from the beginning made me believe in myself enough to take that next step and apply for those positions. Positions.

Yeah, and, and I, you know, so much of this, even, you know, as I, I talk to aspiring CRNAs, so much of this is, is about identity, right? Is, is about, you know, finding where you fit in, into the whole, you know, field of nurse anesthesia, uh, where, how you fit in as a nurse anesthesia resident in school, how you fit in, in the operating room. And again, you know, when you have people that are like, you have something special let's share it. It's so empowering. And that's, you know, I hope we can kind of inspire other CRNAs to kind of do the same. You know, when they see somebody that has something, it's like, hey, like, you're good at that. What can we explore that could, you know, highlight that skill that you have? Why is it really important for younger professionals entering this field to have this voice, to feel like they have something valuable to offer?

You know, I think, I think when you're a nurse, there isn't really a need for advocacy because everyone knows who nurses are, what nurses do. Everyone trusts nurses. Um, there's not really anyone competing with nurses to do that job. But when you become an advanced practice nurse and a CRNA in particular, there are other people that are doing the same job as you and we're less known. Than nurses, you know.

Mm-hmm.

I'm sure you've had the experience of telling someone you're a CRNA and people say, oh, it's a CNA or an esthetician, nurse esthetician, or there's just not a great public knowledge of CRNAs yet. We often say, you know, like we're one of the best kept secrets in healthcare. Um, and that's why advocacy is important because if you're not telling your own story, somebody else is gonna be telling a version of it for you. And it's probably not going to be a version that's that favorable because, you know, people are protecting their own interests. And, um, you know, it just— it takes a little bit more work as a CRNA to get the respect that our profession deserves.

That's a very interesting perspective, you know, that everybody knows who nurses are, right? And the need for advocacy, uh, at least to have this compelling reason to advocate, is, is not there as much. But that's a great example of, you know, as an advanced practice nurse, as a nurse anesthetist, you know, many people can't even say that, right? They can't even pronounce it. So they don't really know exactly what we do. Even talking to patients, it's like, well, are you gonna be in the operating room with me? It's like, that's my sole job, right? Is to take care of you.

Yeah.

And you're exactly right. You know, that is why advocacy is so important. You mentioned, Before we went on air, you mentioned this saying that you have. Sometimes you hear, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu." What is your kind of saying in regards to advocacy?

I usually say, "If you're not playing the game, you're gonna get played by the game." And what I mean by that is you can choose not to be involved in advocacy, but that game is still happening whether you're involved or not. Physician anesthesiologists are going to talk to legislators about the laws that govern our practice. Um, anesthesiologist assistants are also doing the same thing, and they're just by nature, not, not, not necessarily maliciously, but they are going to always look out for their own interests and not those of CRNAs.

Yeah.

So if you have only voices that are, um, proponents of physician anesthesiology or AA practice, you're missing that CRNA voice at the table, and legislators aren't going to know about you and are going to maybe unintentionally carve you out of bills that will govern the way that you do your practice.

Yep, 100%. Uh, you know, I can speak to that actually personally during, um, mid-year assembly this past year, going to see, uh, one of, uh, legislators that I'm, you know, a constituent in his area, and, um, we were talking, I had invited him up to the school where I teach at the University of Scranton, and we're talking about connecting. And as they're getting ready to leave, he's like, you know, it's not just about Dr. So-and-so, who's an anesthesiologist within my healthcare system, who clearly is in his office, in his ear. And, you know, we're both sharing sides of, you know, this is what nurse anesthetists do. He's saying, you know, this is what anesthesiologists do. But to have a seat and to have a voice and to even hear him say, well, it's not just about so-and-so, it's like, Oh, he's here, you know, he's in his ear, he's talking, he's talking about anesthesiologists. And that's what it's all about, right? You know, you have to have a voice, uh, you have to, you have to speak up. And that's what advocacy is all about. Um, Jake, why, why do you think that so many nurse anesthesia residents or new CRNAs feel that they're too, like, new to contribute to advocacy and to leadership?

I, I have a hunch that it's probably a combination of a couple things. I think it's probably a little bit of imposter syndrome.

Sure.

You know, it gets talked about a lot in training, this idea that you somehow got to this point through no merit of your own.

Right.

Um, so I think that probably plays a small role into it, but also I think that after CRNA school, you're so burnt out from working so hard for those 3 years that you kind of just wanna take a break. And that's understandable.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I, what I think the important thing is to do is to be involved in as hands-off a way as possible. For example, that could be like just donating monthly to your state and your national PAC. That's something that doesn't require any effort from you, but you're still helping allow the people that are involved to do the best job on behalf of you and the profession as possible. So I think, you know, I don't blame people for wanting a break after CRNA school. We always talk about the low engagement in our 0 to 5. 5-year post-graduation. And I think part of that is, is understandable. But I would just tell those people that being involved has given me so much more than the work that it's taken. I've made close personal friends through being involved. I've gotten job opportunities through being involved. I've been able to ask for higher rates because of my involvement in the state and national— Yeah. Associations. So there is, there is a benefit to being involved. And I think the benefit far outweighs the energy that it requires.

That's great. And even, you know, touching on your ability to negotiate your wages based on your involvement, like that's huge. And I think, you know, as we talk about engagement, as we talk about even this transition from, from being a nurse to being a CRNA, and, and like you said, rightfully so, you know, you, you work so hard to get here. Your passports. And I always tell people, and myself included, you know, my energy that I put into this profession kind of waxed and waned. And then it got to, you know, a point where it waned so much that I got to this point, I'm like, what am I doing? You know, I had achieved, you know, I built my like dream house, built my family, built all these different things. And now I'm like, what am I doing with anesthesia? And, you know, you'll have these life events, you'll have these, you know, where you're gonna step back a little bit with, but, you know, continue to donate to your PAC, continue to donate to your state, national organization. Uh, but, but the thing about it is, is like, all of us worked so, so hard to get here, to get into nurse anesthesia, to get accepted to school, to pass boards, to do all these things. But there's, for many CRNAs, very little responsibility when it comes to actually advocating for this profession and protecting everything that you work for, right?

Yeah. Um, I think that there's, there's a misunderstanding among CRNAs of the respect that— the respect or even just knowledge of our profession. Um, you might know about CRNAs, but you might say, oh yeah, they are advanced practice nurses, they make a lot of money, they're doing fine. And then you don't feel like you need to be involved in any sense because, you know, you weren't used to that as you were a nurse having transitioned to that role. But I also think that there is just a little bit of apathy.

Sure.

In terms of people who are just tired of doing extra work or You know, um, I think a lot of people just want to enjoy the life that they worked hard for, and that's, that's not a bad thing, but I just think there's a misunderstanding about, um, how our profession could actually slip from being so comfortable and enjoyable if you're not involved, because like we were talking about, you know, there's always people on the other side telling a story that's not exactly favorable to your profession. And if you're not involved, you risk that voice being the one that the legislators who make the laws that outline our practice, you know, kind of carving you out of that, and then your, your job becomes less enjoyable.

Sure, sure. Yeah, there was a great quote from the Beyond the Mask podcast, and I forget exactly who said it, but It was in regards to, you know, you graduate from CRNA school, you get, you know, some fancy car, fancy house, what have you. You have this fancy car, you're paying thousands of dollars to insure your car, but many people are not insuring their profession. Or if they are, you know, it's, you know, a change that you got after some, you know, you bought something at the store, you know. So kind of framing it in that way, you know, insurance for your car, How about insurance for your profession? You know, I think that is, is a powerful way to frame this and, and, and again, why advocacy is so, so important. Jake, one of the things that, that I really noticed throughout your entire story is that there were people that are consistently pulling you forward into all these opportunities. How important was mentorship in your journey?

I really have mentorship to thank for everything that I've done at both at the state and national level. And one of the first things I was exposed to was Jennifer Banach, who's a well-known CRNA on the board of ANA who lives here in Illinois. She was the one who initially put in my head to think about becoming the PAC chair for Illinois after I graduated. And so that was kind of on my radar from the first year of my program. And then, you know, with the other position— Excuse me. The other positions as the resident representative for CRNA PAC. Um, it, it was just kind of like a natural foray for me after graduating. I was like, I've already done this work a little bit, you know what I mean? So I, I think I have enough knowledge to do a good job. And you learn more as you go, you know, you don't, you don't need any specific knowledge set or skill set going into these positions. It's kind of, you just learn on the job through the people that have already been doing that work, the other people that have been on the board before you, past presidents, other major advocates in your state or on the national level. And it's a really cool community to be a part of.

It certainly is. And even at the PAC event this past year in midyear, I was standing in the drink line and it was some people within PANA, my state association, that I was chatting with. And Ted Ambrose comes over and he's like, And he's like, Tyler, he's like, you're gonna be on the board next year. You have to be on the board next year. All right, so he's like, no, he's like, you have to get involved. And so like, you have these people that, you know, kind of, I know it myself and I'm, you know, I should be further along and have kind of more involvement in my state level than I do currently. But sometimes you need those people in your ear being like, you're doing it, you're doing it.

Yeah.

No excuse, you're doing it. And that's exactly what you had as well. And that's what brings so much value to all of this Again, other people see something in you that you can contribute. You've talked about all these things where these people are pulling you forward. Now you're doing this for others. Why is that so important for you, Jake?

Well, one of the first things I was told by a mentor when I started getting involved was, as you advance through the positions, in the association or your state or whatever it is, you should be looking to pull up people behind you because whenever you choose to move on, you need somebody who's going to keep doing the work involved for the role that you're vacating after you leave it because you don't want your work to stop with you. And so, you know, from a, from a growth standpoint, I think it's important to encourage people like you said, and put the little bug in their ear to be like, hey, I think you'd be good at this. 'Cause sometimes people just need the permission, you know? And that has been something that I've really enjoyed doing, I think because I have a little bit of, you know, hindsight now—

Sure.

A couple years into my career, having seen how those small little words of advice at the beginning really helped shape the trajectory of my career. And so I think it's exciting to be a small part of that for the people that are coming behind you.

It is.

To, you know, to encourage them to do the same and, you know, see where it takes them in their career.

Yep. No, I couldn't agree more. And, you know, one of the things that I'm really focused on is, you know, trying to bring people in this profession. I love, and if you've, if anybody has listened to these past couple episodes, people with extremely diverse backgrounds. One of our episodes recently was with Juliana, and she came from Brazil where sometimes they were relying on rainwater to have water. And now we have them, individuals that have these different backgrounds that are joining our national associations, are influencing our state associations, and their perspectives are amazing. They're so different, so unique, and just bring something new and different to the table. And I think the same could be said to, you know, people who are earlier in their career like yourself that, you know, I'm sure you're probably more way tech savvy than myself and probably some others, you know, within this field.

You know, there's different things— I've been taught a lot of things lately, so.

Yeah. But different things, you know, everybody's bringing to the table with all these different perspectives. And I think, you know, before we went on air, you were talking about how, these different voices can bring, you know, newer perspectives. Can you, you know, talk a little bit more about that?

Yeah, I think growth requires diversity of thought. And one of the easiest ways to accomplish that is to include a diverse group of people, people who have different ideas than you, people who have different backgrounds than you. I've always particularly found joy in hearing other people's stories, whatever that story—

Me too.

May be, whether it's anesthesia or just personally, those things are very inspiring to me. And, um, you know, I know also previously Sana was on the podcast.

Yes.

Who's a first year nurse anesthesia resident at VCU. Sana was my preceptor back when I transferred to the cardiac ICU at University of Chicago, which was the real beginning of my CRNA journey. And she was such a bright star then and still is now. And I am very excited to see, you know, where she falls amongst our profession and our association.

Yep.

But, you know, it's people like that, that you can then, you know, you know, in the beginning, Sana was precepting me and now I've had an opportunity to kind of introduce her to the, you know, the CRNA profession, and she's gonna be a great addition. So it's that teamwork, that collaborative approach, I think, that makes nurse anesthesiologists in particular such an exciting profession to be a part of, because nobody does teamwork like nurses.

Yep. 100%. And, and I failed to mention that, that, that should have been part of the intro. You know, this is kind of the, the, the, the two-part series to, you know, We had Senna last week, we have Jake this week. And even when I reached out to Jake, I'm like, Jake, I'm like, this is an opportunity. I just had Senna, we were just kind of giving you a shout out. Let's tie the two together. And yeah, I appreciate you bringing Senna up again here. That was a great episode. And like you said, she's going to make a huge impact on this profession.

Yeah, to follow her.

Yeah, certainly. Jake, I wanna kind of pivot a little bit. So many people think about, advocacy as mid-year assembly, as talking to these legislators kind of in the confines of that conference and kind of different things. But you've become heavily involved in fundraising and in kind of fostering these political relationships and really relationship building. How did you kind of unexpectedly discover this skillset of fundraising, of building these relationships with some politicians?

If you would've told me even 5 years ago that I would be involved in fundraising for people running for office, I would've thought that was crazy. But I think I initially got involved through my work as the PAC Chair of Illinois. So for people who don't know, The chair of the PAC is responsible for raising money that we use to help elect or reelect CRNA champions to public office. That happens at both the state level for your state lawmakers and at the federal level for the people that work in Congress. And by helping people fundraise for their campaigns, these people have staff in their offices that they need to pay. You kind of, you get some face time, you get some one-on-one discussion time with these people who are running for office to let them know what's important to you, what issues you're facing, whether it's at the state or the national level.

Mm-hmm.

And so, you know, over the years, you never know who you're gonna meet at one of these fundraisers. A lot of individual, lawmakers hold fundraisers to help raise money for their campaigns. Sometimes caucuses of the House or Senate will have a group of lawmakers that are all fundraising as a, like a joint effort. And you meet a lot of different people at these events and you never know where they're going to end up someday.

Mm-hmm.

So it's always, you know, even if somebody is not necessarily in your district or your representative or on a key committee right now, they might be in the future. And so every conversation is important with those people. And in general, like I said, I'm just a naturally curious person. I love to talk to people. And so having talked to a lot of people over the years that have gone on to run for major positions or end up on key committees, those are relationships that I've then leveraged to help, you know, advance or protect the CRNA practice.

That's great. And one of the things I really wanna talk about here, Jake, is your story involving the Illinois State Senate race and how that experience showed that the impact of CRNAs can really have a huge impact politically. Tell me a little bit about that. I know that our mutual friend, Nijma, yourself, some others were involved with this, but this was truly remarkable. So tell us a little bit about that story.

Yeah, I mean, this is one of the things that I'm most proud of, not just over the past year, but in my entire career so far. We, for those who don't know, one of our longtime senior senators, Senator Durbin, announced his retirement last year after 40-something years in the Senate representing Illinois. And it was very quickly announced that Congressman Krishnamoorthy was going to run for that spot. Congressman Krishnamoorthi is married to a physician anesthesiologist. He's voted against CRNAs numerous times. He signed the Scott Murphy letter. He's just never been in our favor. And when he announced that he was running for Senate, I was racking my brain thinking, how can we prevent this from happening? Because that would be such a blow to us in terms of our national standing. Shortly after he announced that he was running, our Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton also announced that she was going to run for that same seat. And I had met Juliana a couple different times at various fundraisers. You know, she's our Lieutenant Governor, so it was always nice to see her. But, you know, there wasn't really anything that she had at that time direct influence into policies and laws that were being made. But when she announced that she was gonna run for Senate, I saw an opportunity to help her with her campaign. And at the same time, kind of tell her more about CRNAs and help her understand the value that we have, especially in Illinois here.

Sure.

Um, and, and try to make her into a champion. So I reached out to her campaign manager. And asked if I could throw a private fundraiser for her, contacted a bunch of CRNAs that I worked with and people around the state to come and donate to her campaign, get some FaceTime with her, tell their stories. The vast majority of Illinois is served by CRNAs only, especially our rural and critical access hospitals. So— Mm-hmm. And that's something that she, I knew she was passionate about because she was a caretaker for her father when he was sick and her mother also, and really had a, was primed to understand the values that Sierra Native people had in helping our communities.

Sure.

And so the first fundraiser went great. I kept showing up to events to support her. We then did a second fundraiser, um, right before the primary in March. And in total, I think we raised a little over $26,000 for her.

Wow.

That really showed her that CRNAs are people to listen to. They have a lot of influence. They can help raise money for their campaigns.

That's right.

And that we're a voice that she should be listening to. And so she, over the course of that year, became a huge champion of CRNAs and made a video for us, which was so awesome hearing her say that she's gonna take the CRNA voice to the Senate with her when, um, when she gets elected. And you know, it was quite a big fight. I think she was outspent 4 to 1 in terms of fundraising.

Mm-hmm.

And the first poll showed her like 20-something points behind and She ended up pulling it off and I was really proud to have been a small part of that victory. Nijma and I both got invited to the watch party and got to congratulate her on the night of her victory. And it's just really exciting to know that you've done something that will help the CRNA voice at the national level in the Senate when she wins.

That's amazing. And I remember seeing the picture of her hugging you. I think it was at that watch party, right?

Yeah.

That it just embodies that entire experience, like what, what that, all the work you put into it, you know, the look on her face, it's, that's amazing. And for many of us, like, when you think of advocacy, you lean towards this idea of what you think that is. But, but so much of this is really about building relationships, and that's something that has really been one of your strong suits. What have you kind of learned about building relationships just through your advocacy work?

You know, I think an important thing to discuss is that my work as the chair of CRNA PAC is bipartisan. You know, I put my own personal politics to the side when I step through the door to work in that role. My work is about what can I do to move CRNAs forward as a profession. Profession. And whether, whether you have an ideological agreement on some issues isn't really important in that, in that context, because, you know, at the end of the day, the people who benefit the most from CRNAs practicing to their full scope are the patients. Patients all across the country, um, who need care, who might not live near a major metropolis where they can get access to high-quality anesthesia care. They might have to drive 50, 100, 150 miles to find a place where there's enough staff to do a surgery that they need. And so, you know, it's important to find a way to share your story with whoever is willing to listen because everyone has influence when it comes to a vote.

Mm-hmm.

And advocacy is a bipartisan effort. Which, you know, there's a lot going on in the world right now. And I've taken some comfort from the fact that there's still people on both sides that want to help people. And so, you know, I think the— to answer your question about relationship building is figure out what you have in common with whoever it is, no matter how many differences you might have, there's gotta be at least one thing that you both care about. Yeah. The work of advocacy is kind of figuring out what that is and sharing how you can, how you are a part of that.

That's powerful, Jake. And I really think, you know, even talking about where we are in this country right now, finding common ground, I feel, is something that very, very infrequently is that really the approach. It's really about our differences, but, you know, finding the common ground, finding a story that you can share, how we're more similar than we are different and kind of going off of that. Um, yeah, that's, that's powerful. Uh, Jake, I want to pivot a little bit. Um, you know, we have so many aspiring CRNAs, we have some, you know, nurse anesthesia residents that, that listen to this podcast regularly. Uh, what advice would you give, uh, maybe a nurse anesthesia resident or even a new CRNA that wants to get involved and doesn't know where to start?

Well, I would say first of all, come to Midyear. You know, um, midyear was kind of what sparked my interest in advocacy and my passion to be involved. Um, I think midyear is unique because you get a really core group of members of the ANA who care a lot, who care deeply about, um, the CRNA profession and helping it, uh, advance as much as possible. Um, and it's exciting to be around that energy. You know, I, I get, I look forward to midyear so much every year. It's one of the highlights of my entire year, and it's been extra special to be involved as the chair of the PAC this past year and get to see people who are coming for the first time and leave so excited and energized. You know, that's kind of what it's about. I think that's the easiest way to get involved is to attend a place where you can make a network, but there's so many opportunities. You can apply for a committee You can apply to be on your state board. You can apply to be on a committee for your state association. It doesn't have to be something that requires a ton of time and effort. You can make phone calls for your state PAC and ask other CRNAs to consider signing up to be a monthly donor. You know, I guarantee your state association, wherever you are, is willing to take your, you know, take your time and energy and direct it into whatever you are able to offer them. So, you know, reach out to your state president, reach out to the board members on your state association, go to a conference, consider joining an AMA committee, because, you know, all of that stuff helps you learn about the way that the associations are run and how, you know, all of that work is meant to help all of us, and, you know, figure out where you fit into that.

That's great. And you mentioned mid-year assembly. I agree with you. My favorite conference of the year. You know, it's— I, I tell my wife, I tell my co-workers, it's like, these are all my people. Like, these are the people in the nation, CRNAs, that care the most deeply about this profession. And, and they're all— I think that the fact that, you know, it's all centered around advocacy, having that, that really narrow focus really is inspiring because everywhere you look, that's what it's all about, right? So, um, yeah, Midyear is great. I, you know, tell me, um these mentorship programs that you're involved with, with Midyear Assembly, how did that shape the future leaders, or how does that shape the future leaders of our profession, just like yourself?

Well, when I joined the mentorship program, it was pretty small. I think it was maybe like 20 or 25 people. And that has grown every year since to— I'm not even sure what the number was this past year. I want to say it was around 60.

Wow.

So it's probably tripled since I was involved in it. And that's also another way that you can be involved is every year since I've graduated, I have signed up to be a mentor to someone. And I've had many great mentees over the past year that I've tried to impart my passion and excitement for advocacy to. And, you know, I think You know, another thing that I love doing is, you know, usually, you know, our current president, Jeff Molter, is so welcoming as well. And he's always, even when I was still a resident, he'd always be like, "Come up to my suite at midyear. Come say hi to everyone, come have a drink, whatever." And so now in midyear's past, um, he'll text me like, hey, come up to the suite, and I'll be like, do you mind if I bring some residents with me? And he's always like, yeah, bring whoever you want. And to see the looks on the residents' faces when they see themselves in a room of these like major players, you know, I remember what that was like. I felt so like— I felt like I was in a room full of famous people, you know?

Right, right.

On the board and president of the association and stuff, it's like, me in this same room? Like, you just, you get a little thrill out of it. And it sparks something in you that makes you want to stay in that room, you know, in a sense. And so I think that that is really exciting to see other people experience as well.

That's amazing. And kudos to you for kind of facilitating, you know, that discovery of these resins coming up there and be like, wow, this is amazing. Uh, so that's, that's awesome.

Yeah, people did that for me. And yeah, I just think, you know, those, the people that are in school right now, the people that are RNs right now coming to conferences, trying to get into CRNA school, eventually years down the road, those are gonna be the people that are on committees and chairs and on the board and eventually president someday. So why not make them feel included now.

Yep, absolutely. Yeah, that's a great point. Uh, Jake, as we kind of start to wrap this up a little bit, I want to get into some rapid-fire questions. I feel you're pretty quick on your feet, so this should be pretty fun.

Okay.

Um, uh, best ANA conference to attend? I, I think I already know the answer here.

It's gonna be Midyear Assembly.

Midyear Assembly. Wholeheartedly agree.

Yes.

Um, what committee should every nurse anesthesia resident consider joining? And why?

They're all great, but I'm biased, and of course you should join CRNA PAC because not only do you get to see, uh, some of the work that goes on at the federal level for our advocacy, but, uh, you're basically— your job is to plan a really fun party for everyone.

So that's great. Um, most underrated skill for leadership?

Ooh, humility.

Humility, that's great. I like that one. How about what's harder, CRNA school or PAC fundraising?

Definitely CRNA school.

You make the PAC fundraising look easy. You broke the record again this year, you know, at the PAC event. So good job, man.

Thank you.

Yeah, you seem to be quite the natural at that.

You know, it's a hidden talent that I discovered through being involved.

Best advice a mentor has ever given you.

Best advice would be to take people with you as you advance.

I love that. One here that we didn't talk about, and I'm gonna put you on the spot. I've been trying to incorporate this into, you know, many of these episodes, Oftentimes I forget, sometimes there's people that have been on here, I was afraid to ask them this, but, uh, Jake, what, what is special about you? Uh, this is a, a question that comes up that I bring up almost as an exercise in my daily phone calls. Um, but what do you bring to the table that maybe some other CRNAs do not?

That's a great question. Um, I think what's special about me is that I am not afraid to go outside of the box to get something done. You know, this was probably not relatable, but in a way I never really struggled with imposter syndrome because I'm just like, well, I, you know, I don't care if nobody else is doing it. I think it's important, so I'm gonna do it. Whether that's, you know, cool or, you know, whatever. That's kind of just the way that I live my life. I think it's important to be authentic and to, you know, to stand firmly in what you believe and, you know, be willing to sometimes maybe take some heat for that. As long as you think you're doing a good job and you're proud of yourself, that's really the only opinion that matters. You know, you can, you can, you can ask people that you trust, but really at the end of the day, You shouldn't be looking for validation anywhere but from yourself.

That's beautifully said. And I would agree with you. I think that is really what's so special about you, what you bring to the table and how you're gonna impact this profession for years to come. And kind of in closing, I wanna kind of focus a little bit more on you specifically. Jake, where do you see yourself making the biggest impact over the next 5 to 10 years? I mean, your trajectory here, this is rapid growth. So where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?

I did get the reputation of being, um, a, like a born trier in anesthesia school. Um, I think the thing that I have my sights set on currently is, um, we in Illinois, um, next year our Nurse Practice Act is expiring and will, will be due for renegotiation.

Mm-hmm.

That has been my kind of goal over the past couple years, trying to build up towards getting full practice authority written into that bill. I think that's probably one of our best chances to get full practice here in Illinois. And I'm always so jealous when I see these other states pass FPA. And I'm really, you know, I think a lot of the work that I've been doing over the past couple years with our PAC and building that up and making sure that we're a known player at the state level is been, has been in anticipation of that Nurse Practice Act needing to be renegotiated.

Mm-hmm.

So, um, I'm gonna be unfortunately done with CRNA PAC after this year. My term ends after Congress in Boston this August. Um, I'm gonna run for our state president-elect position—

Nice.

—to be on the executive team trying to get past that, that past next year and just keep delivering wins for CRNAs here in Illinois. I think further down the road, I will, you know, join other committees with ANA. I have been involved since I was in school, so I've never really had a break. So I think if I win the president election, I'll complete that term and probably take a year or two off just to give myself a little bit of time to recharge. But I will be involved with the ANA, you know, lifelong throughout my career.

That's great. And, you know, kind of mentorship teaching pearl here, you know, when I asked Jake, you know, this question, there is specific detail here. And I think that you need to really dial into these specific goals, you know, even, you know, speaking to that legislation in Illinois, speaking to, you know, that running for president of your state association. You know, when you have specific goals and when you verbalize them, you know, that is how you achieve them, right? And I think that's something, you know, I'm always kind of harping on aspiring CRNAs and trying to, you know, pull back the curtain on what's in the future. And I think to have some significant forethought into what that may look like with some detail to it, you know, not just, oh, I'm going to do, you know, I'm going to teach, or, but like, When you can dial into these details, that's when they start to get more attainable and more realistic, you know, when there's detail involved. So—

Totally. Make a vision board for yourself. That's something that I did. Because I think, you know, so much of the battle getting people involved is like this perceived mental barrier. And if you write down what you want to do, it kind of removes part of that. It removes that partially in a way. Because you can see it on paper. Um, you know, I remember as a senior resident, um, coming back from Congress, which was just, you know, a couple days before my graduation, and being like, well, I climbed to this pinnacle. This was like my biggest goal in life so far, and I'm almost— I'm almost to the summit of that journey. Where— what's the next mountain that I want to climb? You know, what do I want to do in 5 years? What do I want to accomplish in 10 years? What does, you know, mid-career at 15, 20 years look like for me?

Mm-hmm.

And I sat down and wrote out some of my ideas, my dreams, my hopes, my wishes. And, um, you know, it, it's not about having to accomplish all of those things. It's about letting yourself see the abundance of opportunities that await for you in this profession. Because you can do anything as long as you believe it's possible. And I think, you know, that's just the first step in making those things happen.

100%. And a quick shout out here to Daniel King. You know, every time that I talk to him at a conference, I reach out, you know, he was always so insightful. And in our last conversation, we were walking to the rally at Midyear and, kind of similar conversation about these mountains. What's the next mountain that you're going to climb here? And I think when you put yourself in a room with people who have this similar approach, this similar mentality, it really is so eye-opening as to what is achievable out there, right? And I'm honored to be having this podcast with you here, my friend, 'cause you are another kind of visionary, in this field. And, and when you have that, that perspective, you know, you change everybody around you. So thank you for all the work that you're doing and your, your visions. Um, you know, despite being in this field for 3 years, you know, this is amazing.

Of course. You know, you are, you are a product of your surroundings.

Yep.

So like you said, if you surround yourself with passionate people who are excited and always striving for the next goal, you're gonna emulate that naturally in your own life without really even thinking about it. And, you know, Daniel is amazing, uh, another amazing mentor of mine. I consider him often like an older brother in a way, you know, he also lives here in Chicago and, um, you know, so there's, there's too many people to name, honestly.

Sure.

That have, have contributed to the way that I live my life and, and practice our profession. And, um, It's because of those people that I have achieved anything, honestly.

Yes, and I couldn't agree more. And that's, you know, why I'm so excited about the CRNA Mentor Podcast, because, you know, for me, in a sense, this is an opportunity to connect with all of these mentors, whether they know they're my mentor or not. You know, I was on the phone yesterday with Bonjo talking to him about an episode, I had a mentee that, you know, Bonjo was, was his mentor. I'm like, oh man, I wish Bonjo was my mentor, you know. So, uh, you know, you have this opportunity to connect with people, and, uh, you can do that at your state level, at the national level. But, uh, yeah, no, I, I love that. Um, Jake, as we wrap up this episode, what would you say to the residents, to the aspiring CRNAs listening right now who think that they're not experienced enough yet to make an impact in this profession?

I would just say believe in yourself, believe that you have something to offer. You know, there's a quote by Van Gogh that I love. It's, "If I'm worth something later, I'm worth something now." And you will be worth something when you're graduated, of course. And when you're, you know, 5, 10, 20 years into your career, believe that you're worth something now. Believe that you have something to offer. You have your own unique perspective to offer. Offer. You don't necessarily need to know how the association runs. That's stuff you learn by being involved. You don't need that knowledge as a baseline to get involved. So I would just say you're worth something now and we need your voice at the table.

Yep. Yeah, I couldn't agree more here, Jake. And I really think that, you know, one of the biggest takeaways from this episode is, is really that involvement in this profession shouldn't begin once you finally feel experienced enough. You know, this is what I did. I, I'm like, once I gain enough experience, once I do this, it's like, no, like, dive in now. You know, it's, it's really this moment that you, you recognize that you have something valuable to contribute, right? That's exactly, I think, to, to Jake's story, exactly what happened for him. And, and whether you're a nurse, uh, a nurse anesthesia resident, or a brand new CRNA, you know, this profession, as Jake has mentioned, We need your voice, your ideas, your energy, and your perspective. We need it now, not in 15 years when you finally kind of settled into this career. And I really think that Jake's story is such a powerful example of what happens when you leverage mentorship, when you learn about advocacy, and you take this opportunity to do this early in your career. All these other doors open and the trajectory of your entire profession can completely change. All right, so, uh, Jake, I can't thank you enough for, for, uh, joining us on the CRNA Mentor Podcast. Um, you know, all of your insights, everything that you've been doing, you're, you're so inspirational to me, and, uh, it's really awesome just to see you flourishing and, and doing so, uh, such amazing work in this profession.

Thanks so much, Tyler. I'm honored to be here. I'm equally as proud of you and happy to be your friend. You know, that's what it's all about at the end of the day is we all inspire each other. We're all friends outside of this. I call so many of these people for things not even related to anesthesia.

Yep.

Because we're all, you know, it's just, it's nice to have our community. And I'm very excited to see where this podcast goes for you. And I think you're really making a big difference to a lot of the people that are looking to enter our profession. So thank you.

Well, thank you very much, Jake. And thank you for everybody listening today and enjoy your, your, this is a holiday weekend. This is a— we'll call it the Memorial Day special here shooting this one. But, uh, thanks Jake. And we'll see you later. All right.

Thanks. Take care.