Conquering Imposter Syndrome in Entrepreneurship with Chronic Illness

I am delighted to have Katina Morrison on the show. She is another amazing holistic chronic illness advocate, coach, and nurse. When I started my business, and especially when I niched down to helping creatives and women living with chronic illness, I thought I was kind of crazy because nobody else was doing that. Like, of course, health coaches were doing that. Even some mindset coaches were doing that, but I didn't see anyone specifically talking about this when it came to business. So I thought, Nikita, you're kind of crazy for doing something that nobody else is really doing. And I didn't really have a map, if you will, of how to do what I'm doing. But I'm so glad to say that I am seeing more and more people, one, be so much more open and vulnerable about sharing their story about growing a business while living with chronic illness. And Katina Williams has been doing that while working a full-time job and some other things that she's doing that she'll get into in this episode. So if you've been looking for an episode that's like, hey, can I niche down into a place that I think that no one else is doing and be successful? Can I have competition and still collaborate and grow my audience? Me and Katina, technically you could consider us as competition, but I truly believe that we really serve each other and serve each other's audiences. And it gives our audience so much more value by collaborating and supporting each other through the different phases of our lives and our businesses. We talk about some of the challenges we've experienced trying to promote and talk about what we do on platforms like Instagram and other social media platforms, and some of the ways that we have found that best has helped us to grow in our businesses. So you definitely want to stay tuned for all of these little goodie bits, because whether you're a coach, whether you're a creative, whether you're a side hustler, whether you've just been contemplating whether or not you want to start a business while living with chronic illness and you've been working a full-time job you're at home, this is the episode for you, so stay tuned. Welcome to She's Crafted to Thrive, a globally ranked podcast for women living with chronic illness and creatives in business. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, chronic illness warrior and photographer turned digital marketer turned award-winning coach. I love helping chronic illness warriors and creatives to live with their chronic illness and creativity as their superpower in life and business. On the show, you will hear the very stories that helped our guests, my clients, and myself to define our dream way of making money with proven strategies and marketing and mindset, all to grow a business that thrives without sacrificing our health. So stay tuned because you'll find the inspiration and tools and the resources you need to craft a life and business that thrives.

I am so excited to have Katina on the show. We are going to be talking all things chronic illness and business, and I cannot wait for you to meet her. So Katina, please introduce yourself. Tell everybody who you are, what you do, where you're from.

Yes, hello and thank you for having me, Nikita Williams. My name is Katina Morrison. I am a registered nurse as well as a chronic illness coach. I also coach not only in reference to health, but how women who live with chronic illnesses can create balance as well as have thriving businesses. That balance specifically being with their health. And I came into this as a person who has multiple chronic illnesses. I have, um, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and I too had endometriosis and symptoms associated with it before my hysterectomy in 2020. So being that I've lived with multiple chronic illnesses and being a registered nurse, it's has also been something that makes me really want to help this community know how they can find that strategic growth in their health career and business, and then also how that ties into creating that balance— no overwhelm and flare-ups— when utilizing social media strategy to market their businesses.

Yeah, I love that. I think we have very aligned, similar experiences, and I'd love to know what led you to, like, getting to this point in your business, like, in your life, that you wanted to actually help people with what you've experienced yourself?

Well, I had a very challenging journey with my personal health. I've actually had symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and of endometriosis since childhood, um, starting with my menstrual cycle at 11. And with rheumatoid arthritis, I would say honestly since potentially birth, because I've struggled with severe anemia since infancy that they could never really explain and other autoimmune-like symptoms. And it's like, as I mentioned with the endometriosis at 11, but I wasn't diagnosed until I was 32 with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. And then until I was 34 with endometriosis. And this is being a person who has had chronic pain, chronic fatigue, the anemia, and of course, all of the problems that go with stage 4 endometriosis since I was 11 years old. So I felt like I was obligated, especially as a nurse who has worked in coaching others to improve their overall health and well-being for more than 20 years now, to really find a way to help people shorten the length of time that it takes them to advocate for themselves. To get the healthcare and treatment that they deserve. That was the first reason I started my page in June. Something just kept pushing me, and that's June of 2021. Something kept pushing me to say, there's all these people who I follow who are starting coaching businesses about increasing people's confidence, um, but how many people who look like me are actually talking about how can you improve your health and well-being, especially when it pertains to chronic illness and autoimmune conditions? And I started that page on June 4th, and within 2 weeks someone reached out to me to be their coach, and then another person. And something told me, well, I think I'm doing what I'm meant to do, because this was a 3 to 5 year plan. This is not a— I would immediately have clients. So I established my business for specifically health coaching and took all of the things to legitimize my business. And then coaches and other brands and businesses started reaching out to me. Within 6 months I had brand partnerships. And then coaches and others throughout that period were picking my brain about what strategy are you using to keep getting consistent clients. And for me, it was that I am my client, basically, when it comes to health coaching. I am that person who experienced medical gaslighting, who needed to learn how to utilize anti-inflammatory nutrition and natural holistic methods to help to heal myself when I couldn't get the treatment I needed. But the other thing is I had coaching myself because I never knew anything about a public Instagram page or social media. But I also combined those things with specific strategies that benefit this community, and that gave birth to the pivot of also coaching coaches and brands and how they could effectively maintain their energy, their focus, their consistency, and grow their businesses using social media strategy.

Yeah, I felt you so much. This— I can't even talk. Same, same. Like, didn't see— especially the part about not seeing people who look like me in the industry of coaching, period. I had a coach. That's the only reason I knew about coaching, really, from the context of their— like, business consulting is something I had known, but not like coaching. I didn't know what that really meant other than like going to a fitness coach or a health coach. And my health coach, she looked like me. She experienced the same symptoms and challenges with her chronic illness me and you, and it was like, oh my gosh, where have you been? And how come there aren't more of us out there sharing that? So I love that you shared that. How have you— because you still work a like job job, right?

Yes, the girl has a W-2. Yes, I have a W-2 as well, a job job. I have a career in the insurance industry as an associate director. When I started this page at that time, I wasn't happy with my position at that time in the sense that it— there was— I was overworked, underpaid, and a bit overwhelmed, to be honest. So at that time, I was still in the phases of— while I have always been able to effectively teach others how to advocate for themselves, I hadn't really implemented advocating for myself. Appropriately in reference to pay and in reference to my time and my energy when it comes to work-life balance. So I was like, you know what, I'm going to start this, and by the time I'm 40, my goal is— well, I'm going to quit this job soon and go part-time, or at least by 40 I'll have a business that's, um, in a position to really retire me, but Something told me to let them know about my unhappiness and that I was going to need to, you know, there were going to need to be changes. Either I needed to quit or I was going to go part-time, but whatever the case is, these were my grievances or the things that I needed to improve, especially related to pay. And I was able to negotiate and improve pay, uh, promotion, as well as more flexibility with my time. And I no longer had to manage a full staff of people, but yet I work as an associate director with an insurance company in clinical quality data management. So that really goes to ensuring that the data that we receive, electronic medical records we receive, is meeting standards for quality, especially those that the government issues that should reflect that what a patient is receiving is actually seen in the data. And where are there gaps in the care that they're receiving? And how can we improve the quality of data, but also the quality of the care that members are receiving based on the information that we receive. It's something that I enjoy doing, um, it's something that challenges me, but it's not what fills me. So that's why I have this business, because as we know, in the times we live in, we need multiple streams of income still to make sure that we're able to sustain a certain quality of life. And especially for those of us who have illnesses like me, I have medications that one day it might be a $30 copay, the next day it might be a $600 copay, or the next day it might— they might actually tell me to pay the full $5,000. Um, so I'm always, you know, there's certain things that people don't know goes into the life of a person with chronic illnesses. And that's what people wonder, well, how in the world are you working a job job, like you said, and managing a business, and you got multiple chronic illnesses? But for me, I learned that if you're really doing something that is fulfilling Yeah, and you implement the strategies to create that balance, you can have a thriving career in business, and then you can eventually decide which one do you want to be the one to sustain your lifestyle fully. But I always recommend, no matter who it is, that you have multiple streams of income because you just never know in this world that we live in right now. And how inflation is going, what can happen. And especially for me, like I say, one day I may be able to afford my medicine, the next day I can't. And one way that I prevent that from happening is having multiple streams of income, but also having something that actually fills me and doesn't deplete me. And that's what my own coaching business and what has grown from that has become. Because, you know, not only did it W-2, a sister got a podcast and a blog and, um, she got a lot of stuff going on, y'all. Lots of stuff. Lots of stuff going on. But I also have a team, thankfully, that I've hired that is assisting me with some of those areas too. So it's been a wonderful— it's been a blessing that at least I'm able to manage this and walk the talk. Like, you know, there's a lot of people who do all this talking about balance and thriving and all these things, but they're falling apart behind the scenes. What I do is provide evidence that it is possible to thrive in all aspects of life. But you do have to have balance. And self-care is very important too.

Yeah. And I think that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about today is like, you know, so many people, especially in our community, feel like we have to do more in the sense of like we have to grind harder, we have to hustle harder, we have to sacrifice more. And I have my own thoughts about like what the, the harmony and balance in that. But there's something that I wanted just to kind of call out for all y'all who are like, how's she doing all this stuff?

She has a team, y'all.

I cannot tell you how many clients that I've personally worked with who are looking at us who have not gotten to a place where they can have a team, and they're beating themselves up because they're like, I'm not doing enough. And I definitely think that's a conversation in the general world of coaching, period. That anyone who's not a coach or who is a coach who's trying to get to that place recognize there are lots of other things holding this up together. That's not just because of ourselves. We're not not sleeping, because if we don't sleep, especially as chronic warriors—

amen—

we ain't doing nothing. So nothing. Exactly. So I think, like, what has helped you find your flow, right? Like, of being able to manage expectations from yourself with doing all of the things, and also like with your clients in general. Like, how do they find their actual balance and harmony of what they're doing?

Well, I will have to say I am a very driven person. One of the things that anybody that you come in connection with who have known me will Consistency is not a problem for me because of being a chronic illness warrior. I am not going to invest my time and energy into anything that I'm not going to remain consistent at, because when I throw my energy or my spoon at it— they say spoonies— it can't be in vain. I don't throw time and energy to the wind like most people do, and that has been my whole life. That's even before my diagnosis. My family knew, everyone knew that I was not going to do anything that was in vain as far as you start something and you stop and you don't see the benefits so quickly, so you just give up. So for me, it's been striking balance, um, through work life, through the spiritual aspects of things as well, because that has to be a consistent foundation for me in my life. It's the only thing that I think that I know got me through those challenges of being medical gaslighting and all those things. So for me, I'm a very driven person, I'm a very consistent person already. But when we think about our time and our energy, it's about also making sure— remembering always, why are you doing this? And is it filling you or is it depleting you? And I always look at the bigger picture of things, outlining exactly what I need to do and knowing when sleep is going to have to take place, when self-care— like, my— I get a specific treatment called a Bowen massage, you know, that's a consistent part of it. If I'm going to be going to the chiropractor, my health is always a central thing that I'm taking care of. Everything else goes around the things that I do to balance my health. And then in the case of this, for a whole year strong, from June to June of this year, I, um, did it all myself. But I'm a person, especially when it comes to utilizing social media strategy, I don't believe in posting 3, 4, or 5 times a day. For me, it was always a goal of at least 3 times a week, or 3 to 5 times if I could. But if I couldn't do that, then maybe it was 2 times a week. And if I didn't do that, maybe it was going to be 1. It's about what are my energy levels doing, or whatever I put out, it's the quality of making sure that it's quality over quantity. And then in that time frame, I made a goal that eventually I would hire a virtual assistant. I also made it a matter of prayer, and it turns out that my niece who lives in, um, the UK happened to be a social media manager for another company and really good at personal assisting, and that company was no longer able to employ her due to the times that we were living in. And she became available, and I said, hey, I'm about to match it and exceed it. Come work for your auntie because your auntie need help. Or I'm about to, uh, I don't know what's about to happen with this business, especially since I had started all of these things. And then I wanted to do event planning, and my sister who also has lupus, and my niece also has autoimmune conditions that are currently undiagnosed. I was able to hire my sister to assist with events and community outreach because that's the area that's not really my expertise. For me, it was about knowing the balance of knowing when I did need help and when I couldn't have the help, balancing my energy appropriately according to whatever I had to do, and then picking what was most important. I couldn't create a course or do event or do group coaching when I had a certain number of one-on-one clients and I was managing all of my social media strategy and podcasts and blogs myself. But when I was able to get the help, then that allowed me to open up additional opportunities within my business. So look at your life overall is what I recommend, your energy, and what can you do with that energy what can you do consistently? And then you do those things consistently until you can get the help that you need.

Yeah, I really appreciate you breaking that down because one of the things that I feel like we all need to be more aware of, right, is that energy is straight up real. Like, that's currency to me. Like, energy is currency in a lot of different ways because, like you said, if I ain't got a spoon to throw at it because I didn't sacrifice so many spoons for other things that weren't really that important it's going to be hard for me to show up where the spoon needs to go. So I really appreciate you sharing, like, what does that look like? Really taking a full picture of, like, what is your life, what is most important, where are the priorities. One, okay, because priorities is serious. And, like, the other thing I hear, and I talk about this often, and I don't know if you feel this way, but I feel like there is literally like two different worlds that collide. Chronic illness and entrepreneurship are so much alike, it's not even funny, of like the experience of like learning and growing and self-advocating and setting boundaries. Like, that is something as chronic illness warriors in general, I think over the period of time, however long you've had that, you've had to learn those skills. And those skills are so useful in a business that a lot of people don't have, you know, a lot of people don't have those skills. So how have you found self-advocacy advocacy in your life that has really informed how you run your business?

Well, that plays back into the effect of— one place was within my career, being able to advocate for myself in reference to my pay, flexibility, my time. Those were things that, as chronic illness warriors, sometimes we think, they already know I have all of these illnesses, I'm not gonna, you know, ask for one more thing. You know, how are they going to respond to me if I ask for this? But it's also knowing what are you really bringing to the table. Most people who have chronic illnesses can do in 1 hour what most people can't do in 8 hours.

For real?

That's in my life. Because I— my whole entire life, people are like, how do you do this? They would— at many jobs, they would put 2 and 3 people on something that I was only responsible for, and they could not keep up or do the work at the quality or at the level. But that's because we have, as I mentioned, value our energy and our time so much that whatever we put it into, we want quality results. So for me, in the case of my self-advocacy, first with my health, you know, being able to really communicate with my doctors what I required, knowing when to hire and fire doctors, and knowing what natural holistic treatments were going to be good to work along with any medical or medicinal treatments that I received so that I could maintain my health overall. So that's where I had to start at too. And then that started transitioning into my self-advocacy for my career. And then when it came to my business, by this time, if I'm able to advocate for myself at work, I'm able now to be able to negotiate effectively my time and energy when it comes to those who I choose to partner with. I'm able to manage my time effectively, um, and my energy effectively within my business. And then I'm also developing relationships with people and a network of people that you now are included in that are a good support system as well. Because for me, that's all a part of self-advocacy too, because the truth is advocating for yourself is also recognizing that you can't do this on your own. Yeah, we all need someone. So anyone who comes into this and they think they're going to be on an island by themselves, there's no way that I, as a chronic illness warrior and a nurse who had never been an entrepreneur before in my life, uh, who didn't even ever see myself as entrepreneur, could have came out and did all of this. To go from zero followers to now 2,500, just about, who are niche-specific and people who I'm really able to touch and help in reference to their health I didn't do it on my own, but advocating for myself also meant recognizing I can't do it on my own and building those relationships. How do we come in contact? Through building those relationships. Yeah. Yeah. So I look at advocacy like differently than, as you can see, when some people, when they hear the word advocate, they are thinking, oh, this person is, you know, this all comes from maybe a negative view.— or maybe not necessarily a negative view— that, or that it's only pertaining to them being the boss of their own life. But it also is recognizing us, how we're actually multifaceted, and our advocacy connects with other people too. Yeah, I, I don't know.

I get what you're saying. I, I feel like it's interesting because I talk about self-advocacy in that same way, but in the context is also talking about it as leverage. Like, it allows us to actually leverage our energy and our time better when we recognize that this is not a road that we get to build by ourselves. Like, this is a road or a journey that we're building with other people who are also on this same kind of journey, and it can't be done by ourselves. Like, literally, there's no— even people who don't openly share their chronic illness or challenges, they have not built what they have built without help. Like, it's had people. And I agree with you, it's like more of recognizing that when we accept that it's not that we're limited, it's just that we need help. That's just the nature of human beings. Like, we were— I always say this all the time, and you know, here too, I was like, if you think about it, we were all created to be with pairs. We were never really created just to be one person hanging out doing nothing, like just doing our own thing. Like, we were always meant to be with other people. So like, if we take that mindset into how we advocate for ourselves, we are also advocating for other people to have the same support, the same help. And I get what— I think that's kind of like what you were sharing there.

Yeah, it is, because that's also, like I said, what motivated me. I want to decrease the time it takes someone else to get to where I got, because people look at me and they thought— they think, oh, this was easy, she's always had it together. And the truth is, I didn't. And I even needed help, to a sense, in learning how to advocate for my health and learning how to advocate in my business in my career, it took some time and some things for me to even learn. There were people who actually gave me the boost and the push who didn't even realize what they were really doing that changed my mind. So when I look at self-advocacy, I want people to not take 30 years to get a diagnosis. So that's why I partner with certain businesses and other chronic illness warriors and brands who support the community so that I can spread the knowledge more and also spread knowledge about what they're doing and bring awareness you said that can help people. We need to help each other. Yeah. So for me, decrease that time. And then for those chronic illness warriors that are in business, I want to help to decrease the time it takes for you. I know zero— from June of last year to where we are now, about a year and 3 months or so, whatever the case is, it looks like Tina just popped up on the scene and just blew all the way up. But there were certain things that I did, and now I know these things, I can share information with others as well. So that's pretty much the whole goal of my advocacy, is teaching others how to advocate more effectively for themselves as soon as possible so that they can reduce trauma, reduce overwhelm, reduce stress, and thrive in all aspects of their life.

Yeah, I love that. Um, when you think of like this advocacy and growing as a business owner, as a person, as a wife, as, you know, a coach, all of those different things Have you found like there are certain things from a mindset that you've had to overcome personally to get to where you are today?

Yes, the number one thing I had to overcome personally was the imposter syndrome. While I have a spade face— I don't say poker face because where I come from we play spades, okay? And spades is tougher than poker, okay? Um, spades ain't got— poker ain't got nothing on spades, okay? But the fact of the matter is, I was that kid— let's take it back to the space— that was 8 years old playing at the adult table. But I did not feel like I was actually qualified, but I was going to fake it till I make it, kind of like nurses. That's one of the things we say, fake it till you make it, because that's the only way many of us get out of school. But, um, yeah. Sadly, but going back to that analogy with me at the 8-year-old at the space table with now in life, I found as a person living with chronic illnesses, one of— and actually research has shown it, there's been a lot of articles, a lot of blogs and things that says that the imposter syndrome is something that really affects that community. Um, sometimes it's a lack of really recognizing your own self-value and worth really understanding your own expertise in something, you can have all the— like, for me, I've been working in the healthcare industry now for 23 years, and I can run circles around people as far as a nurse. But then to take that in reference to being a coach, even though I've been technically doing coaching my whole career, I did not see myself in the entrepreneurship role. Also, even progressing in my career I didn't see myself ever entering into an area where I would actually advance that way because it's just a problem I see oftentimes within our own culture, within women, and then within chronic illness warriors. And I had to get coaching that assisted me with my mindset and gave me that shift that helped me to realize I had to think differently because my mindset was actually even affecting my bottom line, you know. To be someone who goes from making $60 an hour with a coaching program initially, because you don't know any better, to someone who actually has 4-figure programs and progressing more to develop the number of clients that I got. I could have been seeing all these clients and making what? On what I was previously. But when I got that mindset shift, you start really looking at, wait a minute, I did actually help this person accomplish this. Because of my knowledge and expertise. I did get them from point A to B to all the way to Z, and they're thriving. So as a result, I need to make sure that I see my own self-worth and value and stop questioning whether I'm really qualified at this, or that people are going to see you for an imposter.

No.

So it's just, yeah, imposter syndrome was a huge part of the challenges I faced. And it is something that I still at times will peep— allow to peep in. And then now I use mindfulness and other things and really look at the facts of what I've been able to produce over time to say, nope, not today, imposter syndrome, not today.

Yeah, I call my little negative Nelly Linda. I don't know why, it's— her name is Linda. And I'm like, Linda, you can go somewhere with that today. We ain't got no time for that right now. Oh goodness. So what has been like your favorite thing? Because you have I can't imagine, like, I wish I was a nurse. There are times where I wish I was a nurse, that living with chronic illness, I understood what it— like, I've learned a lot about the body and how the doctor's offices and hospitals, because of living with chronic illness, so much so sometimes nurses be like, are you a nurse? I'm like, no, I'm not. But how has that helped you, like, so much? And how you have been on, like, a healing journey and taking care of your own body, like, how has that been beneficial for you?

Yeah, I think what sometimes people don't recognize is that, you know, the nursing degree— my— I have a bachelor's in nursing, and the nursing degree is actually in science. And that degree being in science, I have a really good understanding of anatomy and physiology, of chemistry, of how the body functions. And I have a keen knowledge of the symptoms that you have, knowing what they could potentially be correlated with. And then I'm being able to go through a process of elimination to see, well, what do I need to do to address these symptoms and the core issue? The problem is, as a nurse, I can't diagnose and treat myself, and you can't qualify for the medications and things that you need unless you get that diagnosis. So this journey, being a nurse, helped me find other alternative methods and treat— try them out. I was a person that was completely like, essential oils, what? Girl, me too.

Girl, me too.

Okay, stop playing. Y'all over there playing. It ain't magic.

Look, y'all cook with that. Y'all cook with that. Don't be over here talking about it's gonna help me.

Girl, that ain't gonna help. Okay, I was. But with my degree being in science and understanding how things work, I will test something out to see if it works. And if it does work, then I'm able to even know how to put together my own little mixtures and things like that to meet by studying the particular plants and the oils that go with it. Essential oils have been the first thing that really I saw that actually worked. Yeah, me too. And I still— it's a huge part of me and my husband's life now, and it will continue to be. But I attribute my nursing to helping me to to go down through a process of elimination and test out things that worked and then learn how to treat and help myself to heal before I could get that help from doctors. And so those natural holistic methods, that anti-inflammatory nutrition, exercise— yes, these are things people hear all the time, but most people don't do those things. But my nursing knowledge tells me if I don't do these things, these are going to be the consequences um, for my health. And now that I've covered these bases and I can't fully heal myself naturally and holistically, let me increase my advocating for myself in the medical aspect of things. Let me go to my doctors and tell them, okay, you haven't helped me now. I've been in constant pain for now how many years? And on top of that, I have been doing all of these things, and while I get some improvement, these are the signs and symptoms that I'm still having. Who can you refer me to that is going to help me? Wait a minute, I got a PPO plan. I don't need you. Yeah, yeah, let me go to the next one and then the next one. I literally, over a period of 4 years after this traumatic car accident I was in in 2012, for 4 years straight after that accident, it triggered my RA to the point that it was a daily pain. I literally fired and hired about 12 doctors. I love it.

I don't know why I love it, but I do. Y'all heard that, right? She fired doctor. I fired him.

Yeah. I get that term from my husband, though. He's not a nurse, but he was like, fire him.

Fired.

He's from Jamaica, so you can imagine the accent when he's saying fire them. But that also— I started really— and I'm able— doctor telling them, hey, I'm a registered nurse, and these are the things that I'm going through and experiencing. I'm not seeking pain medication. In fact, I don't take pain medication. I only take my one medication, which is Humira now. And I— doctors placed me on 10 different medicines at one time that I was taking. So that's just to tell you the process. And I believe being a nurse helped me, and it's also helped me to really connect with the community of chronic illness warriors effectively, because part of nursing not only is coaching and part of who we are already as people, and you and I have a closeness outside of this, beyond, you know, something outside of this, that the, um, is that compassion, you know, that is associated with nurses. I'm not a nurse, you know, a nurse is me, you know what I'm saying? It is all that I am inside and out. It's a reflection. And I think that's what, when you really get to know nurses and actually good nurses, you know, there's a difference about how we really relate to people. It's also what has helped to effectively, I believe, grow my business, is my nature. I'm not in competition with people. I'm here to really help people, and that's the core goal for everything that I do. So yeah, I'm pretty happy that I took that journey. It was a struggle because in 4 years of school after that, with all them chronic illness symptoms I was experiencing at the time, not knowing what they were, I was like, Lord, if I make it through this, I don't want to see another book but the Bible.

Um, I can't imagine.

I was done. I was done. But I believe had I had certain tools and knowledge then that I have now, I would have probably done a few other things. But I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish and what I'm able to accomplish now too. But thank you. Yeah, no, I love that.

I love hearing that because I feel like nurses— like, every experience I've ever had at a hospital or a doctor's office is amplified by how well or how well, not so well, a nurse has treated me, right? And so like, y'all need to get paid more than doctors. That's just my opinion because y'all do way more work. And not only that, you just care so much. It feels like you care so much differently. But I think I think it's powerful to, like, have that kind of knowledge. A lot of the things that I've had to learn as a chronic illness warrior has literally been asking nurses lots of questions, doing my own research, and then figuring a lot of this stuff out on my own. But I can only imagine if you already kind of done all the book reading and you're going into that industry. But I also can imagine you probably get a lot of conversations from doctors who are like, yeah, but you're not a doctor. Like, the gaslighting of that kind of experience.

I did have a particular doctor tell me that my pain was in my head. He said, well, if you think pain, you'll feel pain. If you think swelling, you'll see swelling. And I'm like, here it is. I haven't worn my wedding ring now for 6 months, and it went a few, a few years that I couldn't wear it. And you're going to tell me that I'm thinking swelling, so that's why I'm seeing it on my hand and my ring won't fit on Yeah, I had that experience. But I'll be honest with you, I've been able to usually develop really good relationships with doctors. It's just that for you to get an autoimmune diagnosis, it requires a rheumatologist. So my primary care physician, my chiropractor, my, you know, my OB-GYN, the hand specialist, the foot specialist, all these other types of doctors I went to, could not give me the diagnosis and the prescription for rheumatoid arthritis without a rheumatologist. So I didn't have such a good experience with a rheumatologist or two, but I finally found one and his team that have, um, of nurse practitioners that have really been pivotal to my healing, um, and where I am now. But really, doctors and I get along really well. I have, you know, I really do connect pretty well with them. I know how to communicate pretty good with them. It's just that I don't work with them one-on-one anymore because it's just, you know, certain things with certain doctors in the work environment, it just don't work. But either way, I will not say that I've had a terrible experience overall with doctors or with nurses. It's just particular doctors who are not aware of the fact that they can't know everything about the 10,000 diseases that exist. And how they impact people of a variety of cultures. We know that Black women in general and people of color go undiagnosed and misdiagnosed oftentimes because the symptoms don't reflect in us in the way that it does in others. So pain on a scale of 10 to 10 for me doesn't look like pain on the scale of 10 to 10 for someone of another race at times. And that usually delays us getting treatment because we're able to still walk on our feet, use our hand, and go to work because we have just been— it's part of our genetic makeup. Yeah. And just embedded in our genetic code to be able to process pain differently than most people. I'm not saying every Black person, but I'm saying on a large scale, the majority of us. Yeah. So that was the thing is I do feel that due to my race and due to, you know, that it did play a role into how I was treated as well.

Yeah, I think it's really powerful though. I think what I, I feel like I really appreciate you sharing is that you get to kept going. And I think that's a part of why so many chronic illness were— gets frustrated because at some point in their journey, I've heard this, that they've just stopped going because they're just overwhelmed with the treatment or the lack of diagnosis. And that's something I've discovered in my journey that like just just being open that there are people out there that can help. You just haven't found them yet. Yes.

And like, to keep going.

And it's kind of the same thing in business. I tell clients, I'm like, if you are sure that this is something you want to do, there are tons of people that have shown you you can do it. You just have to keep going.

Like, we just have to keep going.

So I think, again, to my whole chronic illness journey and entrepreneurship are so very much alike, it's not even funny. So if you are a chronic illness warrior listening to the show and you're thinking I just don't know if I can do it. If you can live with chronic illness, you can run a business.

You can do anything if you have chronic illness. Like I always tell, um, my husband's from Jamaica, so I say if he can drive in Jamaica, he can drive anywhere. Okay.

Yeah, that's true. My dad's Jamaican. Um, trust me. Yes.

Yeah, they can drive anywhere. But for us as chronic, you can literally do anything if you can live with chronic pain, chronic fatigue, if you can live with, you know, the disappointment and encouragement, the grief that takes place during that process. If you're able to overcome those things, you are more than capable to achieve your dreams. It's just not going to look the same as everyone, because even though I have a certain measure of success in my business over the span of this year, it still doesn't look like some— everyone else's. I had to do certain things and implement certain strategies to make sure that my energy was where it needed to be, and my health was where it needed to be. So there was an added layer to all the things I had to do to get to where I am and where I plan to go with my business as well. So yeah, girl, you right, we can do anything. I might be able to be a captain of a ship and, uh, fly a plane. You never know.

Okay, be an astronaut and everything.

Astronaut too, because if I can live with chronic illness, I can be exactly what I want to be. But that's not what I want I want to be what I am now.

I know you have an event coming up soon that we, you know, you could share with us. So, and any other cool things you want to share?

Yes, so I do have an event coming up. I'm so excited that I'm going to be able to host the Inflamed Sisters Thriving Summit and Gala. It's taking place on October 29th, 2022, here in Tampa, Florida, where I reside, at the Seminole Garden Center. There we will host up to 70 guests, and then on Zoom, up to 500 guests that can join in on the summit portion of the event, where we're going to have experts speaking on health and wellness, fitness, nutrition, doctors, nurses, and other experts that will be there, and experts in business as well, to educate others on ways that they can thrive in all aspects of life. And then we have the other part of it, which will be the gala where we'll be having a lovely dinner and entertainment, dance, and et cetera. So this event is important to me because I never expected my business to be able to do this in the first year, but also I want to really touch the lives of as many chronic illness and autoimmune warriors and provide them that safe space to stop hiding and start thriving. And I recently lost my aunt to myasthenia gravis as well as cancer. So what better way to do something in her honor than to have this event? And then in the honor of all of the women, including all of the women in my family who live with these conditions, to show how we can effectively thrive. So that's that. And then in the future, November the 19th, I'm having a Boss Brunch where we'll be having a brunch and talking about thriving with social media strategy and how you can effectively do that, navigating social media with your business. And I, of course, have my normal coaching programs and things of that sort. So feel free to reach out to me. I have a lot of things going on, um, that I would love to reach as many people to be able to take part in those occasions and events.

That is so awesome. I can't wait to hear how that event goes. I wish I could be there. I have an already planned thing that day, but I think it's going to be amazing. Especially because it's— I'm not biased, but I love seeing events of women of color come together and all of the chronic illness warriors seeing that. I think that's, you know, if you've been on the online world of a coaching business, we don't see that a lot. It feels like for a while there I was like, am I the only Black woman who is a coach for chronic illness people?

Amen.

I'm I can't be the only one. And like, this past year really has been something like, I'm like, oh my gosh, where have you been? And I still feel like, what is up with that? But we're not— that's a whole nother kind of conversation.

We're gonna leave them alone. Leave that alone. There's something going on. But I do want to say this, you mentioned something, you know, women of color in this industry, we don't oftentimes get the sights and the views as many as others do.. But I've always said it's not about the likes, it's not even about the comments, it's about staying consistent and touching the lives that you can reach. But for me, part of the work that I also do is assisting brands and other social media impactors. I say we're professional impactors and not influencers. What I do is, because I've connected and collaborated the way I have, is connecting them, and then that has also helped me to get more from brands who have sponsored my event. I have some amazing brands that are sponsoring that I could have never imagined, and it's because I actually connected with our community and have a trust that Katina ain't gonna just say something and, and not do right by it. So it's possible. Like, there's, there's levels to these things. We do— we need more brands supporting, we need more visibility, but Don't stop. Don't allow what looks like limitations to keep you from going, because sponsorship from companies like DrugView, from Our Serendipity, from Leap Cure and Wahlberg, a staffing company, by the way, you know, there's another company, MMU, these clinical research companies and things like that. So they're out there. But this is the thing, they have— some of them have small numbers of followers. Yeah, and people get misled by that. And that's the same with our chronic illness warriors. Some of us don't have our micro-influencers and don't have this huge number of following, but we can still make a big impact. So step out there and do what you feel like you're meant to do, and don't allow limitations that you think are there to hold you back. Kick imposter syndrome to the side and keep pushing forward.

Yeah, tell Linda goodbye. I'm just kidding. I'm sorry, Linda. I'm so sorry. Well, how can they find you online? Like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube? What's your— the handles they can find? Obviously I'll have it in the show notes, but just—

yeah, they can find me at @iam_catina_morrison. Catina is with a C, Morrison has two Rs on Instagram. And on— I think it's the same on Instagram, Twitter, and Clubhouse. Girl, the brain fog coming. And then I have— they can find me on my website, nurselovesessentials.com. Nurse Loves Essentials is my business. And on YouTube, I'm under Nurse Loves Essentials, as well as on Facebook. So feel free to reach out to me those ways. My email address and Linktree and all of that will have ways in which you can contact me. I do offer free consultations. As well as have a plethora, plethora of options for you to be able to work together or potentially even collaborate together. My goal is to collaborate with every chronic illness warrior I can that has a goal to raise awareness and is wanting to thrive in their businesses. So reach out to me. And then I have the Inflamed Sisters Thriving podcast as well.

Yes, which I will be on soon. You guys can listen to the episode. I'll tag it when you get it up there.

All right, thanks so much.

All right, you have a wonderful day.

Thank you.

All right, y'all, that's a wrap. Thank you for listening, and I hope this conversation inspired you. Be sure to visit the website at craftedtothrive.com to check out the show notes and grab all the goodies that I or the guests mentioned in the show. Join us for our next one. In the meantime, remember, you are crafted to thrive.