Resilience and Kindness: Missy's Inspirational Story

Can a nurse's career completely transform in just three months? Join us on the Kindness Matters Podcast as we sit down with Missy Kirchstein, an RN with over 13 years of experience, who has made a remarkable pivot to becoming a wellness and lifestyle coach. During this episode, Missy shares her riveting journey through the pandemic, including her crucial work with the Nurse Family Partnership program. Discover how she transitioned from in-home visits to virtual consultations and the innovative strategies she employed to maintain the quality of care. Missy's story is a powerful testament to resilience and adaptability in the face of unprecedented challenges.

But that's not all—Missy also delves into her rapid transition from traditional nursing to becoming a board-certified nurse coach. She opens up about her motivations and the holistic approach she now takes in her coaching practice, emphasizing mindfulness, gratitude, and kindness in family dynamics. Additionally, Missy shares a deeply personal story about her godson, Sawyer Martin, whose tragic death inspired the "Be Kind, SP33" group. Through these heartfelt discussions, we explore the profound impact of simple acts of kindness and the strength of community support in honoring loved ones and creating a more compassionate world. Tune in for an episode filled with inspiration, practical advice, and heartfelt stories.

Transcript

Kindness Matters Podcast Interview With Coach

Speaker 1 0:00

This podcast is part of the Deluxe Edition Network. To find other great shows on the network, head over to DeluxeEditionNetworkcom. That's DeluxeEditionNetworkcom.

Speaker 2 0:14

Kindness, we see it all around us. We see it when someone pays for someone else's coffee or holds the door open for another person. We see it in the smallest of gestures, like a smile or a kind word. But it's different when we turn on the news or social media. Oftentimes what we hear about what outlets are pushing is the opposite of kind. Welcome to the Kindness Matters Podcast. Our goal is to give you a place to relax, to revel in stories of people who have received or given kindness, a place to inspire and motivate each and every one of us to practice kindness every day. Hey everybody, hello and welcome to the Kindness Matters podcast. I am your host, mike Rathbun, and, as you may have noticed in the beginning, I am a part of the Deluxe Edition Network. This show is a part of the Deluxe Edition Network, I should say, and I am contractually and morally obligated to tell you about the Deluxe Edition's Podcast of the Month. This month it is Hilf.

Speaker 2 1:21

Host and comedian Don Brody takes you through the annals of history with a special guest and history subject. Each episode, from Dillinger to Frankenstein, from the Crusades to freak shows, don brings her history degree and unfiltered sense of humor to deliver well-researched, deep dives that strip history naked and serve it up raw. Also, you're going to want to make sure to check out the show notes, where you'll find some links and discount codes for two companies. I've partnered with Sunday Scaries, a company that makes broad-spectrum CBD gummies, and Coffee Bros, who makes an amazing blend of coffees, and I use both of these products. They are nothing short of amazing. So check those out in the show notes and now let's get into the show. Hey, welcome to the show everybody. Oh you guys. I've got such a great guest on today. She has been an RN for 13 plus years and she is currently a wellness and lifestyle coach, supporting women to navigate their wellness and thrive in the skin that they're in. Please, welcome to the show, missy Kirstein.

Speaker 3 2:34

Yes.

Speaker 2 2:35

Hi Missy.

Speaker 3 2:36

Hello, how are you?

Speaker 2 2:39

I'm good, thank you. How are you Good? So, happy to have you here. Thank you, your second podcast. I'm honored, yeah super exciting, I am so honored. So as an RN for 13 years, that means now were you nursing during the pandemic.

Speaker 3 3:00

Yeah, I worked in public health during the pandemic, so that is.

Speaker 2 3:07

I can only imagine.

Speaker 3 3:09

But I worked in a specialized program called Nurse Family Partnership, so we partnered first time moms with their own personal nurse in my former job. So I did that OK. But yes, during the pandemic I was in public health.

Speaker 2 3:26

So I did that. Okay, but yes, during the pandemic I was in public health. Now, does that involve going to the new mom's house?

Speaker 3 3:31

Yeah, yep, so I was traveling. So at the time I worked for Sauk County Public Health, which is a neighboring county to where I live, and yeah, we would travel all over the county to wherever the moms felt most comfortable meeting, but mostly it was in-home visits.

Speaker 2 3:48

Okay, wow, and so that's one of those things you know, I think, because we were, all you know, told we weren't supposed to gather or what have you, and there was a lot of anxiety around seeing people and being in close contact with people, especially if they weren't family or immediate family or that kind of thing. So I'm guessing there was a lot of masking going on.

Speaker 3 4:18

So, yeah, we shifted from probably 99% in-person visits to 99% virtual visits within a matter of days, like you know, when they kind of locked everything down, yeah. So it became really difficult because some people don't do well, you know, over video or telephone, and some people do great. So it was a shift and some people do great. So it was a shift. And then, as we learned more and people got more comfortable, there was lots of masking, distancing, meeting outside. But you're in Minnesota, I'm in Wisconsin. Meeting outside in the winter is not usually a possibility.

Speaker 2 4:58

It's problematic.

Speaker 3 5:00

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, public places were mostly closed, so it was very interesting.

Speaker 2 5:08

Yeah, because public places, for the most part, were shut down. I mean, you know, restaurants, bars Not that you would meet a patient in a bar, although that could make a visit a little more fun Sometimes, that's where they worked and so we have done that before.

Speaker 3 5:25

but yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 5:26

Have you really?

Speaker 3 5:27

Yeah, yeah, we would go anywhere.

Speaker 2 5:30

Wow. So when did you, when did you switch?

Speaker 3 5:36

So I made I made the shift so kind of a personal story. My husband is retired already and has been for 14 years kind of a forced retirement, and so we always just kind of worked around my schedule. And when you work a nursing job and for somebody else it gets to be a little problematic when you're needing more time off than what they're wanting to give Right, more time off than what they're wanting to give.

Speaker 3 6:04

So I found nurse coaching as a certification and it was like, oh, I could, you know, make a three to five year plan on how I could start my own business and continue to work and take care of, you know, people in my community. So that was kind of the idea. I certified in October of last year just as like what's called a board certified nurse coach, and my three to five year plan became a three month plan and I went full time into my wellness and lifestyle coaching, or nurse coaching, in January. So yeah, I've been on my own since January.

Speaker 2 6:46

Talk about accelerated.

Speaker 3 6:47

Yeah. Yeah, it was not a three to five year plan, but I was like what's holding me back? Like if I don't do it now, you know why not Right?

Speaker 2 6:57

Oh, absolutely. Yep, yeah, I know a lot of well, it's easy. And you see those things that say, you know, don't wait for your dreams, go get them. Or you know the best time to do something is now, and, and that sounds good. But you're like, wait, I need some time. Nope, Just go ahead and do it. I was originally going to say what made you decide to go into coaching and why. Was it the pandemic's fault or something like that, but you answered it anyway.

Speaker 3 7:29

Yeah, yeah no. I definitely left a job that I loved. So that was not easy and most people, you know, don't leave jobs they love to. But again, it's a dream and you don't know unless you try. And I've learned through my husband's injury and disability and other family members illnesses that I care for that I'm like. Life's too short. How are you going to know? You know what's going to happen tomorrow, so let's just dive in Absolutely.

Speaker 3 7:58

The worst thing that can happen is I go and get a different you know nurse job. But this is going great, so I'm not thinking about it.

Speaker 2 8:09

I'm so sorry. I apologize. No, no, I interrupted you Go ahead. While you're coaching, are you at the same time keeping up with all of your nursing certifications?

Speaker 3 8:22

so I have still my registered nurse license and then, um, the coaching license is separate. So, like I said, it's called board certified nurse coach, um, but yeah, you have to do um continuing education for the coaching and things like that.

Speaker 2 8:38

But um, oh, um yeah, as well as an earthing.

Speaker 3 8:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:43

I know you're required. Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 3 8:46

Yeah, plus I'm a also a certified lactation consultant, so breastfeeding moms, um, and stuff like that, and then I do infant massage instruction, so I teach parents how to massage their babies for wellness, and things like that. So, lots of irons in the fire.

Speaker 2 9:06

You have a lot of irons in the fire. Yeah, my goodness, that's funny and not the same thing. But when you said baby massage it made me think I used in my former life still kind of my life but I had a home cleaning business and we belong to a chamber of commerce and there was, we had several chiropractors in there and they would talk about babies like infants and adjustments, and I'm like you can do that to a baby's body, but apparently it's very yeah, it's very helpful yeah, massage and chiropractic and you know you think about colicky babies and and all that.

Speaker 3 9:51

A lot of that is alignment, or sometimes even, like you know, just gassiness and digestion, and so all of the alignments and things can really help with that.

Kindness and Wellness Coaching

Speaker 2 10:01

So yeah, wow. So here you are, you're living your dream yeah that's awesome. Hey, everybody, we will be right back with more of my conversation with missy kirstein, but first let's say hi to another great podcast from the Deluxe Edition Network. Take it away, guys.

Speaker 1 10:32

Hello listeners and welcome to Quad Pro Quo. Right now you are probably thinking to yourself oh great, another movie podcast. Well, dear listener, you are probably thinking to yourself oh great, another movie podcast. Well, dear listener, you would be right. But throw in a couple of marriages, decades-long friendships and a shared property line and you have just another movie podcast with a shitload of drama Inspired by the iconic quid pro quo scene in Silence of the Lambs. Each week, one of us will pick a movie. It could be a childhood favorite, a classic film noir, an Academy Award winner or a complete dumpster fire that brings joy to that person's heart. The selector's objective To get us to love or, at the very least, not hate their pick. Will our marriages, our friendships and our neighborhoods survive? Find out each Thursday on Quad Pro Quo.

Speaker 2 11:40

Now, who are your clients primarily? They're primarily women, are they not?

Speaker 3 11:46

yeah, so I work mostly with women. I have um had a few male clients, but that's um, it's gone really well, but not my specialty. So, like with the area I'm in, it's mostly women and mostly moms, um, but yeah, a lot of times it's kind of becomes like if, if the dad you know the dad's in the picture it becomes kind of like a a family affair.

Speaker 2 12:08

So that's kind of you coach the whole family.

Speaker 3 12:10

Yeah, kind of.

Speaker 2 12:13

That's awesome.

Speaker 3 12:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2 12:14

And is it it's wellness and it's mindset? Do you practice mindset?

Speaker 3 12:19

Yeah, so mindfulness, gratitude, just really kind of like the client's the expert on their own life. But sometimes people don't know like the next step, like they're looking for something more, but they don't know like how to get there and so just like kind of figuring out their wellness journey is sometimes part of the plan. So just like kind of figuring out their wellness journey is sometimes part of the plan. And, like you know, as a woman we go through so many things. You know like becoming a mom and then you know for me, like I'm more midlife now and like thinking about my mom, who's older, and I'm taking care of her. You know, so, yeah, it's just like you take on the caregiver role in so many of aspects of your life. You know me as the nurse and the coach, but also as the mom, the daughter the mother.

Speaker 3 13:07

Yeah, so I think that's where it kind of comes in. It's kind of like the caring, kindness, gratitude, like all of the stuff rolled into you know one program.

Speaker 2 13:19

Sure sure Wow, stuff rolled into. You know one program? Sure, sure wow. But you also know a thing or two about kindness yeah don't you yep yes, you do um so talk to me a little bit and I think we got into this a little bit and I think we got into this a little earlier than I wanted. But we're here now and off we go.

Speaker 3 13:42

Um, there's a group on Facebook called Be Kind, sp33 yes and and you have a connection to that group yeah, my cousin who I grew up with, jessica Martin um, and her husband Joel Martin, started SP or, be kind, sp33 in honor of their son, sawyer Martin, who unfortunately we lost. It will be two years ago in July, and he was my godson, so oh my gosh, yeah, we lost him, I'm so sorry, to a suicide. Yes, very, very difficult to suicide.

Speaker 2 14:22

How do you mind if I ask how old he was?

Speaker 3 14:25

he was 16 at the time. So, oh my gosh, this last week we would have been celebrating his graduation, and so it's been kind of a a rough week. And with tragedy comes these opportunities to, you know, spread kindness and and change the narrative a little bit. So that's kind of where that came from.

Speaker 2 14:51

Yeah, and so this is a group in, is it? Sauk Prairie?

Speaker 3 14:57

Sauk Prairie, yep, yep.

Speaker 2 15:00

Okay, which is in Wisconsin, not far from Madison, I think?

Speaker 3 15:04

Yeah, it's about. Yeah, about 30 minutes from Madison.

Speaker 2 15:08

Okay, not too far.

Speaker 3 15:10

No.

Speaker 2 15:11

So if any of you out there know Madison, you know the area that we're talking about and I always think it's so great. Okay, it's not great, because a lot of these groups tend to come out of very tragic events. I know there's one here called the Anoka Kindness Rock Garden that is a memorial to another woman whose daughter committed suicide. There's a group around here that takes therapy dogs in the middle schools because the woman who founded the group, her son, attempted suicide. Thankfully he was not successful. But I think it's so important to have these groups out there that remind us to be kind, right and in that way honor those that we've lost.

Speaker 2 16:20

honor those that we've lost.

Speaker 3 16:23

Right, I think just I was thinking about this earlier. Just a simple act of kindness whether it's, you know, holding the door for somebody, or telling them that you like their outfit, or sending them a text saying hey, I'm thinking about you, or whatever it is like, can change the entire outlook of somebody that might be having a bad day. We all have stuff going on and you can't outwardly see it right, it's like you know whatever it is.

Speaker 3 16:55

but just like kindness is king, like spreading that as like I mean we talked about a pandemic If we made kindness the pandemic, you know, and spreading that around like it's contagious, you know, that is kind of like the attitude we like to think about.

Speaker 2 17:18

Absolutely, because just a simple kind act might have helped Sawyer hold on for one more day.

Speaker 3 17:28

Yeah.

Speaker 2 17:28

And one more day after that.

Speaker 3 17:31

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 17:33

We just never know. If somebody had taken the time to say how are you really?

Speaker 3 17:38

Yeah, yep, it's hard to know, also with kids especially, what's going on in their teenage minds. They don't think the process through all of the time.

Speaker 2 17:53

Yeah, and they're probably not going to open up.

Speaker 3 17:56

Right yeah.

Speaker 2 17:58

Voluntarily anyway.

Speaker 3 18:00

Yeah, so they also have Big Kind Fest coming up. So it's the first Kind Fest annual thing this year, september 28th, so that will be super cool. So another event spreading kindness, so yeah.

Speaker 2 18:22

Perfect, and this is going to be in that area that we already talked about.

Speaker 3 18:27

Yeah, culver Park, it's in Prairie du Sac and it's again, like I said, september 28th, from one to 7 PM.

Speaker 2 18:37

So what? Do you know what kind of things they're going to do there?

Speaker 3 18:39

Yeah, they're going to have like all sorts of games, like you know, a bags tournament and food trucks and food stands and vendor market and like mental health, like I don't like mental health awareness things, and like I'm going to have a stand for my coaching business and just lots of community resources available, so I think it should be so.

Speaker 2 19:07

You'll be a featured guest.

Speaker 3 19:09

Well, I'll have a stand there. I'm not necessarily a featured guest, but yeah, but live music, and I think it's just a way to get the community together and spread the be kind kind of word around all of the area communities.

Speaker 2 19:27

So yeah, cause that kind of stuff ripples out.

Speaker 3 19:32

Yeah, yeah, it kind of started with when this all happened. Um, my cousin Jesse, his Sawyer's mom and her friend sat down and they decided like mom and her friend sat down and they decided like how can we spread this word? And they came up with be kind yard signs, so signs you just stick in the yard, and it's like they had the area businesses that have like signs outside put be kind on their signs and so like it's so interesting now to see going to like other communities outside of the Sauk Prairie area have made their own be kind signs with their like school colors and and things like that. So it's, it's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 20:11

Um, wow yeah, and they also just did um, since Sawyer would have been graduating and obviously um wasn't able to walk across the graduation stage physically, although we know he was there watching. They gave several scholarships away in his name as well.

Speaker 2 20:33

Oh nice, the group.

Speaker 3 20:35

Yeah, yeah, be Kind SB33.

Speaker 2 20:37

That's so cool yeah.

Speaker 3 20:39

That is so cool, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 20:40

That is so cool, yeah, and a lot of, what a lot of kindness you are. You're a big kindness person.

Speaker 3 20:58

And a lot of that comes through in the work that you do, does it not, yeah? I think like, as I said, a caretaker in general. You have to have that kind of in your blood, you know's, it's the kindness, it's the caring, it's the understanding, it's the listening, it's compassion. You know all of that. You can't do a job like I do without having that, and so yeah, oh, for sure I do too, is monthly I give away free coaching sessions.

Speaker 3 21:26

So usually I just announced June 1st I'm giving away 80 free coaching sessions from June 1st to September. So that was my kind of gift to people, to kind of spread the word of coaching itself, and then also just like helping people figure out their wellness journey and and my way to keep giving back to my community.

Speaker 2 21:51

So I think I saw that now were you reaching out to teachers, so yesterday yeah, yesterday I did a podcast specifically for um teacher burnout.

Speaker 3 22:04

Recovering Educator was the lady. Her podcast but basically like that was kind of her plea is like we're ending the school year and teachers are feeling really burnt out and like how can they rejuvenate and refresh and like look at the next upcoming school year as a more positive thing.

Speaker 3 22:30

So it wasn't necessarily just for the teachers, but it's definitely something that we put out there you know, but it's for anybody, anybody that's interested in coaching or you think you might know somebody. It's just my gift. I love summer. June's my birthday month, so I was like I'm just going to throw that out there. Let's do it so happy birthday. Thanks, it's next week.

Speaker 2 22:52

Really.

Speaker 3 22:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 22:55

Oh wow, my wife's is the 15th.

Speaker 3 22:59

Oh, mine's the 11th we have. Okay, all right, yeah.

Speaker 2 23:04

She always kind of grouses, not grouses, she's. She's a goodth. We have a ton of friends in the family. Yeah, she always kind of grouses, not grouses. She's a good sport about it, but sometimes it happens to fall on Father's Day.

Speaker 3 23:12

Oh sure.

Speaker 2 23:13

So she has to share it.

Speaker 3 23:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2 23:16

But it's cool. So, June 11th happy birthday to Missy Kirstein. I got it right that time. You did Perfect. Yeah, we talk about teachers, but talk about burnout, holy crap. And in that respect, teachers and nurses have a lot in common, don't they?

Speaker 3 23:39

Oh yeah, yeah, I was telling you kind of about my nurse journey but when I took the nurse coach certification, a lot of the other nurses that were in my cohort were nurses who are really burned out. And you mentioned the pandemic. A lot of it was from the pandemic, especially like hospital nurses and and things like that pandemic, especially like hospital nurses and and things like that. But yeah, nurses and teachers I think suffer probably some of the most burnout in any sort of profession, along with, like you know, ems and and police and things like that. But yeah, definitely we're losing a lot For sure, Any kind of first responder.

Speaker 2 24:22

Yeah, kind of first responder yeah, but wow, so that's awesome. Yeah, well, mercy, mercy, gosh, mercy, missy, mercy, missy, missy, mercy, missy. It has been so great having you on. I really appreciate you taking the time to come on and talk to a guy who can't seem to talk, and I wish you the best of luck and the greatest success in your business. We'll have all the links you want in the show notes and if you're looking for whether you're a mom or an educator or a nurse and you just need to figure out the way, missy's your gal yeah, thank you so much for having me you're so incredibly welcome.

Speaker 2 25:14

Uh, thank you so much, yeah, bye-bye bye such a great program with missy kirstein Second time doing a podcast. I think she did a great job. Can we get a little applause there for Missy? Nice job, missy.

Speaker 2 25:33

I think there are so many lessons that we can take from this episode. For example, if you have a dream, go for it. Go for it and make that dream a reality, and maybe it turns out it's not the dream that you wanted, that's okay. Get a new dream and go for that too. And second, as always I mean this is the Kindness Matters podcast Don't forget to be kind, because a simple act of kindness really could literally save a life. So great episode all the way around. I love that. I hope you were able to take something from that episode and make it your own. And yeah, that will do it for this episode of the Kindness Matters podcast. We will be back again next week, as always, but of course, until then, be that person who roots for others, who tells a stranger they look amazing and encourages others to believe in themselves and their dreams. You've been listening to the Kindness Matters podcast. I am your host, mike Rathbun. Have a fantastic week.