What happens when a kid labeled “slow” in school grows up to lead a national movement to bring proper healthcare into classrooms? You get Terri Brinston—nurse, founder, and unapologetic advocate for the well-being of every student. Jennifer “JJ” Sutton sits down with Terri, the powerhouse behind My School Nurse, to unpack the chaos of building a mission-driven business in an overlooked niche. Terri shares how she turned pain into purpose, why personal branding terrified her, and what it really takes to serve students in a system that’s stretched too thin. From surviving COVID to challenging outdated school health norms, her story is both deeply personal and wildly inspiring. This one’s for every founder who’s ever doubted their worth—and fought to make a difference anyway.
Key Takeaways:
1️⃣ You Don’t Need It All Figured Out to Start
Terri didn’t set out to be a founder—she saw a gap and filled it. That leap sparked My School Nurse.
2️⃣ Personal Branding Isn’t Optional
Terri avoided being the face of her company—until she realized no one could tell her story better.
3️⃣ Rejection Isn’t Personal (Even If It Feels Like It)
“No” used to knock Terri down for months. Now, she keeps moving and doesn’t tie her worth to it.
Timestamps
01:25 Terri's Journey Begins
04:35 Inspiration Behind My School Nurse
09:50 The Importance of School Nursing
12:36 Challenges in the Education System
17:06 Aha Moments in Nursing
18:25 Starting a Business: The Reality
25:08 Getting Comfortable with Uncomfortability
26:19 Building Community Through Shared Experiences
28:16 Resilience and Personal Growth
30:08 Navigating Rejection and Acceptance
32:14 The Importance of Respect and Fit in Business
34:15 Vision for the Future of Education
37:07 Gratitude and Reflection on the Journey
39:13 Lessons Learned from Adversity
42:11 Looking Ahead: Blessings and Opportunities
🔗 Connect with Terri
Website: https://terribrinston.com/about/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terri-brinston/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terri.brinston
X: https://x.com/NurturingWellGF
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:00.955)
Alrighty, welcome to Hello Chaos, a weekly podcast exploring the messy and chaotic lives and minds of founders, entrepreneurs and innovators. Each week I get the privilege to speak with founders across the spectrum of business, founders from different industries at different stages, from startups to mature businesses of all shapes and sizes. Our listeners get to hear the real, the raw, the unvarnished viewpoints getting in.
incredible insights on what it takes to start a business, to scale a business, become a better founder, a CEO, or a better business leader. Today, I'm so thrilled to have her on our show. Our guest is Terri Brinston. She is the founder and CEO of My School Nurse and the CEO of Nurturing Wellness Group Foundation. Welcome, Terri. Welcome to the chaos.
Terri Brinston RN (00:55.65)
Thank you. Happy to be here.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:57.905)
I'm so excited. So just, you've done a lot. You've got a huge story to tell. So start us out with just getting us level set. What inspired you to start your journey, start your business?
Terri Brinston RN (01:12.302)
Well, think, well, thank you so much, Jennifer, for having me. I'm very excited to be on this show. I think that the title of it intrigued me. I just know. Right, so I think I read it one day when I was just struggling with something. I was like, I think I wanted to be on this show. But I think my journey actually selected me. I don't know if that makes sense.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:21.503)
It's pretty accurate for our world,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:39.236)
yeah, no, it does make sense, but yeah, I wanna hear more.
Terri Brinston RN (01:42.7)
Yeah, I started, I'll start when I was, when I believe that it started, which was when I was a young girl. I was, which was many, many, years ago, I was a student in an elementary school and I was sitting in my classroom, minding my own business, excited about being in school. I was a young girl. I was, you know, popular and, you know, just bouncing around and.
the teacher, one of the principal and one of these teachers in the district came to the door and asked me to come out into the hallway. And when I came out in the hallway, she said, okay, Terry, we're gonna be moving you to another classroom. And she said, you your test came back and you have some challenges. And so we're gonna move you to the special ed classes. And so from that point on, she, that's what she said.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:41.364)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (02:41.464)
But what I heard, okay, what I heard was you're dumb, you're stupid, you're ugly, nobody's gonna like you anymore because you're gonna be separated from everybody from this point on. And so I think that that was the beginning of my journey because it really made me start questioning my, who I was as a young person. And through...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:51.687)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:04.658)
Yeah.
Where you fit in, how do you belong? Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (03:09.398)
Yeah, where do I fit it? Yeah, my whole identity was changed at that point. And so then I started, you know, adding certain things or believing this lie that I told myself by, you know, I'm on the playground and people running away from me. OK, nobody likes me anymore. You know, it's like all of these things. And so, of course, I carried that through high school and became very, very self-conscious and very
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:24.648)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:29.267)
way.
Terri Brinston RN (03:37.814)
low self-esteem and tried very, you know, tried to hide my secret. And that's how I really placed it. That this was my secret, that I was a learning, a struggling reader. So I must be stupid and I don't want anyone to know this. And so I really embraced this. And so my outlook, you know, my, my viewpoint for my life was going to be just, you know, I don't know, just it was not going to be bright.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:06.249)
Right.
Terri Brinston RN (04:06.954)
And so that's where my journey started.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:09.695)
So how did, what inspired you to start then my school nurse? Because I'm so intrigued with that concept and I know other listeners will be too. So what started that?
Terri Brinston RN (04:16.299)
Yeah!
Terri Brinston RN (04:22.676)
Right. Well, you know, I became a nurse, obviously. My dad, after I graduated from high school, my dad was had cancer and he was on hospice. And I had an opportunity to care for him and he said, Terry, you should be a nurse. And so. OK, OK.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:28.543)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:42.547)
Yeah, is. My mom was a nurse for 50 years before she retired. She was geriatric, you know, worked in nursing homes and all that. But it is, it's a true gift of somebody that not everybody's built for that. I grew up in, my dad was all, I grew up in group homes.
Terri Brinston RN (04:51.52)
Okay, yeah. Uh-huh.
Terri Brinston RN (05:00.896)
Absolutely.
Terri Brinston RN (05:04.878)
Mm-hmm.
Terri Brinston RN (05:11.138)
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:11.139)
or nursing homes. And all my other siblings are in healthcare in some form or fashion. And, you know, we all, cause we all lived it. Like my brother's a CPA, but he only works for his accounting firm only does nursing home clients across the country. My sister's in, was a special needs teacher. That's now, she's now up, runs a school.
Terri Brinston RN (05:30.862)
of
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:40.863)
for that and my brother, my other brother works at Abbott Labs. So we all kind of have it and I was like I got into marketing in a healthcare firm. That's how I kind of entered the space but I knew early on like working in nursing homes of this is, I don't like the smells, I can't deal with like drool, I had a.
Terri Brinston RN (05:52.568)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:09.425)
I had an issue with drooling body fluids or whatever. And my mom was like, ew, clearly this will never be your path. And I'm like, no. But my mom was so protective of her industry, the nurse's role, and making sure that she was always like, it's not for everybody, it's truly.
Terri Brinston RN (06:16.696)
fruit.
Terri Brinston RN (06:21.496)
Thank
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:39.035)
truly a gift. So the fact that your dad, yeah, is, your dad was like, saw that in you.
Terri Brinston RN (06:40.792)
Right, Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. So God bless, God bless all your family. Cause that it's not a, it's a very difficult profession. And especially as, you know, as a young woman who had that type of me specifically having those low, you know, self-esteem and self-limiting beliefs and things like that. But when my dad told me when I was caring for him,
with my mom, he looked at me and he said, you should be a nurse. And I was like, me? You know, I'm the dumb one. What do mean I should be the nurse? So anyway, from that, that's where the seed was planted for me to go into nursing. And of course I had to work really hard to go through school and to achieve this. But I was working as a pediatric nurse and raising my family.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:15.603)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (07:39.752)
and had an opportunity to look at another option. You know, I miss my kids, know, nurses work long hours, 12 hour shifts and my babies, they were, you know, just growing up and I was missing it all. And so I had an opportunity to work at a school to teach a health occupation class. And so I took that position, but I started recognizing the school that I currently was working at didn't have a school nurse.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:47.155)
Yeah, they do. Yep.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:53.535)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (08:07.404)
And so anytime something happened, know, somebody passes out, call this person. I'm I'm teaching, you know? And so, you know, I'm running down the hallway, like, okay, we need to, we need to handle this. So I started kind of subcontracting myself out to the school that I was working with, my nursing services and education and policy procedure development and things like that, and helping them develop like a healthy living advisory committees and different things. so.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:10.335)
There I go, go to Terry.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:29.043)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:35.337)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (08:35.884)
I said, hey, you know, this school needs it. I wonder if anyone else needs this type of service. And so that's when I started My School Nurse. And so what I do is I help schools to make sure that they have the proper policies and procedures, make sure that they have, that they're following the federal and state guidelines. I make sure that their staff is trained and that their parents is aware.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:41.139)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:45.023)
Well that.
Terri Brinston RN (09:03.08)
of what type of support the schools can provide them. So it's a win-win. love, I work with nurses and social workers. I have a gamut of professionals who we subcontract for schools. So they may, you know, may not need a full-time nurse or can't afford one, but we make sure that they have those services.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:03.103)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:20.767)
Right, that's I was like, what a smart business model to go into, especially with budgets being scrutinized and stuff to come from a fractional perspective while still being compliant and providing care for the students. I mean, I think that's fantastic.
Terri Brinston RN (09:32.098)
All
Terri Brinston RN (09:38.072)
Right. know, it's people don't really realize and I challenge your listeners to ask the question, ask your school district, do they have a nurse? And you would be surprised at how many people do not. They provide nurses services and a lot of times what I'm finding when we go into schools is the secretaries are providing the services.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:52.798)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:00.463)
That's exactly we we and I think it's an a false assumption that we make because we think well when I was in school there was a nurse and stack and Yeah, when and and we had to learn that with I have four kids so my second had a lot of allergies so it was into as we started moving to different schools how quickly we realized of
Terri Brinston RN (10:05.442)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Terri Brinston RN (10:23.054)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:26.527)
Not every school had a nurse on site. Not every school knew how to deal with like the EpiPens and you know how to administer even just to keep one on on file. So yeah, it was kind of like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I grew up with a with a school nurse on staff. So yeah, I would yeah, ask all listeners who have kids. You know, you need to.
Terri Brinston RN (10:44.269)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (10:48.814)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:54.968)
I guarantee you would be surprised if you ask your school.
Terri Brinston RN (10:57.196)
Yeah, yeah. Prior to COVID, think 76 % of schools did not have a school nurse, which is very scary, especially when we have these children. know, kids get a lot sicker than we did. You know, they got a lot going on. And so, you know, having even a consultant, you know, to help to make sure that the staff is trained, to make sure you have your policies in place. And so,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:08.115)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:13.351)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:26.526)
Right.
Terri Brinston RN (11:27.042)
We work with schools all over the country. We come in and if they do need a nurse, we find or need services, mental health services or counselors or whatever, we find the professionals in their area that they are guested in their community. So that's what I do. I love it. I love it. I love it because the kid is the reason why we're in school. These are the children, we have to serve them. And so we have to serve them holistically. We want them there.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:40.744)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:51.443)
Right.
Terri Brinston RN (11:55.628)
We want them, they're safe. And so it's our responsibility to make sure that they're, you know, that they have everything that they need. And so I take care of that, you know, administrators, they're so busy doing administrative stuff, right? Like I have my master's and school administration. So, you know, I know what administrators do. Right, I understand them, right?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:07.508)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:10.877)
They got a lot of other stuff, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:19.059)
So you're like, speak their language.
Terri Brinston RN (12:23.168)
So, you know, what I do is I'm asking the administrators to, okay, you don't need nothing else on your plate. Let me figure out that stuff for you, your health and wellness and your training and provide those services for you so you don't have to. So that's what I do.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:38.279)
Yeah. So I know you said that, you know, you love taking care of the kids. What's been the most rewarding part of the journey? Is it doing it for the kids or is there a special moment that you're like, this is why I do it?
Terri Brinston RN (12:53.846)
You know, I will say...
that I'll give you a story if you don't mind. Okay, so I was working at this one school and as a teacher, I was working as a teacher and they called me out of the classroom because they had a student that had passed out. So I'm running down the hallway and this is what I'm seeing. I'm seeing this young lady unconscious being held up by one of the teachers pouring pop in her mouth.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:59.783)
Yeah, please.
Terri Brinston RN (13:26.83)
Like literally pouring coca-cola in her mouth. So this You got it because I said
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:29.449)
Yeah, I was like, you're from the Midwest.
was like, you're from the Midwest. I was like.
Terri Brinston RN (13:38.68)
Soda!
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:39.593)
So,
Terri Brinston RN (13:42.124)
That was my telltale.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:43.305)
That was your telltale. That was like my, so I grew up in North Carolina, you know, and then I moved to the Midwest and that was like, I would, we called Coke, like Coke, whether it was, and it would be, well, what kind of Coke do you want? You're like, I want a Dr. Pepper or a Cheerwine or a Sprite. That was, Coke was a universal, you know, language for soda. And when I moved up to Indiana, it was a pop, pop, pop. like, what's pop? When I was like, when you,
Terri Brinston RN (14:00.942)
that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:12.777)
said that I'm like, you're from the Midwest.
Terri Brinston RN (14:17.39)
Yes, Michigan. We say pop.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:20.819)
That's right. I still, now I'll use it down here. Now I'm back down in the South after, you know, but now it's like, so it's fun to hear that. Cause I, I've used that and people are looking at me like, you're not from around here.
Terri Brinston RN (14:26.71)
Okay.
Terri Brinston RN (14:37.838)
That's okay. That makes more sense. don't know. I'm talking about Coke and that, Fago, not okay anyway. So yeah, thank you for bringing that up. Okay. So yeah, from Michigan, which I'm very cold right now. We're about to get hit with a horrible snowstorm tonight. So we had an ice storm last week. anyway.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:37.951)
Okay, sorry, that's funny.
That's right. Yeah. So.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:51.984)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:57.651)
Don't envy you. It was 70 degrees here. We had our little summer blip in February.
Terri Brinston RN (15:03.074)
that is just cool.
That is cruel.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:11.263)
All right, I'm sorry, I'll get us back on track. So you walked in and a student was, or a teacher was shoving soda pop down kids' throats.
Terri Brinston RN (15:20.078)
down there, Coca-Cola down their throat. Now the child is unconscious. She's lifting him up, like holding her, I was a girl, holding her up and pouring this liquid in her mouth while she was unconscious. So I'm looking at this and saying, what in the, you know what? And I'm like running down the hallway, cause I'm thinking, stop, stop. So the rationale for this act,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:34.636)
my goodness.
Terri Brinston RN (15:49.952)
was that the teacher or the staff member, they knew that this child was diabetic. So they was assuming that she was having a diabetic episode and she needed some type of glucose or sugar. So that she was like, let's give her some sugar. Okay, wrong. Okay. We don't never put anything in someone's mouth when they are unconscious for one. And so anyway, so you say, what is my aha moment or what was, you know,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:07.145)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:13.119)
not just, yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (16:19.894)
I think that knowing that what I do can ultimately save someone's life. You know, we take it lightly and sometimes schools or people, know, we are really reactive and sometimes schools are very reactive to the point where you can lose someone's life before you say, maybe we need to change our policies to address this. And so I think that that's my...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:26.089)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:45.459)
Right, yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (16:49.838)
I just think we need to be proactive and that's what motivates me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:53.223)
Yeah, well, and not just save lives, but also, I mean, that's that's key, but just everyday peace of mind to parents. And I think to from a teacher's perspective, I would want to know that I'm that I'm well trained or informed so that I feel protective and safe as an employee of that school. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (17:00.407)
Yes.
Terri Brinston RN (17:09.036)
right.
Terri Brinston RN (17:13.55)
Absolutely, because you want, mean, teachers give so much, you know, they give their time, their talent, they give extra time, they give their money. And, you know, we know that they, you know, they love what they do and they love the students. You're right. And they want to provide quality support for their students. Of course, this staff member was not, her intent was not to do harm, but she was doing what she thought was right. Absolutely.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:32.115)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:37.671)
No, she panicked, she probably like, you know, just panicked and not trained in the way to like crisis. So as you started, you know, My School Nurse, what challenges did you face kind of creating that to be a business, like a true scalable business?
Terri Brinston RN (18:01.484)
The main challenge that I run into is administrators understanding that they need me. You know, when you are starting.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:09.567)
Mm.
proactively need you versus an incident creates the need.
Terri Brinston RN (18:16.8)
Right, right. So, you know, when you're tapping into something that's a little new, and I kind of look at what I do is new, okay, we have school nurses, yes. It is a field. I'm not trying to put school nurses out of business, but you know, some schools, they just can't afford it. another thing, a lot of times they don't know what they don't know.
and so they're, they're looking at, okay, I have to get these test scores up. I got to get this attendance. I got to get this behavior issue under control. You know, I have to, you know, handle my budget. And so it's just not on their radar because that's not their area of expertise. And I understand that. So getting the market to really embrace what I do as a, as a, as needed is, the most challenging thing, I think. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:49.161)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:59.987)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:13.439)
What's been the, like, did you have any preconceptions going in of like, I'm gonna start a business. I've heard it's this way. And then you got in there and you're like, they've all lied. Have you had any of those moments or any kind of myths that you would debunk?
Terri Brinston RN (19:35.95)
Well, I kind of looked at it as when I started going into business, no, I didn't. wanted to into business. I had no idea what business, starting a business was, right? I figured, you guys need me. Let me go in and provide this. I no idea that I had to do marketing. I just opened my door and put an email out, you know? No, that didn't happen. know, never in my life that I
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:51.007)
If I build it, they will come.
Right. Why are they not all flooding in here?
Terri Brinston RN (20:04.29)
think that I had to educate my consumer, right, on my product, or I had to have, you know, because I know my content, I know what I do, I've been doing it for, you know, 30 years. But what I don't know is I don't, it's, you know, I still struggle with because I'm not comfortable with marketing and selling myself and, you know, the services that I provide, you know, so no.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:07.679)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:13.759)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:24.819)
Yeah. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (20:32.718)
I really still think I'm being initiated. You have those people selected. I'm looking around, am I being punked? Like, what is going on? Why am I still struggling? It's like, no, it's hard. It's hard work. yeah, no, it's not easy at all. And I was not expecting it to be this hard.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:36.511)
You
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:41.279)
That's right. Why don't they understand?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:50.025)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:56.669)
Yeah, think that's, I think that's a, it's an echo that we hear across kind of the entrepreneurship of, whoa, this is a lot harder than I thought. And also just from a, you know, founder to founder, think because if we're the face of that brand, it does, it puts us in a, gotta get ready to be uncomfortable, to put ourselves out there.
Terri Brinston RN (21:01.902)
Mm-hmm.
Terri Brinston RN (21:06.371)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (21:15.202)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:23.231)
and share the expertise. I've been going through that kind of evolution myself as my own little self discovery after a decade of running the business of, so I had coaches that were, John, you have a lot of information. You need to push it out there. And I was like, but that's why they want to do business with me. They're like, yeah, but they don't know what you know. like,
That's been my evolution. So I feel your pain. So, oh, go ahead. Yeah, please.
Terri Brinston RN (21:57.486)
know, one of the things I wanted to speak to that if you don't you know, me sharing my background and how shy I was and, you know, going into business, you know, becoming a nurse was enough. But now I have to put myself out there. And so for many, many years, my face was nowhere. Like my face was not on my website. you know, I had a lot of people that I.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:21.951)
Ciao now.
Terri Brinston RN (22:25.12)
I had to go out and speak for me, but I realized that no one can speak for me. You know what I'm saying? No one really has the experience or the passion the way that I do. And so I recognized that I had to come out around and speak to my clients and to let people know who I am. And I think that that was really a turning point. I'm starting to see.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:30.804)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:44.607)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:49.317)
aha moment for you. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (22:49.466)
People are starting to recognize me and they're like, that's Terry. That's the nurse in this like before I was like, okay this company What is that? What is it? What's my school nurse? Why do I need it? And so yes, you do have to Yeah, you got to come out Yeah, I'm with you Jennifer I'm with you we're together
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:04.638)
I know I'm telling you that's been that was my I'm in that journey in that space right now of like putting myself out there is it's it's way hard I don't think people realize because I always thought no no I'm building a brand I have the company I don't I don't need to have my I want it to be bigger than me so I didn't want to really wrap the brand around me and and now I've realized
Terri Brinston RN (23:28.622)
Right.
No make sense.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:32.239)
Yeah, and so now we've realized, know, Bright and the agency that I own has its own voice and tone and messaging strategy, but I bring a different element and I have my own. So I'm lifting up Bright, but I've got to put myself out there to give some more credibility to both. So it's been a long journey.
Terri Brinston RN (24:01.368)
Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:02.313)
Chandler's laughing at me going, because he hears me bitch about this all the time. Because it's uncomfortable for, I'm an introvert. Chandler is also a huge introvert. I'm pushing him to go, you need to put yourself out there too. Build your personal brand. He's like, no.
Terri Brinston RN (24:05.805)
I'm
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:26.431)
It's hard, it's really hard to, I know he just does a little wave of the, like to the side. But yeah, just, one of the best, the advice that I've heard over the years is, John, entrepreneurship and building a business to scale, you gotta get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Terri Brinston RN (24:27.66)
He throws his hand out and says...
Right there you go.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:55.101)
I mean, I took that as, yeah, I'm dealing, you deal with, I'm not an accountant, but I gotta know the numbers and I've gotta become kind of a financier, know, the financial person and you're not really a operations person, but you gotta know the operations to build your systems and your processes. you know, being in those uncomfortable spaces or as you grow and scale, another founder put it, I just was like, with every level, every milestone you hit growth,
you get into uncomfortable spaces because you've got to expand and adapt and pivot. But somebody else said, no, no, new level, new devil. And I'm like, I love that phrase because it's so true. And then I've kind of adopted the the. You know, as part of our world, we've got to we learn, we unlearn, we relearn and then we rinse and repeat over and over.
Terri Brinston RN (25:37.976)
So true.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:52.731)
again but yeah. Aren't we all? I'm ready. I'm so ready. We'll get there Terry. I'm telling you. We'll get there. But because I think if we and you know this is and this is what I'm learning and when I say like I'm really new so I've had my business for over 10 years right. It's only been in the last
Terri Brinston RN (25:53.11)
Never arrived. I'm ready to arrive.
Terri Brinston RN (26:01.614)
you
Terri Brinston RN (26:06.702)
That's my prayer for sure.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:21.919)
two months, three months that I've put myself out there. The podcast has helped. So we've been doing the podcast for almost, for two and a half years. That was me putting myself out there, having founder conversations. And it's helped me just hearing other people's journeys and knowing that we're kind of building a more connected community, hearing the similar stories. We all have our very similar themes.
Terri Brinston RN (26:23.758)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:51.495)
and issues, I find it fascinating. We're trying to calculate this from a stats perspective, but I would say 90 % of the founders that we talk to, and we've talked to hundreds, we've heard more that are like us, Terry, introverted. Or we call, I call ourselves like maybe learned extroverts is what the terminology we're hearing of.
Terri Brinston RN (27:12.398)
Mm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:19.731)
Because as founders, we've had to learn to be more extroverted. It drains the crap out of us like no other. Like Wednesdays are my recording days. I do multiple recording sessions. I am zapped after this. But I enjoy it, but it zaps me, right? But yeah, it's just, we are gonna arrive.
Terri Brinston RN (27:27.99)
it does.
Terri Brinston RN (27:34.897)
huh.
Terri Brinston RN (27:39.47)
Cause you're out.
Terri Brinston RN (27:48.738)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:48.831)
because I'm feeling it. I'm feeling even the three month momentum.
Terri Brinston RN (27:54.542)
Well, that's funny you say that. Since COVID, I want to say I had a near-death experience with COVID. I got really, really sick. But since that, yeah, I had COVID and was on a ventilator in the hospital for a month. And this was in the very, very beginning.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:54.719)
We're getting out there.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:04.005)
from, did you say because of COVID that you were?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:14.719)
when they didn't really have all the medication and all that. my goodness.
Terri Brinston RN (28:18.414)
Right. They didn't know what was going on and people were dying. And so after my healing process from that, that's when I started kind of feeling a sense of urgency. You we all have our point in time where we recognize that we got to do what we got to do. And I started doing podcasts. So I started, you know, attending different shows like yours and speaking and telling my story.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:25.321)
scary.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:44.775)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (28:48.052)
And like you, that's making me come out a little bit more, you know? And so, yeah. Yeah. So, yep.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:51.763)
Yeah, get more comfortable. Yeah. What is something that you found during your whole journey? Because you've been doing this for over a decade, like well over a decade. What has surprised you the most about yourself?
Terri Brinston RN (29:03.32)
Yeah. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (29:11.886)
myself.
Terri Brinston RN (29:17.827)
My resilience. I think that in the beginning, when I first started, I would get knocked down because of a no. It would take me out for a couple of months. It's like, man, because it's so personal. It's personal. They didn't reject the product or my services. They rejected me. And that's how I internalized it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:31.037)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:42.308)
That's how we take it. That's right.
Terri Brinston RN (29:45.986)
And I think that if I look at my growth over the years, you know, I don't, you know, it's like, okay, well, all right, well, let me go on. This is not for you. And so I don't take it as personal. And I think that that would be the most, the biggest difference in me that really kind of, cause I'm a very sensitive person. Like I'm a nurse. care about everything and everything.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:55.337)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:11.113)
That's right, you are...
Terri Brinston RN (30:12.75)
You know, I'm just very, too much to the point, just laugh, just sensitive. You know, I love people, you know, it's like, I care what you think and what you say. And so for me to get to that point where I'm okay with you saying no, you know, that's growth for me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:22.334)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:28.115)
Yeah, that's right. I think we all had to realize either it's not a right fit for whatever, you know, and I've had to learn of I'm not a right fit for everybody. People might go, you're not the right, know, bright, it's not the right fit for us, but I've also gone, I can recognize when this is not gonna be a good fit for all of us and it's okay. That's right, because it.
Terri Brinston RN (30:50.318)
And it's okay. It's okay that it's not a good fit for me. You know what I'm saying? Before it was like, okay, everybody, everybody, know, of course, but you're right. I definitely had to get to the point where it's like, you know what? I have an opinion in this and I need to be happy and comfortable and it's just not a good fit for me either. So that's a good point. Thanks for that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:57.886)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:05.076)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:09.919)
That's right. Yeah. Not everybody needs, know, gets the pleasure, the privilege to work with us.
Terri Brinston RN (31:19.746)
There you go. Absolutely. There you go.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:22.087)
right. Let's protect our team. Because yeah, we've had to I've had to fire a few clients because of verbally abusive to our team. People get ugly when it comes to marketing agencies and very disrespectful. And I'm always like, why are you yelling like that? We're like, we're not curing cancer here. We're putting out an ad campaign of social media like, let's bring it down. We're not.
Terri Brinston RN (31:37.326)
Mm-hmm.
Terri Brinston RN (31:48.556)
Yeah, need something.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:51.603)
Yeah, and then we're like, I don't think we're the right fit. This is not good for anybody. And we started doing the no asshole rule of if you're an asshole, we don't want to work with you. I think every business should have that rule.
Terri Brinston RN (32:01.742)
you
Terri Brinston RN (32:06.573)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (32:09.952)
You know what? I think I'm adopting that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:12.031)
That's right. Take it. It's my gift to you, Terry. I'm gonna flip the last question a little bit. So what have you recognized about yourself that you wish other people that like that you recognize about yourself and you love about yourself but you wish other people recognized more?
Terri Brinston RN (32:36.588)
Okay, say that again, I'm sorry.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:38.057)
So what is something that you love about yourself that you have found that you, know, it's something really special that you think like, this is a great trait, but not a lot of people recognize it. And you want other people to kind of recognize those, special trait.
Terri Brinston RN (32:42.094)
Mm-hmm.
Terri Brinston RN (32:56.878)
think I love the fact I'm that's a such a Jennifer this is a great question I love the fact that I generally care for people I think that in our world and where we are especially now this is very relevant I care about people it doesn't matter
who, what, where, what they're doing, how they're living. I just care about people. And I think that I wish that more people would be like that, you know, to accept people where they are, who they are, you know, we don't, and accept and agree is different. I can accept, you know, that this is who you are and I'm okay with that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:44.83)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:56.372)
Right.
Terri Brinston RN (33:56.514)
I don't want to agree with your views or whatever. It doesn't matter. I accept you and I care for you. And so I think I would love to see more of that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:02.473)
Yeah.
That's right. And be more respectful in that manner. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (34:09.742)
Yeah, that's what it comes at because when we respect each other we treat each other well, you know, and you know We it's very difficult for me to be disrespectful to you if I if I care for you So Yeah
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:15.059)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:21.661)
Right. We need to be more loving. More love. Let's put it out there. Okay, so if you could change two things about your business. I gave you a magic wand and two things could be changed. What would those two things be?
Terri Brinston RN (34:38.922)
about my internal business or about the market.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:42.471)
well, if that would change your business. Yeah. For my school nurse, like if you were like, these are two things that I would, if I could change about the business.
Terri Brinston RN (34:54.606)
Wow, that's a great question.
Terri Brinston RN (35:02.316)
I think I would.
No, I would, I don't know. I think I would have more partners that specialize in different things. So for example, right now, I'm the CEO and of course I have people that work with me, but I don't really have experts in certain areas that can really, so that we can kind of collaborate.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:24.553)
Right.
Terri Brinston RN (35:34.796)
I would love to have more of collaboration. Yeah, so, you know, I'm a nurse, I'm a teacher, you know, I have this experience being in a school, but I wish I had more people in my internal administration that had certain skill sets that we would collaborate a little bit more than me just being the boss and just doing what I'm asking you to do. I would love to have changed the structure in that way, if that makes sense.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:34.857)
to scale the services.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:53.597)
Okay. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:02.879)
That's interesting. It does make sense. I'm feeling you. And then what else would you put, what else would you change?
Terri Brinston RN (36:11.054)
what else would I change? Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:14.463)
When you said the market, you talking about like, the school systems need to know that they need a school nurse. It's processes. Like it should be a priority.
Terri Brinston RN (36:21.878)
That one, I would just go pop a couple of administrators over their heads and say, you need me. You don't know this, but you need me. So yeah, I would, you know, I think that the industry, you know, everybody is trying to get their job done, right? And it's no shade on administrators at all. They got stuff that they need to do.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:28.307)
You, smack, smack, smack. Yeah. That's great.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:43.913)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (36:51.31)
and all of this extra stuff has been piled on them. know, I mean, yeah. Yes, losing funding and they just, you know, they've inherited this mess, this chaos. It was the pun, right? They've inherited it. And so I'm just trying to lighten their load.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:54.387)
Yeah, well, especially like today's political climate with the threat of Department of Education being, yeah, funding, ugh.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:07.229)
Yeah. That's right. They live in chaos.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:19.049)
Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (37:19.724)
because I know that they didn't, when they went to school to be an administrator or a teacher, they didn't take on all this stuff that's being thrown at education right now. And so I understand that and I embrace that. I just wish they would allow me to come in and share what I can do with my community. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:30.397)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:41.917)
Yeah, well maybe this podcast will get their attention. We'll put it out there. Okay, so Tara, if we met a year from now, next February, I'm coming to Michigan, maybe not, we'll have to meet up somewhere warm. it's, what would we be celebrating? What would I be cheering you on with for toasting a success?
Terri Brinston RN (37:58.958)
I'm in the slumber.
Terri Brinston RN (38:10.222)
I've arrived.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:11.624)
You've arrived.
Terri Brinston RN (38:13.526)
Yes, yes. I want to arrive and what that looks like is schools are embracing the fact that they need help and they're receiving the help and I have a village of healthcare workers that are pouring into these schools and truly helping these young people to reach their full potential. Well that is what we're going to toast. There we go.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:14.793)
Let's make that happen.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:23.795)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:39.231)
That's what we're gonna toast for. All right, we're manifesting it. Put it out there. All right, so if you had to sum up your entrepreneurial journey, entrepreneurial, hate this word, your founder journey in one word, what would that word be?
Terri Brinston RN (38:43.54)
I receive it.
Terri Brinston RN (38:52.106)
Okay.
Terri Brinston RN (38:57.229)
Grateful.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:59.423)
That's a good one. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (39:00.524)
I think grateful. Yeah. It's had, it's had a lot of ups and downs. I've learned a lot. you know, you think as you're going through trials that, you know, it's just, it's hurts, it's painful. It's a struggle. But once you go through it and you get to the other side, you're able to say, that's why I had to go through that because I had this coming up. I just kind of look at my journey as being really a big old training ground.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:10.889)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:15.474)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:29.469)
Yeah, it's lessons learned. Whether they are lessons or they're, or wins. Like, I stopped using failures anymore or fail, you know, fail forward. I'm like, uh-uh, not using that anymore. It's just lessons.
Terri Brinston RN (39:30.092)
that has, yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (39:36.446)
Right. They're winged.
Terri Brinston RN (39:43.246)
There you go just lessons and Some lessons are harder than others You know, but they're lessons
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:50.419)
Yes.
Yeah, what's been the biggest lesson for you?
Terri Brinston RN (39:57.9)
The biggest lesson for me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:58.643)
that you're like, never want to live through that again.
Terri Brinston RN (40:02.764)
wow.
Terri Brinston RN (40:08.962)
Well, you I'll do a little plug. My book, I wrote a book, Grateful for the Journey Surviving COVID-19, where I talk about my struggle with COVID and how I lost my memory. started just really, really quick. I lost my memory and I started, my doctor wanted me to start journaling so that I can kind of familiarize myself with some things.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:27.935)
Whoa.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:37.471)
Right, was this after you, so I know you were in the ventilator in the hospital. This was like, okay, so you're able to go back at home, but you have no memory. Or it's spotty.
Terri Brinston RN (40:41.688)
Mm-hmm.
Terri Brinston RN (40:45.466)
Mm-hmm. had limited memory. Yeah, yeah. So I couldn't remember long-term things. I remember I was married eventually. At first, I didn't remember my husband. The only thing I remember was my mom. And so, but I started, I didn't remember the important things. Like, I didn't remember why I was a nurse or why I was an educator or, you know, I couldn't remember people.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:00.496)
wow.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:10.825)
like how you got into that. So it's like having to relearn yourself.
Terri Brinston RN (41:12.302)
Yeah, it's like, what am I confused? I was looked at my resume and I was like, this is a nut. Like, what are you doing with all of this? You and why does this make sense? So, you know, you say what, you know, was the hardest lesson, or what do I regret and I wouldn't go through it again. I don't, I don't think there's anything. I think that when I was going through COVID, I had an opportunity to really reflect
over my entire life and I came to the realization that yeah it was a gift that my entire life was orchestrated you know by God allowing things to happen and closing doors and opening doors and I could see his hand you know and so yeah yeah so that's so I don't really regret anything I'm very grateful for
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:45.055)
Kind of a gift.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:58.899)
Yeah, it's amazing. The universe does speak. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (42:10.07)
all of the trials because it was needed for me right now. So, absolutely, there you go, in a couple of years.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:15.721)
Yeah, it has set you up to arrive.
That's right. We're gonna get there. Yeah. So if you had to look ahead to the next chapter in your journey, what word would describe that next chapter?
Terri Brinston RN (42:32.631)
Mmm.
What word would describe that next chapter?
I'll say bless.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:45.885)
All right, why that word? Because you're gonna be blessed or just.
Terri Brinston RN (42:47.192)
Yeah.
because I want to be blessed. Now I got a pretty great life. I have healthy, I have healthy children, I have a great marriage, I have a grandson, I'm employed, I have a roof over my head. And so I just, blessed, I guess that was the word that came to me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:13.535)
That's a great word. Is there advice that you've received from other business owners, founders, that you really took to heart and you have applied that, that you're like, these are some key lessons, some key advice, listeners.
Terri Brinston RN (43:34.542)
So much. I'm like, oh my god, I've gotten so, like, I said, I didn't know what I was doing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:36.851)
You're like.
Yeah, most of most of us don't welcome. They're like, welcome to the journey.
Terri Brinston RN (43:49.378)
like I kind of had a pen and pencil glued to my hand for years, know, just talking to people. okay, so the.
You know, this is well, I'm sure that there's something better, but this is just what's coming to my mind. The phrase, this too shall pass. You know, it's like, okay, it's gonna get better. It's gonna, you know, I'm gonna get through this. And I think that, know, okay, this too shall pass, you know, difficult times, difficult clients, you know, not making any money, you know.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:14.111)
it's a good one. It is a good one. think it is.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:33.779)
Yeah, everything's gonna pass. Sometimes it's harder, but yes, it will. And then we gotta celebrate the good times, right? Never forget to celebrate the good times. What would be some, well, I'm like, I feel like you've already answered this, but because I was like, is there something, our listeners, that's not on your resume, it's not anything they could find on LinkedIn, but is there something that would be,
Terri Brinston RN (44:33.998)
This too shall pass. Yeah. Yeah. We'll get to it. Yeah, absolutely.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:02.845)
our listeners would find surprising about you. I'm like, the COVID thing is that's kind of, that's crazy.
Terri Brinston RN (45:08.642)
Mm-hmm.
Okay, what else would they find surprising that they can't read about or they don't know about?
Terri Brinston RN (45:23.256)
that I, I don't know, I'm a licensed cosmetologist.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:28.297)
What?
When did you do this before you got your RN degree or? So that's what you were doing when you were care, but I could see that too of you, cause you're you gotta care for people. Right? Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (45:34.67)
I I did. I went through a vocational.
Terri Brinston RN (45:44.288)
Right, right. Yeah, I went through a vocational program in high school. And you know, back then, way back then, they wanted to make sure you had when you were special ed, they wanted to make sure you had a trade. And so that was the trade that I selected. And so I went through a cosmetology program and kept up my license. still am my only client is my husband at this point.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:58.367)
or something. Yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (46:13.164)
I won't tell you what I do for him.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:14.995)
Hahaha!
Well, this is an E-rating podcast, so you could just, you know, release it. I'm sure he doesn't want that to happen. That's funny. So your kids were always the immaculate ones. you're like, yeah.
Terri Brinston RN (46:28.206)
you
Terri Brinston RN (46:33.368)
Their hair? No.
No.
Terri Brinston RN (46:41.422)
You
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:42.431)
Is there like a book, I mean obviously your book, but a resource or a podcast that really had like a profound impact on you? Or that you listen to, it's like your go-to for inspiration or education?
Terri Brinston RN (47:03.586)
I'm you know, I'm constantly a self-help kind of girl, you know, and I'm constantly listening to Christian, you know, broadcasts and podcasts. So I...
I don't really listen a lot anymore. want to say I was thinking about what I've listened to lately. I've just been listening to the Bible a lot. I would just say podcasts on stories of the Bible and things like inspiration.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:37.639)
Yeah, inspiration. Yeah, I love it. Well, before we go, I think we're out of time here. These things go so fast. Always amazed, I only get like a few questions in. But before we go, how do you want people to learn more about My School Nurse or your foundation? How can people get connected with you, Terri?
Terri Brinston RN (47:52.545)
you
Terri Brinston RN (48:04.334)
Sure, so I have a my personal website which is terrybrinston.com. You can find about my book, learn about my nonprofit, my school nurse, all of my, I speak, all of my different stuff that I do. You can go to my website and learn about me. Of course, you can also go to myschoolnurse.co.
myschoolnurse.co and learn about My School Nurse. So if you're a school administrator or counselor or teacher, check that out. And my nonprofit is nurturingwellnessgroupfoundation.org. So the easiest way is to go to my website terrybrinson.com and you can learn about all of this crazy stuff that I do.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:49.929)
Get all connected. Well, this was fantastic. I loved your journey and I loved your story. I'm providing some good insights there. Thank you for coming on the show. Well, into the chaos that we live in. For everyone listening or watching us, thank you for joining us. Again, this podcast is available on your favorite podcast platforms. So subscribe to Hello Chaos. Give us a five star review on Apple or Spotify.
Terri Brinston RN (48:59.438)
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Yep.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:19.099)
and share this content and help us build a more connected entrepreneurial community. Hello Chaos is one of the many resources brought to you by OrangeWIP That is OrangeWIP WIP for work in progress because that's what we all are as founders. OrangeWIP is a multimedia company dedicated to serving founders and entrepreneurs in affiliate cities. We're in three South Carolina markets today looking to expand to other cities in the coming year.
Every city needs an OrangeWIP. We have fresh, local, engaging stories. We have curated calendars so that we are dropping the networking events, the incubators, the accelerators, the grant deadlines, all of those things we're curating in that local market. We're also curating a dynamic resource directory so founders can go in and.
and filter based on what their needs are and the resources that are available to them, which most of them are free in every market. So we've designed these hyperlocal media platforms to inform, inspire, and be the independent connective tissue between founders and the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. We've done all the hard work for them. Only need to go to one trusted place to find the local information they need.
If you'd to be a guest on our podcast or support us, send us an email to hello at orangewip.com. And thank you guys for tuning in. This is where AHA meets Oshet, and we will see you again next week.