From Bedside to Business: The Rise of Nurse Entrepreneurs

Many nurses feel stuck. Passionate about the profession, yet yearning for creative outlets, financial freedom, or life away from the bedside. The challenge? Figuring out how to pursue those passions without having to abandon your career or identity as a nurse. But what if stepping into those other ventures made you a better nurse?

For Zach Smith, BSN, RN, owner and operator of ReachRN, being a nurse was foundational to all his entrepreneurial pursuits. “In the worst-case scenario, you learn something new that you can apply to your career, or to nursing,” Smith reflects. 

Read on to learn more about Smith’s nursing journey and his top tips for aspiring nurse entrepreneurs.

Dead Bread, Postpartum Meals, and Nursing Shoes

Like many during the pandemic, Smith started baking.

After posting his breadmaking ventures on Instagram, someone asked to buy bread from him. Instead, Smith offered a trade: free bread for a logo. Suddenly, he had a breadmaking business, creating bread content that evolved into pizza kits and charcuterie boards.

His playful slogan, “Don’t be dead bread,” encouraged people to skip the grocery store and opt for fresh, delivered bread during the pandemic.

While many entrepreneurs struggle to grow, Smith’s pandemic bread business grew too big to handle. “I had to shut it down because it got too busy. It was getting too big for what I could do.” 

Years later, Smith began sharing TikToks of meals he was cooking for his postpartum wife. The videos garnered hundreds of thousands of views across platforms. “There was no goal in sight. I just like cooking and thought it would be a way for me to learn content.”

What looked like casual fun online led to a breakthrough. Smith used his social media skills to help Bala, a now-closed nursing footwear company, pre-sell a million dollars' worth of shoes. “All those skills I learned from selling kids bread applied directly to me selling shoes for nurses.”

At first, Smith was following his interests. But in hindsight, every skill he picked up ended up making him a stronger entrepreneur. However, “Just because you’re a healthcare professional, doesn’t mean your other interests need to be healthcare related,” he emphasizes.

From Bedside to Business

Going back to the beginning, Smith didn’t always plan on going into nursing. He switched his major from advertising to nursing, seeking a trade that couldn’t be self-taught. “I was always making videos, and always had an eye for marketing and the creative aspects of things,” he recalls. “But I knew for my career, nursing would be stable and fulfilling, no matter what happened in the economy. On my days off, I knew I could potentially start my own business.”

As an entrepreneur, Smith saw nursing as a way to blend his ambitions with a stable career. Throughout nursing school, he created content for class programs, modules, and trainings while staying involved in creative opportunities.

Smith graduated during the Great Recession, so the new grad nursing job landscape at the time led him to a role he never expected: long-term care. “I learned what it’s like to be a sole caregiver. It wasn’t what I initially had in mind, but it gave me great experience, respect for the profession, and a lot of perspective.” He later transitioned to behavioral health and pediatrics and spent six years at the bedside.

During his nursing career, Smith started a freelance video marketing agency, creating corporate videos on his days off. “I learned what it’s like to have a client and what it’s like to have obligations during my four days off.”

After building his portfolio, a friend and nurse entrepreneur who remembered his marketing talent invited him to join the founding team of a nurse scheduling startup, NurseGrid. It took over a year of fundraising and developing the app before it had enough success for Smith to leave his bedside job and join full-time as the VP of Nursing. 

How Innovation Can Transform the Nursing Marketplace

Through his journey from bedside nursing to entrepreneurship, Smith saw firsthand how rigid work structures can limit nurses, perpetuating the “stuck” feeling that many have at the bedside. 

He envisions a marketplace where nurses can work as much or as little as they want. 

So many nurses want the opportunity to go on maternity leave, take a sabbatical, or just freely use their earned PTO, but aren’t able to because of chronic staffing deficiencies. Instead of hospitals working with these nurses, Smith says, they choose to threaten their jobs. The result is that many nurses end up quitting or leaving nursing altogether because they can’t take time for their personal life or to explore other professional passions. 

“It’s crazy because hospitals need nurses. Why are we letting nurses walk when we’re so desperate for them in the first place? They are so afraid of being down a nurse for ten days that now they’re out a nurse for 365 days.”

Having both a flexible schedule and the benefits and protections of established employment is Smith’s vision of a healthier nursing marketplace. Smith also notes that nurses crave connection and want to turn to trusted online creators and communities.

Advice to Nurse Entrepreneurs

As Smith has seen, stepping outside of tradition can lead to new opportunities. Here’s Smith’s advice for nurses who feel inspired to explore a new venture:

• Work with as many interesting people and companies as you possibly can. “Play the long game. Don’t look at interactions as microtransactions. Look at them as how you can be influential, learn, and gain experience.”

• Search for startups you find interesting and engage with them. “Joining a startup that succeeds is like having a free pass to cut in line. Everything is ten times more intense, but if it succeeds, you’ve skipped needing an extra five or ten years of experience to advance your career.” 

• Find something you’re passionate about and start doing it. “Don’t worry about the paperwork and logo and brand. Just start and get something out there, and engage with it. You can work on the branding stuff later.” 

• Get your idea out there. “People are so afraid of their idea being stolen. Ideas are a dime a dozen. So many ideas are out there. The difference is the people who actually start. If you’re so worried about your idea being taken, you’re missing an important step: getting feedback on your product.” 

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to choose between your passions and being a nurse.

Smith’s journey shows that merging these two can make you a strong, versatile, and innovative healthcare professional. Whether it’s breadmaking, content creation, or jumping aboard a new startup, the key is to start. You never know what unexpected doors it may open. 

Non-Bedside