From Nursing to Sleep Consulting with Ruthie Breneiser

 

Ruthie is a registered nurse and sleep consultant with a background in midwifery and perinatal care. Her experience with her own baby’s sleep was very challenging and for this reason she hired a sleep consultant. Her whole family had a transformative and amazing experience. After sleep was resolved in her own home, she took to helping friends and family and quickly realized this was her calling. 

The agency Ruthie hired for her own daughter then reached out to her because they thought she would be a good fit for their company. While she loved the idea of being a sleep consultant, she decided that she did not want to work for someone else. 

After researching extensively, she pursued certification through Center for Pediatric Sleep Management because of its emphasis on entrepreneurship and business building. Ruthie launched her business at the end of 2023 and chose to stop working full time as a nurse to run her business and be home with her family.

 

 

Links: Nursing to Sleep Consulting

Website: Nurse Ruthie

Instagram: @nurseruthieb

If you would like to learn more about the Becoming a Sleep Consultant, please join our free Facebook Group or check out our CPSM Website.

Book a free discovery call to learn how you can become a Certified Sleep Consultant here.

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Transcript:

Intro: Welcome to Becoming a Sleep Consultant! I’m your host Jayne Havens, a certified sleep consultant and founder of both Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens and Center for Pediatric Sleep Management.

On this podcast, I’ll be discussing the business side of sleep consulting. You’ll have an insider’s view on launching, growing, and even scaling a sleep consulting business. This is not a podcast about sleep training. This is a podcast about business building and entrepreneurship.

Ruthie is a registered nurse and a sleep consultant with a background in midwifery and perinatal care. Her experience with her own baby’s sleep was very challenging. And for this reason, she hired a sleep consultant. Her whole family had a transformative and amazing experience. After sleep was resolved in her own home, she took to helping friends and family, and quickly realized that this was her calling.

The agency Ruthie hired for her own daughter then reached out to her because they thought she would be a good fit for their company. While she loved the idea of being a sleep consultant, she decided that she did not want to work for someone else. After researching extensively, she pursued certification through Center for Pediatric Sleep Management because of its emphasis on entrepreneurship and business building.

Ruthie launched her business at the end of 2023 and chose to stop working full-time as a nurse to run her business and be home with her family.

Jayne Havens: Ruthie, welcome to the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. I’m so excited to have this conversation with you today.

Ruthie Breneiser: Oh, thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Jayne Havens: Before we get started, tell us a little bit about you. What’s your professional background, and why did you decide to get certified to work as a sleep consultant?

Ruthie Breneiser: Sure. My background is in nursing. I have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Before I was a nurse, I worked as an assistant midwife and a Spanish medical translator.

Jayne Havens: Awesome. And why sleep consulting? Why did that appeal to you, and what prompted the shift?

Ruthie Breneiser: I used a sleep consultant for my daughter when she was about 16 weeks old. We had a serious sleep regression. I was just not functioning as a mom, not thriving as a mom. I was so nervous and honestly stressed about returning to work. I didn’t think that I could. I didn’t think that I was well-rested enough or healed enough. And so, for that reason, I hired a sleep consultant and we had huge success with her.

About almost two years later, I got an email from their sleep consulting company. They asked if I would ever consider working with them. I seriously considered it. I even reached out to the sleep consultant that I worked with. She said, “You’re going to love it. I hate the idea of running my own business, and they do everything for me.” I thought, oh, my gosh. That’s actually what I don’t want. I don’t want to work with somebody else. I want to run my own business. And so that really spurred my own interest.

I found you, and you were all about business and entrepreneurship. I felt like for the first time I was hearing somebody speak my language. I’ve never heard someone tell me as a woman, you can start your own business, and you can be wildly successful. No one had ever told that to me. So that’s the reason I chose to work with you specifically. Because I wanted to focus on business building and entrepreneurship.

Jayne Havens: First of all, I love that. That makes me so excited. Because I think most people, when they’re getting into this line of work, what they’re actually really scared of is the business building piece. What I always tell people is like, if you want to just go work for somebody else and have another job, then just go get a job.

Sleep consulting, to me, isn’t a job. I guess it kind of is. But I look at it as something that’s my own. I get to create this. I get to do it on my own terms. I get to do it my way. I get to do it on my own timeline. I get to work with the families that I want to work with. I choose. Just like families choose to hire me, I choose to work with them.

If I was working for somebody else, I think I’d have a whole lot less flexibility to work on my own timeline, work when I want to work, work how hard or how little I want to work. Then also, I think I’d have less control over who I was working with. I think a lot of our success as consultants really comes from finding our ideal clients, finding those families that are a really good fit for us. So I don’t know. I love that that spoke to you. It definitely speaks to me. I don’t know. It’s not all that scary growing a business, right?

Ruthie Breneiser: No.

Jayne Havens: Talk about that. Because I think so many people are scared of it. But I don’t know. It’s something very clearly you have not been petrified of it, and that just makes me so happy. I love watching you just go head in and get all excited to try all these new things and grow in new and interesting ways.

Ruthie Breneiser: Yeah, I have so many things I want to speak to on that. First and foremost, having the autonomy is so important. As a nurse, I don’t get to choose my patients. Some of my patients in the past few years have been very difficult. COVID has been very difficult on our community, and it’s been difficult on the community of nurses as well. And so I feel like the past few years have made me realize, as a nurse, I really don’t have a lot of autonomy. When I want to make a change, there’s usually a lot of pushbacks.

And so when I moved into sleep consulting and I started my business, I was able to say yes to things that I wanted to, and I could say no to the things that I wanted to. But having the ability to say no makes my yes so much more powerful.

I’ve really enjoyed the business building side of this. I love it so much. My mom actually owns her own consulting business. We aren’t super close, but I really revel in what my mom has accomplished. She’s owned her own consulting business since the ’80s. And so it’s really interesting. Now that I am owning my own business, I feel like she really in some way set me up for success. Because I just watched her be this just really amazing business woman. It’s great.

Jayne Havens: I love that you’ve watched her, and you’ve always been impressed by that. Now you’re sort of doing it on your own, which is really awesome. I love that. You enrolled in the course — I was just looking back — in August of 2023. You completed the course in exactly two months, which I always say. If people ask me how long does it take, I always say six to eight weeks. It literally took you eight weeks. I just checked. So that was sort of the perfect timeline as far as I’m concerned.

I’m wondering, how did you juggle your learning with other life responsibilities that you had at the same time? I think a lot of people worry. Am I going to have enough time? How am I going to do this with whether it’s juggling kids or another job? What did that look like for you?

Ruthie Breneiser: I would say to those potential students or current students that you won’t have the time unless you make the time. It’s just like anything else. And so if you really feel driven and you’re excited, I woke up every day excited for the first time about work again. That was so great. I would wake up 4:30 in the morning. I would work until my baby got up. I knew my baby would be — my baby is not a baby more. She’s a toddler. But I knew she would be asleep because I’d been doing these methods for so long with her. I had a window between 4:30 and 7-7:30 AM where I would get a bunch of stuff down. I really enjoyed that time.

Sometimes, I stayed up late. I often did stuff on the weekends. I even went into work early sometimes just to get away and be in an office space. And so I would say to potential students, current students, that you really have to make the time. But it should be exciting. It should be fun. You should be happy that you’re making this time to start your business.

Your business is only going to be in its infancy right now, and you’re going to look back. I’m already looking back on October. I’m like, wow. That part of my business is over, and I’m a little bit sad in some ways. I’m looking back already and thinking like, oh, this is what I would do differently if I could. But we’re past that point. I’m already on to the next. Definitely, you can make time. But you have to actually make it. You have to make space in your life for this career.

Jayne Havens: And you know what? People like you and I, we want to make space in our lives for this. I was at the gym this morning. One of my gym buddies — we have a crew that’s there. We all go a couple times a week in the morning, after school drop off. We’ve all gotten to know one another — one of the women at the gym really looks amazing. She’s lost a bunch of weight. She’s really fit. She’s strong. It’s a weightlifting gym. She just looks 10 out of 10 amazing. I was saying to one of her friends, like, how is she doing it? She looks so amazing. What’s going on?

She said, she’s like, well, do you have time to go to the gym twice a day? I was like, oh, is that what she’s doing? Is she at the gym twice a day, and I’m only at the gym once? Is that the breakdown here? Her response was, no, she wants to go to the gym twice a day. That’s what she said. I was like, you know what? Fair point. She’s choosing this. She wants to be there twice a day.

Anybody can make time for anything that they want really, really badly. This person wanted to get fit, and she prioritized it. She’s at the gym twice a day because that’s her top priority. She’s choosing it. She doesn’t have to do it. I’m not at the gym twice a day. I’m at the gym three times a week, max. But she’s choosing to be at the gym twice a day because that’s what she wants. She literally wants to be there.

That’s how I think about my work and my business. I want to be working on my business. This person at the gym who I was talking to, she’s like, do you have time to be at the gym twice a day? I was like, yeah, actually, I do. I just don’t want to be there because I want to be sitting at my kitchen table working on my business. So we all make time for the things that we want to make time for in life. I think you’re right. It’s not that you have to do it. It’s that you can do it, and you should want to do it. That’s when big things happen. It’s because you’re choosing to prioritize this in your life.

Ruthie Breneiser: Absolutely. We wake up excited to go to work.

Jayne Havens: I do. I really, really do. Tell me about maybe one of your clients. Give me a story. Give me a feel-good transformation story.

Ruthie Breneiser: I worked with three clients officially. My first clients were twin girls. They were eight months old, and they were waking up every 30 minutes. I think their mom probably hadn’t slept probably since she was six months pregnant. So she was really desperate to get some help. I posted on a Facebook group. I just introduced myself. I said a little bit about what I did.

She reached out, and I decided to take her on as my first client for free. We were wildly successful for about the first four or five days. Then I noticed something going on in the evening routine. The babies were really having a hard time settling and going to sleep. And so I watched for a few days. We made some minor adjustments. We went over the bedtime routine. On day 12, it still was an issue, and mom really wanted to give up. She had the baby sleeping the night. Naps were going really well, so I was just over the moon for her.

All of that success was amazing — going from waking up every 30 minutes to sleeping the night and having successful naps. She was okay with where we ended, and she actually wanted to stop. I still took this as a wild success. Because it was two babies, not one. They went from waking every 30 minutes to sleeping a full 10-12 hours a night taking all their naps. I just learned so much.

Even though mom didn’t want to continue after day 12, I felt amazing that we got her that far. I learned so much. I realized if I could go back and do things differently, I think I would have asked her to make a contribution that she would have felt comfortable with. Because I think the monetary, paying some amount of money or having monetary gain helps moms or families be a little more committed to the process.

I found out after the fact that she was secretly using a pacifier and didn’t tell me, which is also a really important lesson to learn in this industry. To really drive through to parents that if they are doing things that aren’t on the plan, they really need to tell you. Because it makes it difficult for you to know what’s going on. Then she was also feeding the babies on demand, which I thought she was feeding them on a schedule. And so there was a lot that I actually learned. But I’m almost 100% sure there was some daytime drowsiness going on. That’s why bedtime was such a struggle.

But even though she didn’t fully finish the program, the fact that we got her that far and that was my first client, I was so happy with the results. I was really happy with what I learned. So that when I had my first paying client, I could be really clear with them. To be successful with me, we really need to have open and honest, clear communication. The reason I found out they had a pacifier, Jayne — this was so funny — is because I went back through every single text message, every single picture. I zoomed in super close. And boy howdy was there a pacifier in that crib.

Jayne Havens: And so that client of yours with the twin babies, that was a pro-bono case. It was just sort of, if I remember correctly, that was the first family that you ever supported, right? I think that that was your first.

Ruthie Breneiser: Yes.

Jayne Havens: And so you were supporting them for free in exchange for practice and hopefully a testimonial, if it went well. I think you’re right. The big thing to learn here, first of all, it sounds like you’ve learned a ton. But I think you’re right. That when you take on families who aren’t paying for your services, that the level of commitment is different. Because they just don’t have the same skin in the game, right? They have nothing to lose.

If nothing changes, they’re in the same difficult spot that they were in when they started. But if they’ve paid you and nothing changes, then they feel like they’re wasting their money. So it’s a valuable lesson to learn. That even if you want to help people for free, that there should be some, even if it’s a small monetary exchange involved. Because it does hold them accountable. Frankly, your time and your expertise is worth it. So I hope you realize that now and you’ve moved on to paying clients, which hopefully will lead to greater successes down the road.

Ruthie Breneiser: Overall, I feel like for me, I just learned so much. It really helped with my imposter syndrome. Because I worked with twins for the first time, and they slept the first night. I actually reached out to a mom with triplets, and so I’m looking forward to having a conversation with her today. We have a call booked. She actually has a very large social media following, and so I’m really excited to see where that conversation goes. But they’re not even twins.

Jayne Havens: Maybe this will develop into a little bit of a niche for you, that you support families that have multiples. I mean, who knew?

Ruthie Breneiser: I mean, I didn’t know but I’m loving it. I love talking to parents with twins and multiples. I haven’t had a paying client that’s a twin or a multiple yet, but I’m going to still continue to reach out. Because I just think that twins and multiples families are the ones that are struggling in probably more of an acute way than parents of singlets potentially.

Jayne Havens: What are your plans for growth in your business? Do you plan to use social media? Do you plan to leverage in-person connections? What do you think that’s going to look like for you?

Ruthie Breneiser: I’m hitting social media pretty hard right now. I have a Facebook account, and I have an Instagram account. I just hired a virtual assistant, which I feel maybe for some people, they would want to wait till later on until they’re more established. But for me, I wanted a virtual assistant now because I wanted to focus on my clients.

There’s so much in the social media world that I don’t know. Like what time to post? I don’t know. What trending audio to use? I don’t know. And what hashtags? So I hired a young gal who’s fresh out of college. She’s very professional. She definitely knows what she’s doing. She has set me up with a calendar. She’s working on a whole bunch of projects for me.

A big part of 2024 is just going to be continuing to post on social media. I use it daily to reach out to parents, to new followers. I reach out to them. I try and keep everything really organic. So I’m really into hunting and fishing. I’m in Alaska. That’s a big part of my life. I put food on the table both by being a nurse, but I also go out. I bring organic food home for my family. I’m very proud of that. And so that’s a little bit of what’s going on in my stories. You’ll see some of that about me out in the Alaskan wilderness.

And so a lot of people and I connect over what I do in that way. But then, it leads to us talking about their sleep. And so I reach out to parents all the time using social media, have them book discovery calls. It just feels really organic and really sweet to engage in that community in that way. Because I know social media, for some, especially in our CPSM community, people say like, “Oh, I’m not a social media person.” But it’s like, well, you’re a person. So just be a person.

Jayne Havens: On social media.

Ruthie Breneiser: Yes.

Jayne Havens: If you ask me, I think so much of success in entrepreneurship really boils down to mindset and confidence. It sounds to me like your head is in the game there. You have a sense of excitement around this. Not that you’re not nervous about whether or not you’re going to do well on that next discovery call. I anticipate, I would imagine you get butterflies in your stomach maybe a little bit before you get on the phone with a family. But would you say that you’ve found your stride, found your confidence in all of this? Do you think that that is what’s leading to your early success in business?

Ruthie Breneiser: I would say that I have a business mindset, and I have a team-building mindset. I got into nursing because I had those strengths. So it was really easy for me to like take my scrubs off and put on my sleep consulting hat and walk into this with confidence. Because I talked to people about death and dying, and STDs, and family planning, and some of the most really sensitive parts of our life, from cradle to grave. And so even though I wouldn’t say I use my clinical nursing background all the time in sleep consulting, I very much separate them because it’s two separate specialties. I feel like I walked into this having some of those skills already solidified.

But, yes, I do get butterflies. I get butterflies when I do discovery calls. But what makes me feel better is, it’s not a life-or-death situation. If your baby cries, it’s not a life-or-death situation. It is uncomfortable. But as parents, the number one thing is, for me, being uncomfortable a lot of the time. And so that’s just something we have to get used to. I often think, at least with my toddler — she’s two and a half now — I almost feel like sometimes there’s more crying. It’s not that the crying goes away. It’s just that my ears don’t hear it in the same way. It’s not as traumatizing as it used to be.

Jayne Havens: For you?

Ruthie Breneiser: Yes, for me, at least.

Jayne Havens: Right. Do you tell your prospective clients that you’re a nurse? And if so, do they like that you’re a medical professional?

Ruthie Breneiser: I absolutely tell people I’m a nurse. I do because it is a huge part of who I am, and I have worked extremely hard to get my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. And so, I do. I feel comfortable. But I very much separate the two. I am not giving clinical medical advice. I strictly give the advice that we give in CPSM.

Do I use some of the skills in the way that I speak to my patients within my discovery calls? Absolutely. But like I said, I worked so dang hard to become a nurse. I feel like, yes, it does give me a level of professionalism and a professional edge. I do think that people trust me more. Because it turns out, nurses are the most trusted profession in the United States. And so I think that I feel very okay with presenting myself as a nurse in that way.

Jayne Havens: Yeah, I think you should use it to your advantage. I remember when my son was born 11 years ago, we were looking for postpartum support for myself and for my baby. I had had a C-section and wanted some overnight support for when we brought my son home from the hospital. I was looking into — at the time, I actually didn’t even know what a postpartum doula was. I was looking for what I thought was a night nurse. It turns out a lot of night nurses aren’t actual nurses. They just call themselves that.

I was actually looking for somebody that was a nurse. Because, as a first-time mom, I wanted a nurse in my home. That made me feel more comfortable to have the support from an actual nurse. Not that I had any medical needs that needed to be tended to. My child was healthy, and he was fine. But it made me feel more comfortable to be supported by a nurse. So 100%, I think you should use that to your advantage. And if it makes your clients feel more comfortable that they’re hiring you and you’re a nurse, use it. As you said, you worked very hard for that. So you should.

Ruthie Breneiser: And I will say it does irk me a lot when I hear in the community people calling themselves a nurse when they’re not. That’s absolutely inappropriate. It does happen. But for those of us who’ve gone through the trauma of getting through nursing school — because it is. I don’t know anyone that’s gone through that is not traumatized — we worked so hard to become nurses. We want that term to be used appropriately. I think when you were out looking for a night nurse, of course, you’re looking for the most qualified person. Likely, it was a nurse because we’re trained how to do that.

Ruthie Breneiser: Yeah, I mean, I did end up hiring people who were actual nurses. I didn’t settle for the person that called themselves a nurse. I actually wanted a real-life nurse.

Ruthie Breneiser: Because you trusted her.

Jayne Havens: Yes, exactly. What are your goals? We’re at the start of 2024. So maybe we should talk about — do you have any goals for 2024, or do you look at it as just one step at a time building organically?

Ruthie Breneiser: Oh, this is such a great loaded question. I have a daily goal. I have a weekly goal. I have a monthly goal. I have a one-year goal. I have a five-year goal, and I have a 10-year goal. So I haven’t got a plus 10 year. But yeah, they’re all written down. But my 2024 goals are — my number one goal is to have fun and be in a positive mental state. Because I just stopped working as a nurse just two weeks ago, and I’m taking this business full time.

Jayne Havens: Congratulations.

Ruthie Breneiser: Thank you. My husband is also a nurse, and he is taking a travel contract in Oregon starting on the first of February. We’re actually leaving Alaska on Monday. So it’s interesting that we’re doing the podcast now because there’s just this really big life shift that’s happening for me.

Goal of 2024 is to be happy and be positive in my business. Then my second goal is to get an office and to be running my business full time. Then my third goal is, I’m finishing up a newborn sleep-shaping ebook. It includes a one-hour consult with me. I’m finalizing that right now. I’m going to work on some marketing with that. But I’m gearing some of my practice towards working with newborns, 0-12 weeks, because I definitely love working with newborns.

Before I was a nurse, I was an assistant midwife. I did a lot of prenatal care, perinatal care births. I just love newborns. I’ve worked with two newborns so far. Newborn sleep shaping with them was wildly successful. Then my last goal for the year is, I’m starting a podcast.

Jayne Havens: Yey. I love that. Can I be on it?

Ruthie Breneiser: Yes, 100%.

Jayne Havens: Straight up, I’m going to invite myself onto your podcast.

Ruthie Breneiser: Please do. Please do. It doesn’t have a name yet. I have an idea of how I want it to feel and the moms that I want to interview. But my main focus is going to be on moms that do a really good job taking care of their families but also run businesses and are amazing. It’s going to be just us talking about how we do that. I’m really excited about it.

Jayne Havens: I love that. I think that your energy, your mindset, and your whole demeanor around all of this is just so radiant. That is ultimately what attracts people to you, both I think in business and in life. I always say it’s not that you need to fake it till you make it. We all have days where we just don’t feel like showing up in our shiny bright selves, right?

But really, when you truly from within radiate excitement and joy and enthusiasm for your life and the projects that you’re working on, I really do think that it comes back to you. You’re doing that, so I have no doubt in my mind that you’re going to have wild success. I’m just so glad that our paths cross.

Ruthie Breneiser: Absolutely.

Jayne Havens: I feel that way about so many of those who are in our CPSM community. But really, you’ve always impressed me, and you continue to impress me. I’m just so excited to see everything that you do in your business, in parenting and in your family and in life. Because it’s not all about work. I think that we truly can have it all. You’re doing that. So congrats.

Ruthie Breneiser: Oh, thank you. Well, I just want to give you some special sparkles too. Because no one ever gave me permission, Jayne, to even think the way that you wanted me to think, which is, hey, you can start a business. You can be amazing. You can be a millionaire. You can be all of these things.

In a lot of ways, you gave me permission to live my life again and to feel whole again. I was giving so much of myself and my mental health to my work as a nurse, and it wasn’t healthy anymore. I survived COVID. I did not thrive as a nurse during COVID. I would very much say that I am thriving. My relationship with my husband has gotten stronger. The podcast, by the way, with your husband is amazing. It’s actually my favorite podcast you’ve ever done.

Jayne Havens: I just shared it with somebody yesterday. I share it all the time. Because I do think that the most important thing when you’re starting something new and scary is having the support from those who love you. And if you don’t have the support from those who love you, then you’re fighting a battle that’s going to be really, really tough. Doing new things is hard. And if you don’t have the people who love you cheering you on, then it just feels like garbage.

Ruthie Breneiser: Yeah, absolutely.

Jayne Havens: I actually still listen to that every now and then. We should do another one, my husband and I. It’s a regular. It’s saved in my podcast library. I appreciate you saying that, and I love that you listened to it.

Ruthie Breneiser: Oh, absolutely. I think that he’s great. I think that he’s your number one cheerleader. That’s how I feel about my husband. Then I also want to say that Sue Mcglinchey is also a really big cheerleader for me. She’s been a mentor this entire time.

For those of you who don’t know who Sue Mcglinchey is, you should probably know because she’s amazing. She owns and runs Tender Newborn Care. I think when I was a quarter or halfway through the program, I reached out to you and was like, “Hey, I feel like I really need a mentor.” I have always operated with a mentor before. When I was an assistant midwife, I worked directly under a midwife. She was my mentor. She taught me everything I knew. Then when I became a nurse, I also had a mentor who taught me everything I knew.

So when I came into the CPSM community, I was like, this is something that I need. This is like a learning style, that I need someone to guide me. And so I reached out to Sue after listening to her on the podcast, because I really felt just like a kindred spirit in a way of just how she is. I reached out to her, and we had an amazing phone call. She agreed to be my mentor. I don’t remember how long ago that was. It’s probably been two or three months now. But we message every day almost. We talk almost every week, every other week. She has been an amazing mentor for me. She’s so skilled at what she does. She’s so kind.

Jayne Havens: I agree.

Ruthie Breneiser: She bases everything she does in compassion and very concrete knowledge. I feel really lucky to have her on my team. I don’t think I would have been as successful if I hadn’t had her in my sphere. And so I just want to give her a shout out because she is amazing, and she’s been my rock in all of this.

And so for those CPSM students who maybe want a little bit more mentorship but don’t know how to have that, just ask. Ask somebody that you like in the community. Maybe that just looks like you get on the phone once, that you just talk. Or maybe it develops into a really beautiful professional relationship. But I’ll be really interested to see where Sue and I are in three, or six months, or a year. I know she’s looking to mentor more newer students and newer grads.

Definitely, reach out to her. She’s amazing. I called her the other night. I was like, hey, I know you’re going to be mentoring other people in the future. But I just want to make sure I’m grandfathered in permanently. She’s like, oh, you definitely are. I was like, okay. Great.

Jayne Havens: I think that that’s one thing that’s so special about our CPSM community that is really hard for me to articulate when I’m talking to somebody who isn’t inside of our community. To try and articulate how special it is, there are no words.

The relationship that you have with Sue, I see a lot of those partnerships in little, tiny offshoot communities of people who have connected, because they see the way that the other person connects on our conversation threads, or the advice that they share, or maybe they listen to somebody else on the podcast and thought, oh, I got to get to know that person. I’m going to reach out. People have made amazing business connections, strategic alliances, and also just really strong friendships inside of our community. That just, it makes me smile.

My goal for the program was always to have it be community-based. I think that women especially, but I guess men too. Especially with women, entrepreneurship can feel really lonely. It can feel really isolating. It’s challenging at times, right? If growing a business was so easy, literally, everybody would do it. Right? Nobody would go work for anybody else if you could just work for yourself, right?

Ruthie Breneiser: Yep.

Jayne Havens: It’s challenging. To do it alone is exponentially challenging. So when you have a strong community of like-minded people who are all working towards similar goals, who will cheer you on and raise you up instead of knock you down, I think that that is really — it’s instrumental in our success. I think it’s really hard to be successful without it. I may be the leader of the CPSM community, but I surround myself with like-minded entrepreneurs. I need that, too. We all need it to grow. So I guess maybe this is a good plug to go find your business bestie, right?

Ruthie Breneiser: Yes.

Jayne Havens: I love it, you and Sue have connected. Before we wrap up, do you want to share where people can connect with you?

Ruthie Breneiser: Sure. I’m mostly on Instagram. My instagram handle is @nurseruthieb. You can find me on my website which is nurseruthie.com. I have a Facebook which I engage in, probably not as much as Instagram. But I’m still there. I’m there as Ruthie Breneiser. And yeah, I would love to talk to anyone that is related to CPSM. I really enjoy connecting on social media with some of our graduates and really just cheering them on, giving all the stars and all the love to all of their posts. Because I feel like it really helps set the algorithm. But yeah, I just love, love, love our community. I’m so excited for 2024.

Jayne Havens: Well, congrats on all of your early success. Maybe we’ll do this in another six months or a year, and see where you are then.

Ruthie Breneiser: Absolutely. It will be an absolute pleasure. I’m just so excited that you had me today.

Outro: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean so much to me if you would rate, review, and subscribe. When you rate, review, and subscribe, this helps the podcast reach a greater audience. I am so grateful for your support.

If you would like to learn more about how you can become a certified sleep consultant, head over to my Facebook Group, Becoming a Sleep Consultant or to my website thecpsm.com. Thanks so much, and I hope you will tune in for the next episode.