SONSIEL_TJ Southern: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Hiyam Nadel:
Welcome to the SONSIEL podcast where we host interviews with the most transformational nurse scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Through sharing their personal journeys, we create inspiration, provide guidance, and give you actionable ideas you can use to be a catalyst for change.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Well, good morning, everyone. This morning, we’re excited to have TJ Southern on our podcast for SONSIEL. I’m Mary Lou Ackerman. I’m a founding member of SONSIEL and the vice president of Innovation and Digital Health for SE Health, which is one of Canada’s largest social enterprises, providing care to clients in their homes, long-term care facilities, schools, hospitals, clinics across Canada. So, but we are here to highlight the great work that TJ has been doing and we’ll start with, TJ, maybe if you could tell us a little bit about yourself and your background, that would be great!
TJ Southern:
Sure. Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for having me today as a featured guest on SONSIEL, it is a pleasure and an honor to be here. Well, I’m TJ Southern and I am the host of the Future of Global Informatics. I am an entrepreneur, I own several businesses. One of my main businesses is I own a staffing firm for healthcare professionals, informatics nurses is what we really, really concentrate on as well as my background is I’m a nurse informaticist, been a nurse informaticist for about 18 years and I’m second generation, so my mom is a nurse informaticist as well. And for the longest time, I traveled the country. I did big, huge implementations, optimizations of EMRs and whatever else that they needed me to do in that time. I’m a wife, I’ve been married for 17 years, actually 18 years this year. I’ve been married for 18 years this year to my wonderful husband, Coach Southern, who coaches high school and has coached high school for the last 18 years, so yes.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
… Yeah, well, I love that background in nursing informatics, it’s mine as well, for probably be about the same length of time maybe a little bit longer. And I’ve just recently got back from a conference in Chicago where I was surprised it was probably the first time and maybe it’s because we’re coming out of the pandemic where things became so digitized and got into virtual care. But there was a huge focus on the importance of data and not just collecting data. That seems to be the easy part, but really, how do we make sure that we’re getting the value out of the data that we’re collecting, and it was really music to my ears because it’s something that we’ve been preaching and trying to move towards and moving towards over the last 20 years.
TJ Southern:
Definitely.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Yeah. So it’s interesting also that you talked about being second generation, so this question may flow nicely with that. But I wanted to do sort of what inspires you to, to work in healthcare and to do that specific type of work you’re doing?
TJ Southern:
So to even, you know, just to dive in about how I even got into informatics, I remember finishing up my undergrad program knowing that I needed to have an advanced degree in nursing and, you know, looking at the landscape of all of my options, did I want to be a nurse practitioner, do I want to do nursing education, or do I want to get my MBA? And my mom, who’s a nurse, love her dearly, has been a nurse as long as I can remember. She just posed a question to me had I looked into informatics and I said, No, well, what is it? And she said, well, do some research on it, and then, you know, let me know your thoughts. And I started researching it and was like, Oh my God, this is the wave of the future for nurses. And so that’s what actually prompted me to go to get my master’s degree. At the time, when I pursued my additional education, there were only two schools that offered the Master’s of Science in nursing, and that was Walden, and it was Phoenix. And so I happened to chose Walden so that I could sit for certification to become a certified nurse informaticist. And the rest is history from there. I’ve met so many people along this journey, along this way, what really, really inspires my work is to be able to introduce other individuals to the world of nursing informatics, is still very much so an undercover thing which you would think, you know, 20 years later that it wouldn’t be, right? My mom tells me about the stories about how nursing informatics was really started back in the eighties, right? And here we are in the new millennium and informatics is still this industry in which we have to contest for as a discipline. And so that’s what inspires my work, just being able to be the Pied Piper to let individuals know, hey, we do have this discipline, hey, we need your help, hey, it is a value-added discipline that when we are at any organization, that we can add value to the organizations, and so that, that’s what inspires my work.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Right, right. I love how you use the term Pied Piper because it resonates with me. It’s, it’s really advocating to get that nurse’s voice at the table at the right tables. We are really great at understanding the technology, but more so understanding how that impacts the patient and provider experiences. So yeah, keep, keep piping. You also talked about being an entrepreneur and having some businesses. So is there any sort of specific populations, patient populations that you’re involved with mostly?
TJ Southern:
So in my businesses, we really don’t have a patient population. Our goal is to get the right resources in the right seat to assist organizations. So the resources that we are, use or the resources that we focus on are nurse informaticist. There are a lot of organizations that don’t have nurse informaticist and it’s really a gap for them as an organization. So our goal is to go in and assess the organization, see what their needs are, and to give them the resources that they need to function properly.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Yeah, I’m sure you’ve found a number of challenges over the last couple of years finding resources and even finding organizations who have the time right now to commit to this kind of value add initiative, which the commitment is so important. But I know those resources are so required right at the bedside as well.
TJ Southern:
Yes, they are. And that is actually what has happened, you know, in our wave of COVID is that a lot of nurse informaticist that we had that were out there actively practicing were asked to go back to the floor. And while some of them were comfortable doing that, some of them were not. I mean, a lot of nurse informaticist have been out of bedside practice for 15 years plus. So in that case, you know, a lot of them, we use them in ancillary areas, like to answer phones or to pull the data or to make sure, you know, we just use them in other areas in which they could serve or assist, rather than putting them in a, in a fashion where they would feel uncomfortable going back to use those skills so.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Right, right. A challenge we all face for sure. When did you first recognize that you were an entrepreneur?
TJ Southern:
At 12, at 12 years old, I am now 42. I recognized at 12 that I was an entrepreneur. My entrepreneur journey actually started in my mother’s kitchen braiding hair. So yes, I started writing hair as a hobby. And I did it because I wanted this expensive pair of shoes, it was a pair of Jordans that came out during that time and they were black patent leather with red soles and I wanted them so bad. But this pair of Jordans cost like 100 dollars. And my mother was like, no, I’m not paying for them. And so, you know, being 12 years old, you can’t legally work. So I, you know, my grandmother was a beautician. So, you know, I was used to doing hair, and, you know, my grandmother had her own beauty salon in the back of, in the garage. My grandfather had taken the three-car garage and brought it down to two cars and made one of the cars her beauty salon. So I was used to helping my grandmother in the beauty shop. And so it was just a natural thing for me to go into that, you know, direction or the industry to braid hair to get money. And so that’s what I did, I was the neighborhood girl that went around braiding hair to earn extra income. And I think I had some braid like one or two heads to get the money. And so when I braid it, the hair, my, I tell my mother that I had the money and she was shocked that I actually had the money.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Got the shoes.
TJ Southern:
I got the shoes, I got the shoes. So that’s when my entrepreneurship journey started. And the love of being an entrepreneur has just grown over the years. And so I coach and I mentor many entrepreneurs, you know, in this, in entrepreneurship, not just in nursing, not just in informatics, but I mentor and coach a lot of individuals in the industry of entrepreneurship. It’s not easy, it’s not easy, many times, you know, I wake up and I’m just like, it will be just so much easier for me to go get a job. But you have to have a spirit of perseverance. Perseverance actually has to be like your mantle, it really does. You have to want to be the change agent when everyone else is sleeping. That’s one of the caveats to entrepreneurship. You have to want it so bad even though others may not see it, they may not see your vision, they may not see where it is you’re going, they may not see what it is that you’re supposed to be doing, but you know that you have been called to do this particular thing. And it’s going to take perseverance for you to complete your task. So to all my entrepreneurs, just stay focused, complete your task.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Right, right. So what was, what would you describe as some of the biggest challenges you had in launching your business?
TJ Southern:
Many of the challenges that I had in launching my businesses is I did not know what I did not. You know, one of the things that I have learned in this journey of being a nurse is, in nursing they teach you about nursing. They don’t teach you about anything else. So, you know, no one taught me how to get an LLC. No one taught me how to get business credit. No one taught me how to balance my books as a business, as a business owner. No one told me that I had to file certain reports with the states, as a business owner, do the paperwork for certain certifications. So that’s the most challenging thing. You don’t know what you don’t know. And what I encourage individuals to do is, you know, join arms with other entrepreneurs that have been in this game for way longer than, you know, other vets. They can tell you a thing or two. They can tell you what, what it is that you have to do, what it is that you need to do, what it is that you should be looking for. You know? And the other biggest thing was COVID being an entrepreneur, you know, COVID I think shut a lot of us down being an entrepreneur, so, yeah.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Yeah, I think that’s where that perseverance comes in, for sure.
TJ Southern:
Definitely
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Amplified during those last few years.
TJ Southern:
Definitely.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
You talked about sort of the, one of the things you did was the perseverance and staying focused. Is there any other sort of strategies that you needed to put in place over the last few years?
TJ Southern:
Well, one of the biggest strategies that I needed to put in place, and I encourage other entrepreneurs to do is, like I said, get, get connected, get into mentorship programs, find you Chamber of Commerce. You know, there’s a lot of programs for entrepreneurs so that they can get mentored, so find your mentorship program. There are a lot of free mentorship programs for entrepreneurs. Like I said, your local chamber of commerce, if there’s a group, a lot of people have groups, whether they’re on Facebook or whether they’re in Instagram, find your tribe. And that will actually help to feed you to get you to the next level. Entrepreneurship is really exhausting, it really is. And, you know, sitting in this seat, you have to be fed and you have to be fed not by necessarily by your own cohorts, but you have to be fed by individuals who have gone before you and who have done this prior to you.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Right, yight. Yeah, I know that’s, that’s really good advice. And SONSIEL has, we’ve started over the last, I guess, year and a half now, we have run a couple of weekends in partnership with a weekend certification course for entrepreneurship and innovation for nursing. But it’s one of the many things we do. But also it’s a great opportunity for networking, as you’ve mentioned, about the importance of that. How has SONSIEL helped you in your journey?
TJ Southern:
I am going to be honest. This is actually my first time hearing of SONSIEL.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Oh!
TJ Southern:
Yes.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Okay!
TJ Southern:
I was actually able to interview one of your partners through the Future of Global Informatics, so.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Oh, okay!
TJ Southern:
Yes. Yes. So I’m not involved in SONSIEL. I haven’t been a part of SONSIEL ….
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Oh, well, you need to be! You have so much to offer or so much to offer our members. So SONSIEL is the Society of Nursing Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Scientists, Leaders, and we have quite a network, over 500 members now, and we do like monthly meetups where one of the members will be highlighted and then it’s discussion and people share their stories. We are having a conference, our first back, back to in-person conference in Niagara Falls, Canada, the beginning of November, bringing together nurse innovators and entrepreneurs from the US and Canada together for two days, which will be really super exciting. But yeah, it’s a great network, TJ, you need to join. You will, you will have found your people there, and what a great group. So that’s what, when I met these people two and a half years ago, I guess now, when we founded SONSIEL, having been the Lone Ranger in Innovation and Informatics, it really wasn’t anywhere that there wasn’t a lot of places to turn to learn. And I was so excited. So yeah, I think you would I think you would love to join our next meetup, it’s, it’s next Thursday night. So what are, what are you most excited about now as you move forward?
TJ Southern:
I’m most excited about the opportunities that are available for nursing informaticist and for entrepreneurs both. COVID has really, really leveled the playing field and opened up a lot of opportunities. This is really the time for entrepreneurs to take the lead or to take the dive, it really is. You have so much more support than when we did eons ago. So also for nursing, I think for also for nursing informatics as a discipline. Oh my God, when I tell you that my little heart just pounds for the informatics industry and what nurses are getting ready to do, how we are getting ready to change the world, the value that is getting ready to be added, the patient care outcomes that we are going to help organizations and facilities create, that, right there just excites me beyond all measure. So, you know, for incoming nurse informaticists or veteran nurse informaticist, the world is our oyster and that’s what really excites me the most.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Yeah, I agree 100%. I’m, I’m really excited about the shift that we’re seeing now to consumer products on digital health type projects, looking at biometric monitoring and really helping people to manage, better manage their own care with that information. But I think there’s a big piece of that, that’s the interpretation of that information and and how they use that to add to change behavior or add value. And I strongly believe that nurses will lead the way in that and to help companies be successful and but most importantly, help change the health experience of people as they live their best lives. So, yeah, no, I’m, I’m super excited about that as well. So where do you see yourself now in the next five years?
TJ Southern:
I see Beryllus consulting and staffing being very well known or the organizational input that it will bring. I see myself being a representative of nurse informaticist across the globe.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Nice.
TJ Southern:
I see networks and networks of nurse informaticist being able to join together to just really, really form our standards and really just let, letting the world know that nurses are more. Nurses are more, we’re more than just bedside. While, yes, we have the spirit of compassion and the spirit of empathy, we also have the spirit of entrepreneurship. I also see nursing programs changing to assist in that entrepreneurship.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Yeah for sure. Entrepreneurship and, and I think as well innovation, I think nurse informacists use data and information to identify where those gaps are and to identify where those opportunities are. And I think just by their nature of curiosity, they are able to drive forward some new ideas. So, yeah, that’s that’s, great. Thank you. What’s one thing that you’d like to leave with, our audience today?
TJ Southern:
As I stated earlier, perseverance is the key. It is the key to everything in life, not just to being a nurse or being an entrepreneur. But perseverance is the key to obtaining every goal in life.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
One step at a time. You go keep going forward, even if it’s an inch. Some days it’ll be a yard or I should say a meter. Probably just be saying centimeters and meters now.
TJ Southern:
Keep going.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Keep going. Yes. Very good. And just curious to with your staffing, is that right now national or where do you ….? It’s national, in the US?
TJ Southern:
Yes. So right now we are national in the US. Currently, we have offices in North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, Florida. So those are our home bases right now. We will be expanding next year into Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee. So, yeah, we have some, some magnificent things on the horizon of what we’re going to be doing in the future. We have some wonderful partnerships that I have been entrusted and honored to serve with some major organizations. So, yes, right now we are national. That is my, definitely my hope, my dream, and my prayer is for us to go international, that’s always actually been my dream to serve internationally, so yeah.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Well, excellent. Well, I think along with perseverance, then you should add aspirations. Yeah, that’s wonderful, what growth! That’s, that’s awesome to have that available where you are now, but then with the growth that you’re projecting to across the country and then, then globally, I have confidence you’re going to, you’re going to get there. So thank you for spending time with us this morning. Hopefully you will join, consider joining SONSIEL. I think it is, it’s a wonderful network, lots of value and just full of nursing rock stars that you absolutely have to meet. So, so thank you for sharing your story with us today. We really appreciate it and enjoy the rest of your week.
TJ Southern:
Thank you.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
You take care.
TJ Southern:
Have a good day.
Mary Lou Ackerman:
Bye bye.
Hiyam Nadel:
Thanks for tuning in to the SONSIEL podcast. If today’s podcast inspired you, we invite you to join our tribe or support our mission by visiting us at SONSIEL.org. That’s S O N S I E L.org.
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