Dr. Lisa Lea’s inspiring journey

Chapter 1: The Journey to Becoming a Nurse Practitioner 00:00 I was told that physicians diagnose disease, nurses teach you how to live with it. And I felt like as a nurse practitioner, really had the best of both worlds. 00:09 I had the opportunity to diagnose, evaluate, and treat, but also to spend the time with patients to better help them live the best they can with the circumstances they've been given. 00:22 And I think that's what I most appreciated about their role, and that's what inspired me about this practitioner I met. 00:40 Hello and welcome to the Degrees of Success podcast. I'm your host, Freda Richards, and today we have an incredible guest, Dr. 00:48 Lisa Lea. Dr. Lisa Lea is the director of Patient Insight and she has a beautiful family and a husband who also graduated from the University of Phoenix and encouraged her to come here. 01:01 And I'm so excited to hear more about this story. Both of you are here. 01:05 This is the very first time on the Degrees of Success podcast that we've had a wife and husband Join me to tell an incredible story, but we couldn't have done it without you. 01:14 So for those who do not know the both of you, I'll have you introduce yourself and then I'll have you jump in to talking about when you, Dr. 01:24 Lisa, decided you wanted to advance your career and how your husband encouraged you to go to University of Phoenix and why. So hello everyone, my name is Lisa Lea. 01:32 Hi. 01:32 I'm Tom Schoo- And Tom, I would love for you to actually lead the way here and tell us the story about when before she was Dr. 01:40 Lisa and she decided she wanted to advance her career, how you supported her and the way in you did that. 01:46 She had always wanted to go back to school because of the past experience and obstacle that she had uh faced with getting rejections from position that she had applied for. 02:03 You're perfect for this position, however, and then there's always a but. 02:08 So I said, you know, instead of having that as an obstacle or an excuse, Why don't we do something about it? 02:17 So, and I started researching on online doctoral programs and I said, hey, you know what? 02:25 University of Phoenix is perfect. It's perfect for working families, working mothers, working fathers. 02:32 I went there, I got my MBA through there. So I'd said, hey, why don't, you you just kind of take the leap and do something for yourself. 02:41 You told me to go downstairs and write my essay. That's what you told me to do. Okay. He said, get to work, finish that. 02:49 watch the kids you go write your essay. That's so, how incredible was that support? 02:56 Tell me what that meant to you or how that helped you move forward with getting your advanced degree. 03:02 I think I really needed that push because it's something I've talked about for over a decade. have, I've talked about getting my doctorate. 03:11 Um, I have flirted with the idea. I've looked up programs online, um, and tried to consider different programs. 03:19 And then it just never seemed like the right time. And the timing for me to start this program wasn't great. 03:28 And it was probably the least ideal time in my life. We had two very young children. had a six month old. I had a three year old. 03:36 I had just started a new job that was very stressful, very demanding. We were in the middle of COVID. 03:43 Our house was being remodeled, torn down to the studs. So there was pounding and drilling constantly. 03:53 So when he came to me with this idea of you, why don't you go back and get your doctorate? It was crazy to me. 04:00 I said, this is the worst possible time. But then he reminded me that it's never going to be a good time. And now is the goodest time as ever. 04:08 So I embarked on this journey. And I think if it weren't for his support, I wouldn't have even taken the leap. 04:16 I would have continued to put it off. So I'm really grateful to him for giving me that push and essentially making me do it. 04:24 Otherwise, I may still be in this position now. thinking about getting my DNP. I was incredibly grateful for it, know, even that spark. 04:34 My goodness, that's powerful. And I love the partnership in your relationship. 04:40 I also read that you, a friend of yours was disappointed that you didn't share that you were actually in the program. 04:47 And you were like, well, I didn't want to tell anyone just in case I failed. 04:51 And I thought that the most powerful thing after that was what I read, your husband's response to you thinking that you weren't going to be able to do it. 05:01 Do you remember what you said? I don't. It's okay, because I was in love with the story. 05:09 You don't have to remember. So you said, I always knew that she was going to do it. Anytime she puts her mind to something, she gets it done. 05:16 I never had a doubt in my mind that she was going to get it done. And that confidence and partnership is one. 05:24 I'm sure there's many people from our listeners to to our viewers that adore this relationship and this partnership and the way that in which you all balanced it all. 05:34 I do want to ask. how you did that though, because you just told me several things with the house, with the very, very small babies at the time, they're still fairly small. 05:44 um And then with a brand new job that was fairly stressful and the doctorate, how did you, not to mention your relationship, how did you balance it all? 05:54 Yeah, that's a great question because I remember now looking back, there was so much going on at the time, right? 06:00 I said, I think that's a true testament to our marriage because if our marriage can survive that, we can survive anything because it was so much going on at one time. 06:10 I think what was really a driver of success for me was really um organization and prioritization. 06:18 So I had to be incredibly organized and incredibly em diligent about keeping to a schedule. 06:27 So the minute I closed my work computer, I immediately opened my school computer and I knew I had two hours before I had to go pick up the babies. 06:35 So that gave me the really the drive and the push to I had these two hours that were dedicated time every single day in the afternoon for me to work. 06:45 Because after I pick up the children, you know, everything else, who knows how the evening is going to play out. 06:52 So I think what was really critical to be successful was to make sure that I was really on a regimented schedule and that I prioritized my schoolwork and made sure that I had that time blocked out. 07:08 um Tom was incredibly supportive and there were days that I knew I was going to need to spend the entire day writing a paper. 07:17 or working on a presentation. So he would frequently offer to take the kids to go to the museum for the day. So I would have that time to work. 07:25 And what I really appreciated about that is not only did I have the time to work on my schoolwork, but also then when my family came home, I could give 100 % to my family when 07:35 they came home and they weren't seeing me on the computer all the time, which has really been important for me that when I'm present, I'm fully present. 07:45 um And I'm not distracted by other things. So I think that that really uh contributed to me trying to be as efficient as I could during the day so that I could be fully present when they came home. Chapter 2: Balancing Family and Education 07:57 another core value of yours, which I was, that's admirable. I remember reading when researching you that you said, I'm absolutely prioritizing my family. 08:08 They are first. And so I have these goals that I want to accomplish, but they are always first. So it has to work around them. 08:15 And I admire that. I'll still Dr. Lisa from you for just a little bit more. And then I promise I'll give you guys back your day. 08:24 Thank you. Meeting you. It was lovely meeting you. Dr. 08:28 Lisa, I would love to dive directly into your story and start talking about your incredible journey. 08:35 For those who do not already have the pleasure of knowing who you are, please first tell me your name, a little bit of an intro, and then more so your mission, because it's powerful. 08:47 Sure. So my name is Lisa Lea. um I'm currently in San Francisco. 08:52 I'm married to a wonderful husband, Tom, and I have two beautiful children, um Jason and Kylia. 09:00 And in terms of my mission, I think really what I hope that my story leaves an impact on other people is that, one, it's never too late to finish what you started. 09:15 And to really never stop bettering yourself and never stop with education. 09:20 And I really try to teach my children to always be learning and always be curious about the world and always take that next step. 09:30 Because that's really what life's about. We don't stop in one place. We keep going for the rest of our lives. And that's how we really lead full lives. 09:38 And your journey has definitely taken you a few different places. teaching your children to be open and curious definitely comes from a good place. 09:50 tell me about, right. Tell me about the beginning of your career path. So you were interested in advertising at first, is that right? 09:58 Yeah, so I always say that I um didn't end up where I intended, but I ended up exactly where I need to be. 10:07 And my mother, actually, when I was young, always thought I would be destined for health care. She felt like that's what she saw, like sparked a passion in me. 10:15 oh My father's a periodontist, really tried to encourage me to go into the dental field, but I think I almost was a little bit repelled. 10:25 my healthcare because I grew up with this periodontist father and I said, I don't, I don't want to do any of that. 10:33 so he's, so it's kind of like a dentist, although he works more on the gums. He's retired now, but he had his own practice and worked at the university. 10:42 Um, so he, he was really encouraging me to be a dental hygienist at the time and, uh, just completely not what I wanted to do at all. 10:53 And I decided that I wanted to be an advertising executive. And so I was taking classes towards being in advertising. 11:01 But I started realizing the further I got into studies for advertising is that I didn't really want the job. 11:09 I wanted the lifestyle that came with it. And I was imagining mad men. 11:14 I wanted to wear designer suits and live in a high rise apartment with a martini and a beautiful car. 11:20 And I finally realized I don't think I'm cut out for the job. I think I just want the life that goes with it or the supposed life that you see on on TV shows. 11:31 what really sparked my passion, I was a pharmacist. I was a pharmacy technician at the time. And I thought, well, maybe I want to be a pharmacist. 11:40 But then it turned out that you need to be really good in organic chemistry, which was not not my strong suit. 11:47 And but I didn't really feel passionate about it. 11:52 But what sparked my passion for nursing over again was that my physician was on sabbatical and I needed to be in for an appointment and they offered me a visit with the nurse practitioner. 12:07 And my very arrogant 19 year old self said, well, I don't want to see the nurse practitioner. I want to see the doctor. 12:14 And they said, well, you can see the doctor, but she'll be back in six weeks if you can wait that long. Of course I couldn't. 12:21 So I said, fine, you can put me in with this nurse practitioner person and then I'll just wait until the doctor gets back. 12:29 And I had my visit with her and she forever changed my life. 12:34 So she came in, she sat down, she listened to my story. um She was kind, compassionate. 12:43 She genuinely cared. She diagnosed me accurately. She got me referred to the specialist that I needed to see. 12:50 She checked on me. I had this amazing, wonderful life-changing experience that day in the office. 12:59 And I walked out thinking, that's what I want to do, because that's what I really enjoy doing. love um listening to people's stories. 13:07 And as a pharmacy technician, I had a little bit of that, of listening to patients' stories and trying to figure out how I could help. 13:14 So I immediately changed my major and I looked into switching over to nursing. 13:22 I had several friends that were pursuing nursing degrees. So I had lots of conversations with them, but immediately switched. 13:31 And I knew that I wanted to go to nursing school to be a nurse practitioner. 13:36 So I never really saw myself as a bedside nurse, but I knew I wanted to be a nurse practitioner. 13:43 My goal from then on was like, how do I get there and what are the next steps in being a nurse practitioner? 13:50 So um it was a long journey because at the time I was working full time. 13:57 I was living on my own. was taking classes. I was doing night classes. And this is all at 19? 14:06 My goodness, okay. 14:08 I was working full time during the day as a pharmacy technician and then I was taking night classes and taking anatomy and physiology and I recall some very late nights in the A &P lab with drinking what I call gut rot coffee as we were... 14:26 gut rot coffee? 14:27 Oh, just we had an old coffee maker that we would make coffee and sit there and it was just like the kind that sat on the burner too long, so it's a little too strong, a little burned. 14:38 But when you're desperate for caffeine at 930 at night in the lab, you do what you gotta do. 14:49 I mean, at that age you can do it, right? Right. I'm so glad I don't have to do it now, but at that age we could do it. 14:56 So I continued my uh studies towards nursing school um and my prereqs. 15:04 and then was accepted into a private nursing college in Portland, where I finally was able to begin my studies to actually go forward and be a nurse. 15:15 And when I graduated, I really wanted an opportunity to provide me with the most experience and the least amount of time. 15:23 So I worked in the trauma recovery unit where we had multi-system organ failure, all types of trauma. 15:32 And I think that was That was one of the best learning experiences. And I still look back on that experience in my life as I still have friends from that period of my life. 15:43 We were all young nurses in the trenches together, learning together. 15:48 And some of um my best bonds have come from that period of my life because we all have the similar shared experience of trial by fire. 15:57 We were all right, all in it together. my goodness. So how old were you during that time? Chapter 3: The Impact of Mentorship 16:04 So I finally finished my nursing program, I think at 25, which I felt was a little late to the game um because of my, had to do things a little bit slower because I was trying to work and go to school at the same time. 16:20 So I just had to go at my own pace and take classes as I could. Like I said, at night school and on the weekends, but my goal was I was going to finish it. 16:30 So those were some hard years. I won't lie. 16:34 Um, but it was, you know, it was a huge sense of accomplishment when I finished and I look back and think, yes, those were really, really hard years. 16:43 Um, but I did it and I did it on my own and no one can take it from me. So it was a huge sense of accomplishment when I finally finished. 16:51 Where do you get this drive from? Because it's not just the fact that you worked full time while getting to your goal. 16:58 It's also the fact that you were in school wanting to be in advertising and then you just made up your mind. 17:05 When you had this experience, no, I wanna be a nurse practitioner and immediately changed your path. 17:14 Where does this drive and like absolute curve of direction come from with such confidence? That's a great question. 17:22 think, you know, I want to say my father. 17:26 mean, my father is uh he's got just an incredible story of um being one of these men that has just really risen. 17:34 You know, he he came from very, very modest means and worked his way through dental school, worked his way, um you know, through periodontal training. 17:45 And he I remember one of the phrases he would tell me is as a child. He said, if they ask you to carry eight boxes, you carry 10. 17:53 So he was always about drive and giving 110 % every single time. 18:00 uh And I think one of the things that he really stressed in me from a young age is that it was very important. 18:07 He you got to do these kinds of things when you're young, when you have the energy and you can pull these late-nighters and you can do these, but you're going to wish that you done it when you were older. 18:18 I really appreciated that advice because it did really push me. And I think the other piece of it is I really had this desire to succeed. 18:27 I knew I didn't want to be a pharmacy technician forever. I knew that I didn't want to live where I was living forever. 18:34 knew that these are the things that I wanted and I wanted that job. I wanted to be a nurse practitioner. I wanted to see patients. I wanted to make a difference. 18:43 And so it was really important to me to just take it one step at a time. 18:49 And I just had to look at every day is 1 % better every day and just keep taking, taking steps to achieve, to achieve towards your goal. 18:58 You've definitely done that and then some. Can you please explain the difference between a doctor and a nurse practitioner? 19:04 Because I have had my own experience where I thought where the nurse practitioner was much more, not want to say kind, but definitely took more time to listen to the story or my 19:15 concerns was more present with me uh than the doctor. So what is the difference? 19:24 That's a great question. think it really has to do with the focus. So I have never pretended to be in competition with my physician colleagues. 19:33 em We all have a role in health care and uh physicians are trained under the medical path, em whereas nurse practitioners are trained under the nursing path. 19:46 And when I work alongside my physician colleagues, we all have a role to play. 19:52 I would say And it really depends on the state you're in too, in terms of like the level of autonomy. 19:58 But I was up in Oregon where nurse practitioners have quite a bit of autonomy and are able to independently see patients, independently able to assess and prescribe. 20:09 But I'm very comfortable with knowing what's out of my scope. And if there's ever time I don't feel comfortable, I feel like this is out of scope. 20:17 I always feel comfortable referring to a physician colleague or at least consulting. to see if we need to move a different path. 20:25 So I think one of the, um the quotes that I remember hearing before I started nursing school, and this was from someone who had recently completed nursing school and was considering medical school at the time. 20:37 And her decision for considering nursing school instead is she said, I was told that physicians diagnose disease, nurses teach you how to live with it. 20:48 And I felt like as a nurse practitioner, I really had the best of both. worlds. 20:52 I had the opportunity to diagnose, evaluate and treat, but also to spend the time with patients to better help them. 21:02 How do we live with this? um How do we find a solution that's going to fit within your life? 21:09 There's not a one size fits all for every patient. 21:12 So it's really about working with individuals to decide how can you meet them where they are and how can you help them live the best they can with the circumstances they've been given. 21:24 And I think that's what I most appreciated about the role. And that's what inspired me about this practitioner I met is she really sat down with me and wanted to talk things through. 21:34 And that's what I really admired about her role at the time and was inspirational to me. And you've told me that you've written her since. 22:54 Absolutely. As I heard you say, you mentored people as well. And I'm confident you have your own mentors and have had them throughout your life. 23:02 How important do you think it is to have a mentor or to be a mentor? Chapter 4: The Role of Nurse Practitioners Chapter 5: Lifelong Learning and Personal Growth 25:47 Tell me about University of Phoenix. 27:44 As a mom, that really touches my heart because I have these two littles as well. And I know that the majority of our students here at University of Phoenix are parents. 27:54 We're adult learners and we're doing our best to balance all things. 27:59 Before I let you go, I want to ensure that before you leave the pod, if there's anyone listening for all those that are watching, what do you want to make sure that in watching this pod that they walk away with today, that one thing you want to make sure that they remember? 29:19 believe that when I walk across that stage, I'm gonna have to get like either my grad cap, all of the people that I've interviewed from the Degrees of Success podcast, because I always take that little nugget with me. 29:30 There's always something from you all that keeps me going in these programs. So thank you so much for just your transparency. 29:38 Honestly, thank you for being a servant leader in this world. And thank you just for joining us today, because I know that your time is valuable. 29:46 So thank you. Of course, of course. 29:54 And somehow that brings us to the end of this episode of the Degrees of Success podcast. We are so grateful for Dr. Lisa and all it that she's taught us. 30:03 If you want to learn more about Dr. Lisa, we'll make sure that we have some information in the biome. 30:09 I'm your host, Freda Richards, reminding you that your next chapter might be your best one yet. See you soon.