We had the good fortune of connecting with Shayna Babb and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shayna, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
After working as a Pediatric Nurse for the last 6.5 years, I saw a lack of education in the community on managing common pediatric illnesses & parental preparedness for emergent situations outside of the hospital. Having the experience & expertise of caring for ill children in the hospital, I thought why not start a business where I can educate, equip and empower parents and caregivers to be their child’s voice. And that is when it dawned on me… why not start a business to do just that?! The Medical Mamas was born out of a deep desire to prepare families for childhood illnesses & medical emergencies that could arise at any given moment. My thought process was simple… I have the knowledge & a skillset that most parents lack so why not provide the education in a simple & easy to use format & empower parents to be their kiddos best advocate.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started working at CHOC in 2015 as a nurse assistant & left in 2016 to pursue a job as a registered nurse at a small hospital in the cardiac unit. After realizing the void I had in my heart when I left the pediatric setting, I decided I wanted to come back to CHOC as a registered nurse and got rehired in 2017. I worked on a multi-specialty pediatric unit for 5 years before transferring to float pool where I got exposure to every unit in the hospital. I worked there for about 1 year before pursuing my career dream of becoming a nurse on our Vascular Access Team. I’ve been with this team since August 2022 & have loved every moment of it. I get the pleasure of placing ultrasound guided IV’s and central lines and care for the most fragile kiddos in the hospital. Our team services every unit & it’s such an honor to work alongside such caring, compassionate, skilled, intelligent and strong nurses. Joining the Vascular Access Team has definitely been one of my proudest accomplishments as a nurse & I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to service the hospital in this capacity. Professionally, there have always been ups and downs. I would say the biggest challenge I’ve faced in my career was going from being familiar to my job as a bedside nurse to starting a new career at CHOC on the VA team. Learning new skills & leaving the bedside was definitely hard for me at first as my passion has always been to care for children during their acute illness & love the relationship I would build with families. But, getting the option to pursue my dream was not something I took lightly and despite the challenges, I’m so grateful for the opportunity I’ve gotten & feel such fulfillment when I leave work. Dealing with temporary struggles or challenges in a new role is 100% worth it when you get to make a difference in a child’s life & parent’s trust you to care for their child in the scariest & darkest moments of their life.
I want the world to know that I started this business because my heart is so intentional on educating parents on being their child’s advocate. I want parents to know that they have the ability to stand up for their children, play a role in their medical care & seek out opinions before making a decision on how to manage their child’s health.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
If I can think of one person who has encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur it would have to be my husband, Taylor! We are high school sweethearts and in the last 15 years have shared many beautiful moments together. We have 2 young children ages 4 & 2 and despite the chaos of juggling young kids, shift work, night shift life & now the business, he has been nothing but supportive! Honored to be your wife babe !

Website: www.themedicalmamas.care

Instagram: @the.medical.mamas

Other: info@themedicalmamas.care

Image Credits
Samantha Genido

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