Nurse Entrepreneur Spotlight: Tamara AL-Yassin
Tamara AL-Yassin (MBA, BSN, RN, CEN, PHN) is a former ER nurse and the CEO and Co-Founder of The Nursing Beat, a short daily digital newsletter designed to quickly provide nurses with important news and information, including valuable resources on the topics they care most about. Read the below interview to learn more about Tamara’s journey and her advice for future nurse entrepreneurs.
Can you tell us about your journey as an entrepreneur in the healthcare industry?
I always had the entrepreneurial spirit. As a kid, I would go door-to-door finding babysitting and pet sitting opportunities. I started my first business with my then-roommate and now COO of my current company, Hannah Berns. We started a swag company during the pandemic to commemorate first responders. We have since shut down that business and are now working to build the most engaged community for nurses, The Nursing Beat. I also knew I needed more formal skills and went to business school while I was working in the ER during the pandemic.
What inspired you to start your own venture in this field?
The pandemic. Nurses deserve a voice in the media, and it should be driven by the people themselves. No one should be telling our story other than us. As nurses, we make up the largest healthcare workforce, and we are decision influencers and makers of clinical products and technology. My job is to show the breadth and depth of the contribution that nurses make in the healthcare field.
What specific problem or challenge in healthcare are you addressing with your business?
We are solving time. Nurses don’t have TIME — not to take a break or stay up-to-date on the latest information in healthcare.
How does your company’s service innovate or improve upon existing solutions in the healthcare sector?
We strictly focus on short-form content with time in mind. Subscribers of our daily newsletter can absorb the latest information in three minutes or less.
What have been the biggest obstacles you’ve faced in launching and growing your healthcare business, and how have you overcome them?
Building the community has been relatively easy because our leadership team is the community. We are nurses, so we know what nurses need and want. The hard part has been the vertical climb of learning how to grow and scale a business. The best thing I ever did to learn quickly was to grow a network of experts around me. My goal is to be the dumbest in the room. You have to surround yourself with people who will facilitate your growth.
Can you share any success stories or milestones that your company has achieved in improving healthcare outcomes or patient experiences?
In two years, we have grown our audience 400% and now reach over 100,000 nurses daily. The best part of my job is getting on a call or receiving an email from a subscriber to tells us that we have made an impact on their day through our content. It keeps our team going because we do it for the nurses.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the healthcare industry with their own startups?
Don’t let anyone tell you that you are incapable of achieving your dreams. If you want it, you can make it happen. And even more importantly, don’t let failure hinder your ability to transform, learn, and grow.
How do you stay informed about the latest trends, developments, and challenges in the healthcare sector, and how does this inform your business strategy?
With The Nursing Beat, of course! We aggregate all the data that nurses need to know to stay informed and up-to-date with the latest news and information.
What are your long-term goals and visions for your healthcare business, and how do you plan to achieve them?
My life commitment is to build a better future for healthcare. This will mean many things over the course of my life, and I am really excited to see it unfold. At The Nursing Beat, we are committed to bring a culture that is radically inclusive, fun, professional, lighthearted, and — most importantly — makes nurses feel supported, thought-of, and cared for!