Ayan's Homepage

Category: startup

  • Kora Behavioral Health: Month One! 🚀

    I can’t believe it’s been a little over a month since we got our first patient at Kora!

    Ayan Said, nurse entrepreneur and co-founder of Kora Behavioral Health a group home in Phoenix Arizona, is standing in teal scrubs , holding her red stethoscope and smiling, inside her residential facility during her first month of operations

    Wooooo.. blows mind how quick that time flew by!!

    I’ve been meaning to update my blog and thought this would be a great come back post.

    I recently posted something similar on my LinkedIn titled “4 things I learned my first week running a behavioral health company” and I want to keep it as an ongoing series because it was SO fun to put together! Plus I’m trying to document my journey as much as possible this time around! 😁

    LFGOOOOOOO

    5 (surprising) things I learned my first month running a behavioral health startup:

    1. Be confident AF! Confidence isn’t automatic for me – I remind myself every single day that I do belong here. That unshakeable self-belief allowed me to tap into my abilities, show up, stay motivated, keep at it regardless of what’s going on externally and has directly impacted my company. We’re only a month in and Kora already has happy patients and staff – hell yeah 🙌🏾
    2. Action > overthinking + researching. I spent waaaaay too many hours planning, perfecting, overanalyzing. All I really need is an MVP (minimum viable plan) and to take that first step. And honestly, even if that MVP took me in the ‘wrong’ direction, I quickly adjusted and still learned something, still came away with a new idea/insight which was still incredibly valuable.
    3. Don’t stop marketing/networking even if the day to day gets crazy busy. I’ve made it a rule to schedule at least 6 hours of networking every week whether it’s a local meetup, conference, in-person visits to facilities/referral partners, posting on socials, outreach, lots and lots of outreach.
    4. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel – forms, templates, policies/procedures… Use what’s already there and tweak it with an LLM.
    5. What worked in my last 2 companies didn’t always work for this one… and what didn’t work at my last 2 startups might actually work now 😅 This one threw me for a loop because I’m still in the healthcare sector and I was sure (almost) everything would map 1:1 but it didn’t. I learned that instead of trying to force my previous experience/beliefs/frameworks into this company, I need to focus on building for my current company – what’s actually happening now and for it’s future. 


    What an awesome month filled with learnings and growth!!

    I honestly can’t wait to check in again in a few weeks!

  • From Bedside Nurse to Nurse Innovator and Entrepreneur

    From Bedside Nurse to Nurse Innovator and Entrepreneur

    Where is started:

    I’m Ayan – a mom, registered nurse, entrepreneur, innovator, artist, philanthropist and my dedication and passion for nursing, healthcare, startups and innovation began while working at Mayo Clinic as a bedside registered nurse in 2017. It was in 2019 where my nurse colleague invited me to cofounded Navi Nurses, an on-demand private duty nursing service that provides compassionate care to patients for in home care.

    As a nurse, I witnessed firsthand the challenges and limitations of traditional healthcare systems. Nurses face so many obstacles when trying to provide the best care possible and patients become overwhelmed at the thought of going home – there must be a better way. With Navi Nurses, we set out to solve just that problem by creating a more holistic, individualized, patient centered approach that allowed patients and their loved ones to hire a nurse on demand, for any healthcare needs like post surgery or in-home care for seniors.

    Resources that Helped Me in my Entrepreneurial Journey:

    Before my nursing career, I’ve maintained an entrepreneurial spirit and immersed myself in the business world. I’ve read countless books on mindset, personal development, business, technology, attended startup conferences and meetups like Phoenix Startup Week, and participated in hackathons like ones led by SONSIEL – Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs and Leaders. Events like these have empowered me and allowed me to combine my passion for healthcare, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

    Giving Back is in my DNA:

    While working at Navi as Chief Operating Officer, my team and I created and funded a $25,000 nursing scholarship at Arizona State University’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation, a grant that supports nursing students who aspire to become nurses. This is a cause that is very close to my heart, and it’s an honor to be able to support the next generation of nurses and healthcare leaders.

    I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve accomplished at Navi Nurses, and I’m grateful that our efforts have been recognized by the American Nurses Foundation, who honored me as a Nurse Innovator for my work with Navi. Another highlight of my career is being interviewed by journalists from Johnson & Johnson, where I discussed entrepreneurship, nurse innovation, the power of community, and more.

    Getting my Street MBA:

    During my time at Navi, I participated in two major accelerators in Arizona: the Arizona Technology Council’s Venture Ready program and the Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program. These programs provided our team with grant funding and mentorship instrumental in my and my company’s growth.

    My Mission:

    My work is driven by my dedication to using my skills and expertise to create positive change in the healthcare industry through fostering relationships, innovation, entrepreneurship, building community, and more. With my unique background in nursing, passionate advocate for meaningful the healthcare industry, and entrepreneurial spirit, I hope to make a deep impact on healthcare and my community.

    I invite you to join me on this journey. Whether you’re a fellow nurse entrepreneur, a founder, parent, or simply someone who cares about the future of healthcare, I believe that we can work together to create a better, more equitable, and more accessible healthcare system for all. Let’s empower nurses, innovate in healthcare, and build powerful and thriving communities.

  • Utilizing Local Resources for Entrepreneurial Success: Lessons from My Experience

    Advice to Registered Nurses and others looking to launch their entrepreneurial journeys:

    Starting a business can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. As a nurse and entrepreneur, I’ve found that utilizing local resources has been critical to my success. There are many local resources available, both free and paid, such as local entrepreneur meetups, incubators, accelerators, networking events, and business classes held at libraries, among others. These resources are great because they offer mentorship, various opportunities, and a supportive community to help you understand the landscape, launch, and grow your business.

    a nurse innovator and entrepreneur named Ayan Said, a Phoenix local, is wearing copper color scrubs, holding her stethoscope, and smiling at her laptop screen as she's talking a call on zoom

    Utilize Local Resources:

    When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I believed I needed to get a coaching certification or purchase an expensive course from a well-known nurse guru in the community, but this wasn’t the case. Instead, I focused on the following:

    • Attended meetups like 1 Million Cups and Startup Week, which provided opportunities for me to immerse myself in the startup scene, connect with other entrepreneurs, investors, and mentors in my local community.
    • Participated in a low-cost business boot camp, SeedSpot, which provided me invaluable resources and mentorship to help me understand foundational business concepts, marketing, and gave me an opportunity to pitch in front of a live audience.
    • Attended business library classes that were put together by local business development centers like S.C.O.R.E to get resources and support for starting and growing a business. Some of these classes were workshops and had ample opportunities for me to obtain mentoring from a local, seasoned business mentor.
    • Attended networking events and surrounded myself with like-minded individuals.
    • Joined an online business mastermind community that met weekly to connect and support other entrepreneurs.
    • Started an official mentorship relationship with mentors from a local startup. This helped tremendously with accountability and gave us an opportunity to brainstorm and get feedback as our business grew.

    Conclusion:

    By utilizing these local resources and building relationships within your community, you can position yourself for success in the business world. So, if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, don’t be afraid to get immersed in the startup world and ask for help!

  • Gym gains = work gains

    Olympic weightlifting helped me build a million dollar business.

    Focus and Mindset

    Lifting nurtured my growth mindset, leading to my ability to stay motivated, consistent, and to maintain discipline over a long period of time. I attribute a lot of my resilience to lifting, and found that it correlated to my fortitude in business.

    Goal Setting

    In Olympic weightlifting, we set specific goals for amount of weight lifted, focus heavily on technique & form, and closely track nutrition, sleep and other factors that directly affected overall performance over a period of time. In business, this translated to setting measurable goals and tracking key metrics like revenue targets, customer acquisition costs, contractor retention and engagement, and so much more. Both require a strong focus on goal setting, reviewing metrics and outcomes closely, frequently, and measuring progress over time.

    Discipline and Training

    Lifters have to train consistently and work hard to develop the technique and strength required to succeed in this sport. There would be days that I was in beast mode and felt incredibly strong and other days where I could barely stay coordinated and missed every movement.

    In my startup, there were times when I had patients that I cared for and became very close to that passed, and within the next hour I would be training a new nurse for their shadow shift. Or times I missed dinner with my daughter because of working 100+ hour weeks consistently. Working at a high growth startup is incredibly tough, especially in an industry like healthcare. It requires a lot of discipline, strength, and showing up – even when it feels everything is going wrong. On the hard days, when things felt impossible to overcome, I found peace in the fact that I stayed disciplined enough to show up consistently. This helped me cultivate a high level of grit and discipline and allowed me to view success on a macro level over a longer period of time rather than focusing on days that didn’t feel like successes.

    Resilience and Adaptability

    There were times when I overtrained, or or didn’t prioritize nutrition, which led to major setbacks physically and mentally. This is where focus and adapting came in. By prioritizing sleep, increasing mobility work or protein intake, I was able to persist and pushed through the setbacks. This perspective tremendously strengthened my ability to adapt when facing adversity in entrepreneurship. There are so many obstacles when building a company from the ground up, but with team effort, navigating the lows and ability to learn from mistakes allows for resilience to build, regardless of ever changing circumstances.

  • Stop buying from fake “business” gurus

    Stop buying biz packages from fake gurus if you want to start a legitimate business.

    I made the mistake of purchasing an expensive package from a fake business guru, and I completely regret it. At the time I didn’t realize she made money NOT from the business she started, but from preying on nurses by selling them useless business courses that had no substance and didn’t prepare me for the entrepreneurial world.

    Most of these courses miss the mark. They sell a vague dream, they’re generalized, and they don’t give actionable steps. Many preach getting another certification, or another degree – not the important business stuff you actually need to know about to be successful in your venture like finances, marketing and selling. And unfortunately, nurses (a lot of people), fall for it.

    After losing my money on this course and realizing I didn’t get any actual value from it, I decided to pivot and take a different approach.

    I searched free local resources and started attending classes held by SCORE, went to conferences like Phoenix Startup Week, and 1 Million Cups meetings. By listening, learning, and talking to people, I gained knowledge, experience, grew, and met a lot of helpful people because I immersed myself into the community.

    After attending Phoenix Startup Week in 2019 I completed an awesome business bootcamp through SeedSpot called the 2-day Launch Camp held at Gateway CEI.

    seedspot phoenix entrepeneur program arizona startup ayan said
    Gabe, marketing guru, talking about SeedSpot

    They threw us wantrepreneurs into a room, had us brainstorm ideas and potential solutions, work through a lean business canvas AND create a slide deck so we could pitch in front of a live audience at the end.

    Short clip from my first ever pitch!

    It was intense, in the best way possible! Like a startup bootcamp with SeedSpot mentors guiding us baby entrepreneurs throughout the entire process. We were encouraged to be creative, strategic, inquisitive, and to think critically.

    This was my first experience with a business bootcamp and I found it so helpful when I first started out in the startup world and needed some extra support and structure to understand business basics. Well worth the $98, unlike the course I bought initially from the fake guru.

    seedspot phoenix entrepeneur program arizona startup ayan said

    So, save your money and don’t do what I did. Instead, take advantage of resources in your community – start with free and once you’ve exhausted those, ask and research about paid programs. There are so many options out there in your local startup scene for entrepreneurs who are just starting out in their journey or seasoned startup folks who need to fill some business knowledge gaps with a virtual class here and there. Once you scope out those resources, get in there and take action – it will snowball from there.

  • How To Make Strategic Content To Monetize Your Passion

    As always, GaryVee recently dropped a video on how to strategize content creation and how to monetize from it.

    I watched one of Gary V’s 4D’s videos and was blown away by the incredible takeaways. I jotted some notes down on things struck me and will absolutely implement when thinking about marketing and content creation.

    Storytelling is Your Secret Weapon:

    Tell your business story – be vulnerable, be open and don’t be scared of big people stealing your stuff, they’re slow. Also share the nitty gritty, the behind the scenes of you and your team hustling hard because it’s what people want to see, and what they connect with most.

    Monetization:

    If you want to monetize, you have to make an insane amount of content. It sounds daunting, but what’s great about this is you’re human and you’re multifaceted. When posting about different content and types of content, just be strategic. Strong content is key, no exceptions. For example, use interesting titles called click magnets to catch the audiences attention – “What Fly Fishing Taught Me About Business.”

    Resurrected Content?:

    Ever love a piece of content that flopped? All good – if that content didn’t do well, give it a glow up. Change the title, create a new thumbnail, and repost it in a few weeks or months down the line.

    MrBeast himself reportedly dropped $100k on thumbnails – that’s dedication!

    Unsubscribe Follow-up

    If you want to level up and be badass – Call every person that’s ever unsubscribed from your content and ask! Record the interaction, post it – transparent content is educational, audacious, and fun to watch.

    Green Screen Magic: Level Up Your Content Game

    Greenscreen filter is a new trend content creators are using. Use the filter to review articles, add your commentary – it’s quick, fantastic, and a fun new twist.

    Stay consistent:

    Posting more often, not just once a week. Consistency is key to building an audience and growing your community. You can’t do that with infrequent posting.

    Lean in:

    Don’t know what content to make or style to use? Lean into what you’re good at. If you’re good at video – Lean into video and get it transcribed easily. This is how GV wrote all of his books. Fun fact: Gary Vee wrote his books by saying his transcript aloud – he leaned into his greatness.

    Be Authentic:

    Don’t be afraid to express your opinions, even if they change over time. New data, new experiences – it’s all part of the journey. Science evolves, and guess what? So can your opinions, and so can your content. We’re humans. Plus no ones going to remember you did 9 different videos on 9 different things, just make more content.

    Paid ads:

    Run ads to maximize exposure as soon as you see your content going viral – strike while the iron is hot.

    Platforms:

    Gary V suggests focusing on platforms like LinkedIn instead of TikTok for companies that are B2B

    My pushback on this GaryVee point, I’ve recently have seen on TikTok that top comments on viral videos are from social media accounts of big brands!

    YouTube Shorts might be new and a little rough around the edges, but don’t underestimate its potential. Pro tip: Title your videos with search intent in mind – YouTube is the second biggest search engine for a reason. Ex: if you have a light video on filing taxes, title it “how to file your taxes for 2023” because it will come up on searches. Very powerful tool!

  • Update + Google Workspace Magic

    Screenshot of an incredibly rudimentary checklist I put together for myself to stay organized while I work to get the rest of my site/personal brand set up

    Got a few things accomplished this week – yay!

    Although I’m trying to be cost effective in getting everything set up for my personal brand, one of the things I believe is important is to have a professional email with my domain main instead of @gmail.com. It’s such a simple and minuscule thing but it makes such a big difference in terms of being viewed as professional. I wouldn’t skimp on this. I chose Google instead of other platforms like Microsoft because we used Outlook/Microsoft at Navi and it wasn’t user friendly. I also use Google in my personal life so keeping everything on one platform makes sense. Don’t make things harder for yourself.

    Email

    I was able to get my email set up through Google Workspace using a discount code my hosting platform Siteground provided. The amount came out to be $9.60 per month for the standard business version. There is a less expensive starter package but I heavily utilize Google apps in a business setting and tend to run out of space quickly.

    Odds + Ends

    A few other things I was able to complete was purchasing theayansaid.com, uploading a website theme (free), and tying up a few loose ends such as ensuring analytics was running correctly on the admin side as well as on my website.

    Design

    What’s taking longest for me is editing my website and getting content up on the landing page & a few other pages. Inspo is Notion. I love the clean aesthetic combined with the goofiness of emojis, so dope. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell – profesh in the streets + goof in the suites.

    BRB changing my LinkedIn tagline.

    But for real, I’m trying my best to keep things concise because one of my weaknesses is overthinking. My goal this year is to try to improve my processing and output time – wheeeeeew that’ll be a will be a lifelong journey for sure but LFGO 🚀

  • Seed Spot Sales Tactics with Norman Rodriguez

    I remember the first time I starting selling for Navi.

    My business partner and I hit up plastic surgeon’s offices in our scrubs in the middle of summer, arms full of boxes containing scrumptious frosted cupcakes on the verge of melting & our dazzling Navi Nurses brochures. Eyes bright, faces glistening with beads of sweat. Was it the heat or was it nervousness?

    It was both.

    Selling is scary af yo.

    It definitely got easier after a while. Once our script became second nature and our business started to gain traction, we were able to share client stories and testimonials that supported our incredible services. And most importantly, word of mouth was spreading. Knowing that we had GOAT level private duty nursing services in the area boosted our confidence and shushed our imposter syndrome. I always joke (but not really joking) that the nursing skills are the best entrepreneurs. Listen.. we’re great and connecting with people at every level, we have backup plans for backup plans, we’re creative, flexible and resourceful, we negotiate successfully and we sell everyday!

    “Check this out Bill.. let’s do a few laps around the nurses station and you’ll be pregaming in your room with the finest chocolate pudding you’ve ever had!”

    -Me to my patient

    For real though. Selling is so crucial not just in business. It’s an important skill to develop to be successful in all areas of life. So when I came across my SeedSpot newsletter and saw that a virtual session on sales tactics was being held, I jumped on board. One of my rules is that I always take the opportunity to learn.

    The sales session was led by Seed Spot Alumni and mentor, Norman Rodriguez, founder of Elevate. Norman gave actionable advice on how to improve sales from tactics and best practices on outreach by phone or email & how tonality and delivery play a key role, how to utilize free digital platforms on finding leads easily on websites like LinkedIn, important sales metrics to track and what an outreach progression with a potential client should look like during the various touch points of the sales journey. He also went over basics you should have in your sales toolbox like a CRM, lead generator and to level up that toolbox, eventually implementing a sales enablement platform to perform data analysis on tools, techniques and more to make your sales strategy more effective.

    Overall, it was a super lively session with lots of participation from students and startup founders/team members looking to strengthen their sales muscle to get gainz in their respective businesses. I’m so glad I went! I even connected with a few peeps on LinkedIn which is always a plus.

    The best advice I have for anyone looking to start their own business is to take advantage of free resources in your community. For example, SeedSpot is such a great resource for entrepreneurs who are just starting out in their journey, or those that have been around the block a few times and just need to fill some business knowledge gaps with a session like this. A few years ago I completed SeedSpot’s 2-day launch camp where you took a business idea you had, completed a lean business canvas, made a slide deck and pitched in front of an audience within 2 days. It was kind of like a startup bootcamp with SeedSpot mentors guiding you throughout the process. The camp then was $98 but don’t ever let a price tag hold you back. There are so many free resources that are incredible, you just have to look for them. For example, definitely sign up for their newsletter which is totally free – that’s where I found this session.

    Lastly, really get plugged into your community if you’re starting out. Go to networking events, sign up for conferences, join newsletters, and talk about what you’re working on or what you have ideas about. I’ve found that in the startup community, people are so helpful in further connecting you to others that might be helpful, and other resources you should look into.

  • Lined + jagged outsider

    We moved around a lot when I was younger, never spending more than 1-2 years in one place. This made it really hard for me to make and keep friends so I always felt like an outsider. My home environment was inconsistent and tumultuous. This recipe was a catalyst to entrepreneurship. Both the seedling and soil.

    What remained constant was the library, and the incredible stories and new worlds contained in the books.

    I remember the first few books that enchanted both my mind and soul as a young child.

    My dad would take me to the library every week. As soon as we got there I would make a beeline to the children’s’ section and grab as many individually packaged bags that I could – bags that contained a singular picture book and it’s companion audio cassette tape. When we came home I would run to my mini radio boombox and insert the first tape. The sound of the voice narrating Cat in the Hat wafted into the living room and into my ears and my heart. Dramatic – absolutely, but it was love at first sound.

    Love at first story, my little heart pitter pattered, just wholly reveling the remarkable words strung together. Words into sentences, snapped together perfectly like legos building a magical, fantastical story in my head.

    I learned English this way.

    I would listen over and over, enunciating along, rewinding, stopping, eyes bright, finger tracing the jagged black outlines of the wild and beautiful green ham.

    I think this is where it began.

    The library and books. The art, and stories.

    They helped shape me.

    They helped me break rules, to learn, listen before I spoke, to create, to be strange, to not settle. They cultivated in me a desire for something different. To crave a better, bolder world. They were an escape. A dialogue between myself and my soul, between me and the author.

    A story, my story – a path, an imperfect trail. Onward.

  • KISS

    This month for me has been a time of creation & simplicity.

    I started with an overhaul of my website. This involved updating the theme and colors. Although I know I’ll be changing in the near future, I’m not striving for perfection because perfection leads to inaction and the inability to learn.

    One area I’ll be focusing on this year is implementing the lean methodology in all aspects of this project. Imposing restrictions and keeping a mindset based on minimalism throughout this process will be really interesting. I’m implementing this because one of my weaknesses is overthinking and being stuck in a strategizing loop. Strategizing is so fun, but things don’t get done. It makes you feel like you’re getting something done, but you’re not. I wonder if this is my brains way of protecting me from the unknown? It might be. I’m feeling a little apprehensive, but nothing will hold me back.

    After the website overhaul, I updated my Instagram bio. I made a Linktr.ee profile and used Canva to create an avatar for the Linktr.ee. Both are free versions. So far the only payments made is purchase of my URL from Google domains and web hosting from Siteground about a year ago.

    I started with IG because it was easiest. To create my IG bio, I looked at my favorite creators and took bits and pieces of what I liked. I tried to use the same words on all platforms to keep everything consistent for SEO. LinkedIn is another beast I haven’t fully tackled yet because it’ll take a little bit more time to update my profile. My hypothesis is that’s where I’ll be getting the highest ROI. I also worked on updating a few things on Google Analytics and ensuring it’s working on this specific website.

    What I’ll be focused on the rest of this month is creating content more frequently – something I’m really excited about!

    The owner of this blog is a woman and she is sitting on a chair resting her head on her hand, posing and smiling for photo.
    Photoshoot at Tea Fresco in Chandler, AZ courtesy of the amazing ladies at FemForce Photoshoots