Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Cepeda.
Hi Samantha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL with my parents and 2 younger brothers. I’ve always been artistically inclined and creative from a young age, singing, acting, drawing, especially in school. I would always draw pictures and use entertaining methods when studying to help me grasp the information better but I never thought I’d make it a business! In 2010, I Graduated High School and moved to Gainesville, FL to attend college at the University of Florida where I studied theater and microbiology. In 2012, I moved to Georgia to continue my education at Spelman College after being accepted but ultimately decided to go a different route and pursue nursing school. In 2014, I graduated nursing school, passed my boards (NCLEX), and became a Licensed Practical Nurse. Fast forward to Nov 2018 after my hysterectomy: Since I couldn’t practice as a nurse while on bedrest, I decided to keep my knowledge and skills on point by reading through my nursing textbooks, taking notes, and sharing them online. By Aug 2019 (ironically 9 months after my hysterectomy), my business ‘The Nurse Sam’ was born.
TheNurseSam.com is a leading resource for digital study guides and creative content for nurses & nursing students. Created in Aug 2019 (ironically 9 months after my hysterectomy), my business ‘The Nurse Sam’ started becoming known for my fun learning/studying ideas and creative study guides that looked more like art than a boring word document. Studies show that if you’re entertained when learning, you’re more likely to remember it long-term. I combined proven learning methods with entertaining pop culture references to help nursing students better understand and remember difficult concepts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’ve definitely hit some bumps on the road but all resulted in lessons and making the company better! One of our early struggles was time management. Between creating products, content, and operations, I had to better with planning each day. Another was hiring. We grew very quickly and didn’t vet our first employees and vendors as well as we should have. We learned very quickly how important hiring, onboarding, and training is to reduce turnover. Now we have an amazing team who all see the vision and working hard to push the brand forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
There are several types of educational content available on TheNurseSam.com. In addition to digital study guides, the site also offers other learning media such as online courses and live broadcasts.
The focus of TheNurseSam.com is to help students prepare for critical examinations, most importantly the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). I also have been preparing students for The Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) that is launching on April 1st, 2023. TheNurseSam.com develops visually dynamic approaches to studying for this career-changing test. The best seller is The Ultimate Nursing School Bundle which includes 400 pages of visual learning material covering all the major topics in nursing school. My virtual courses are very popular; among them include an arcade-themed online course packed with interactive learning activities and a digital workbook titled “NCLEX ARCADE”. Students can also take advantage of my free live review sessions on my TikTok page, @TheNurseSam1, every Tuesday for TEAS Tuesday and NCLEX Jeopardy on Thursdays, both at 7:00 PM EST. The replays are also posted on my YouTube channel (@TheNurseSamTV) along with other tutoring content!
The company also offers downloadable study kits for other examinations such as the ATI TEAS (Assessment Technologies Institute Test of Essential Academic Skills) test. The extensive ebook provides useful information to help aspiring nursing students in passing the qualifying tests and get accepted to nursing school. It contains tips for preparing for the exam, interactive worksheets, and illustrated workbooks on key concepts and specific topics which are commonly tackled in the tests.
Students can also enjoy browsing through a selection of nurse-themed merchandise from TheNurseSam.com website. Currently, the product categories include The Digital Nurse Life Planner, Nurse Sam Study Gummies (Good Luck Catching them when they are in stock!), Nurse Enamel Pins and a variety of apparel such as T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, and joggers just for nursing students and nurses!
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
The best resource I have for TheNurseSam.com are my customers! I’m very active across all of my social media platforms and I’m constantly engaged with my followers and seeing what their needs are. I love using polls and posting questions because it gives me a lot of insight on what I should be working on next!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thenursesam.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/thenursesam
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thenursesam
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamnursesam
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/thenursesamtv
- Yelp: www.pinterest.com/thenursesam
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@thenursesam1