In this episode of The Bossy Nurse Podcast, host Marsha Battee sits down with Sarah Michelle Boes, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC to unpack how she transformed NP board exam panic into a focused, three-hour crash course, a thriving community, and ultimately a multi-million-dollar sale of Sarah Michelle NP Reviews.
Together, they dig into money stories, mental health, and what it really looks like for nurses to build wealth on their own terms.
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Key takeaways
- Anxiety can become an asset.
- You don’t need a perfect setup to start a business.
- Selling a personal brand business takes intention.
- Big financial wins don’t cancel real life.
Show highlights / what you’ll hear
- How growing up in rural eastern Kentucky shaped Sarah’s money story. She shares what it was like to live 45 minutes from the nearest grocery store, watch her two teacher parents juggle multiple jobs, and then experience a literal “reset” when their house burned down and the family moved.
- A med-surg IV push that almost derailed her career. You’ll hear about the clinical day where a public scolding over IV Zofran triggered her first full-blown panic attack in front of classmates and patients—and how that moment changed the way she thinks about teaching students under stress.
- How a miserable online board review led to her first product. After enduring two 10-hour Zoom lecture days and repeated exam delays, Sarah finally passed easily—and realized there had to be a better way to prep anxious NP students.
- The three-hour “crash course” that changed everything. From $15 recordings to a $1,000 day—and then to $1 million in revenue within 7 months, still without a website or LLC.
- Deciding when—and how—to sell. Sarah explains why she worried her personal brand would make the company “unsellable,” how she used a teaser deck, what multiples can look like for education businesses, and why she and her husband ultimately fired their broker and negotiated the deal themselves.
- Life after the exit—and what she’d do differently. Closing the sale in June 2022, pregnancy, learning three weeks later that her daughter had four heart defects, and the perspective shift of realizing she wishes they had paused to celebrate before everything changed.
Resources mentioned
- Sarah Michelle NP Reviews – NP certification exam prep courses, crash courses, and live study groups: https://www.npreviews.com
- Cosmic Group Chat with Sarah & Kenzie – Two best friends helping you make sense of your astrology chart (and your life): https://cosmicgroupchat.com
Where to find Sarah online
- Website – Sarah Michelle Boes: https://sarahmichelleboes.com
- NP exam prep & education – Sarah Michelle NP Reviews: https://www.npreviews.com
- Instagram – @sarahmichelleboes: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmichelleboes
- Astrology podcast – Cosmic Group Chat: https://cosmicgroupchat.com/podcast
Bio: Sarah Michelle Boes, Founder, Sarah Michelle NP Reviews
Sarah Michelle Boes, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, is a nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate whose journey is rooted in resilience. She built a seven-figure business while navigating her daughter’s ongoing battle with a life-threatening heart condition. Through grit, grace, and purpose-driven leadership, Sarah empowers others with real talk on overcoming obstacles and leading with heart.
Timestamps
- [00:01:20] Growing up in rural Pikeville, Kentucky and what “45 minutes from the grocery store” really meant for Sarah’s childhood and money mindset.
- [00:12:35] Tracing the first “seeds of anxiety” and how OCD showed up long before she had a diagnosis.
- [00:18:33] The IV Zofran incident, a public panic attack in clinical, and what she wishes nursing educators understood about anxious students.
- [00:34:30] Leaving bedside the week the world shut down, teaching on Zoom, and seeing up close how traditional NP board reviews were failing anxious learners.
- [00:39:19] Giving away the first three-hour crash course, building a Facebook group, and realizing people would actually pay for her approach.
- [00:44:54] Crossing $100K in four months with no website, collecting payments via Venmo, Cash App, and Facebook Messenger.
- [00:55:28] Hitting $1 million in revenue in about seven to eight months and thinking about the limits of a niche NP market.
- [01:08:14] Selling the business while pregnant, then learning three weeks later that her daughter had four heart defects—and how that reshaped what the exit meant.
