Meet Ann Marie Luft

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ann Marie Luft. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ann Marie, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I was a shy child. I was the one standing behind my mom when in a group. In pre-school, the teacher asked who lost a particular pencil – it had hair and googly eyes- and I could not get myself to raise my hand. Scenarios like these repeated throughout my childhood. I hit puberty much earlier than most – age 9- and I had bad acne (is there good acne?) from grades 5-8. I went to school even though all I wanted to do was stay home. Yes, I had friends. In my mind, I was the side-kick to those friends- the DUFF.

That resilience to keep going to school, keeping playing sports had an effect on me. I became the one who would do things unexpectedly. I liked alternative things- movies, books, music. In the time of WHAM!, I was the Pet Shop Boys girl. This made me feel like I had my own thing. It made me different, but in a good way. I am no lemming; I do dance to the beat of my own drum (or synthesizer). I had a very unusual style of dressing. This is when I started to not care about how people viewed me, but how I felt about myself.

I am an introvert by nature, but I can turn on my extrovert self. I like my extrovert self- I’m more open with sharing my true self. My confidence to get up on stage and present and be ok with people looking at me was increasing as the years went by. Just last year, I got up on stage to present in a dress with mini galaxies on it. Did I wear black Converse with purple laces at that same conference….yes, yes I did.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Nursing is a second career for me. I went back to school at age 35 because “I did not know what I wanted to do with my life.” Graduated top of my class. I did what all new nurses were supposed to do- I worked in a Medical-Surgical unit of a hospital. I was going to earn my stripes. Needless to say, that did not pan out. I despised working in the hospital. Oh, it was not the patients that drove me mad….it was how hospitals are run. Let’s just say, when I have a loved one in the hospital, I walk in the room with eyes on EVERYTHING.

I had acquired multiple student loans to become a nurse and after one year, I wanted out. In my desperation to find something else, I found a source about alternative nursing positions and how to find them. Her name is Donna Cardillo, The Inspiration Nurse, and she literally saved my nursing career. I tell her that every time I see her (seriously). I then happened upon a Monster ad (remember Monster.com?) for a fertility clinic. I was like, sure, and applied. I got called in for an interview and then a shadow day. Little did I know this was the beginning of my path. I accepted the offer and my last day before turning in my resignation at the hospital, I was witness to a chaotic Code Blue on my unit. Other nurses asked if that was what solidified my decision, but my decision was made long before that day.

When I started my fertility nursing career, I went through months of training. You would not believe how complex human reproduction is- how did humans populate the Earth with such a complex mechanism- is a question I ask even now. I never thought I would go into Women’s Health. I thought gynecologists were weird- why would you want to deal with THAT? But I fell in love with the fertility world. Why did I become a nurse? To help people (duh). In fertility, I was able to utilize my nursing skills to an elevated level. I wasn’t starting IVs or monitoring heart monitors, but I was using my critical thinking skills to set up treatment cycles, listen to patients, be there for all the ups and downs. It was beyond rewarding. It was also frustrating. I would watch people give up on their dreams to start a family.

People who are experiencing infertility (one in six- yes, that is fact) mostly want to know what is happening, why this is happening, what can they do to have a baby. My passion is patient education. They have the right to know what is going on. Doctors do not always have an answer, but they try. The fertility clinics are starting to merge under umbrellas run by venture capitalists. While the profits are coming in and people are having babies, the loss of that connection with patients is a by-product of the clinic structure. Well, this wasn’t sitting well with me because I loved fertility nursing because I could talk with my patients and provide information, hope, compassion and empathy with them.

I decided I want to fill that gap for patients by starting my consulting company, Fertility Paths, LLC. My mission is to guide people through the fertility process in a compassionate way. My services help clients navigate the complexities of various treatments and medications that go with it. I assist by offering one-hour consultations, IVF coaching and in-home injections. No question is stupid or embarrassing- I’ve heard it all. Believe me, I have heard A LOT. Helping people start or expand their families is one of the most rewarding careers I could have imagined.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Tenacity- having a goal and figuring out how to get there. Oh, there will be ups and downs, but you have to keep going.

Passion- if you are not passionate about what you are doing, you need to look for that thing that will create that passion.

Empathy- having the ability to see something for another person’s perspective is imperative to gaining trust.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am looking to collaborate with others to fulfill my mission.
Infertility is very stressful on relationships, so psychologists and counselors would be an ideal collaborator. I am also looking to connect with those who are direct contact with infertile clients- acupuncturists, chiropractors, etc. We all have our strengths in helping our clients. What I can bring is clinical knowledge and understanding of the process.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All me- with an iphone….

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