An Inspired Chat with Laura Brown of North of Boston

Laura Brown shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Laura, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
For over a year now, I have been getting up around 5:30AM, before my young kids get up. I pour myself a cup of coffee, then sit in meditation for 5-10 minutes, write down three things I’m grateful for from the day before, and then read a book — without anyone talking to me! When I first started doing this, I was only doing it on weekdays and allowing myself to sleep in (which in my world looks like staying bed until 7AM at the latest); but I realized that it made me far less patient on weekday afternoons. I’ve come to understand that this routine is critical; it allows me to center myself, set intentions, and fill my own cup FIRST, which then allows me to pour into my kids, my partner, my patients and my other priority people in ways that I can be proud of.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Laura Brown, I’m a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP), a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP), a certified coach, a mom of two small kiddos, and the Founder/CEO of Sapphire Women’s Healthcare. My practice specializes in helping women in midlife move from barely surviving peri/menopause to feel like they are thriving in midlife. We’re excited to have expanded our mission to include hormone therapy, medically supervised weight loss and dietician services, and are looking toward further expansion in the first part of 2026, including moving into our own office space!

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I grew up in a small-ish town in Massachusetts, the second child out of four. I didn’t realize that I found a way very early on to meet everyone else’s expectations, while putting aside who I was at my core. At age 11, I attended a sleep-away camp for two weeks, knowing no one else. I can still feel just how freeing that was — I felt like I could play again, I could explore my goofy side, and perhaps most importantly, I was encouraged to fail because it is in failing that we learn resilience. Camp became my home, and to this day my best friends are from camp. It is where I’ve felt safest, most free, and most deeply myself. I spent nearly 20 summers there, from camper to CIT to working my way up to the CIT director and eventually spending one summer as the camp nurse. This upcoming summer, we plan to send my son for the first time, and I can’t wait for him to form his own journey there.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I lost my first pregnancy to a miscarriage. We don’t talk nearly enough about pregnancy loss, given just how common it is, and it can be so deeply lonely and isolating. Several years later, when I started working in OBGYN, I had the privilege to walk alongside many women and often their partners as they endured this unique pain. I think this loss helped me to better understand the uncertainties of this world, and certainly to be a better provider because I was able to understand pregnancy loss in a way that only those who have endured it can. I believe that I helped many of these women feel less alone in this grief. It taught me to be grateful, yes, but it also taught me to lean on others, ask for help, and how important it is to sit with your grief and find your particular path towards healing. Grief isn’t something to “get through” but it does need to be honored so that you can find a way to move forward in your life. And it taught me how to walk alongside other grievers; at some point, we will all endure loss and grief — it’s about the most human experience we can have — and to know you’re not alone, to have someone to simply sit with you, honor your grief and not try to find a way or a word to fix it or make it better, is a gift.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
I think a lot of smart people get set in their knowledge or ways, and are often not willing to take some time to listen to other perspectives. In a time as divisive as this, the only way we can heal wounds is to take the time to listen. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with them, or change our minds, but perhaps it will help to humanize another perspective different from our own, and help us to understand where someone else is coming from. Right after the election, I heard a woman on a podcast say that she and her son had voted differently, but were not willing to let that divide them from each other; she said “You and I are both smart people, and I understand why you care about the things you care about” and that has stuck with me. This doesn’t just apply to politics; it gives space for every person to offer and receive grace, defuses tempers, and allows for understanding. It opens us up to the possibility that someone else’s perspective, or a new scientific study, may shed some new light on a situation. We need to be willing to admit we are wrong so that we can grow and be better people.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I thought I was “supposed” to be a high school history teacher. As I set off for college, the adults in my life, from family and friends etc, all told what a good teacher I would be. It wasn’t until my sophmore year of college that I took an education class and called home crying, and my dad said “You know, you don’t HAVE to major in education.” It was truly shocking. Looking back, I can see that was my intuition trying to get through to me. Once I graduated, I was working at my old summer camp and the director said “I don’t know what I’m going to do, we don’t have a nurse for the last session” and I sarcastically responded “I’ll be the nurse!” and it was a lightening bolt moment — of COURSE I’m meant to be a nurse! Several years into my NP career, I had a similar lightening bolt moment; though I was a menopause specialist, I wasn’t being allowed to practice to my full scope, and I couldn’t bear treating women with sub-standard, sub-par care because someone else, who frankly was simply afraid because of old, out-dated, incorrect information, wouldn’t let me. So, I realized I had to do it differently, and within six months had opened my own boutique practice, where I am not confined or restricted by insurance companies, supervising clinicians, or outdated, fear-based care. Instead, I get to treat women to the highest standards of clinical evidence, and do so my own way — with heart, and warmth and understanding. It took a while to navigate here, but I’ve never felt so fulfilled and so grateful for the life I have created, with the best people supporting me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sapphirewomenshealthcare.com
• Instagram: @sapphirewomenshealthcare
• Facebook: /sapphirewomenshealthcare