Meet Chioma Eze

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chioma Eze a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chioma , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

My resilience stems from interactions with my Father at a very ripe age. Though I have had a plethora of positive examples in my life, it was my Father who embodied within me the belief that I can do and be anything that I set my mind to. He always would say, does that other person have two brains or two heads? lol That has been my core belief my entire life.

Not only did he say this to me, but he exemplified this always. I always remember observing him working hard towards his aspirations and achieving them. These two perspectives combined formed my resilience..

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My parents migrated from Nigeria to America to pursue greater opportunities for themselves and future children. Little did they know, they would produce four wonderful kids, three boys and one girl. At a very young age, I had a knowing within myself that I would have a non traditional path and help people in grand ways, but I had no idea how this would unfold.

When I was in college, my parents wanted me to pursue a career in medicine. Though I knew I could, I had other interests and I always knew that wasn’t a path for me long-term. Imagine explaining that to Nigerian parents? haha
Well I completed two bachelor’s, one of them being an accelerated nursing program. One of the highlights of the program for me was receiving a full scholarship to study abroad in South Africa. While there, I dived into the healthcare culture and received an opportunity to visit orphanages, two major hospitals systems, and climb Table Top Mountain.

My career has evolved since then. Through guidance and persistence, I landed an opportunity to gain experience as a critical care cardiac nurse in hospitals all cross the United States. Currently, I work with the Federal Government in the healthcare sector.
Fueled by a passion to help communities connect to vital medical information and empower other nurses, I recently launched a non-profit organization to alleviate this. We host conversations every two weeks with health experts sharing latest health findings, and discussing nursing needs such as how to professionally develop yourself. This work excites me!

I plan on beginning my doctorate program in the near future to gain further expertise in my field and widen my scope of impact.

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?

Three qualities that are the most impactful in my journey is letting go of ego, staying humble enough to learn from others, and showing up to opportunities.

Everyone’s beginnings are different. A helpful way to develop these qualities if this is tough for you is doing inner work. This is a journey of becoming self-aware of your limitations and learning to see a different perspective. Your thoughts are not always rooted on truth, so it’s necessary to question them.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes, I am looking for others in alignment with our mission and purpose to help improve health in communities. We are open to all creative pursuits.

If you are a health professional (doctor, nurse, physical therapist, fitness trainer, nutritionist, IT, etc and you have health information that you would like to share or if you want to help shape the future of nurses, you can connect with me or my organization on Linkedin.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/chioma-eze-87a2659b
• Other: Organization’s Social Media –
  Linkedin Proline Health Foundation