We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elysabeth Lamoureux a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Elysabeth, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
During Covid I think it became abundantly clear to me that I did not want to be a bedside forever. Then I needed something else in life that got me out of the hospital system and out of this community full-time. I truly enjoy my job for the most part, but there’s always those days and those systems and those people that push you in a way that’s unhealthy. So during Covid it was very hard to separate work in life because they kind of became one where everything had to do with Covid and being in the ICU everything there had to do with Covid. I also kept hearing the same thing over and over again from all of the people that I would take care of in the most common phrase or topic I would hear is how much they regretted in life. Whether it was traveling or being with family, more or being at work too much And that kind of pushed me to realize that I’m not here for a long time none of us are and we never know how long we have. From that I found that I really love to travel and explore new things and really just take every day for what it was. Hearing all those people say the same thing over and over really just lit something inside of me that said you can do more you want to do more, go do more.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m an ICU nurse and I think that job is really exciting in itself. You learn so much you get to see so much and meet so many people and it’s always something new and different. However, it also takes a large hole on your mental health and physical health Over the years. I grew up in a smaller town, and kind of knew that I always wanted to get out and go see other things but I never really knew where that would take me. I also never really knew what I wanted to do as an adult I still feel like I don’t, but I do feel like I found a job that allows me to do things that I enjoy outside of work. It also allows me to travel all over the country and work in different hospitals and work with different specialties and providers and learn more than if I just stayed at one place for my whole career.
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?
I would say one of the biggest skills is to have confidence, to be able to self reflect and open to criticism. I started out in the ICU as a new grad and it was really intense. There’s a large culture in nursing that feels that this isn’t right or that you have to go through the trials and tribulations that is floor nursing to allow yourself to be an ICU nurse which is untrue. It’s just a bigger learning curve. so I think that for me knowing that I went to school for biology degree because I wanted to do something in healthcare and knowing that I wanted to get through school quickly because I didn’t want to stay in school until I was 24-25 years old I wanted to get school over with and start my job so that I could do things that really brought me joy and made me happy. I didn’t listen to the people that said I should take college slower and enjoy it more or that I would miss those days and I didn’t listen to the people that said oh you can’t start on in the ICU no one will hire you, and I didn’t listen to the people that said, it’s too scary to travel across the country and go to a new city where you don’t know anyone. So I would really say that my advice to someone else who wants to just do things in life, but they feel that there’s a lot of people telling them no just do it. Especially if they’re people that aren’t trying to do what you’re doing or haven’t done what you’re doing. The best way to develop or improve on. This is to do it the more you do things that you wanna do in the more that you see what you’re capable of. It’ll start to come naturally for you and you won’t even second-guess it.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents could’ve ever done for me is being supportive of my decisions. When I said, I wanted to leave the state of Washington and go to college somewhere else they were supportive and they help me find colleges that I would like when I stayed after college in St. Louis they never said anything to doubt that I could do it on my own. When I told them and taking my first trip internationally with a girlfriend, they were excited and happy for me that I had that opportunity Where they didn’t. When I decided I wanted to travel for work and live in different cities kind of in the nomadic life, they thought it was cool never once did they put fear into the goals or ideas that I had for myself they didn’t try to stop me. They also never told me things were too dangerous or too scary like when I would say, I wanted to travel to this place solo or go backpack through Asia for two months. the feeling you get when you know no matter what Happens good or bad I have people that support me in my decisions and are always in my corner. It truly makes a world of difference when you’re trying to navigate through things that are new in life.
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