Meet Laura Brown

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

LAURA, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I went off to undergrad with the idea of becoming a high school history teacher. So many adults around me felt I would be an excellent teacher, so I figured they must be right. But two weeks into my first Ed class I called home crying and my dad said “You know, you don’t HAVE to major in education” which actually came as a bit of shock! So I dropped my education classes and went on to graduate with a BS in history. That summer, I was chatting with the director of the overnight camp I worked at and she said she was worried because they didn’t have a nurse for the last week of camp, to which I sarcastically responded that I could be the nurse; then it hit me like lightening that of COURSE I should be a nurse! I spent the next few years traveling, then when I came home I became a Certified Nursing Assistant, working at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA while I took pre-reqs and applied to nursing school. I entered Regis College’s accelerated program to become an NP and spent the next three years earning my RN and NP certifications; during that time I had toyed with going into pediatrics, but after my labor and delivery rotation knew I wanted to partner with women in their health.
The first job I could get out of NP school was in internal medicine; I’m grateful for my time there as it gave me a deeper understanding of overall health, but my heart was always in OBGYN. I had a hard time getting a job in women’s health; I would interview and often get the feedback that they liked me, but I needed OB experience. I started thinking about becoming a doula, or getting a post-graduate certificate as a midwife, but I was pregnant with my second child and couldn’t imagine giving up my regular 8-5 schedule for the uncertainty of being on-call. I remembered that one of my preceptors during NP school was a menopause specialist, so I decided to try that; four months after I passed the exam and became a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, I was offered a job in OBGYN, and told specifically it was because of that certification.
I spent three and a half years in that practice; when it came to the OB patients, us NPs were very much utilized as “midlevel providers”, meaning everything we did was double-checked by the doctors, even though we have full practice authority in Massachusetts. There was a little less oversight with the GYN patients — that is, except when it came to menopause. More and more women were finding me through the Menopause Society website, searching for answers and solutions. I had the knowledge, but often found I had to fight against the doctors I worked for, who were not as up-to-date as I was on menopause care. I spent a lot of time trying to educate the physicians, but continued to get push back from them. I had a few patients ask me to prescribe them testosterone, but none of the physicians knew how to do this. So, I went to the ISSWSH (International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health) conference in October 2023 so that I could learn how to do this.
The conference was AMAZING! The presenters ranged from MDs to PAs, psychologists, pelvic floor physical therapists, and researchers. During Q&A sessions they frequently turned to one another to get their opinions, demonstrating how collaborative teams can be a reality. In the smaller break-out sessions I queried a few of the presenters about the most up-to-date guidelines regarding the treatment of menopause, and they all agreed that I was interpreting the guidelines correctly; the doctors I worked for were held back by out-dated information.
In line to board the plane home, I turned to my husband and said, “I think I have to open my own practice.” And thus, Sapphire Women’s Healthcare was born!
As a birthday present to myself, I opened the doors of SWH in May and I haven’t looked back. I have had the immense privilege of treating women in menopause, perimenopause, and for their sexual health concerns. I have since added medically supervised weight loss and coaching services. It’s been a true joy to work with women, and to have done so on my terms. My kids are witnessing me break the rules a little, making some “good trouble,” and disrupting the status quo. They see me go out on weeknights to give talks to local women about menopause, they helped me set up a tent at the local Fall fair (and my daughter lent me her uterus stuffy for the table), and they excitedly point to my office building each time we pass it, yelling “That’s mommy’s new office!” What a gift, to bring more peace to my life, to create more space for joy, to have more patience for my priority people, and to model for my kids entrepreneurial life; its not always been easy, and I am immensely blessed to have a partner who is excited by the business aspect and supports me endlessly in this endeavor. I do not take for granted that I had the privilege to leave my full-time job without having to build this up on the side, nor the fact that I can charge a cash price for my services, nor the privilege I was born into that gave me this ground to start from. As my business grows, it is my hope to develop a sliding scale or scholarship program in order to reach more women, be of service to them, and to learn from them as well.
I am deeply passionate about women’s health in general, but especially the perimenopausal time frame, and the menopause transition; I’m done with the trope that women need to suffer in order to deserve care. We deserve the best care there is, we deserve the knowledge of what our bodies will go through, and we have the wisdom, given this information and access, to make the best decision for our own health.

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?

I am a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner and a Coach. I have over 13 years of experience in healthcare, and have loved working my way up from a Certified Nursing Assistant to RN to NP! Four years ago I became a menopause specialist and have absolutely adored learning to much about this pivotal life stage, and becoming an expert in this field, helping women to feel like themselves again and empowering them to demand better care.
My practice, Sapphire Women’s Healthcare, focuses on providing care to women in perimenopause and menopause, addressing sexual health concerns, and also provides medically supervised weight loss and coaching. I have recently fallen in love with the transformation thought work can provide, and see it as a natural extension to my career in health. With all my experience, I like to tell women we can move from a “midlife crisis” to a “midlife renaissance,” ensuring that the second part of their lives is actually just a beginning. I am also a public speaker, sharing my knowledge with women through podcasts, library presentations, and even backyard book clubs, so if anyone wants me to come nerd out about menopause, just shoot me an email!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

As long as I can remember, I have been drawn to women. The very first book report I remember doing was a biography about Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man in order to fight during the revolutionary war. My senior thesis in my undergrad program as a history major was on women during WWII. I spent 20 summers as a camper and then counselor (and eventually, as the nurse!) at an all-girls summer camp; when I chose to specialize in women’s health, it simply made sense.
I initially thought I wanted to be a high school history teacher, but after two weeks of an education class I realized it wasn’t for me. I didn’t know what to do, but eventually realized that I love helping others, I’m calm in a crisis, and I never want to stop learning; nursing is the perfect path for that. It took me a while to realize that’s what I wanted, but when I realized it, nothing stopped me from achieving that.
Looking back on my path, it’s those moments of clarity that stick out for me; I allowed myself to feel a little lost, opened up my heart and mind, and my intuition told me what I needed to do. That was true for choosing to become a nurse, for pursuing my NP degree, and for opening my own practice.
As women, we’re often socialized to be “good girls” and listen to what other people tell us. But our internal wisdom is great, and we just have to be open to it and listen and it will direct us to exactly where we’re meant to be.
I think curosity naturally leads to this openness to our own wisdom; if we keep asking questions of ourselves and the world around us, we will keep taking in more information and also naturally become better listeners. Finding the right mentors can be critical, but sometimes they simply don’t exist, so you have to be your own mentor; this also lends itself to life-long learning, curiosity, and developing intuition, but it also means you’ll stop seeing failure as this horrible thing and instead embrace it as an opportunity to learn, and to do better.

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?

It may sound corny, but sending me to summer camp! I was set free to learn who I was at my core; I was able to explore all sorts of challenges and learn to fall with grace there. I made the deepest friendships of my life, which I cherish to this day. I didn’t have to be someone’s sister there, I spent my whole life in the same town, so had the pressures of everyone’s expectations of me lifted when I went to camp. I learned who I was, I learned how to laugh at myself, and to pick myself up when I fall down. I learned to lean on others and to offer a hand up to those around me. I learned how to stand in front of an audience of 200 people and sing a silly song while wearing (clean) underwear on my head, and that certainly prepares a person for public speaking! Camp is actually where I figured out I wanted to be a nurse, come to think of it! My son will be heading to camp for the first time next summer and I just can’t wait for he and my daughter to have their own camp experiences!

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