An exclusive interview

The power of trauma-informed, assessment-based coaching

Throughout the time I've been a nurse, which has been over a decade now, I have explored multiple avenues of nursing. I've tried a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of everything, and I never found something that 100% was, “this is it. This is where I belong. This is exactly what I am meant to do.” So I continued my exploration, and I stumbled upon nurse coaching just this past year. As I continued to research it and reach out and develop relationships with other women who were in that same facet, the more it appealed to me. Then, I discovered that not only could I be a nurse coach, where I could have full control over who I worked with, I could also develop my own program. The second I learned about that, I just felt like, “this is it. This is what I have been destined to do.” I do have a significant trauma history. I come from a family where my mother is diagnosed as bipolar, but likely has some other mental health issues. That has had an impact on me from as early on as I can remember. There's some other fairly significant traumas I’ve gone through in my life, including mental, verbal, emotional, and some physical abuse. I was molested by a family friend at age 11, and that had a huge impact on my life. It completely changed the trajectory of my life, the moment that event occurred. So it's been it's been a journey, it's been a path. When I learned I could develop my own program and I could choose how I wanted to help others and impact their lives, I knew immediately what my program was going to be about. I knew immediately I was going to focus on helping others to heal from trauma. When I tell people facets of my life story, they're like, “how? How are you the way that you are now? How have you gotten to this point in life, and you're not a drug addict or alcoholic?” A lot of people are shocked to learn of the things I've gone through, and I'm proud of that. People always ask the question, “if you could go back and you could change things that have happened to you in your life, would you?” I can honestly say, with 100% certainty, I would not change anything. Everything that has happened to me has gotten me to where I am right now, and I am incredibly happy and proud of the person I’ve become, despite the odds really being stacked against me. I'm now in a position where I can help other people in such a powerful and impactful way that it's just so soul-serving. It just feeds my soul to see the impact that what I've created has on the people that I work with. It's amazing, it's an incredible feeling. I feel like everybody should go out and be a nurse coach now.

Cassie Boyd, BSN, RN is a nurse coach with more than 10 years experience in nursing and 20 years in the healthcare field. She’s worked as a managing LPN in adult family care, an RN in inpatiant care, and as an RN case manager in Wisconsin. Though she’s tried a number of nursing specialties, but always felt like there was something else calling her. Cassie is a trauma survivor herself, and through her own trials and tribulations has developed a unique strategy to overcome trauma. She founded her business, Imperfectly Perfect Coaching, in 2021 and works with nurses and people across career paths to find empowerment and transformation.

PLUS: Hear from Ronald James Vergara, BSN, RN about his journey from criminal justice to nursing, why he found his passion in this field, and his invaluable advice to new nurses.

Ronald James Vergara, BSN, RN, started out in criminal justice before finding his way to nursing. He worked as an LVN/LPN in adult and pediatric care before earning his BSN in 2021. He now works as a registered nurse at a behavioral health hospital in California.

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