国产传媒

Stephanee Beggs ’20 ABSN is an emergency room nurse within the UCLA Health hospital network who has built a successful platform, RNExplained Inc., to help nursing students and recent graduates navigate nursing school and beyond. Last November, the 28-year-old alumna added another accomplishment in her already successful career when she made the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. The annual list recognizes the brightest young leaders, entrepreneurs and game-changers in the country under the age of 30, in 20 different industries. Beggs was selected in a pool of 12,000 other candidates on factors including funding, revenue, social impact, inventiveness and potential.

Beggs was in the middle of the Mount’s accelerated nursing program when the pandemic shut down everything, forcing her to continue the last couple of months of her education online.  While she was studying for the national nursing licensure exam (NCLEX), she started documenting her studying process on social media. “I would record myself teaching different topics so I could replay it back and listen to myself, because that’s how I learn myself – by speaking it out loud.” Just for fun, she decided to post some of the teaching videos on TikTok, where she quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views. “I realized that many people studied the same way so my videos benefited other students, too,” explains the young entrepreneur. The success of her social media content and the popular demand from her followers inspired her to set up an Etsy store, where she sells study sheets and merchandise for aspiring nurses. Since then, the Californian nurse has sold more than 64,000 items, has generated more than $2 million in revenue and has attracted more than 730,000 social media followers.

Beggs humbly confesses that she never expected this level of success, which she attributes to her teaching style and the way she explains complicated topics in a straightforward and relatable way. “Being part of the Forbes’ list is a good reminder of the impact I’m making in the healthcare community and a recognition of all the effort that I’m putting into this business.”

Before becoming a nurse, she originally earned a degree in business management. After her first job as operations assistant at Warner Brothers Studio, she decided to go back to school to pursue her dream of helping others. “I had an untraditional path to nursing, but I was always passionate by science and anatomy, and I knew that I wanted to work in the medical field.”

Beggs explains that the Mount was her dream nursing school and while studying here, she found exactly what she was meant to be and do. “All my professors were amazing, and I made great connections and mentors who helped me land my first job as an ER nurse.” This semester, the alumna has came back to the University to teach pharmacology. “Now, I get to teach real students in my favorite subject, which is awesome.”

Even though she is a full-time nurse now, she still posts content on a daily basis, which helps her stay on top of articles and recent research. After her 12-hour shifts at the hospital, she spends any hours she has available working on her business and social media content, whether it's creating and editing content or answering comments, DMs, and emails.  She explains that even though it can be challenging to manage a full-time job as a nurse with being an influencer and an entrepreneur, it’s also very rewarding to receive all the positive feedback from people who use her study materials or teaching videos.

She has one piece of advice to nurse students and recent grads: “In a hospital, there are a lot of personalities coming together, and as new nurse, they might not take you seriously. You have to really find your voice, know your worth and stick up for yourself and your nurse license.”