Several years ago, Viola Pierce found herself in a state similar to many nursing peers: emotionally drained and overwhelmed by too much work. But the native of tiny Hollister in Halifax County doesn’t like to sit still or feel defeated.
Instead, she founded Viola Pierce Nursing, or VP Nursing, in 2018 to empower other nurses to utilize their skills to launch consulting and coaching businesses. Attending an industry conference a decade ago shifted her career perspective and ultimately shaped the birth of her company.
“I saw that nurses were doing other things, and I loved speaking from stage and really transforming people’s lives,” Pierce says. “That’s how my life got transformed.”
The pressure that many nurses face in their demanding industry is evident in high turnover rates and constant hiring campaigns by most of the state’s healthcare industry. Board meetings at some organizations routinely include reports on hirings, vacancies and reliance on traveling-nurse programs needed to fill shortages.
“The message I want to share is straightforward: Nurses serve as problem solvers and innovators and educators and leaders, rather than only caregivers,” Pierce says. “The ability to make a difference does not require additional educational degrees. The solutions that healthcare needs already exist within our knowledge.”
Pierce has deep roots in nursing. Her mother and sister worked as nursing assistants. Pierce earned an LPN degree in 2002 at Nash Community College. She added a bachelor’s in nursing from Winston-Salem State University in 2014, and a doctorate from Grand Canyon University in 2019.
Most of her career was spent at hospitals in Rocky Mount, now UNC Nash Healthcare, and Tarboro’s Heritage Hospital, which is now ECU Health.
VP Nursing’s business model includes a variety of options aimed at motivating nurses. For $149 a month, Pierce provides coaching services to her members, along with access to events and workshops that support a community of healthcare workers looking to build their own enterprises.
The company presents the annual Millionaire CEO Nurse Conference, which Pierce hosted in February at 1 Word Plaza in Rocky Mount. The venue is part of Word Tabernacle Church,
an evangelical Christian megachurch that has long promoted Black entrepreneurship.
Pierce is author of “The Audacity of Execution — Nurse to Entrepreneurs: Turn Your Knowledge into Wealth.” The book describes her story and career passion. Some clients that have found success through her coaching appear on The VP Nursing Podcast, in which nurse entrepreneurs pay $50 to share their stories and build their brands.
“My biggest success is seeing other nurses being successful,” Pierce says. “For me, it is not about me at all. It is about them changing their lives.”
Effective nurses have to combine empathetic leadership and clear communication skills, which Pierce notes can help them be good speakers and life coaches. “Nurses use their high emotional intelligence and problem-solving abilities under pressure together with their deep sense of purpose to connect with people emotionally while delivering practical solutions,” she says.
VP Nursing had its first client hit the 7-figure annual revenue earlier this year. “For me, that is my win,” Pierce says. “I love to see that because I want nurses to be able to transform the edge of their knowledge into something tangible, so that they can live their best lives.”
Most of Pierce’s clients continue as nurses. “Our team demonstrates how nurses can use their days off to develop their business operations instead of only recovering from work,” she says. The goal is to “exit with confidence and not chaos.”
Pierce offers two pieces of advice for women leaders: Be unapologetically yourself, and invest in coaching. “I believe that coaches need a coach,” Pierce says. “I’m a firm believer that you should invest in your personal and professional development.”
Asked where she sees VP Nursing in 10 years, Pierce had a quick response: “I want us to be valued as a $10 million company at the minimum.” ■
