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Everybody loves the after photo. CRNA, six figures, living happily ever after. Almost nobody talks about what it actually took to get there.

Chris O'Connor was a teen mom who had her son in high school, then a single mom of two who put herself through CRNA school on maxed-out loans, food stamps, and daycare assistance. She technically seeded out. Her GPA slipped below the line, the school missed it, financial aid caught it, and she spent a whole semester one test away from being sent home. Her last exam in the program, she needed a 76. She got a 76.

In this one, Chris tells the version of the story nobody puts on the highlight reel: raising two kids while studying, sending her son to live with his dad for a stretch because she had to choose herself, and the mindset that got her through, just make the next test, just make the next day. She also gets into life on the other side, the first paycheck that made her cry, going 1099 and locums, and why she'll tell any single parent staring at an acceptance letter the same thing, if I can do it, anybody can do it.

Shantall works with Chris and has heard this story before, Marc keeps it honest, and Chris says the quiet part out loud. If you've ever looked at that mountain and thought there's no way, this is the episode that talks you back into the chair.

This is our perspective as CRNAs, not medical or financial advice.

Everything we make lives at clockoutandconnect.com. Free CRNA tools, the newsletter, all of it.

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CRNA, nurse anesthesiologist, CRNA school, single mom nursing school, nurse anesthesia school, how to become a CRNA, perseverance, Clock Out and Connect

Chapters

0:00 Icebreaker: the funniest thing a patient ever said going under

7:23 Why she became a nurse, then a CRNA she never planned on

10:15 She got in, now how does she pay for it?

11:18 Maxed-out loans, food stamps, and quitting her job for school

13:17 What a day-to-day week looked like with two kids

14:51 Her biggest fear: flunking out

15:14 The GPA slip the school missed and financial aid caught

17:10 The last test she needed a 76 on

19:02 Not a 4.0 doesn't mean you're not smart

20:58 What she had to let go of, and why "no" is just an excuse

23:03 What her kids say about it now that they're grown

26:13 How she dug out: a study group and the one A she needed

28:13 Why we made this episode

29:27 What she'd tell the single mom who thinks it's impossible

30:16 Choosing herself, and sending her son to live with his dad

31:54 Food stamps to a real paycheck: the transition

33:38 The first thing she bought for herself in three years

35:19 Every practice model she's worked, and her favorite

38:12 When a facility cuts corners and it's time to walk

40:50 The real story on going locums

43:00 Marc's Minnesota winter and the snowblower that saved him

52:26 The business of anesthesia nobody teaches in school

✨ Connect with us:

📧 Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com
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Most of us were taught to keep our heads down and never talk about money. Naseema McElroy, RN, FNP did the opposite, and it changed her whole life. She was a labor and delivery nurse earning well over six figures and still sitting on close to a million dollars of debt. Then she got loud about it, paid it off in under three years, and built Financially Intentional so other nurses could do the same.

In this one, Naseema says the quiet part out loud: the people who make you feel like you can't talk about money usually have a vested interest in keeping you broke. We get into the net worth number nobody wants to print, why you probably don't need another degree to get paid more, opportunity cost and buying back your years, and the debt payoff method that became, in her words, addictive. Shantall pulls up a chair as the CRNA in the room, Marc keeps it honest, and Naseema frames the whole thing.

If you've ever felt behind, or like talking about money makes you greedy, this is the episode that takes that off your shoulders.

Naseema McElroy is RN, FNP, founder of Financially Intentional and author of Smart Money. This is not financial advice, just two CRNAs and a nurse who got free.

Everything we make lives at clockoutandconnect.com. Free CRNA tools, the newsletter, all of it.

Chapters

0:00 Intro & the most embarrassing thing you bought to feel like an adult

1:54 Meet Naseema McElroy, RN, FNP

4:21 Why you don't need another degree to get paid more

6:42 How Financially Intentional started

8:40 When sharing her numbers took off

10:02 Normalizing money at work (the $20K overnight story)

13:23 The benefits you're not using

15:22 How she got to nearly $1M in debt

18:13 The debt snowball that became addictive

20:04 Her biggest money mistake: pausing investing

21:11 Learning to invest with the FIRE community

23:27 The net worth gap and the $5 statistic

26:02 Getting intentional in a high cost of living area

27:27 Teaching her daughters to own, not consume

30:53 Girl math, loud budgeting, and TikTok money terms

32:57 What FinTok gets right and wrong

35:19 Write-offs, Schitt's Creek, and bad money advice

36:06 Who benefits from you staying broke

38:21 Why this needs a part two

40:51 Where to find Naseema

41:59 Off the record: Marc's $300K student loan payoff

46:43 Shantall's story: the GI Bill, court reporting, and a loan that doubled

49:05 Why amortization should scare you, and starting where you are

Season / Episode: Season 1, Episode 6 · Released June 30, 2026

✨ Connect with us:

📧 Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com
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We called this one Occupational Hazards, but we're not talking about needle sticks. We're talking about what the job quietly costs a CRNA. What it feels like in your body to walk out of a case that went south, then do a stat C-section ten minutes later because the day doesn't stop for you to fall apart.

Bilal Mohammad is a Miami CRNA you probably know as That CRNA Who Lifts, and he came on to talk about all of it. How he protects his faith at work and why he's never had to choose between praying and providing. Why he treats the gym like medicine, the bad day, the good day, the blah day, all of it ends in a workout. What we carry that nobody sees, the part where everyone's joking in the room until it's suddenly on you and the whole table looks up waiting for the plan.

We also got into anesthesia and social media. How more information somehow gave patients less trust, and that epidural harpoon trend scaring women out of pain relief for clicks.

And we stuck around off the record for the OR stories we don't usually tell. Let's just say not everyone walks out of that room without a bruise.

Everything we make for CRNAs lives at clockoutandconnect.com. Free tools whether you're pricing your worth or still trying to get into school, plus our new, free weekly newsletter, the whole anesthesia world in a five minute read.

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open, the desflurane pop quiz

01:04 Welcome to Clock Out & Connect

01:30 Meet Bilal, That CRNA Who Lifts

02:13 Miller vs Mac, and losing the DL

06:56 The 30 second dinner party challenge

07:36 Faith in the OR, what you check at the door

09:44 Praying at work without apology

12:00 Occupational hazards, the circle of life in one hour

13:56 Solo in Spain, how he resets

15:04 What we carry that nobody sees

18:25 Social media gave patients less trust

22:18 Independent CRNAs, supervision, and money

24:54 The body keeps score, the gym as medicine

27:40 No breaks, no food, and why it still chose us

30:22 The first paycheck and the real ROI

33:08 What the job gives back

34:50 Off the record, OR stories we don't tell

39:47 Would you do it all over again

#ClockOutAndConnect #CRNA #NurseAnesthesia #NursingPodcast #HealthcarePodcast #Anesthesia #CRNALife #NurseLife #CRNAStudent #SRNA #OperatingRoom #HealthcareBurnout #FaithAtWork #MuslimInMedicine #OBAnesthesia #Epidural #DirectLaryngoscopy #GymAndMedicine #MentalHealthInHealthcare #ThatCRNAWhoLifts

CRNA, nurse anesthesia, nurse anesthetist, healthcare podcast, nursing podcast, anesthesia, occupational hazards healthcare, burnout, faith at work, Muslim CRNA, direct laryngoscopy, video laryngoscopy, epidural, OB anesthesia, supervision vs independent practice, CRNA fitness, operating room stories, SRNA, Bilal Mohammad

CONNECT WITH US

Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: Clock Out and Connect

Instagram: @clockoutandconnectpodcast

Facebook: Clock Out and Connect Podcast

Guest: @thatcrnawholifts (Instagram + TikTok)

✨ Connect with us:

📧 Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com
🎥 YouTube: Clock Out and Connect
📸 Instagram: @clockoutandconnectpodcast
📘 Facebook: Clock Out and Connect Podcast

💬 Got a story, question, or an Off the Record submission? Send it our way.