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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

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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

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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)

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📧 Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com
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Is taking care of yourself actually selfish? Or is that just what healthcare trained you to believe?

Dr. Dani Williams is a CRNA and IFBB Fit Model Pro — and she trained for her Pro card while she was in anesthesia school. Not after. During.
In this episode, Shantall and Marc sit down with Dani to talk about what it actually costs to put yourself first when your entire career is built around putting everyone else first. Guilt, burnout, body image, boundaries, the pressure to always be available, the money you leave on the table every time you say no. All of it.

They go there.

What you'll hear:
• How Dani competed through CRNA school and what it actually took to pull that off
• The hidden price of discipline, borrowed energy, and running on caffeine for years
• Mom guilt, dad guilt, and why turning down a shift can quietly feel like failure
• Why burnout doesn't look the same for everyone — and why that matters
• What a self-care practice that fits your actual life looks like instead of someone else's
• Off the Record: what each of them does to genuinely recharge

Being "selfish" might be the thing that makes you a better provider, partner, and parent. This episode is the permission slip you didn't know you needed.
If this hits home, share it. Leave a review. DM us your story.

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

Chapters
• 00:00 Cold Open: Is Self-Care Selfish?
• 09:00 Welcome Back to Clock Out and Connect
• 10:00 Meet Dr. Dani Williams
• 13:00 What It Means to Be an IFBB Fit Model Pro
• 19:00 Competing Through CRNA School
• 25:00 Borrowed Energy, Caffeine, and Discipline
• 35:00 Who Pays the Cost of Your Goals?
• 36:00 Burnout After CRNA School
• 57:00 Saying Yes, Boundaries, and Job Culture
• 1:09:00 Off the Record: What Recharges You?

#ClockOutAndConnect #CRNA #CRNASchool #SRNA #NurseAnesthesia #CRNALife #HealthcareBurnout #HealthcareProvider #IFBBPro #FitModel #HealthcarePodcast #NursePodcast #SelfCareForNurses #NurseBurnout #AnesthesiaLife #WomenInHealthcare #FitnessAndHealthcare #HealthcareBoundaries #ProviderBurnout #OffTheRecord

✨ 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.

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Everyone talks about what it costs you to chase CRNA school.Nobody talks about what it costs them.

The spouses who held down households alone. The parents who stopped calling because they didn’t want to add to the weight. The friends who slowly disappeared. The marriages that survived — but barely.

In Episode 3, Marc and Shantall get honest about the people who didn’t sign up for anesthesia school but lived every second of it anyway. Marc opens up about what it was like being newly married to Becky while trying to survive clinicals, and how their first year of marriage became something neither of them could have planned for. Shantall goes there about being geographically separated from Adam during military training and USAGPAN — almost failing out her first semester, hitting a wall she couldn’t climb alone, and what it actually took to ask for help when everyone around her looked like they had it together.

This episode doesn’t wrap itself up neatly. It talks about loneliness, resentment, guilt, jealousy, and the quiet grief of watching someone you love disappear into a version of themselves you don’t quite recognize yet.

And then — it talks about what comes after. Where their marriages are now. Why strong relationships aren’t luck. What it means to keep choosing each other through school, kids, career pivots, ambition, and every season that follows.

If you’ve been through it — or if someone you love is in it right now — this one is for you.
Off the Record: Real talk for the person who is in the middle of it right now.
Up Next: Marc and Shantall are joined by Dr. Dani Williams, DNP, CRNA and IFBB Pro card holder, for an episode called Selfish — about what it looks like to actually choose yourself in a profession that never stops asking you to give.

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

If this hit home, share it, leave a review, or DM us your story.

Chapters
00:00 Cold Open: Everyone Paid for the Yes
03:00 Welcome Back to Clock Out and Connect
04:00 What They Thought CRNA School Would Cost
07:00 Realizing This Was Harder Than Expected
12:00 When Your Spouse Feels Alone Too
17:00 Living Separate Lives While Staying Married
22:00 Communication, Distance, and Survival Mode
27:00 Almost Failing Out and Asking for Help
36:00 How School Changes Every Relationship
57:00 Off the Record: Keep Going, But Stay Human

#clockoutandconnect #CRNA #CRNASchool #SRNA #USAGPAN #NurseAnesthesia #CRNAJourney #ICUtoCRNA #HealthcarePodcast #NursePodcast #CRNAMarriage #HealthcareRelationships #Military #MilitaryNurse #SRNALife

✨ 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.

Send us Fan Mail

What does saying yes to CRNA school actually cost? Marc and Shantall unpack the real price: friendships, marriage, identity, and why they would still do it again even knowing what they know now.

This episode is for current CRNA students wondering if it is worth it, ICU nurses considering the leap, and anyone who has ever had to rebuild themselves after saying yes to something that changed everything.
Marc knew it was over the day a preceptor snapped a photo mid patient turn, gray sweater, aching back, exhausted. Shantall’s breaking point was the slow, heavy realization that a system asking too much shift after shift was never going to suddenly ask less.

What you will hear:

• The exact moments they knew they had to leave the bedside
• What CRNA school costs that nobody warns you about: time, money, and who you are outside of work
• The marriage conversation, how school and training changed them as partners and what it took not to lose each other in the process
• USAGPAN versus civilian programs, financial stability versus loss of freedom, and the tradeoffs they would make again or not
• Off the Record: substance use in anesthesia, the impaired provider no one wants to talk about and why staying silent is not an option

CRNA school cost them friendships, holidays, weekends, sleep, and confidence. It cost Marc his sense of self and nearly his marriage. Shantall did not recognize herself after graduation and talks about what it took to put the pieces back together.

They also break down the real world difference between USAGPAN, the military CRNA route, and civilian programs: guaranteed paycheck and benefits versus limited autonomy and personal freedom, and what you are actually trading when you choose one path over the other.

Off the Record, Marc addresses substance use among anesthesia providers: who is really at risk, what it looks like when the strong one starts to slip, and why bringing it into the light can save a career or a life.

Next episode (May 19):
They Stayed, what this career costs the people who loved you.
If this hit home: share it - leave a review - DM your story.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Cold Open: The Moment I Knew I Had to Leave Bedside
• 09:33 What Saying Yes Actually Cost Us
• 10:53 You Never Get Back to Your Life
• 17:46 Why We Didn't Quit
• 21:52 USAGPAN vs. Civilian: The Real Trade-Off
• 27:18 Off the Record: The Conversation Nobody Wants to Have

#ClockOutAndConnect #CRNA #CRNASchool #USAGPAN #CRNAMarriage #ICUtoCRNA #HealthcareReality #NurseAnesthesia #ImpairedProvider

✨ Connect with us:

📧 Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com
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📸 Instagram: @clockoutandconnectpodcast
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💬 Got a story, question, or an Off the Record submission? Send it our way.

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Marc asked Shantall one question. She started answering it — and stopped.

Would you do it all over again?

In the first episode of Clock Out and Connect, two CRNAs sit down and do what nobody in healthcare actually does: tell the truth about how they got here and what it cost.

Shantall traces her path from the Dominican Republic to South Florida, to the Army, to Iraq, through nursing school, CRNA training, and a COVID ICU she never should have been pulled into. Marc takes you from Jamaica to bedside nursing, watching his grandmother recover from a stroke, through the ICU, and into anesthesia school — with a family depending on him the whole way.

They talk about how they met, why this podcast needed to exist, and the one question that doesn’t get answered — not yet.

Whether you work in healthcare, love someone who does, or you’ve ever wondered what’s actually happening on the other side of that OR door — this is where we stop sugarcoating it.

Chapters

• 0:00 Disclaimer + cold open
• 0:20 Welcome to Clock Out and Connect
• 1:00 Shantall’s story from the DR to the Army
• 8:45 Marriage, moving, and finding nursing
• 13:20 ICU life and choosing CRNA school
• 16:45 COVID, school disruption, and making it through
• 21:20 Marc’s story from Jamaica to nursing
• 30:45 CRNA school, sacrifice, and big life moves
• 37:00 How Marc and Shantall met
• 42:20 Why this podcast exists + Off the Record intro

#ClockOutAndConnect #CRNA #NurseAnesthesia #NursingPodcast #HealthcarePodcast #Anesthesia #CRNALife #NurseLife #HealthcareWorkers #BurnoutInHealthcare #WorkLifeBalance #ORLife #ICUNurse #WomenInHealthcare #MedicalPodcast

✨ Connect with us:

📧 Email: clockoutandconnectpodcast@gmail.com
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📸 Instagram: @clockoutandconnectpodcast
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💬 Got a story, question, or an Off the Record submission? Send it our way.