UNSUNG Podcast

Robin Pingeton, FNP didn't plan to become a practice owner. She planned to keep doing what she loved — caring for elderly patients in Georgia. But after 8 years working for a geriatric psychiatrist, she made a discovery that changed everything: the office manager had been stuffing 6 months of billing into shoeboxes under her desk. The entire practice had gone unbilled. That was the moment Robin decided there had to be a better way.

She opened Pingeton Senior Health & Wellness just before COVID hit, with 200 patients who followed her out the door. She now leads a team of 4 NPs running a geriatric house call practice in Georgia — the most restricted state in the country for nurse practitioners — where she pays over $50,000 a year for two collaborating physicians just to legally operate.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How a billing cover-up became the catalyst for her practice
• What it really costs to operate in Georgia, and what happens to your practice if your collaborating physician dies
• How her practice nearly doubled overnight after a $38 million fraud scandal shut down another practice in Atlanta
• The lesson she learned after trusting a biller who tried to steal her patient data
• What she tells every NP thinking about opening a practice: be the best clinician first
• Her one regret after 30 years: she should have done it sooner

🎙️This one is for every NP who has ever felt like the system was built to keep them out.

Angela Golden didn't set out to open a practice. She was volunteering with the local fire department in a small mountain town in Arizona, checking on kids so families wouldn't have to drive 25 miles into Flagstaff. She didn't even charge for it. Then a grandmother sat her down and told her she was devaluing her entire profession. That conversation started everything.

In this episode, Dr. Angela Golden walks us through 23 years of independent practice, from seeing patients at a fire station to opening a dedicated obesity treatment clinic, to knowing when it was time to close both and start a brand new chapter.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How a grandmother's tough love turned a community service into a real practice.
• Why Angie opened a second practice focused on obesity, one of the most undertreated chronic diseases in healthcare.
• The power of the micro-practice model and why you don't have to go all in on day one.
• What it actually looks like to close a practice with intention and grace.
• Life after ownership and what it means to find yourself again on the other side.

🎙️ This one is for every NP who has ever wondered what comes next.

He didn't plan it. He didn't have a business degree. He barely knew what an LLC was. But a friend's honeymoon and a month of covering house calls turned into a 25-year practice serving nearly 1,000 patients across New York City. In this episode, Dr. Denis Tarrant takes us inside the world of urban house calls and what it really takes to build something that lasts.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How covering a friend's practice for a month accidentally launched his career as a practice owner.
• Why he kept his day job at Mount Sinai for years while quietly growing his patient panel.
• What it means to shift from being a provider to being a culture builder.
• How his practice is using an ACO model to prove that NPs are the answer to the primary care crisis.

From pre-dental school dropout to primary care practice owner, Casey Lulay's path was anything but straight. In this episode, he takes us through his journey from mobile visits in foster homes and nursing facilities to owning a building in Oregon and becoming the first clinic in the state to earn a health equity designation.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How he started by moonlighting on the side before taking the full leap.
• Going from one shared exam room to owning his own building in just 4 years.
• Why his wife Sarah leaving her dental hygiene career was the game changer.
• How earning Oregon's highest Tier 5 patient-centered primary care designation changed everything.

Sometimes the community just needs someone willing to show up. He did.

Most people would think twice before opening an independent practice in New York City. Dr. Sophie Brown didn't. In this episode, she takes us through her journey from bedside nurse to founder of Family NP Healthcare Services in Flushing, and what it really takes to build something sustainable in one of the most competitive healthcare markets in the country.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How a retiring physician's exit became her opening.

• Why setting limits with patients was the thing that changed everything.

• What she learned about building a team that patients actually want to come back to.

• Her vision for expanding the practice beyond primary care.

We've all had those "if only" thoughts, but Duet partner Tamara Washington realized you don't need a winning ticket to pivot your career. In this episode, Tamara takes us through her transition from the monotony of the OR to launching her own independent practice in Texas.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Leap of Faith: Why Tamara decided to leave the comfort of a structured clinical environment to build something of her own.

• Shifting Perspectives: Moving from the "acute care" mindset of the Minute Clinic to the "chronic care" depth of internal medicine.

• Overcoming Noise: How to ignore the people who say "now isn't the time" and trust your own professional vision.

• The Seven-Year Milestone: What it looks like to sustain a practice that prioritizes both the patient experience and the provider's life.

Tamara is living proof that you do not have to wait for the perfect moment to start. You just need to trust your path and build the systems to support it.

On The Duet Podcast, Nicole Bennett, DNP, PMHNP, MN, shares how a "happy accident" career path led her into psych NP work and eventually practice ownership. She talks about why she refused the 15-minute, prescription-only model, how isolation shows up for owners (even inside organizations), and the mindset shift from "clinician who runs a practice" to true business leader. You'll also hear how she built a clinician-centered group practice designed for autonomy, mentorship, and long-term growth, plus the leadership lesson she wishes she'd learned sooner: the hard moments are what shape you.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. April Odom, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC to talk about resilience, purpose, and building a practice on your own terms. From becoming a teen mom and first-generation college graduate to launching and growing an independent NP practice, April shares her honest journey, the pivots that shaped her path, and why patient-centered, preventive care remains at the heart of everything she does. A powerful conversation about starting small, trusting the process, and redefining success in nurse-led healthcare.

Peggy Zapantis, APRN, MSN, FNP-BC shares how she pivoted from primary care into aesthetics and wellness, then unexpectedly became a true business owner when her practice was sold to private equity and the "aesthetics division" was essentially handed to her to take and build. We talk books of business, hiring the right team, opening a second location, why "boots on the ground" beats social media for local growth, and how her Anasa Aesthetics Academy is making safe, ethical training more accessible.

How does someone who never imagined business ownership end up running a thriving primary care practice in a small Florida beach town? Stephanie Sanchez, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, ARNP, shares how a retiring physician, a supportive partner, and a willingness to learn opened the door to becoming a practice owner.

Stephanie walks us through her path from ICU nurse to critical care NP, the unexpected offer to take over a 30-year-old clinic, and the long transition that followed as she navigated credentialing, contracting, and restructuring the practice into an autonomous NP-led medical center. She explains how she kept her patient panel strong, introduced new service lines like weight loss, peptide therapy, aesthetics, and HRT, and grew her team to support more than 3,000 patients.

We also talk about early fears, practical marketing on a small budget, and the operations behind sustaining and scaling a community practice. Stephanie closes with grounded advice for NPs considering ownership: be patient with yourself, use your networks, and remember that clarity and confidence come from taking action.