12/05/2025
My story really started when I was a little girl. I watched “A Baby Story” on TLC every single day after school, and ever since I was 8 years old, I knew I wanted to be around moms and their babies. Fast forward to nursing school and graduation — all I wanted was L&D. But in 2012, the nursing shortage wasn’t what it is now. There weren’t multiple openings. So I started in the ICU. I loved it for a while, traveled, saw a lot, learned a lot… but I couldn’t picture doing it forever.
Since ICU was all I knew, I figured CRNA school would be the next step. I applied, interviewed… and didn’t get in. So I pivoted. I thought, “Let me do what I think I’ll love, then maybe I’ll feel fulfilled.” Transitioning from ICU to L&D was the biggest learning curve ever — but I fell in love with assisting deliveries. Still, something felt missing. We didn’t have midwives as laborists. We barely had midwives at all in Sioux City. I wanted to be in that world so badly.
I applied to the University of Cincinnati’s midwifery program and got in immediately. People constantly asked why I was “wasting my time” on something without job security. I didn’t have an answer — I just felt called.
During COVID clinicals, I became pregnant with Lux. I had no clue what I was doing with an ultrasound machine, but I got to watch him grow. It was the most magical thing ever. Meanwhile, patients would constantly say how badly they wished they could see their babies more often. I remember doing dating scans with no TV, no printouts — just “you can take a picture if you want.” Then nothing until anatomy, and nothing again until delivery if everything was normal.
Here I was getting to see my baby weekly, and they weren’t allowed the same. That was the moment the idea sparked… but I was still focused on finishing school and building a laborist program. Another midwife and I developed a full proposal. It was decently received — but extremely slow-moving.
Two weeks before graduation, I gave birth to Lux. I delivered 63 babies during clinicals and loved every second. I studied for boards with a newborn. I applied for the job I fully expected to get — the one where I’d done all my rotations.
I didn’t get it.
I was shocked.
I felt like a failure.
Maybe the people doubting me were right.
My dad kept telling me everything would work out. Just give it time.
I kept pushing forward with the laborist plan — but then the CEO was let go. You can’t launch a program without a CEO. Who knew how long it would take to get another? I interviewed for an in-house midwife job in Sioux Falls.
Didn’t get that either.
Then… my dad died.
That’s its own story, but the short version is this: I wanted to make him proud. And I refused to go back to being a bedside nurse after everything I had just accomplished. The little entrepreneur inside me finally said, “You don’t need a hospital to take care of you financially. Dad isn’t here anymore. You have a 5-month-old. You saw a missing piece in healthcare. Go fill it.”
I used the grief as fuel and built a business model I believed could still serve moms and babies. Soon after, The Sonography Studio was born. I told myself, “If I can just make what I made as a nurse, it’ll be worth it.”
I opened a second-floor, 700 sq ft space in August of 2022.
This August, we hit 3 years.
We’ve now seen over 8,000 women.
The growth was unbelievable. People drove hours to see me. One client — from Denver — said, “We have tons of elective ultrasound options, but none of them feel like this. You’ve created a space that’s actually comforting. Have you ever thought about franchising?” The funny thing was… no. I was literally just trying to replace my RN salary in Sioux City, Iowa.
Her husband happened to be in franchise development. We talked, but the business was still too new. Over the next two years, this brand grew beyond my wildest dreams — even at a corporate level. Everything I’ve done in my career led me exactly here.
God’s plan is always bigger than your imagination, and I’m walking proof. I had SO many “no’s” before I got my yes — and now this little brand I built from grief, motherhood, and a huge gap in women’s healthcare… is going nationwide.
We’ve grown into a brand that cares for women from the moment they find out they’re pregnant, through postpartum, lactation, pelvic floor restoration, hormone optimization, menopause, vaginal rejuvenation — all the way through to their most confident, empowered selves again. A true motherhood → menopause model.
I trademarked the name.
I trademarked the Flower Facelift.
And soon, The Sonography Studio will sit on a nationwide map next to every other franchise you can think of.
My dad has been in my back pocket this entire time. For so long, I was angry that he was gone. Now I realize he left me at the exact moment he knew I would rise. I would give anything to have him back — but his influence shaped every decision I made. He always told my sister and me that we’d be “set” when he died. I just never knew this was what he meant.
I turned the worst moment of my life into something beautiful. And I know he is so damn proud of me.
The Sonography Studio franchise launches in 2026. It feels so surreal to even type that. I love you, Dad! Let’s go change the world 🙏🏼
