Exploring Life & Business with Heidi Olson of Paradigm Shift Training and Consulting

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Olson.

Hi Heidi, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I became a nurse in 2009 and have always worked in pediatrics. My first job was in a county hospital in southern New Mexico. I frequently worked with vulnerable kids, teenagers, and their families. I was taking care of labor and sex trafficking victims then, but no one was viewing patients through that lens. At the time, many of my patients were labeled as “juvenile delinquents,” “promiscuous,” “drug addicts,” “prostitutes,” “illegal aliens,” etc. I had empathy and compassion for these vulnerable kids. Still, I didn’t know how to recognize what was happening beneath the surface or how to help patients who were being exploited.

I moved to Kansas City in 2014 and was hired at Children’s Mercy. Shortly after starting, I saw that the hospital was hiring sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs). I was intrigued. I wanted to be the kind of nurse who could provide a sense of safety for patients in a crisis and experiencing trauma, but I had no experience in forensic nursing. I applied and was hired as a SANE. As soon as I started working as a SANE, I realized that some of my patients were being trafficked; but again, no one was calling it that, and I had no idea how to help. That sent me down a road of reading, researching, reaching out to experts and survivors, and educating myself and our team and what to look for and how to report trafficking.

After a year and a half of being a SANE (and loving that type of nursing), I was hired as a co-manager of the SANE program. I worked as a manager for 5 years. I helped bring cutting-edge practices to our program, including screening, training, and best practices that were not happening in hospitals, especially related to human trafficking. Two of the biggest things I accomplished were 1) bringing awareness to the role that pornography plays in child sexual abuse, which has launched international presentations, research projects, and much more, and 2) implemented a screening tool in our Emergency Department, which has helped identify hundreds of kids in our community that are high risk or are being actively being exploited or trafficked.

In May of 2022, after seeing the success within our SANE program, I decided to branch out on my own and start a training and consulting business. My goal has been to help other agencies, healthcare systems, and health plans understand how to recognize exploitation and trafficking and give them best practices when intervening and working with trafficking victims and survivors. This led to many exciting projects and training sessions over the last year. I have had the privilege of working with safe homes that care for trafficking survivors, providing medical care at trafficking operations in different states, and training law enforcement, advocates, nurses, doctors, and social workers. I have worked with Medicaid providers in several states to create processes for recognizing clients who are being trafficked. I have worked with survivors, former sex buyers, and law enforcement to create the best training content. I have been able to speak with legislators at the state and federal levels about trends I am seeing. I have worked with a University to educate their professors on trafficking. I am currently working with a healthcare system in another country to develop best practices for identifying trafficking victims. I am also consulting with a non-profit to create resources for healthcare providers on how to screen adolescents for pornography exposure and problematic use. There are many other exciting endeavors in the works as the momentum grows. I also won an award this year for my work around human trafficking.

When I started my business, I told myself that success looks like being able to pay my bills, having a flexible schedule, and providing consultation and education on the topics I feel passionate about. I have been able to meet my goals and much more, and I feel incredibly grateful.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a roller coaster. I worked in the corporate hospital world my entire adult life, so I had no idea how to start a business. Over the last year, I have had to ask so many people for help and advice. It has been a huge learning curve, from figuring out how to do the taxes for my business, to figuring out how to make a sale. I have been told “no” or not gotten a response from potential clients more times than I can count. I have had pushback, people not following through, and many difficult conversations over the last year. The main things I have learned are 1) to trust my gut. So far, every time I have felt a sense of unease with an agency or client, it has turned out to be for a good reason, and 2) Getting a “no” isn’t a failure. It’s an opportunity to learn. It helps me figure out what resonates with clients and what doesn’t.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have two main areas of focus as a training and consulting business. The first focus is on human trafficking. As a healthcare worker who has extensive experience in this realm, I aim to consult or train different groups, agencies, hospitals, etc., on how to recognize trafficking, how to talk to potential victims, what resources to provide, and how to report. Most healthcare workers lack these skills, and victims continue to “fall through the cracks” in the systems they intersect with. My other area of expertise is in providing education around youth-on-youth sexual assault and the connection to pornography exposure. Pornography exposure and use among kids is skyrocketing and devastatingly affects kids. I can share anecdotal and research evidence on this issue and how to address this as professionals.

Several things set me apart from others who train on these topics. First, I have first-hand experience working with these populations. I have treated hundreds of sexual assault patients and trafficking victims. I have testified in jury trials. I have sat with devastated families as their world falls apart. I have seen the worst things people can experience and understand how we should handle these issues as professionals. I am an excellent public speaker, but I am also very engaging one-on-one and approach my work through a trauma-informed lens. I am great at connecting people and bringing in other experts to present with me at training because I know I am not the end-all with these complex topics. I am most proud that my business is bringing about real change. I gave a presentation to a group of SANE nurses in Canada, and the next day they identified a 12-year-old who was being trafficked as a direct result of my training. That means the world to me.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
Starting a business has been a huge risk for me. I gave up a guaranteed income, benefits, and the security of working in a corporate job. Taking risks can be hugely beneficial but also terrifying because you can fail. During my first few months as a business owner, I felt scared, lost, and honestly wanted to quit a few times. That being said, once I hit my stride (not without many difficult and discouraging moments), I never want to return to a corporate job of feeling like a cog in a wheel. Branching out on my own has created so many amazing opportunities. I have traveled all over the United States and met so many inspiring people over the last year. With risk-taking, my philosophy is to weigh the pros and cons. If the pros outweigh the cons and the only thing holding me back is fear, I should take the risk.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.paradigmshifttc.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-olson-13a9a157/

Image Credits
1) Public Domain Pictures  3) Fight the New Drug  5) .Media Savvy Mom’s Podcast 6) Shopify.com 7) Depositphotos.com 8) Paperbell.com