CPR | How being her own boss affords one trainer her best life

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CPR How being her own boss affords one
trainer her best life
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American Heart Association instructor Tamara
McLaughlin owns and operates her own training
business in Vermont. The CPR First Aid Blog sat
down with her to chat about how she does it. Q
Tamara, what is your background? A I began my
career training medical assistants across Maine,
New Hampshire and Vermont 24 years ago. One day,
my boss informed me that I would start training
physicians in CPR, which at that time I knew
nothing about! It was intimidating, but I went
through the classes and became an instructor with
the American Red Cross.
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After a couple of years, I decided to teach
American Heart Association coursework instead
because I felt it gave a better understanding of
high-quality CPR. Once I switched, the feedback I
received from my students was overwhelmingly
positive. Thats when I knew that I was on to
something and decided to go into business for
myself. Q Would you tell us about your
business journey? A My company is called VT
SafeyNet Inc., and I teach the Associations BLS
and all Heartsaver courses, including Heartsaver
First Aid, CPR AED and Bloodborne Pathogens. I
began simply I designed and printed my business
cards and mailed them to local doctor and dentist
offices that had smaller staffs, which meant they
were likely to not have internal training. This
was a side job for more than 10 years, but
eventually through networking at trade shows and
client referrals I began to be hired by larger
firms with regular needs. Thats when I switched
to doing this full-time.
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Ive been working for myself full-time for nine
years now I train about 2,500 students a year.
It works best for me because that it allows me to
set my own hours and, as such, Im able to strike
that work-life balance. I feel like Im leading
my best life. Q What do you believe is the
secret of your success, so to speak? A I
emphasize being enthusiastic, engaging, and
utilizing humor to make the material less
intimidating. I train people from all walks of
lifefrom construction workers to hospital Chief
Medical Officers. The most important thing is to
customize my delivery of the material to serve
how each person learns.
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Q Finally, tell us why the American Heart
Association is your choice? A The Association
teaches the science behind its material. When
students ask me questions in class, I want to be
able to fully answer them as opposed to providing
routine talking points. The Association provides
you everything you need to know. For my business,
this put me miles ahead. Thank you, Tamara, for
speaking with us and for being such a dedicated
American Heart Association advocate!
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Learn more about CPR. Bergenfield, NJ, Jersey
City, NJ, Livingston, NJ, Queens, New York,
Gainesville, FL, Milford, CT and Long Island,
NY. Source https//cprblog.heart.org