Meet Carrie Levine | Nurse practitioner, entrepreneur, and author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carrie Levine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carrie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
The concept of balance flew out the window for me with the birth of my son. I was a breast-feeding midwife mama with student loans to pay and I did what I had to do to pay off the debt, meet my work obligations, and show up for my kids. I “only” worked four days a week, but was on call for weeks at a time, and would have days at a time that I did not make it home. The days I was not working were spent tending to my family and my home.

With the birth of my second child, I reduced my clinic days to 3 days a week because I learned caring for home was a full time job, too. Someone had to tend to the kids, their needs, the cleaning, the bills, the shopping, the cooking, etc. I was tired of feeling like I worked two full time jobs.

Once my kids started school, I eeked out an hour twice a week to exercise. That gave me some sense of ‘balance.’

I still “work” three days a week and I no longer have children at home. I still exercise those other two days and care for the home. I used those days to write a book and now that the book is published, I thought I would “get” that time back but it’s not working out that way so far.

So I’m re-evaluating work and life, trying to identify where there is wiggle room to address my schedule so that I feel I have a bit more time to do other things that interest me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a certified nurse-midwife and certified functional medicine practitioner with a micro-practice in midcoast Maine. I spent 7 1/2 years working full scope midwifery at the local hospital, 7 1/2 years working at the world-renowned Women to Women Healthcare Clinic in Yarmouth, Maine, and then opened my home- based clinic 10 years ago. I published my book, Whole Woman Health: A Guide To Creating Wellness for Any Age and Stage, in May of 2023.

It took me 7 years to meet my 2 year business projections. During those seven years, my husband severely injured himself requiring multiple surgeries, my 15 year old daughter passed in a car accident, and there was COVID. I am grateful to have had the business model I’ve had which has allowed my to tend to these challenges on my own terms. There was also pressure and responsibility to make ends meet every step of the way.

I feel like perseverance is the single most important trait that has gotten me where I am. There were multiple junctions where I could have closed the business and gotten a job. I felt like if I stuck it out, the clinic would be successful and it is. Perseverance served me when writing my book – just showing up consistently and taking the one next step. Those “one next steps” add up.

I really celebrate the imperfections of self, life, and others. Since I was a kid, it felt unrealistic to me to present as perfect. I couldn’t handle the pressure. I still feel this way today. This informs the way I wear my hair, the clothes I wear, my business model, how I care for women, how I keep my home, and how I take care of myself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A week long trip in Maine would include a day in Portland walking the streets, checking out the shops, maybe eating coconut curry lobster stew at Eventide, gluten-free chocolate sea salt donuts from Holy Donut, and a stop at the Portland Museum of Art.

We would have to hike in the Camden Hills, either Bald Mountain or Mount Megunticook, and then have a sandwich from the Camden Deli in park afterwards to watch the schooners in the harbor.

From there we would go to Aragosta at Goose Cove and stay for a couple of nights checking out Deer Isle, especially the galleries and artisans of Deer Isle village. We, of course, would have dinner one night Aragosta and take the ferry to Isle Au Haut for a day of hiking.

Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park, would be our next stop for ice cream at Ben and Bills in Bar Harbor. We would park at the Jordan Pond Tea House, walk the length of Jordan Pond, go up and over the Bubbles, across Penobscot Mountain, hike back down to the pond, and then have popovers and lemonade at the tea house. With any luck, if it were blueberry season, we would stop and pick blueberries atop Penobscot Mountain.

If time allowed, we could go to Debsconeague and experience the utter quiet of the Maine north woods.

The grand finale would be a visit to Carrabasset Valley to hike or ski.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Susan Fekety, CNM, one of the midwives who trained me, who unconditionally supported my entrepreneurship, who was a fantastic functional medicine resource for me as I learned, who continues to support my writing, and seems to have unquestioning belief in me.

Website: carrielevine.com

Instagram: @carrielevine.cnm

Linkedin: Carrie Levine CNM

Facebook: Carrie Levine CNM

Image Credits
Jenny Mahyer