How Laura left nursing and built a writing business to support her life.

When Laura Mullen first came to Prospology, she was a surgical-oncology nurse looking to build a more flexible life. She wanted to work from anywhere, have control over her time, and enjoy what she did. Freelance medical writing seemed to offer that possibility, but she hadn’t been able to make it happen.

At the hospital, even taking a holiday meant asking six months in advance, juggling vacation rules, and feeling judged for how much time she took off. “Because why would I have a life outside of work?” Laura said at the time.

In early 2025, Laura was organizing her life around a job that didn’t really permit her to be herself. She had grown up dancing, but 15 years had passed since she’d been able to make it to a class. With her shifts changing every week and running into the evening, even that small piece of her former life felt out of reach.

Laura wanted to look forward to her work again, too. Preparing patients for surgery, getting them through procedures, and taking them to recovery had become a cycle that never seemed to end. She missed the satisfaction of finishing a challenging project and being able to say she’d accomplished something. And the politics made it harder still to imagine staying.

Laura started looking at remote nursing jobs, but most weren’t her cup of tea. When she discovered freelance medical writing, she tried out a coaching program but it wasn’t particularly helpful.

By the time we met in February 2025, Laura was spending her days off networking and trying to find her first paying client. However, few people responded to her outreach, and those who did weren’t following through. She felt she needed more personalized mentorship to move forward.

“I’m trying to find someone who’s willing to take a shot with me so I can get more relevant experience,” Laura told me in an introductory message on LinkedIn.

We jumped on a call and spoke for over an hour about her frustrations, how tired she was of her job, and how I could help her build the business she wanted.

Laura usually did a lot of research before making a big commitment like this. Yet, after our conversation, she enrolled in The ‘Thriving & Free’ Medical Writer Program™ right away. “My gut instinct never fails me, so I took the plunge,” she explained.

Laura’s early program Assignments brought us back to the reason she’d worked so hard to become a nurse in the first place: helping people understand what was happening to them when they were frightened or in pain.

When she first qualified, Laura would come home with stories about the people she’d helped during her shift. She’d always seen herself as a caregiver, and those were the moments that made the work feel worthwhile.

Then her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Laura soon became the person her family relied on most to make sense of all the medical goings on. But even with her nursing background, it was overwhelming at times. She was there as her mother’s daughter, trying to process what was happening to someone she loved.

Laura remembered the frustration of different doctors giving conflicting information, and feeling like the professionals involved in her mom’s care weren’t on the same page.

Knowing this, we started to position Laura as someone who understands oncology from both sides of the hospital bed. Her “why” is now solidified as helping healthcare professionals stay current, communicate clearly, and give patients more consistent care.

This became Mullenscribe: a play on words with her family name. Laura positioned herself as a medical writer with an understanding of both the pressures clinicians face and the questions families are left trying to answer.

Once this direction was established, we worked on bringing that perspective firmly and confidently into the way she introduced herself and her services.

In May 2025, a recruiter contacted Laura about a few projects that aligned with her niche. Her online presence was still in its early stages with no marketing efforts underway yet, so she was shocked and thrilled that someone had found her.

Her first instinct was to jump straight in. She worried an opportunity like this might not come around again. However, after talking it through with me, she ultimately decided to turn it down. It was useful experience but wasn’t aligned with the vision Laura and I were co-creating for her life and business.

She also admitted that she struggled to share small wins within our community and among other medical writing colleagues. She would tell close friends and family, but with peers it felt as though something had to be major to be worth mentioning.

A recruiter had sought her out for the very work she wanted to do, while she was still building her online presence. Laura was learning that she could celebrate these types of wins without waiting for a signed contract to be in place before something “qualified.”

In June 2025, an upsetting work review was Laura’s final straw. She reached out because she wanted to leave the hospital once and for all but no one close to her had ever made this kind of career change so it was scary.

We discussed the situation at length, until Laura felt supported enough to take a leap of faith in her abilities and finally walk away from clinical practice for good. Just a few days after our conversation, Laura went into her managers’ office and resigned.

She had dreaded the conversation. But she also felt an enormous weight lift from her shoulders as soon as it was done. For the first time in years, she was excited about her future.

“When I woke up this morning, I called myself a medical writer and it felt true!” – Laura Mullen, BSN, RN

As Laura continued with her business development with my mentorship, the next challenge she faced was marketing. Sitting down to write a LinkedIn post would send her into a spiral of doubt.

But with each attempt, her message became clearer. And when I provided training on storytelling and encouraged Laura to stop over-thinking it, her posts improved dramatically and are still excellent to this day.

As Laura decided to specialize in continued medical education, we created targeted writing samples for her portfolio and built a professional website that explains how she can help with oncology education projects.

When design proved to be a struggle, we brought in one of our trusted partners to help Laura finalize the visuals of her brand and create logos that reflect the calibre of her expertise.

In September 2025, Laura was developing slide decks for continuing medical education. Getting paid work as a freelance medical writer while still actively in The ‘Thriving & Free’ Program helped her believe she belonged in this career.

By December 2025, Laura was even more confident in managing her pipeline. She turned down a project without second-guessing herself, knowing there were others she would enjoy more. “This isn’t worth my time,” she said.

In January 2026, Laura received $7,250 for a major continuing medical education project we had worked on together. It was her largest pay check so far, and a milestone we all celebrated in The Prospologers Community.

Laura already felt like a different person by this time. She was considerably happier, and even noticing positive changes in how she interacted with people and handled her day. There were still marketing tasks and projects to deliver on time. But even on those busy days, she had no wish to trade this for her old nursing job.

In March 2026, a founder asked Laura for feedback on a cancer care platform. She promptly and confidently explained that she offers this service through paid consulting engagements. The founder was interested and asked how to proceed.

Historically, Laura would have hesitated in handling this type of situation, where a budget was not provided upfront. Instead, she reflected back on what she’d been learning in our Freelance Medical Writing Academy, combined with our work together in cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset, and the communications felt easy and manageable.

In May 2026, Laura began pitching to her ideal clients consistently, and a company she’d contacted asked about her writing a needs assessment for them. She was offered a project right away, and the opportunities just kept coming.

“It’s been crazy, but in the best way!” – Laura Mullen, BSN, RN

By late May, Laura had two clients who wanted needs assessments and a slide deck lined up for June. “This is great because after three needs assessments, I’ll need a change! 😅” The variety she’d missed at the hospital was becoming part of her typical working week.

In August 2026, a conversation with a prospective client she’d found through LinkedIn left Laura a little teary-eyed. She resonated so much with the woman’s story that she could already clearly envision herself contributing to the work. “This is one of the most aligned potential clients I’ve met so far,” she shared.

That month, a new client asked whether Laura would take on another project when she’d only just completed the first draft of their slide deck.

For the first time, Laura could see relationships developing beyond single assignments and becoming more long-term. This was the kind of ongoing work she’d been hoping for, and she was excited to share the news with fellow Prospologers.

Upon graduating from The ‘Thriving & Free’ Medical Writer Program™, Laura decided to stay on as a Tier 3 Lifetime Member, meaning she still has 1:1 access to me any time she needs it. Now that all of the major hurdles have been overcome, we focus on day-to-day support relating to Laura’s lifestyle, client opportunities, and project delivery.

And that brings us to the most recent update from Laura (and the most meaningful, if I do say so myself), as of September 2026:

“I officially registered for fall dance classes! I’ll be taking tap, contemporary, and ballet. One of my ballet classes is late morning on a Wednesday, which is something I never would have been able to do with a traditional full-time job. 😊”

I couldn’t be more proud of Laura and what she’s accomplished at Prospology. I encourage you to connect with her on LinkedIn and explore Mullenscribe to follow her journey and celebrate her continued success.

If Laura’s story resonates with you, feel free to explore The ‘Thriving & Free’ Medical Writer Program™ to learn more about building a freelance medical writing business around your own experience, interests, and lifestyle goals.