Sometimes the path you're meant to take starts long before you realize you're on it.
About three years into what is now my 18-year nursing career, I realized I had a bit of a special skill: I could stick just about anybody.
And usually, I could do it pretty painlessly.
Over the years I spent working in emergency medicine, I honed and refined that skill until I became a little bit of a commodity wherever I worked. If someone was a difficult IV start, I was often the nurse who got called. I would be sent all over the hospital—to different departments and different situations—to find access when nobody else could.
And 8 or 9 times out of 10, I could find something.
It might be a 20-gauge in a pinky. It might be an unconventional spot that wasn't anybody's first choice. But if there was a vein to be found, I was probably going to find it.
At the time, I had no idea that this very specific skill I had developed in the emergency department would eventually become part of something much bigger.
When Nursing Started to Feel Different
Around my tenth year in nursing, healthcare was changing.
We had come through COVID. What patients wanted from their hospital experiences was changing. What people wanted from primary care was changing. And if I'm being truthful, what I wanted from nursing was changing, too.
For a few years, I had known that IV hydration therapy existed and was becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the country, particularly out West. It hadn't really taken hold here in the same way yet.
Then my life changed in a way I never could have prepared for.
My son, Romy, passed away in 2022.
Losing him changed virtually everything about how I looked at my life, my family, my time and my career.
I knew I needed something different.
I didn't want to spend the rest of my career working 12-hour shifts three or four days a week. I didn't want to keep working nights. I didn't want to continue in an environment where nurses can work incredibly hard to care for people and still regularly be yelled at, cussed at or treated as though what we do doesn't matter.
But my experience with Romy had also shown me the other side of nursing.
During his lifelong illness, I saw what nurses could do when they were appreciated, needed and respected. I saw the difference compassionate healthcare could make for an entire family.
I still loved being a nurse.
I just wanted to be a nurse differently.
Walking Into the Unknown
Knowing you need to make a change and actually making it are two very different things.
I was scared to pull the trigger.
Walking into the unknown is never easy. And leaving a career path you've known for years to build something completely different felt like stepping off a cliff and trusting there would be something underneath you.
Interestingly, I see that same fear in some of the people who walk through our doors today.
Maybe they've never had an IV outside of a hospital. Maybe they're terrified of needles. Maybe they don't know what to expect. Maybe they're simply trying something new because they want to take better care of themselves.
The unknown can be scary.
I understand that feeling more than they probably realize.
When my husband and I decided to have another baby, and I became pregnant with our daughter Magnolia, an opportunity presented itself for me to finally make that change.
In 2023, with guidance from another nurse I had previously worked with, I entered the IV hydration and wellness world.
And I found something I loved.
Building Something of My Own
Over the next two years, I worked incredibly hard to build my reputation.
I built relationships with clients. I worked to earn their trust. I learned the business side of healthcare. And most importantly, I worked to build a foundation of care where safety and the client's best interest came before the bottom line.
But eventually, something started tugging at me again.
I was incredibly grateful for the experiences that helped me grow along the way. But eventually I realized I was ready to build something that reflected my own vision.
I wanted to create something rooted in the communities I call home—something that reflected the relationships, needs and people I had come to know through years of caring for patients in North Carolina.
And slowly, the idea for Honey Wellness Collective began to take shape.
Why “Honey”?
One of my favorite songs we sing at church is Honey in the Rock.
At its heart, it reminds me that God provides a way where there doesn't appear to be one—bread when there is famine, water where you don't expect it, honey in the rock.
That idea stayed with me.
Because that is what I want Honey Wellness Collective to represent.
I want us to help make a way for people who haven't found what they're looking for somewhere else.
I want people to walk through our doors and feel like we're pouring care, respect, encouragement and hope into them—not simply IV fluids and vitamins.
Those fluids, vitamins, minerals and amino acids certainly have their place. But Honey was built to be about something bigger.
From Defensive Healthcare to Offensive Wellness
For most of my nursing career, I practiced what I now think of as defensive medicine.
Someone was already sick. Something had already happened. There was an emergency, and my job was to respond.
My own wellness journey changed the way I thought about that.
I started asking myself: What if I became more intentional about what I put into my body and my life before I reached the point where something was wrong?
I wanted to be more proactive.
That meant looking at the food I ate, the vitamins and nutrients I was getting, how I treated my body, the relationships I invested in and the people I surrounded myself with.
I wanted to put good things in so I had good things to pour back out.
That philosophy has had a profound effect on my physical well-being, my mental well-being and the way I approach my own health.
And it became part of the philosophy behind Honey.
What I Want Honey to Feel Like
Yes, I can still stick just about anything.
That's certainly helpful when you own an IV therapy business.
But what I hope makes Honey special has very little to do with how good I am at starting an IV.
I want Honey to be a place where you can walk in and say:
“I'm scared.”
“I'm anxious.”
“I've never done this before.”
“I'm not sure what I need.”
And our answer can be:
That's okay. We can handle that.
I want you to know that we're going to listen to you. We're going to take your concerns seriously. We're going to practice with medical guidance and safety at the forefront. And if something isn't appropriate for you, I want you to trust us enough to know we'll tell you that—even when saying no means we don't make a sale.
Your health has to matter more than our bottom line.
That's the kind of business I wanted to build.
The Collective Part Matters, Too
There's one more piece of the name that means a lot to me: Collective.
Because I didn't build this alone.
Over the past two and a half years, the clients I've had the privilege of caring for have poured into me just as much as I have poured into them.
My staff has poured into me just as much as I have poured into them.
Our medical director believes in thoughtful, medically guided health and wellness. Our staff believes in it. I believe in it.
And together, we're building something I'm incredibly proud of.
Honey Wellness Collective is still growing. We're still learning. We're still dreaming about what it can become.
But the heart behind it is already exactly where I want it to be.
So if you've wondered what Honey is about, come see us.
Come ask questions. Come meet our team. Come see how we care for people.
Come along on this journey with us.
There might just be a little honey waiting for you in a place you didn't expect to find it. 🍯
— Sara Lacombe, BSN, RN
Founder, Honey Wellness Collective