Shawn Blankenship is a Family Nurse Practitioner based in Charleston, West Virginia, and the founder and Medical Director of Holistic Medical Services and Counseling. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Shawn pursued a career in healthcare, earning degrees from St. Mary’s Nursing School, Marshall University, and Chamberlain School of Nursing. His approach to medicine integrates both physical and mental health services, creating a holistic model that meets patients where they are. Beyond healthcare, Shawn is an advocate for battered women’s shelters, a real estate investor, a husband to his wife Julie, and a father to their daughter, Clara. His work is grounded in discipline, compassion, and a firm belief in quiet leadership.
What first drew you to healthcare after your military service?
When I left the Navy, I knew I wanted to continue serving people in a meaningful way. In the military, you see very clearly how fragile life can be, and how important it is to have someone you trust standing beside you during critical moments. I realized healthcare offered that same sense of purpose. You step into people’s lives, often at their most vulnerable, and you have the chance to make things just a little better for them. That’s what drew me in—and what still drives me today.
Why did you choose a holistic model for your practice instead of traditional primary care?
Over the years, I saw a major gap in healthcare. Patients would come in with physical symptoms, but behind those symptoms were deeper issues—stress, trauma, loss, emotional pain. Traditional care often addresses only what’s visible. I wanted to build a practice where we didn’t separate the mind from the body. Where counseling, medical treatment, and lifestyle support could exist in the same conversation. Holistic care is just honest care. It’s how people really live their lives, and it’s how they deserve to be treated.
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How do you define leadership in your career and your clinic?
Leadership, to me, is about consistency and trust. It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about showing up every day, setting the tone, and doing the work alongside your team. Good leadership looks like a lot of small actions that build credibility over time. In my clinic, it means listening first. It means owning mistakes when they happen. It means setting high standards without losing compassion. I believe the best leaders make the people around them better without needing constant credit for it.
What’s been your biggest challenge running your own practice?
Honestly, the biggest challenge has been managing growth while staying true to the original mission. When you start seeing more patients, adding staff, dealing with more regulations—it’s easy to get pulled away from the core values that made you start in the first place. I’ve had to be very intentional about preserving our culture. Every new hire, every new process, I ask myself: Does this help us serve people better? If the answer is no, we don’t do it.
What does success mean to you now compared to earlier in your career?
Early on, success looked like achieving milestones—graduating, getting licensed, opening my own practice. It was very goal-driven. Now, success feels quieter. It’s seeing a patient get better because we treated them as a full person, not just a set of symptoms. It’s seeing my team grow into leaders themselves. It’s having my daughter watch me do work that matters and know that work doesn’t have to be flashy to be important.
What advice would you give someone thinking about switching careers later in life, like you did?
Start where you are. Use what you have. When I went back to nursing school, I wasn’t the youngest guy in the room. I had a lot of doubts. But I also had life experience that made me take the work seriously. You don’t need perfect timing or perfect circumstances—you just need to start. And be patient with yourself. Growth compounds, but only if you stay in the game long enough.
How has your military background influenced your approach to healthcare?
The Navy taught me about accountability—how small details matter, how preparation saves lives. In healthcare, it’s the same. A missed medication, a rushed conversation, a misread symptom—those things have real consequences. Military service also taught me that leadership is service. You don’t ask people to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. In my clinic, that means I’m willing to scrub floors if needed. Nobody is too important to take care of the basics.
What role does your family play in your work life?
My wife Julie and my daughter Clara keep me grounded. They remind me that my worth isn’t tied to my title or my achievements. It’s tied to how I show up for the people closest to me. Work can be all-consuming if you let it. Having a family reminds you to set boundaries, to protect your energy, and to celebrate small moments. Traveling with them, golfing with friends, running on early mornings—those things fill my cup so I can give more at work.
What do you wish more people understood about healthcare today?
I wish people understood that real healthcare isn’t a transaction. It’s a relationship. It takes time to build trust. It takes patience to find the right solutions. Healthcare has gotten so rushed, so mechanical, that people sometimes expect fast answers without a full picture. Healing isn’t always linear. And often, the real work is invisible at first—building habits, addressing emotional wounds, finding the right environment for recovery.
You talk a lot about ‘quiet leadership.’ Why is that important to you?
Because most real change doesn’t happen in big, flashy moments. It happens through consistency, through a thousand small decisions done right. Quiet leadership means you’re not leading for applause. You’re leading because it’s the right thing to do. Especially in healthcare, where so much of what we do is unseen by the outside world, quiet leadership keeps us anchored to the mission even when nobody’s looking.
How do you stay resilient through tough times professionally?
I return to my values. When a situation feels overwhelming, I ask: Am I acting in service of the people I care about? Am I being honest? Am I staying humble? Those questions reset me. I also lean heavily on my support system—Julie, close friends, even old Navy buddies who understand the pressure of responsibility. Running helps too. Physical movement clears mental clutter.
What’s one principle you would never compromise on?
Integrity. If you lose that, you lose everything. I don’t cut corners, and I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Patients, employees, partners—they all deserve the truth, even when it’s not the easy answer. Sometimes that costs you something in the short term, but it builds something unshakable in the long run.
Looking ahead, what’s next for you personally and professionally?
Personally, I want to keep investing in my family and my own health. Professionally, I’m looking at expanding access to holistic care in rural areas. Places where people are too often underserved. I also want to spend more time mentoring young clinicians—not just about medicine, but about leadership and integrity. Healthcare needs a new generation of leaders who are people-first, not profit-first.
What would you tell someone who’s feeling stuck or uncertain about their next step?
You’re not supposed to have it all figured out. Progress is messy. If you’re stuck, focus on one thing you can do today to move forward. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just pick something that aligns with who you want to become, and commit to it. Action brings clarity. Waiting for perfect certainty never will.
Closing Thoughts
Speaking with Shawn Blankenship reminds you that success isn’t always loud. True impact often looks like quiet rooms where real conversations happen, clinics where people are seen and heard, homes where small acts of love build strong foundations. His story is proof that resilience, service, and steady leadership can ripple far beyond what you immediately see.
Blankenship’s message is simple but powerful: Start where you are. Stay consistent. Lead quietly. And never forget that healing—whether personal or professional—starts with showing up for others, and for yourself.