I had the pleasure of working with Bailie in person. She came to Santa Barbara for an IRL Immersion, and we were able to help her craft messaging that truly reflects her practice’s cutting edge approach to treating mental health. Bailie is the owner of Peak Interactive Wellness in Denver, CO — a private psychiatry practice that’s breaking stigma, pushing back against the status quo, and offering innovative, cutting edge treatments for mental health conditions. I got to watch Bailie gracefully balance motherhood and running a fast-growing private practice, first hand, and I’m so excited for you to know her.
Who you are and what do you do?
I am a psychiatric nurse practitioner and group private practice owner. I provide psychiatric evaluations and medication management when I am seeing patients. When I am not seeing patients, I am spending my time running my practice and leading my team. There is a lot that goes into private practice and it’s a never-ending learning process. I thoroughly enjoy patient care so I am trying to find the right balance between being a CEO and also being there for my patients.
How do you define leadership?
The greatest compliment that I could hear is how I am a good leader. I learned how to be a leader by watching other leaders and what they don’t do. I also had an amazing mentor that showed me how to show up for myself and others. Leadership is being empathetic, non-judgmental, and providing someone with the tools and direction to figure something out for themselves.
What’s one (yes, just one) thing you’re really good at?
I am really good at reading a room. I can pick up on other peoples’ emotions and energies. This has provided me the ability to be a high EQ leader and also really empathize with my patients.
Tell us about a time when you realized this is what you were meant to do.
As a new mom, I wanted to focus on “momming” and take a step back in my business. I realized that I didn’t feel like myself by taking a step back and that I feel the most like myself when I am busy in my business. I think I knew from a young age that I was meant to be a business owner and team leader.
What’s one personal value you hold true in your business?
Integrity. This is something that I struggled with in my early 20s and it has come to be the personal value that I absolutely hold myself to. I am honest with myself in my thoughts and feelings, with others, in my relationships, and my business. Nursing always ranks as being the number one most trusted profession and I vow to uphold that.
What do you do when you’re not working?
When I am not working, I am with my family doing something adventurous or traveling. We love to get outside and hike, camp, and explore new things. I have two Goldendoodles. For downtime, I like to indulge in reality TV dating shows while taking a bath. It’s bliss.
What’s in your 10-year vision?
To build a brand and practice that is well known and in multiple states. I also want to destigmatize psychiatric treatment and mental health care. I can see myself getting involved in politics and advocacy down the road.
Who is one person who has shown you what’s possible in your life or business? What was the “see to believe” lesson they taught you? (This can be someone you know, someone you don’t know, or even a fictional character!)
Someone who has been such a mentor for me is one of my past clinical instructors and professors in grad school. When I graduated, I had a horrible first psychiatric nurse practitioner job and she rescued me from that. I worked for her private practice for five years and we continue to be in contact. She showed me what was possible as a woman in the psychiatry field and how to be a badass leader. Her calmness and overall steady demeanor are traits that I aspire to cultivate in this field.
What’s one moment in your life that, looking back on, made you realize you would own your own business?
I’ve always had multiple jobs at once since the age of 14. In each job, I worked in a position of leadership or would work my way up. I started in the nursing profession as a CNA in a nursing home and worked my way up to a medication aid, then I became an RN, and then a nurse practitioner. I’ve worked in every level of nursing. When I was in high school, I attended a business camp (nerdy, I know) and really liked it. I knew I was going to go into the medical profession and when I told the people at the camp that, they laughed and pretty much said there wasn’t a space for medicine in business. I feel like that experience, and some other comments that people have made to me telling me what I can’t or shouldn’t do, have pushed me to prove them wrong. Now I am at a point in my life where I don’t feel the need to prove others wrong, I just keep pushing the envelope and seeing what I can do with my business. It’s so exhilarating! Sometimes I feel like I am constantly fighting barriers with a woman-owned business, a woman in a male-dominated field, a nurse practitioner in a physician-dominated field, and as a working mom. Seeing my patients get better and my team gain confidence makes it all worth it.
What are three things you always have on you (beside phone, wallet, keys)?
I am a minimalist so I don’t keep much on me. I always have a water bottle, a hair tie, and Spotify playing.
This Leaders We Love segment features Bailie Cronin of Peak Interactive Wellness.
Bailie Cronin is a private psychiatry practice owner located in Denver, CO. Originally from South Dakota, Bailie has been in Colorado for nearly a decade and in that time, has been making a mark on the psychiatry community. She is a doctorally prepared board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) with prescriptive authority providing treatment across the lifespan for psychiatric ailments and disorders. Bailie is the CEO and medical director of her practice, Peak Interactive Wellness, which has grown to a team of 9. She studies Functional Medicine, is a believer in the psychedelic renaissance, is adjunct clinical faculty at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, strives to be a high EQ leader, and is pushing barriers in her field. Bailie is a new mom, on top of everything else.
You can follow Bailie on Instagram @peakinteractivewellness.