Meet Kimbi Marenakos

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimbi Marenakos.

Recognized and honored for her work in healthcare, higher education, the nonprofit sector, and most importantly, beloved by her patients in primary, urgent, and behavioral health settings, Dr. Kimbi Marenakos is a compassionate caregiver, in-demand practice consultant, engaging public speaker, and inspiring human being who has spent her life exploring her edges and embracing the unknown. She is committed to helping others do the same.

Driven by intellectual curiosity and a passion for life itself, Dr. Kimbi, a citizen of the US and New Zealand, has journeyed throughout the world – usually on a whim and frequently solo. Although she started college as a Theater major on a Vocal Performance scholarship, she finished with degrees in Philosophy, Counseling Psychology, and Nursing. She spent over a decade providing behavioral health services in collaboration with family medicine providers. The experience reinforced her belief that mental health should not be viewed as a distinct medical specialty, but as a dimension of primary care. This inspired her to return to academia to complete her doctoral Family Nurse Practitioner credentials.

While enrolled in the DNP program at MUSC, Kimbi was recruited to teach Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and Interprofessional Education. She focused her practice improvement project on identifying mental health service needs in homeless adults through PHQ-9 depression screening on the intake to a local shelter. She then developed the Mental Health Scholars Clinical Rotation for nursing students to provide integrative care to this vulnerable population. Dr. Kimbi’s research on shift work disorder and nurse wellness was the basis for the Apple Nurse Wellness Pilot Study that was implemented under MUSC’s Imagine 2020 campus-wide strategic plan. After finishing her doctorate, Dr. Kimbi shifted out of academia and into full-time clinical practice. She has been providing integrative care to patients throughout the Charleston area and supporting other healthcare professionals in their efforts to make behavioral health services available within their primary care practices.

After experiencing her own devastating burnout on the front lines of healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Kimbi was inspired to create an online course to support healthcare professionals overburdened by a broken system. In response to countless requests, the Burnout Breakthrough course and smartphone app are now also available to highly-achieving female entrepreneurs from all industries who have invested time, money, heart, and soul to get to where they are in their careers only to find themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. The six-module course demystifies the syndrome of burnout and provides step-by-step guidance on how to realign with your life’s purpose, restore your passion, and reclaim your power and professional pride.

As a keynote speaker, Dr. Kimbi consistently delivers moving and inspirational talks that empower attendees to challenge their self-imposed limitations and take ownership of their life experiences. She believes that human potential is an honor, and we are each responsible for actualizing it. Her message helps audiences understand that qualitative systemic change will always be an inside job. Individuals are far more powerful than they know. It is her mission to lead by example.

Dr. Kimbi has an aversion to mediocrity, viewing the word “fine” as simply a heads-up that change is imminent. Whether she is skippering a 40’ sailboat through near-hurricane force winds in the Atlantic, running the Kiawah Marathon without any training, traveling through Russia as an Ambassador for South Carolina, skydiving in North Carolina, road tripping through the Dolomites, performing on stages in London, New York, Boulder, or Los Angeles, precepting med students in the clinic of her local homeless shelter, or jamming with her son to the sweet sounds of Paul McCartney from the front row of his latest show, her life bears testimony to her adventurous spirit and unshakeable faith. She practices mindfulness and takes no human interaction for granted.

Dr. Kimbi currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her teenage son, their German Shepherd Penny Lane, Percy Jackson the tuxedo cat, and an immortal frog named Jake. Her current mantra is “Live Up!” as she sees far too many people going through life on autopilot, looking down, missing out on the wonders of existence right in front of them.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? Ha! While I do not believe that everything has to be a struggle, growth and evolution can only happen when we leave our comfort zone… I have grown a lot in my life! The unexpected loss of loved ones is a carving-out process that leaves you searching for answers.

Many will fill that space with anger, cynicism, and pain, but I have repeatedly chosen to let those losses change and inspire me. My motto: Live differently, or they died in vain. There have also been personal health crises that have shaped who I am as a woman and also as a healthcare provider and coach.

It is the richness of personal experience that lends authenticity to our work, so I do not believe in separating who I am from what I do.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
In addition to my clinical practice at Holy City Med in Charleston, “Dr. Kimbi, DNP” is my personal business and brand. Services include private and group coaching, facilitation of leadership retreats, public speaking, and course development.

Burnout Breakthrough is the 6-Module online course and a companion app that I developed to support high-achieving professionals and entrepreneurs to realign their purpose, restore their passion, and reclaim their sense of personal power and professional pride.

What sets me apart from other coaches and consultants is my medical training and experience combined with my behavioral health expertise. My approach honors the interdependence of body, mind, and spirit to support the actualization of one’s full potential.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Personal connection is our most valuable asset and our most powerful resource! The isolation that so many experienced through the pandemic has forever changed the way we live and work – hopefully for the better. Personally, I am no longer willing to practice in any way that is not aligned with my values and my life’s purpose.

Burnout is a devastating wake-up call. If we are willing to answer the call and really look at how we are engaged in our day-to-day lives, how we are treating each other, and how we are showing up for each other and ourselves, it can prove to be the greatest gift – and the impetus for a beautiful transformation in our lives.

Pricing:

• Private Executive Coaching – $300/virtual session
• Burnout Breakthrough 6-Module Online Course and App – $1499
• Speaking – Connect for Event-Specific Pricing

Contact Info:

• Website:  https://wellness-loft.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kmarenakos

Image Credits
www.stephanieselbyphotography.com