How Two Nurses Turned Late-Night Advice into Big Business

Fevers? Vomiting? Fussiness? How to manage the first night home from the hospital? These are just a few of the hundreds of questions from parents that Atlanta-based pediatric nurses Jennifer Walker and Laura Hunter answered well into the night.

It was the mid-1990s, and theirs was the only practice in town that offered on-call nurse responses around the clock. Hunter and Walker alternated work-from-home shifts, chatting with many of the practice’s families.

The pair answered the same questions from panicked parents over and over. And they found themselves bridging the gap between medical advice and parenting advice when supporting families.

“Parents were calling us at 2:00 in the morning with all kinds of things they were worried about, and that’s where Moms on Call was born,” Walker said.

A few decades later, Walker and Hunter turned that experience, empathy, and expertise into a thriving business. Moms on Call is often referred to as the “instruction manual for babies,” and the two nurses have consulted with more than 10,000 families. Along the way, they’ve sold more than a million copies of multiple books, created a deep well of online resources, and trained others in their techniques.

So how did they do it?

A Folder, a Swaddle, and a Mission

Walker and Hunter literally wrote the book on helping people in the trenches of new parenthood. But it wasn’t quite a book at first. “It was a folder we printed off the computer with those questions coming in,” Hunter recalled. The nurses developed a way to approach each call with a specific outline of protocols they had designed.

“What if we just go to the [patient’s] house and help them figure that out?” Walker remembered one of the pediatricians she worked with suggesting in 2002. For example, Hunter’s swaddle technique that calmed even the fussiest babies worked much better if it was demonstrated in person.

The two embarked on home visits with new parents. But their advice would be practical, not medical. Because they were not classified as traveling nurses, they drew a “definitive line” that they wouldn’t be discussing “major medical issues.”

“Going into the homes here in Atlanta, taking that folder, clipping nails, doing baths, discussing feeding — whether you were doing bottles or breastfeeding — we were going to help parents where they were,” Hunter said.

The physicians they worked with began recommending their services. Walker jokes that they didn’t know what they were doing at first; they considered giving their first client their money back. But parents needed what they were delivering, which was advice, validation, and confidence in their parenting.

Just 6-8 weeks into their initiative, other practices started to inquire about whether the nurses could do the same thing for them.

It was a solution to the problem of the 15-minute office visit. “We were helping with those questions so that when [babies] came in for their well visits, those questions were already answered. Not only did we go into their homes, but we supported them in the months after we left,” Hunter said.

The Ripple Effect

The outcomes were astonishing. “Babies were sleeping through the night. Parents were more confident. We didn’t expect the results, and we were shocked at how consistent it was,” Walker said. “Laura and I used to call each other in disbelief after we would put these basic principles in place and partner with parents.”

Local pediatricians were grateful for the help. But for the nurses, it was about walking alongside families. The two have countless stories of desperate parents, marriages “on the brink of disaster,” moments when they realized their work was having a ripple effect.

One military family stands out in Walker’s memory. “The father was fighting for our country overseas,” she recalled, “and his wife was struggling alone at home.”

But support from Moms on Call had a powerful impact. “When [the father] came home, he presented Laura with a flag and a beautiful personal note expressing his gratitude,” Walker recalled. “Once his wife had a partner to help and felt confident and well-rested, his heart could rest as well. We did what he couldn’t, and it made all the difference. After all, that’s what he was fighting for in the first place.”

The Gambler Calls

After just 1 or 2 years as Moms on Call, Walker and Hunter got an unexpected call from none other than celebrity singer Kenny Rogers, who needed help with his twins.

“I was flipping through the folder, and he said, ‘It’s not copyrighted. It’ll be copyrighted tomorrow morning,'” Hunter recalled.

Rogers’ attorneys called the next day to provide all the information. “He said, ‘Y’all have got something here. Send this folder to a self-publishing company. Throw up a website. It’ll cost you a few thousand bucks,'” said Hunter. The business was officially born in 2004.

More of Rogers’ advice: “You can’t hit a bull’s-eye if you don’t throw a few darts. This is worth throwing a few darts at.”

‘They Don’t Teach You That in Nursing School’

The two nurses reimagined their all-knowing folder as a book with a DVD in the back. Because how do you teach parents how to suction noses without showing it? They also wanted to use an outline format — simpler for exhausted parents who just needed to get the information quickly. A few publishers pushed back on these ideas. But the nurses persisted and self-published the first edition.

The original website was basic. Walker’s Aunt Janet put it together. But grateful clients were Walker and Hunter’s best marketing tool, spreading the word to friends and family. The message: Parents know their own children best and can be empowered to help their own kids, rather than leaning on professionals alone.

A community of families also helped them navigate starting a business. A client who was a mergers and acquisitions lawyer helped them form their LLC. “They don’t teach you that in nursing school,” Walker said. 

Walker added that they made mistakes. “Not everyone that we encountered viewed or felt the same way about growing a business that is primarily focused on helping families. Sometimes that meant offering services at no charge. Or saying no to certain partnerships that didn’t align with our business model.”

Walker and Hunter had an eye on equity in creating multiple ways to access their advice at various price points. They started by charging around $75 for an in-home visit. (Now, if one of the CEOs comes out, it’s around $1000.) But the books, app, and online resources support those who can’t access that, as do an additional 10 in-home consultants around the country.

Along the way, moments told them they were going in the right direction and helped them define their purpose. “It is having a client ‘buy’ us as their go-to [baby] shower gift. It is being able to provide and support a clinic in Kenya or military families around the world. It is helping families realize that they can sleep — that they aren’t alone,” Walker said. 

On Call 24/7 in the Car, in the Checkout Line…

The early days of Moms on Call were also a juggling act. As Walker and Hunter balanced work and home with 10 of their own kids between the two of them, they took calls wherever they were. A friend and caller once joked that she could tell Hunter was checking out at the grocery store while she advised her on her very sick son’s vomiting.

“We were still trying to take care of the kids, run the house, and neither one of us had nannies or night nurses or housekeepers,” Hunter said. “But being on call allowed us to still be at home.”

Walker remembers taking calls on the way to ball games with her own kids, who by 8 years old could recite the advice for a baby’s fever from the back of the car. “It was like a family affair, and our kids got to see how that works and see their moms in action,” she said.

Through it all, Walker and Hunter’s motivation came from knowing that thousands of parents were begging for help — and they had an answer.

“Our shoulders have absorbed so many tears of parents who were exhausted and hurting, some who had been lied to or told their child would never sleep or had to be raised a certain way. When someone steals that confidence, especially from a brand-new parent overwhelmed by information, it makes us want to shout the truth from every rooftop and digital channel available,” Walker added.

Do You Have a Business Idea?

“Boots on the ground” healthcare professionals often see new opportunities to serve patients who might be falling through the cracks of the healthcare system. While not all will become a full-blown business, Hunter encourages them to break down their idea into “bite-sized pieces.” Just have the next conversation.

“Ask the people around you and the people who are brought to you,” Hunter said. When the two nurses look back, they see how those pieces of the puzzle were meant to come together. “Ask everyone you know,” Hunter advised. “And talk to the people you are taking care of. It’s possible they have a gift that will help you get to the next bite-sized piece.”

In short — develop a network of people who believe in your idea. Prioritize those relationships and see where they can take you.

The close relationship between Walker and Hunter, as business partners and friends, has also been crucial. They joke that they finish each other’s sentences and sandwiches. “You have to fight for that — we prioritize [that relationship]” too, Walker said.

Finally, remember why you are doing what you do, Walker said. “These are the people we help: Wonderful people with jobs that serve us all — the airplane pilot, the anesthesiologist, the pediatrician, the single dad. They are all parents who have felt alone and exhausted. In those lonely moments of a parent’s heart where they fear they are doing the wrong thing, we want to be the voice of hope,” she added. “We let them know that if they ever wondered if they were doing it right, well, only good parents wonder that.”