Meet Katherine Epps | Family Nurse Practitioner and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katherine Epps and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katherine, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The groundwork began for opening Grace Vitale Wellness when I initially thought I’d be taking over another practice I was working for. While that opportunity didn’t work out in the end, it did make me realize that I was missing out on the ability to pave my own path in the way that we provide care. I wanted to be able to love coming to work every day and to be fulfilled by having no barriers to giving the best.

Grace Vitale Wellness was born out of a desire to change the way that we are delivering healthcare and give nothing but the best to our patients and community. Grace isn’t just my middle name, but is what we strive to give our patients and ourselves: meaning generosity or helpfulness, kindness, mercy, and the disposition to serve or benefit another. Vitale is our goal: Lively, full of life, necessary for existence, essential, force of personality. Wellness speaks for itself. We want everyone that passes through these doors to achieve wellness in all aspects of their life.

Beyond this, I strive to develop long-standing, positive relationships with my patients and their families so that we can be the best team for their health. I have a passion for teaching and ensuring that every patient understands their health status and the best steps to move forward or simply to maintain.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve known I wanted to be in healthcare and the nursing field since I was in early high school. I battled some of my own health problems then and it was always the nursing staff (and some awesome nurse practitioners) that ultimately spent the time to educate me and help me understand all that was happening.

I took every healthcare related class that I could in high school and was fortunate to get lots of shadowing opportunities. From there, I was admitted into Texas Woman’s University and completed my Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. I spent 5 1/2 years working as a registered nurse in the intensive care and interventional radiology settings. I loved my time there, but desired to try and keep patients out of the hospital as much of what we see can be preventable with the right monitoring, education, and collaboration between the patient and their healthcare provider. I went on to obtain my Master’s of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner and couldn’t love this “job” more.

I love the connections I make with each and every patient I meet and am fortunate to be able to spend time educating and being very thorough.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My all time favorite restaurant is True Food Kitchen and I’m frequently there. One of the bartenders there even came to my wedding. It’s somewhere that I’ve been able to get clean, good food that doesn’t hurt my stomach, but still has the most amazing flavors!

Outside of eating, I’d take them to a Pure Barre class with me for some dedicated time for ourselves.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband and both of our families have been nothing but supportive of this endeavor. They’ve seen for years that I’m passionate about what I do and have given me an overwhelming amount of extra love and grace to accomplish this.

Additionally, I wouldn’t be here without amazing mentors in my life. There have been many of them over the years, but particularly Megan Cusack of Healthcare at the Grove is an invaluable mentor and dear friend.

Website: www.gracevitalewellness.com

Instagram: GraceVitaleWellness

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grace-vitale-wellness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GraceVitaleWellness