How Rashidat Laiyemo built a primary care practice around the life she wanted.
With Kinstead, Rashidat built Heartland Family Care — virtual-only, statewide, thirty minutes a visit. 140 completed visits in her first 13 weeks, three full days a week booked — and she still works another job.
A family NP who wanted more time with patients, not less.
Rashidat Laiyemo is a board-certified family nurse practitioner who trained at Chamberlain University and built her career across high-acuity hospitals and busy outpatient clinics — MedStar Union Memorial, urgent care, primary care, pediatrics through geriatrics. Complex critical care one week, a routine physical the next.
She is also a mother. Her own practice was never an exit from clinical work — it was a way to keep doing it without missing everything at home.
I saw how often patients were treated with pressure instead of care — rushed through visits, left with unanswered questions, and expected to manage their health alone.
Rashidat LaiyemoFNP-BC · Founder, Heartland Family CareWhat kept getting in the way.
The limits showed up on both sides of the exam room — in what patients were given, and in what clinicians were allowed to give.
Pressure instead of care
Visits measured by the clock, not by what the patient actually needed.
Unanswered questions
Patients leaving an appointment with more questions than they arrived with.
Left to manage alone
Little follow-through between visits, and no one holding the whole picture.
No say in the schedule
Someone else deciding which hours you work, and how many patients fill them.
Time she couldn’t get back
A career that kept asking her to choose between her patients and her family.
She wanted to build something different — for her patients, and for her family.
Heartland Family Care — community-based care, straight from the heart.
A virtual-only primary care practice serving adults anywhere in Maryland. Comprehensive primary care, chronic condition management, and mental health support — in thirty-minute visits, with insurance accepted and self-pay available.
Columbia, MDFrom first patient to a full three-day week.
She opened in May, in network from the very first visit. Thirteen weeks later her panel had doubled twice — built almost entirely by patients who found her online.
- May 5, 2026First patient at HeartlandThe practice opens — virtual, and in network with five payers.
- Week 6About 30 visitsA steady trickle, almost all from patients finding her online.
- Week 970 completed visitsThe pace roughly doubles.
- Week 13140 completed visitsAnd doubles again in about four weeks.
- TodayThree full days a weekRoughly 40 visits weekly, with patients returning 1.5 times on average.
In network across Maryland.
Rashidat brought the clinical judgment. Kinstead took the rest off her plate.
Rashidat owns Heartland Family Care — always. Kinstead runs the operational layer underneath it, which is what makes a practice possible alongside another job and a family.
Credentialing & enrollment
Five payers taken from application to active, without her chasing them.
Billing & back office
Claims and revenue cycle handled, so visits turn into income.
Launch planning
A sequenced path from signed agreement to first patient.
Website & setup
Heartland’s practice presence, built and maintained for her.
Scheduling support
Online self-scheduling that fills three days without a front desk.
Marketing & growth
Helping patients find her online — where nearly all of them come from.
Technology
The systems a virtual practice runs on, kept working.
Weekly support
Someone to bring problems to, week after week.
Kinstead has taken almost everything off my plate.
Rashidat LaiyemoFNP-BC · Founder, Heartland Family CareWhat care feels like at Heartland.
The same themes run through her patient reviews — the exact experience she set out to build.
I finally felt heard. I had gotten used to short visits where I left with more questions than answers. Here, everything was different. Rashidat took the time to really understand what I was going through and explained every step of the plan. I feel like I actually have a partner in my health now.
Not rushed, not dismissed. Every appointment feels calm and focused. I never feel like I’m being pushed through a system. My care is thoughtful, and I always leave knowing exactly what the next steps are.
It’s rare to find someone who combines medical expertise with genuine care. I feel supported, not pressured. It’s made a real difference in how I manage my health long-term.
What this means if you’re thinking about it.
You don’t have to quit first.
Rashidat still holds another role. The practice grew alongside it, three days at a time.
Virtual-only is a real practice.
No lease, no build-out, no waiting room. One Maryland license and a panel that reached 140 visits in 13 weeks.
Autonomy and presence aren’t a trade-off.
She built a schedule around her kids without stepping back from patient care.
Patients will find you online.
Almost all of Rashidat’s panel came from people searching for care — not referrals, and not a roster she brought with her.
Long visits are what keep them.
Thirty minutes each, and patients come back 1.5 times on average.
“I love having my own practice. I’m proud of what I’m building — and proud that every patient gets thirty real minutes with me.”
Ready to build a practice that fits your life?
Kinstead helps nurse practitioners launch and grow insurance-based private practices.
Founder story shared with Rashidat Laiyemo, FNP-BC. Heartland Family Care is independently owned and operated by Rashidat Laiyemo. Kinstead provides operational support; it does not own or control the practice.