As a young nursing student in Cuba, Daniel L. Campos, M.S.N. ’13, D.N.P., A.P.R.N., never dreamed he’d be the first nurse to appear on the cover of People en Español magazine. That distinction is only one of his many accolades as a much-sought-after “beauty expert” who brings his unique brand of “nursepreneurship” to a highly-successful aesthetic dermatology practice.
Today, Campos is the beauty expert for People en Español, Univision’s “Despierta América (Wake Up America),” and Miami-based ¡Hola! TV. His podcast, “El Doctor de las Estrellas (Doctor to the Stars),” features celebrities sharing their self-care practices. He also publishes “Buen Vivir (Good Living) Magazine,” a monthly digital publication with over 90,000 subscribers across Latin America and Spain. Campos explains that he uses his visibility to educate the Spanish-speaking community about everything from high-tech clinical procedures to home-based care accessible to all.
At Ageless Forever Institute, the Coral Gables clinic he founded in 2016, Campos offers a broad array of non-invasive aesthetic and antiaging procedures. He has developed two lines of medical-grade skin care products and trademarked several nonsurgical procedures. He also authored two antiaging advice books focused on healthy self-care. The first, published in 2019 by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, is “Joven para siempre: Descubre la llave del antienvejecimiento” (Forever Young: Discover the Key to Anti-Aging).
His new book, “Naturalmente bella: Remedios secretos de la abuela” (Naturally Beautiful: Grandma’s Secret Remedies; HarperCollins Español, 2023), is an homage to the wisdom of Latina grandmothers, their natural beauty secrets and remedies. “I collected beauty treatments from every Latin American country to show how our grandmothers took care of their skin and hair,” he says. “I looked at the science behind their effectiveness and justified why they work.”
Campos acquired indispensable knowledge and skills as a graduate of the adult gerontology nurse practitioner program at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies. “Everything I’m using in my practice today I learned in my master’s program,” he says. “My classes were tough, but I was part of a student community and took advantage of a great program. That’s why I'm the professional I am today.”
After earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, he negotiated a business partnership with his mentor, plastic surgeon John J. Martin Jr., M.D. “As nurse practitioners, we have negotiating tools,” says Campos. “We have the degree, experience, passion. So why work for someone, instead of working with someone?”
Now, he is eager to use his hard-earned knowledge to help nurses launch their own health-related businesses. “There are many components to being a successful businessperson. Learn by reading, by applying what you see others do,” he says. “Be methodical, thorough, realistic. [Develop] a relationship with a bank or business partner. Be a professional and an entrepreneur—believe in what you offer, in your skills, in your ability to make a business work, and you’ll be successful.”
Campos sees near-limitless opportunities for nurses to dedicate their careers to innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Look for opportunities. Nurses are great at inventing. We can do so many things in a hospital with just tape and scissors! We come up with ideas, we find solutions. I turned a passion into a multimillion-dollar business. If you love something, educate yourself, apply yourself, be resilient. Find that passion, find your niche, go for it, and you’ll have the best career anybody could have.”
While nursing programs have made great strides preparing nurse educators, researchers, and leaders, Campos believes their next challenge is to prepare nurse entrepreneurs. “Every nursing curriculum should give nurses the tools to be entrepreneurs,” he says. “A business class would be phenomenal, and I volunteer to teach it!”
