In order to turn vision to reality, what’s needed is action, and a sprinkle of inspiration.

It’s something to which Nicodemme Jean-Baptiste can attest, and what he often thinks about as he jets around Central Florida with his mobile lab business, ConveLabs.

He calls upon patients, like Charlotte Gauss in Sanford, who has been a routine blood draw client for the last five months.

The service is more than convenient — it is transformative.

“I don’t have to leave the safety of my house, or have my children carry me around,” she explained, saying she doesn’t want to burden her children. 

Throughout the blood draw and subsequent COVID-19 nasal swab test, Jean-Baptise is personable, sharing laughs with his client as he whisks around her living room, pulling out vials and tubes.

Amid the pandemic, Jean-Baptiste worked a lot, often visiting upwards of 15 clients per day.

However, his vision first took shape when the man saw the opportunity to take action.

One day, while working in a hospital in Sarasota as a housekeeper, Jean-Baptiste found himself and other employees called into a sudden meeting. 

“‘Hey listen, we have a program we’re launching where you can pick a school and we’ll pay for it,’” he recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll take phlebotomy.’”

And months later, as he watched one elderly patient wait for hours for a ride home from blood work at a lab, he had a novel idea — he’d take his services to their door.

But, as far as entrepreneurial inspiration was concerned, Jean-Baptiste drew it from his Haitian mother, who he recalled would drag him Saturday mornings to garage sales in order to re-sell items back to Haiti.

“She came as an immigrant, able to start a little business. That motivated me and inspired me to start something. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur,” he said. “Watching her and seeing the reason behind it, to help take care of our family and in Haiti, it showed me that while you’re here in America, there are so many opportunities.”

It didn’t matter that few looked like him.

According to career data aggregator Zippia, 83 percent of phlebotomists — technicians who draw blood — are women.

Also, about 60 percent are white, while only 12 percent are Black.

Now, 15 years later, Jean-Baptiste now runs one of the busiest mobile phlebotomy businesses in Central Florida, driving from Davenport to Deltona, daily. 

“With the vision I had, here I am today,” he said.

Back in the office, his website-designing wife Nashana by his side, he dreams of expanding to different cities and franchising his ConveLabs — a play on the word “convenient" — to other places starting next year, as he eyes Miami or Jacksonville.

He acknowledges he’s made a lot of mistakes along the way, but credits his drive and never-wavering vision for his success, coupled with the inspiration from his mother.

“She taught me principles of loving people, respecting people and making sure I’m doing God’s work to help others,” he said.