How Do I Dream Big In My Doula Business?

• Transcript

  Kaely Harrod 00:04

  Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaely Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born 12 nearly 13 years ago. I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, La Leche League Leader, and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business, it is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Welcome back to doula Tips and Tips. I want to answer the question today, how do you dream big in your business. And I want to just share a little bit about how I have been learning about this in the last six months and how you can apply this in your business as well. I think in general in life, it's really easy for us to limit ourselves based on what we have seen or what we can imagine. Or things people have told us or ways that we perceive ourselves in the world and kind of how we fit those two things together. And in business, that impacts the way we pursue our passion, right? It impacts the way that we think about our work, right. And I want to just I want to share a little story with you. So my family and I have been at various income levels. So when we were first having kids, we were in grad school, we were very low income really struggling in many ways financially. And as the years have gone on, our income has improved. But over the years, there's been loads of times when we've had financial struggles, or we've we've just like made less money than we really needed to live on. Right. And I remember, I don't remember how many years ago it was had to be like seven or eight years ago, I had a conversation with a friend. And she was really encouraging me to think about, like, what would financial freedom look like for us? And what? What income would that be? Right? And I remember telling her a number that I was like, I can't even imagine what this number looks like, you know, and that just felt like impossible, like that conversation with her. Didn't feel like inspiring and dreamy. It felt like burdensome because I was like, what how would we ever get to that place? Right? Like, what? What does that even look like you know? And then I became a doula, like full time I became a doula a year or so after that conversation, and have grown my business over those last couple of years. So my business really, really took off in terms of my like financial gains in the last two and a half years significantly. So I was at a steady place for many years. But in the last two and a half years, it has grown exponentially. And it's been really beautiful to have this expansion of what I even thought was possible. And I think some part of my own circumstances, some part of our like living experiences, things like that put us in a place where we sort of couldn't even imagine getting to where we want it to be or needed to be like it felt like a dreamy place that other people lived in, but we couldn't get to right. And then the last couple of years, I have felt the reality of that place. And it's so open. It's so expansive, it's so big. And when you get to this place, it's almost like, what else can you dream about? Because this dream has happened, right? And I think what I want to encourage you in with this episode is just thinking beyond kind of where your current vision can go, right? Imagine almost like let's say you can only see maybe like 10 feet down the road, right? Like imagine it's a foggy day and you can see only 10 feet, but you have kind of a bird's eye view from someone else, right? Maybe a satellite, something like that, that can see like a mile down the road. And that's that view would be really helpful for you, if you could get a glimpse of it, right. But also, in some ways, it can be distracting, because you need to kind of see the next step that's right in front of you, right, you can't sort of like walk these next 10 feet while you're looking from the satellite and gold, because you might like fall over a rock or something like that, right? You can't see everything in your path from that angle. But that angle allows you to see that the path doesn't end in 10 feet, right. And so I guess what I've been thinking about in my own business, but also for you, and your business is this thought of like, like being able to dream, letting yourself imagine this work so much bigger than it is now. And also, kind of looking at the next step you're at right now. So I guess I want to challenge you today to think about your big dreams and and think about your small dreams to think about the next step, right. But also take some time, along with me, like, lean into this with me, take some time to dream about what it could look like down the road. And I want to just give you some thoughts to kind of kick you off, right? Because I don't know what that dream is going to include for you. But some ways to think about it could be like, you know, oftentimes we sort of talk about doula work as like, birth and postpartum, right, prenatal and, and postpartum kind of stuff. Right? So are you a person that works with people in pregnancy? Are you a person that works with people in birth? Are you a person that works with people in loss or in termination? Are you a person that works with people in postpartum, and kind of the nuances there in those spaces, right. But then I want you to think about different services that are included in this kind of time of life, there are emotional services, there are like physical services like massage and belly binding and

  Kaely Harrod 07:07

  womb, heat warming and vaginal steaming, and herbalism kind of things. There are classes, and workshops and different kinds of educational things that you can do. There are guides and products and links and cards and, and resources that you can create that are actual physical things, there are ways to kind of show up in an educational space, both in person and virtually online. There are ways to show up in person supporting in the minute in the in the moment of all of everything that's happening in the birth and postpartum time. And so what this looks like, for each person in this work, can be slightly different from other people. And it can be this like, beautiful space of what you want it to look like. And I want you to think about, like, you know, think about some of the things that seem really normal to us, right? If you're living in the US, things like a grocery store that has anything from toilet paper and toilet cleaner and paper plates to like fresh produce, right? But imagine if you stumbled into a store that sold like baked goods and like handmade linens, right? And you're just like, wow, who even thought to put these two things together? That's what I want you to think about with your business, like, wow, how did you put these things together? And I don't, you know, I'm a practical person, like, I don't live in this space of like, dream it sufficiently and it will come, right? I am, like, Dream It. And then let's think about some strategy, right? Let's think about some steps, let's say, figure out how to get you there, right? But you can't really get to someplace that you don't even imagine exists. So that's where I want you to start. So this truly is an invitation today to join me in that dreaming because that's what I'm going to do. That's what I need to do. That's what all of us as doulas and business owners need, and I want to invite you on that journey. I would also love to hear what you're dreaming about. I would love to be a person spurring those dreams on and getting excited with you about what you're dreaming and imagining how that could look. If you're listening to this in real time, I am starting my newest cohort of the doula biz blueprint on June 20 2023. And so if you are interested in joining a group group of doulas who are passionate about growing and dreaming in their business, who are in the messy thick of figuring stuff out and willing to do that in a vulnerable and awesome way together. I would love to have you in that group. It's a weekly really like just safe raw space to come and figure stuff out and be coached some and strategize and dream and be encouraged and grow together. On top of having some education and some one on one coaching and some ongoing encouragement from the other doulas and all of those kinds of things. And it can be a huge catalyst to get you to where you want to be in your business. And to give you kind of a bump a head start a leg up, right, in terms of getting you to that next step. So information about joining that group is in the show notes. I would love to have you in it. And I'll also leave a link to email me so you can just send me a quick message and ask me a question about it. Because I would also love to get jump on a call and connect with you about what that group looks like and what would it be like to be in there and to welcome you into that community that really can help you grow and expand. Alright, until next time, I wish you well informed consent filled experiences. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tips podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Herat doula, so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful. We would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment it is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around

Big Dreams are super important in any business. As a doula, do you dream big? Do you give yourself time to dream as a doula AND as a business owner? Do you give yourself space to think WAY bigger than usual? Join me in doing just that! 

Business dreams go in this order: Dream, Goal, Plan. So in order to plan we have to first dream, yet so often we just jump right ahead to planning without ever taking the time to actually dream at all. 

Let me share a bit about my own experience:

“And then I became a doula, like full time I became a doula a year or so after that conversation, and have grown my business over those last couple of years. So my business really, really took off in terms of my financial gains in the last two and a half years significantly. So I was at a steady place for many years. But in the last two and a half years, it has grown exponentially. And it's been really beautiful to have this expansion of what I even thought was possible. And I think some part of my own circumstances, some part of our like living experiences, things like that put us in a place where we sort of couldn't even imagine getting to where we want it to be or needed to be like it felt like a dreamy place that other people lived in, but we couldn't get to right. And then the last couple of years, I have felt the reality of that place. And it's so open. It's so expansive, it's so big. And when you get to this place, it's almost like, what else can you dream about?”

Key Takeaways:

• Dreaming is vital to life, but especially as a business owner!

• Set aside time to dream, not plan, just dream

• This is a step before setting goals and making plans!

CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or  Instagram

https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach

https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula

Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services

It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class

Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay