To Be Or Not To Be...On a Doula Team
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00:04
Welcome to doula Tips and Tips. 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 Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born, 12, nearly 13 years ago.
00:23
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.
00:36
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Welcome back to doula Tips and Tips. Tonight's episode is called To Be or Not to Be. And if you've been around for any length of time, you know that I'm not the best at naming things.
00:53
So what this episode is actually about is whether or not you should be on a team in an agency or an independent doula. And I have talked a little bit about this in the past, but I want to just add some context for why and how people make this decision and then how it can evolve over time.
01:10
So first just to break down what they are. So independent clearly kind of speaks for itself. You work on your own, you have your own business, you maybe work kind of side by side with someone, but you don't have a partner or like officially someone that you work with all the time, you just have your own standalone business.
01:31
If you're on a team that can look like a couple different things. There are teams that are partnerships that are two doulas, they work together, they're on call simultaneously or they're on call in a various schedule.
01:42
And those teams usually serve their clients together, meaning that their clients are building a relationship with both of them, because there is no guarantee which one of them will be present at the birth.
01:55
Another kind of team is a team of three or a team of four, where there are again kind of all kinds of different things that are happening. all serving the same client, but they're working at a higher capacity than they could otherwise work if they were a solo doula.
02:07
Okay. Now, teams like mine function a little bit more like a group that has individual clients, but all the clients are kind of connected through the business. So I have clients come in, they talk to me, they email with me, and then I'm saying, Hey, I think you should talk to Kirsten.
02:24
I think you should talk to Courtney. I think you should talk to Nikiya. And these are folks that I'm going to start introducing that are part of my team now. And so that team aspect also means that we back each other up, we're accountable for one another, we're also like, supporting one another, and the clients are still getting the wraparound care that is like my childbirth class and things like that.
02:48
So they get the benefit of having the whole team on their side, and not just individual people. Now, an agency tends to be something where it's almost like a business owner who usually is a doula themselves, then kind of runs the background business stuff and then allocates out clients to the various doulas.
03:10
Now, some agencies, the doula who runs it, still does doula work and kind of serves clients as well. Some agencies, they're no longer serving clients. So it really just depends on the agency model. I would say there's a couple different benefits to these different things.
03:28
So independent doula, clearly, one of the benefits is that you make all the rules for yourself, right? You literally get to do doula work however you'd like, and you get to serve your clients and whatever capacity feels good to you, you get to set whatever prices you want.
03:44
And that can be really wonderful. As a person who was an independent doula for many years, I love that. And also, it's hard, it's exhausting, right? The downside to it is that you have a very real cap on how much work you can do, how many clients you can have, how much growth can happen.
04:05
And there is a significant possibility of burnout if you have, if you don't have clear boundaries around when and how you let people hire you. It is really challenging, I think, to have both the power and the option to make all the decisions and the responsibility to make all the decisions.
04:26
One thing that I really dislike about being a solo doula when I was one is that I was literally under decision fatigue almost all the time, because I am constantly making decisions for my family, for my children, for myself, for my business, for my clients.
04:42
And so it just felt like all the time I had something to make a decision about. And so part of the team collaboration that I like is sharing decision making. Now, one of the benefits of being on a team is some of that collaboration.
04:58
Depends a little bit on how the team looks. So many people who do like a partnership or a group of three or four are all similar experience levels so that their peers in this space, right? Now, I don't think that we have to be exactly the same experience level to be peers.
05:15
However, there is a significant difference in someone who has attended 200 births and someone who's attended 10, right? And so if someone's hiring at a higher price point for a more experienced doula and then a 10 birth client is going or 10 birth doula is going to that client that might not be a scenario that they love, right?
05:37
And that is tricky. And so in a partnership almost always the two doulas or the three doulas are similar in experience level. They're then collaborating on all kinds of things. I think one downside is that you'd have to find someone that you trust enough to have that kind of intimate business relationship with another potential downside is that your clients need to gel with both of you.
06:00
And so personality -wise you need to be similar in terms of communication style and ethics. And so that's another thing that can be a little bit tricky. Now I do think there's some significant benefits.
06:12
You have like actual real -life partnership. You have a built -in call schedule in most cases. So there's some predictability around your on -call life. Not entirely because you're still only two people or three people and babies come whenever the heck they feel like it.
06:28
And so there's still a little bit of unpredictability there. But a lot less than when you're a solo doula and your your group can also handle a higher volume of clients because there's more of you to go around.
06:44
Okay. Now in terms of agency I think one of the benefits if you're working with an agency that is well -established in the area or a larger team like my team that's well established in the area is that you get the benefit of the client volume that comes in.
07:00
So inquiries come in at a higher speed when you're a well -established business. And so a newer doula or a less established doula in the area is going to benefit from the fact that the the inquiry speed is higher at a more well known business.
07:18
I think that a solo doula who wants to eventually work on their own and have their own business but needs to start making money faster would benefit from an agency or a team. But with a lot of intentionality because you don't want to be in a scenario where that agency or team is burning you out before you even get to the point of being able to be a solo doula.
07:43
Okay. So that is my main kind of asterisk of caution because I think what we sometimes do is realize along the way the sort of boundaries that we need and if you're working for an agency and you not have autonomy over how your packages look, then you can be stuck in a scenario of serving clients in a way that's actually not sustainable for you.
08:05
And that can be a really, really tricky situation. Okay. So I wanted this episode to just kind of get you started thinking in coming in the coming weeks, I am going to be interviewing a couple different doulas who operate in different ways who have different businesses.
08:23
I want you to get a sense of some different ways that doulas function here in the wild, because I think that it would be a huge benefit to you to get to imagine what this work can look like for you long term.
08:37
And the reality is that if you're just in the baby steps of growing this business, there's infinite possibilities for you, right? Like truly, I get so excited thinking about that, like where you could go from here.
08:50
And also, it's hard to imagine being at a security level. figure business or a business that sustains your life in a way that feels lovely and soft and wonderful, but also I think that we have to kind of exercise that muscle of imagining and thinking and dreaming about what that could look like.
09:11
So stay tuned for those episodes. I know that they're going to be jam packed of awesome stuff because there are guests coming on which I always love and I can't wait to introduce you to those folks. Until then I will see you in the next episode.
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Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tits 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 heradoula so we can celebrate alongside you.
09:43
If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a 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.
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It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon.
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Have you ever had a thought of if you should be on a doula team? This week’s episode we are talking about the difference between working on a doula team, an agency, and solo. It is truly finding what works for you, your lifestyle, and your doula goals.
Quote from the show:
“And there is a significant possibility of burnout if you have, if you don't have clear boundaries around when and how you let people hire you. It is really challenging, I think, to have both the power and the option to make all the decisions and the responsibility to make all the decisions.-- And so it just felt like all the time I had something to make a decision about. And so part of the team collaboration that I like is sharing decision making. Now, one of the benefits of being on a team is some of that collaboration. ”
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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
