What is a Meet The Doula Event?
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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, lovely cheerleader 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. Today's question that we're diving into, is what is a meet the doula event? And how do I get involved with one? So to begin with, this is sort of something this is a question that kind of indirectly came out of the strategy calls that I was able to have with a number of doulas back in March. And those a lot of people in those calls, were saying things like, I know that things like a meet the doula event, like are a thing like they exist, but they don't know how to break break into them or get invited or be like a part of it. Right. And so I think there's a couple of different things I want to just throw out there for you today. On top of it, just explaining what they are. And have you start thinking about what this could potentially look like for you. Okay, so first, a meet the doula event is one of two things either It's an event that is like just literally learning what a doula is, and what doulas do, and having usually doulas there to teach about those things. So typically, you're learning about that from a doula. But it's not like an interview of that individual doula, right. The other thing that it is so so that's kind of one type of meet, meet and greet kind of doula that. The other is when it's literally like a speed dating event where doulas kind of move around to different couples or different pregnant people. And they get like a, you know, a few minutes to connect and talk about doula care and how you function, et cetera, et cetera. Now, I've been a part of both both kinds of those a couple of different kinds, one that's like, you know, a panel, that where we answer a bunch of questions, and then we do the speed dating kind of thing. One, that's just the speed dating kind of thing. And another that is just the panel kind of stuff. And I've done multiple of each of those types, what I mean, I've done, you know, each of those three categories, and some of them multiple times. So there's a couple of different ways to get involved in these. One is, if you I would start by searching in your area, if there are any meet the doula nights or like doula meet and greets kind of thing where for pregnant families not like for doulas to connect with each other, right. And maybe there's already some that regularly happen that you could potentially branch into a bit. If you don't find any, or if you find some, but you're like, I don't I can't get into that, like that's already full of doulas and they don't need more people, right? Then you could think about having one yourself. Now, there's a couple different things you would need to have right, you would need to have a way to tell pregnant people about it. So that's one thing, you would need to have either a virtual location or an in person location depending on how you're having it. And you would need to have other doulas potentially there because you would probably not want to do a doula meet and greet. That's just you, because that's not really what the nature of the event is meant to be. But you don't have to be a super experienced doula to set this up. You can make some strategic connections and be able to have this kind of thing happen. Okay. So a couple of different ways that I would think about this is one Are there any local spots that aren't doulas but can kind of collaborate with you that would benefit from this as well. So, one of the meet and greets that I did was with a prenatal yoga studio. And the yoga instructor was actually the one that set it up because she had had a doula she was actually maybe he used to be a doula. But she wasn't currently a doula. And so she hosted it because she was like, I have all these pregnant yoga clients and they don't have doulas and I want them to know what a doula is. And also, if they invite their pregnant friends, I potentially Also we'll get some more people into my prenatal classes like it's good exposure on both sides. So that's one way is if you are able to connect with someone like a prenatal yoga class or like a another kind of prenatal support group, that's not a doula specifically, then they potentially also benefit from the exposure of hosting an event like that. So that's a way to think about getting the pregnant people there. Also think about advertising in like libraries or in prenatal offices or talking to local midwife groups and things like that. Sometimes, birth centers in places that are like very birth centric, they would be happy to host things like that if it also again increases exposure for them as well. But they also already have the pregnant people to potentially make up the crowd of folks. Right. The other thing, if you're in a bigger city is to think about advertising it on like an event website or something like that, like depending on how you're going to have people sign up for it. Because that's one way that people can find like birth and doula events, they can search through all the events on those sites. So that's another thing to consider in terms of finding the doulas there's a couple different things I would think about one is see if you have some kind of online, local doula community, there are a number of those across the country and in other countries as well. And so that's one thing to look at and see if there are other doulas who would be interested in doing this with you. And even just like starting with five or six or seven, doulas, like a smaller group of doulas and kind of going from there. There are also directories like I've talked about in previous episodes like doula match, and the National Association of Black doulas that have an actual accessible directory of doulas with your particular zip code or in your particular area. So that's another thing to think about. If you're having if you don't know doulas, then maybe connecting with them there and saying, Hey, I'm a doula. I'm looking to start a meet the doula night, I would really love to invite you to be part of it. Would you be interested in that? Let's talk more, right and just reach out and make connections with people. Also, just Googling, like, who is a doula near me, right? Who's a doula near DC, for instance, now in DC, I will say that will get you hundreds of options. And so I wouldn't start there, because that is going to be very overwhelming. But if you're in DC, and wanting to do this kind of thing, reach out to me, I would be happy to partner with people to do this sort of thing. And I know a lot of other doulas so I can connect you with some folks without you needing to Google and sort through hundreds of pages. But if you're in a smaller area, especially you are going to find some good results from Googling and then you can kind of go through their websites or their information and see like, Okay, you fit the philosophy that I'm looking for, like I would feel good about partnering with you maybe. And we're not financially partnering, we're just partnering to do this exposure kind of event, so that all of us get to know each other. But we also get to know the pregnant families, maybe get some clients but at the very least, we're getting to know each other. We're building some community and we're getting to bring some extra exposure to what doulas are and how we function and things like that. So that those are some things to think about. If you're wanting to host your own doula meet and greet. Now, I will say that you may come against some impostor syndrome in this process. If you're a newer doula, and that is okay. Let yourself feel that, let it be there. And also know that there is no magical amount of experience that makes you ready to host an event like this. If you're a doula, why can you not host a me to do live event you can, you absolutely can 100% So if you need just a little cheerleading, I'm happy to do that. I'm here for that for sure. And also, I want you to really kind of flex the muscle of building up some of your confidence, because that's important regardless just in all of life. Okay, so that's all for today. We will be back soon with another episode and until then, I hope that you have well informed consent filled business and doula experiences.
Kaely Harrod 09:46
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
Meet The Doula events are meant to be a way for pregnant parents to learn about doulas and meet a few as well! It’s also an opportunity for doulas to get comfortable with talking about what they do and how they serve families without having to have people set up a doula consultation individually with each doula.
I know that sometimes as a new doula, it can be hard to feel comfortable breaking into these events. It can even feel like you need to wait for an invite, but I want to suggest that you can just hold your own event! It will take some work and networking for you, but it’s not something that you have to wait for an invitation to do!
I suggest thinking about how/where to meet doulas who could participate, think about locations that would work for hosting and audiences that already exist with pregnant people who are the right target audience. This not only builds the muscle of talking about your services and hearing why families are looking for doulas which helps you to understand what your future clients are looking for!
Key Takeaways:
Consider joining or hosting a Meet The Doula event
Find people to make partnerships with to build your networks and audience!
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
