Today’s topic is on a long list of biases and misconceptions people have about doula work. If we think about other professions we do not require that people have a specific experience in what they do before they do it, or ever for that matter. You can be an amazing doula whether or not you even have a womb! Or ever plan to have children. Or if you would love children but can’t have them. None of these things keep you from being an amazing doula!

Doula Training and Certification is typically the first step into doula work. Doula coaching is a bit different because it’s the guidance you need as you’re putting your work into action after training is over. Doula trainings can leave you feeling excited and also overwhelmed as you set off to actually do this work.

Social Media for Doulas can be intimidating! It is especially hard to think about competing with folks who have a whole social media team! As a new doula something is better than nothing and the more you regularly post the more you will flex the muscle of doing it. It will become loads easier with time.

Finding doula clients is an imperative part of doula work. New doulas are often trying to figure out how to find doulas when they’re just getting started. I remember some advice of just approaching pregnant people who are out in the wild! The reality is that every doula needs various streams of clients, so there are multiple answers to this particular question.

Being a new doula can make you feel a lot of imposter syndrome anyway, but when you feel the need to know absolutely everything that does NOT help! Everything is not something that anyone knows! A new doula or otherwise.

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.

Just like before a birth it’s important to prepare (check out the last episode for that info!), it’s just as important to have a post-birth ritual or rhythm to help yourself recover. Births are a lot of work both physically and emotionally, so it’s vital to have a ritual of coming down from the work you’ve done as a doula and helping yourself be ready for the next client.

Before heading into a birth it’s important to prepare yourself well so you can be as strong and ready as possible. One big unpredictable piece of this work is how long a birth could possibly be. Because of that it’s imperative that you prepare yourself before arrival so you can support your own wellbeing.

I remember when I was super intimidated by Doula Consultations. I felt super awkward each time, unsure of what to say or how to engage in a meaningful way with prospective clients. I also always felt like I was selling myself rather than meeting this possible client to assess if we were a good fit for each other or not. Over time I shifted both my strategy and my mindset around these conversations which has made them significantly easier and more successful for me!

If you live in an area full of doulas like I do it can feel a little intimidating to put yourself out there and seem like a different or unique option. I am firmly against the idea that you have to market yourself by saying you are the BEST or the ULTIMATE or any other bleh marketing words. You can set yourself apart by building relationships and showing your unique experience without needing to downplay anyone else in the field.

Marketing yourself as a doula is vital to the process of getting clients. Oftentimes the strategy that works the best varies from person to person. From referrals to social media to teaching classes and organically meeting pregnant people there are many different ways to approach meeting and working with clients.

Cost of doula services is a hot topic. As you know, I care deeply about people being paid well in this work. I do also care deeply about equity and access to doula care. I just firmly do not believe that should happen at the expense of the doulas. We need better systems in place to support families who have less financial resources and ALSO support doula work as a sustainable and well-paid career.

From vacations to dinners with friends to Dr appointments for yourself or loved ones, there are things in life that you need to attend! How do you do that when you’re on call as a doula? This is a tricky part of our work; I’ll be the first to admit that! There’s a reason people buy shirts that say “unless I’m at a birth”!

Today I get to introduce you to Allison Nevalga of Kaya Ko Doula Services. She’s another of my Doula Biz Blueprint Coaching Students. She shares a bit about her own birth stories as well as how her doula business got started and has grown. Her unique perspective from where she started in her first pregnancy to where she is now is worth a listen!

She was struggling with imagining how work as a full-time doula could look. She

knew she loved this field, but branching into a new career felt very daunting. She questioned her ability to find clients and sustain her life without significant financial issues. It seemed that keeping her current job was the safest option, but her desire was to be a doula and support new families in that precious season of life.

The process of branching into doula work full-time can be intimidating. Especially when life keeps on going at a fast pace around you. Today’s conversation is with one of my first Doula Coaching students, Dominique Jones. I’m so excited to introduce you and let you hear a bit of her story in this doula work.

You need to have an idea of not only where you hope to go as a doula, but also what that could look like and how you may get there. Now I specifically want to encourage you to both DREAM BIG and also plan strategically. Those two need to go hand in hand. They need to be held together, just like in birth preparation.

As a coach I doula doulas :) I teach doulas how to organize, run and plan their businesses, but also guide them with compassion, empathy and support throughout the whole year we are together! I pour into my doulas so they can pour into their clients.

Taking time off-call is very important to doula work. Being on-call has all kinds of wear and tear that comes along with it. Because of that doulas have to be more intentional than many professionals at prioritizing time off and healthy amounts of breaks. This is of course part of what we talked about in the doula burnout series as it is a major contributor to burnout! This episode dives into how to set those times off and what that can look like as your doula business is starting to fill up.

100 Episodes!!!! In honor of the expansiveness of this podcast we are diving into using your own tools that you teach your clients as a support to yourself as a doula. I want you to ask yourself some questions today: when you're thinking about your business kind of growing and expanding like a pregnancy, what do you want the end result of that to be? What do you want to nurture?