Doulas are advocates. I will stand firm on this. If you do not see your role as ever advocating for your client then you are probably coming from a very privileged place. If you ever work with clients who are marginalized in our healthcare system you have to be ready and willing to advocate and amplify their voice. You center them, absolutely, you don’t speak for them or decide things for them, but you DO absolutely need to know how to advocate for and with them when needed.

The Doula Biz Blueprint is a group coaching program for doulas to grow and expand in their business now and into the future. It includes one-on-one coaching as well as small group coaching, larger group community and TONS of resources that you have access to forever. This program is designed to get you going and keep you going in your doula business. Whether you’re just barely started or a year down the road, you’re able to grow and expand in this group alongside other doulas.

Just in case you’re wondering we are definitely channeling your inner Dori today! Just keep swimming! How do we keep going when we feel like quitting? How do we pick the towel back up after we throw it in? This is our speciality as doulas, right? We are excellent at coaching our clients through this, so need a dose of our own medicine in business!

Business reviews are a big part of social proof! Doulas need reviews and recommendations from current and past clients in order to get traction with future clients. The reality is that it can be tricky to get reviews either because you’re nervous to ask or because your clients just had a baby! Keep listening to hear what my favorite way to ask is!

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!

Doulas need emotional and relational encouragement just as much as any other person. But this work is especially taxing in how you give of yourself for the type of support you are giving to clients. While we need those skills in all of life to really decipher who is a good support person that is really vital for doulas. This episode outlines what types of support every doula needs to have on their team.

What do I need to know to be a doula? What might I be missing? What if there’s something crucial that I’ve never known and I find it out later?? These are hard questions, but normal questions! When we are coming to anything new we are faced with questions like theses that can be debilitating if we let them be!

Branding and consistency in marketing is important, but can be daunting. As a new doula you already have many things to think about in your business, but you don’t want to skip over thinking about what your business is about and what your core values are in your business and how you want to connect with your future clients. Today’s episode dives into how to start thinking about this in your business.

Doulas need things that all businesses need! Websites, branding, marketing, networking, etc. Today we are working on websites! What to write, when to write it and how to make it work for you. Doulas can let their websites speak to their ideal clients before ever connecting with them on a call.

A baby race is what I affectionately call two babies coming on the same day. Today’s episode is a continuation of the last episode about planning for possible baby races and babies getting all mixed up together. Spacing out due dates is one way doulas help to avoid this situation, but it’s not entirely avoidable.

Avoiding a baby race is the aim of doulas near and far! Two babies coming at once when they are not both due at once is a contingency that a doula has to plan for, even if it’s unlikely, and even if it’s fairly rare. Having a solid backup system that works well and is full of trustworthy doulas is the biggest key in this regard.

You are a doula. You are also a business owner. You’re self-employed! That can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! It is often something that I see doulas neglect. They want to be a doula, they are excited to work with clients, but they do NOT love the idea of running a business!

Doulas come in all shapes and sizes, for lack of a better phrase! We have all different struggles physically and otherwise just like all humans! As a person with various chronic conditions, I want to talk through doing doula work while also supporting your own body’s needs and limitations.

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.