Beyond Beginner Advice: Building a Sustainable Doula Business
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Kaely Harrod (00:37)
Welcome back to doula tips and tits. You know what's super fun is when you record a killer podcast episode and then realize you weren't recording it. I just gave you the best episode that no one will ever hear because I literally just spent 18 minutes talking to myself. So here we
are again, but it's only again to me because you did not hear the first one.
I wanna talk about why beginner business advice for doulas is not helpful if you're not a beginner, right? Most business advice for doulas is beginner advice, like is advice that's like, you know, okay, you need to do X, Y, Z to get your business up and going. And that makes a lot of sense when you're new. You can do like four steps, five steps, whatever, and they can be kind of applied across the board.
You need an ID, a tax ID number, you need to register your business, you need a business name, you need some liability insurance, you need a national provider ID number, et cetera. And if you're listening to this and you're like, what, Kaylee? I didn't know I needed all of that, then I have a a self-paced course just for you. I will put it the show notes. It is for like getting your business set up, right? And that can be a little bit streamlined. It can be a little bit formulaic, right? It can be like everyone needs to do XYZ. But
The reality is if you're not a brand spanking noodula, your nuanced need needs to be met with nuanced coaching. And what do I mean when I say that? So what I mean is what you actually need is dependent on what is happening
in your business. So if you say to me like Hayley, I feel really stuck, what should I do?
I don't have answers for you. I have questions because I'm like, why do you feel stuck? Where are you in your business? What is stuck about it? Like what what's going well and what's not going well? And what do you like and what do you not like? Right. Like I generally I genuinely have a ton of questions for you before I have even the slightest bit of advice. And I suppose if you said to me like, Kaylee, I've been a doula for four years and I'm feeling kind of stuck and burnt out, what do you think I should do?
I do have advice. My advice is you need to hire a coach, right? You need to hire a coach to help you figure out what to do. Because the truth is that we sort of talk about doula business as if some people do it well and some people don't. And it just like, gosh, I wish I was one of the ones who did it well. That's not true. Like, that's not true at all. What you need is some strategy and some direction, right? So, like, let's say
I ha I have this scenario a lot with Julas that I talk to. Well, they're they'll say to me, like, okay, Kaylee, I'm forty to forty-five years old. And when I was thirty or thirty-five even, I set up my business where I was gonna attend five to six births a
month. But now that I'm forty-five, I can attend five to six births a month in the sense that that many people wanna hire me.
So I'm like quote unquote fully booked at all times, but I actually don't want to attend five to six births a month. And I feel like my body isn't gonna be able to keep doing that. And I don't know what else to do because this is how I built my business. And I would say that is a result of building for the moment and not building for strategic long term sustainability.
And that's why that matters so much to me, because I'm like, the reality is if you hit 45 and you're saying to me, like, I can't keep doing this like tomorrow or today or yesterday, even, then we should have been talking about this two years ago. Right? Like it's it's not that it's too late, but it is like definitely easier to plan in advance for what this will look like. Right. And
And I think we sort of live in this reality of like, I'll deal with that when I come to it. And it's like, does that ever really work well for people? Like, is that really a strategic move? No, it's not. We're just like hoping for the best, crossing our fingers and like moving on with the day, right? That's not intentionality. It's not informed decision making. It's not supported strategy. It's not sustainability. Like that's not what that is. And when we look at like, okay, this is your.
You're like middle business. You've been a doula for five years, six years, seven years, you've attended a hundred births, and you feel like you should have arrived at some kind of you know, accolade of some sort, right? Even just your own feeling of rest and satisfaction. But the reality is that also this work is so freaking intense that you sort of just arrive at this place of like, damn, am I proud of myself? Yes. Am I exhausted?
Also, yes, if I want to keep doing this or if I need this business to continue to grow, what am I going to do to do that? And that's where it is not a one, two, three prescription for everybody because it needs to be something that we all we all have individualized thoughts about, right? Individualized
ideas about what it can look like. And I would say like the majority of doolas I talk to.
need some kind of streamlining in their tech. They need some kind of streamlining and templates in their communication with clients. They need some kind of price changes or raises or package adjustments or whatever. But those three things even aren't always the same things, right? And so even there, I could say like every doula who's attended 100 births needs to streamline their templates for their communication with their clients. Okay, yep, maybe
Probably but which communication things with your clients and how do you streamline them because how do you communicate with your clients and which things are we actually doing into templates and why? And maybe you send them like a ridiculous amount of emails that you just shouldn't even send. And maybe ninety percent of this content should be a client portal.
Right. Like maybe you're actually making yourself do so much more work than you need to do. And it's not actually a matter of your 18 emails that you send to every single client being made into a template. It's a matter of not sending them 18 emails because you don't need to send them 18 emails. And you could put that content somewhere else where they have access to it if they want to access it, but you're not shoving it down their throat every single month. Right. And I I I love you. If you have 18 emails that you're sending, and I know some of you are doing this.
I love you dearly, but your clients are not opening them and reading them. Like not all of them. They're overwhelmed. Right. And so that content could live in a client portal, which fun fact is like absolutely free to make on your website. So so like you could do that one time. And then any time someone hires you, you say, like, hey, I have a client portal and it has shit like, you know, birth affirmations and like podcasts and books that I like and like things to look at for
Like birth plan thoughts, packing lists, shopping lists, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Put all that shit in one place and then be like, hey, if you want those resources, here they are. And then because your clients are grown-ups, they can choose if they want them or they don't want them. And then you are doing absolutely nothing except telling
them where to go. But you're not sending them a whole list of things to pack in their birth bag because no, because Pinterest has a
fucking ton of lists for birth pack bag packing and they don't need you primarily for a birth bag packing list. Anyway, I'm getting off of a on a tangent. This is what happens when you record this episode twice. so if this is you, right? You beautiful human. You have testimonials, you're making money, you're attending births, you have referrals, you have repeat clients, like you have reached
All the things that we talk about of like one day you're gonna have providers who like you and send you clients. One day you're gonna have attended a hundred births, right? You've reached those things and you still feel super stuck. What do you do? You literally have to go piece by piece in your business to see why you're stuck, where you're stuck, and what to adjust. And that is exhausting work, my friend.
So for me as a coach, I don't love the thought that you can't do this without me. You can. You can do this without me. It will be so much more overwhelming. And there's a much higher chance of you giving up on it if you do it by yourself, right? Together, I can balance change with affirmation. I can balance encouragement with adjusting.
Right. And I think about when I go into a birth space with someone who's in labor, I don't immediately tell them they're doing everything wrong, even if they are doing everything wrong. Right. Like, I mean, for one, they're usually not. There's usually something that that's going well. But like I don't come in like, God, you suck at this. Like, why are you holding your breath? You know, I thought I told you to move around when you're having contractions. Like, stop tensing your shoulders up, right? Like, no. I come in and I'm like, Hey, how you doing? Like
This is crazy hard work. And they're like, holy shit, Kaylee, I'm having a baby. I'm like, you're having a baby. We're we're in labor. Like, we're having a baby today. Like, okay, how are these contractions feeling? Like, I feel them so badly in my back. Yeah, okay, let's try this position. With this next one, can I put some pressure here? I want you to really think about breathing. So in that moment, if that person has been holding their breath, I did not come in and say, like, why are you holding your breath? Or like, stop holding your breath. That's not helping you.
But I am saying to them, I want you to focus in this next contraction on breathing. And they're like, okay, okay. And sometimes they'll even say, like, I know I've been holding my breath. And I'm like, it's cool. It's cool. You've been doing it as a coping strategy. Like, it's fine. But this next one, let's try to breathe and see how it feels. You know, because what we're doing is making little adjustments for you to feel
well supported, for you to feel seen, and for this process to be easier and smoother, right?
Now, a doula business is not exactly a one-to-one correlation with a labor process, obviously. But I'm saying, like, if I have my first meeting with you and I ask you to bring a number of pieces of information from your business, right? Like, okay, bring like what are your services currently? What are you charging? What is this? What is that? Blah, blah, blah. Then I can say to you, okay, look at you. Like, my God, you have seven services. That's amazing.
Tell me which of these services you like the most. Tell me which of these services you wish you didn't have anymore. By that, by the end of that call, I want that service to be off your list. Right? So if someone says to me, like, honestly, I hate doing this, but I occasionally have someone hire me for it, I'm like, that one's getting deleted today. Take it off the website, take it off the contract, take it off your site, take it off your list. Like
Stop selling it to people because you don't like it. It's not making you very much money and it's not necessary. It's actually more confusing for people to have extra extra services that they're not sure what to do with rather than just have a clear, streamlined process of hiring. Right. So there are ways that we can make adjustments immediately. But
there are also things that I might start to kind of challenge your thinking. Like, what would it look like?
if you were the most expensive doula in your city, right? What would it look like if you raised your rates because your family needs you to do that? Like what does it look like to be like a luxury doula? And I hate that term, but like demographically, is that what you need to be? Maybe not, right? Not everyone is that. Some folks come to me and they're like, listen, Medicaid folks are my jam and that's where I want to stay. And I'm like, okay, great. How do we make that sustainable, right?
The reality is that the volume of birth you have to do to make the same amount of money as a private client is high.
Excuse me. And so how do we set you up for that to be successful? I'm not saying that every doula I coach, I'm trying to get them to be the most expensive doula in their city. That's not the case. But if someone needs to be on that path and they're nervous about that path, I'm gonna challenge that nervousness, right? And that's where we're starting with that. We're not raising your rates
the first day necessarily, although maybe, right?
But probably I'm gonna start slowly challenging the thing that you think is impossible for you to do.
The other thing I think is really important to note here is that there are times when it makes sense for your life to shift what you're doing. And I don't mean just like change services. Like sometimes it is a legitimate thing to stop being a doula. And I I just want to say that because I think when we talk about sustainability and burnout.
I think we don't always leave space for folks that are like, no, this life actually is not working for me. Okay, that's fine. Like you're allowed to have a career change, right? You're allowed to decide the un the unpredictable nature of this work is unsustainable for you. Like you're allowed to do that, right? And also, I don't want that to be something that happens because you
don't have the support that you need to make this sustainable for you, right? I don't want that to be something that happens because you didn't have the information that would have helped you make this sustainable. That's the piece that I'm looking at. It's like, yes, some people are better
not being a doula because their bodies or their emotions or their and their
family lifestyle or whatever, like does not fit well with being on call or not sleeping consistently or whatever piece of it. But also there are times when someone was literally made to do this work, like is so aligned with this work and feels like they can't keep doing it because they don't have the support that they need to make it sustainable. So I have been
gone again for a couple weeks. I went on vacation with my family. It was glorious and wonderful and I'm so excited about it. And it was just, I'm so happy. and I like prior to that got my children through the end of their school year. So so there's that. Right. and now I am building back up going to my weekly podcast so that you all can hang out with me. I can hang out with you.
And we can grow our businesses together. If you're listening to this and you're like, Kaylee, I want to actually have a chat about you being my coach, there's a 15-minute call that you can book from the show notes. It's completely free. And it gives us a chance to connect and see if we're even a good fit for you having coaching and to see if where you are warrants coaching or not, right? Because I'm gonna be really honest with you. If I don't think that you're ready for coaching, then I don't think you're ready, you know.
And I'm not gonna bullshit you about that because I don't believe in doing that. So I will see you next Wednesday. In the meantime, book that call with me and serve the heck out of your clients, but also take good care of yourself. Okay. Bye.
FREE Workshop coming up! Join me on August 10 at 1 p.m. ET for The Doula CEO Gameplan: Focus + Financial Flow for a Business That Sustains You.
During this free 90-minute workshop, we’ll identify what deserves your focus, connect your priorities to sustainable income, and create a realistic plan for the next quarter of your doula business. You’ll receive a planning workbook and have the opportunity to ask questions and get live troubleshooting.
Register here: https://harroddoulaservices.thrivecart.com/doula-ceo-gameplan-26-pod/
In this episode, Kaely gets real about what it means to grow a doula business beyond the beginner stage. She breaks down why generic advice often falls short for experienced doulas and what it actually takes to build something sustainable long term. From simplifying client communication to rethinking services, pricing, and support, this conversation is packed with practical insight for doulas who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or ready for a smarter next step. If you’ve ever wondered whether your business is working for you — or you’re working for it — this episode is for you.
Quote from the show:
“Beginner business advice can be really helpful when you’re brand new — but once you’ve been a doula for a while, you need something more nuanced. What you actually need depends on what’s happening in your business, and sometimes the real work is figuring out why you feel stuck in the first place. For some people, that means streamlining communication or simplifying services. For others, it means adjusting prices, shifting offers, or even rethinking the whole structure of their business. The goal isn’t just to keep going — it’s to build something sustainable. And if you’re feeling burnt out, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed; it may just mean your business needs a different kind of support.”
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Doula Tips and Tits is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Doula Biz Blueprint Self-Paced Class for Doulas Launching Successful and Sustainable Businesses!
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
