Doula Business Goals
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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. I am going to talk with you today about having an idea of short and long term goals. Now, what we're not doing today is like chopping down the steps of how to do goals, right?
00:58
How to get from A to B. That's not what we're doing. What I want you to think about is more so goals you can have for right now that will help you get to the goals you have in the future and also future goals that are just like firmly on the back burner, right?
01:14
And I think both of those are really important for life and for business. So I'm going to give you some examples. And what I don't want you to do is try to be me because you're not me and also you are amazing and you don't need to be me.
01:31
And so I'm giving you some examples from my own life, not to encourage you to try to be me, but to encourage you to try to brainstorm what it might look like for you. Okay? So to begin with, I have a goal of hiring someone to either take over or strategize my social media by I'm going to be bold and say by the summer of 2024 because I am super inconsistent about when I post on social media.
02:11
Part of that is that it takes a lot of emotional work for me to write a post. I can make graphics. Like I could show you my current Canva like project that is my Instagram posts has 180 Instagram posts in it.
02:31
And I have created lovely beautiful graphics and posts about things that I then never posted because I would forget or because I would be like but then what do I write in the caption? Like really I have a hard time with this and this feast or famine over here like I will be like I look amazing today and I have some inspiration and let's make like 793 reels and then forget to post.
02:59
them or forget to schedule them etc. Or I'm like the world is literally falling apart at the seams and I can't think of anything to say. Right? And so the problem there is that I have a secondary goal of getting more students into my child birth class.
03:20
In order to do that I need to have a marketing strategy that will fund that effort. Right? And so that will fuel that. Like I have to have an audience to get in there if I'm going to get people in there.
03:32
So those two things have to go together. Right? Now on my end what I'm actively doing to get that is a following a whole bunch of social media people to figure out who I really resonate with. What kind of services do I want to do?
03:48
How much of it can I outsource right now? How much of it can I like just kick myself in the butt and actually do a better job of myself? You know because one of the things I'm constantly strategizing is how much can I afford to grow in terms of financial investment and how much do I need to save so that my business has a good foundation.
04:13
Right? And so that's one of my goals. Now that goal directly impacts all my other goals because growing in any way in my coaching, in my classes that I offer to doulas, in my classes for pregnant people, all of that needs marketing.
04:32
Right? So that goal is not just a random goal. Like I'll give you an example. I also have a goal of doing cartwheels. And this might sound really silly but my daughter loves cartwheels and I used to do some gymnastics.
04:49
I did dancing. I was a soccer player and over the years I got a little rusty on some of those skills. The ripe old age. age of 37, I can't do a cartwheel. And I tried. I was so confident. I was like, I can still do a cartwheel.
05:07
And I tried and I crumbled to the ground. And thankfully did not hurt myself. I just died laughing. Like I crumbled to the ground. I was on a very soft surface and just laughed. And my daughter was like, what was that?
05:23
Like, are you okay? What just happened? A dear friend was with us as she was also like, are you okay? Once she knew I was fine. She also started dying laughing because it was ridiculous. So I have a goal to eventually do cartwheels.
05:37
Do I need to do cartwheels? No, right? Like my business doesn't need me to do cartwheels to survive. But I would like to do cartwheels. And so part of what my son and I are working on is lifting weights so that I can get stronger so that I can do cartwheels.
05:53
And now that I've put this out there in the world for all of you, I need to update you and I can do a successful cartwheel. But that goal is different. It's a personal goal. It's a physical goal. But it is also still something I'm striving for, which impacts me as a person, impacts me as a business owner.
06:14
But my goal of having strategy from an actual strategist around social media is completely different, because that goal is going to build up all my other 2024 goals. Right? So one of the things I want you to really think about when you are thinking about these goals is what things are like vital to the current success of your business and what things are longer, longer term things that you're like one day, I'm going to do that.
06:48
And right now is not that time, but when I can, that is happening. Now, some people put timelines on that, right? I am not that person, in part because then I feel incredibly disappointed in myself. And I don't mean, I don't mean don't set goals because what if you disappoint yourself?
07:11
That's not, that's not the message of this podcast. What I mean is, let's say one of my long term goals is to be an IBCLC, an international board certified lactation consultant. That takes some significant work, like significant work.
07:29
And I would have to do some college classes, I would have to do, I think 1000 hours of observation, like, it's a lot of work. And then you study for a very long time for an exam that you pay for. And then you find out like, I think four months later, if you pass the exam, it's a whole thing, right?
07:51
I could randomly say, and I have done this, I have done this in the past, two or three years ago, I was like two years from now, I want to be an IBCLC. And one of my dear friends was like, I don't think that's going to happen.
08:02
Like that's too soon. You shouldn't have that goal. That's not a good goal to have because you can't actually make that happen in that amount of time. So at this point, I'm like, once I get my doula coaching to the level that I want it to be, and my attending births has kind of scaled back a little bit, excuse me, then I would like to, to start my IBCLC process, right?
08:28
Like that is still something I want to do. That's something that I feel like I can do for a long time. It's something that my body doesn't take as much effort from my body to do, right? And so it's a way that I can interact with families and, and still continue this like work with perinatal in the perinatal space, even when I feel like my body can't handle postpartum or birth shifts, right?
08:52
So that is a goal that I choose not to put a timeline on because I know I want it. you And also me not having a timeline is not keeping me from doing it because it's actually healthy for me to recognize that I can't currently do it and I don't know when I'll be able to.
09:09
And that's okay. And I have information about it and I've started kind of thinking through what process I would go through, like how would I go about getting it. And so I'm in the like pre -planning stage of that goal.
09:24
But I'm in the currently like meeting to plan and get the shit done stage of figuring out social media strategy. Right. So I want you to take a little time. Think about the things that you're hoping for dreaming of, etc.
09:41
in your business. And what's a goal that like is going to push the needle forward right now. And what's a goal that like in the future you want to do that and you can like put it on a post -it note on your wall and then just.
09:53
Literally leave it there because it's not a now goal. It doesn't have to happen right now. And your business will be fine without it and you can spend all sorts of time fixating on that and planning that and all of that.
10:05
And it's not going to move things forward right now. And ultimately it's not what your time should be spent on at the moment. Okay. I realize that's a little hard hard love at the end. But I do want you to be cautious about productive procrastination.
10:28
I don't know that that's a thing. As I'm saying that I'm like did I just invent that concept of productive procrastination? Maybe. And what I mean by that is you're doing stuff that does not need to happen right now that is productive at some point but not now.
10:44
And you need to get your shit together and do the stuff you actually need to do. Excuse my language. Yeah. So I want you to spend some time thinking about that. I also want to remind you that my. I love in this work of doula coaching is encouraging you, telling you that you're a badass, connecting with you online, encouraging you in your posts, and I would love to do that for you.
11:13
And I would love to do that by you connecting with me on Instagram. I cannot find your Instagram without you sending it to me or connecting with me. And I would love, love, love to have that connection.
11:28
Please come over to her Instagram, find me at heraDoula and send me a quick message. Say, hey, I listened to your podcast and this is what I have been thinking about in my business. What do you think?
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Connect with me. I love connecting with doulas and I would love to get to know you. And I would love to be able to encourage you like you are doing it and you can do it and do not give up. Okay? All right, it's my pep talk for the evening.
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for the day, for the morning, wherever you are listening to this beautiful podcast. I'll see you in the next episode. 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.
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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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Today we are talking about building goals. Not the A to B steps to get there but creating goals that build to another goal and so on. Having these kinds of goals will help your business grow and help you dream bigger for your business.
Quote from the show:
“How much of it can I outsource right now? How much of it can I like just kick myself in the butt and actually do a better job of myself? You know because one of the things I'm constantly strategizing is how much I can afford to grow in terms of financial investment and how much I need to save so that my business has a good foundation. Right? And so that's one of my goals. Now that goal directly impacts all my other goals because growing in any way in my coaching, in my classes that I offer to doulas, in my classes for pregnant people, all of that needs marketing. Right? So that goal is not just a random goal.”
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
