The Summer Slow-Down Is Productive
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Transcript
Unknown speaker 00:04
Welcome to Dula Tips and Tits, the podcast where we cut through the noise and get real about what it takes to build a sustainable doula business. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been a doula informally for 14 years and full time for seven.
Unknown speaker 00:20
Around here, we don't sugarcoat stuff. We talk autonomy, owning your worth, creating a business that works for you. No fluff, no burnout, just the honest truth on how to be your own best boss. Let's get into today's episode.
Unknown speaker 00:37
Summers are slower in almost every business. Now, welcome back to Dula Tips and Tits. I am so glad that you're here. Thank you for hanging out with me at this beautiful podcast. I am just a huge fan of you, beautiful doula.
Unknown speaker 00:57
I will say every time I meet someone who's like, oh my gosh, I listened to your podcast, it feels so special to me. It's funny because I remember the first time I met a doula, this had to be when it was brand new, like probably two years ago.
Unknown speaker 01:17
I met a doula who I'd never met in person, but who's local to me. She knew who I was. I had never met her. I didn't know who she was. She was like, oh my gosh, you're Kaylee. I was like, what? I was just like, is this what it feels like to be famous?
Unknown speaker 01:35
She was like, you host the Dula Tips and Tits podcast. I was like, oh yeah, I do. She was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm meeting you in person. I was just like, I feel like I'm not that big of a deal, but also I was like, oh my gosh, you make me feel so incredibly special.
Unknown speaker 01:51
She's like, your podcast is so helpful to me. I send it to all my clients. I do stuff with it. At the time, my podcast was primarily for pregnant people. So it was a different kind of genre of episodes.
Unknown speaker 02:02
If you go way back, the first like 100 maybe, or maybe less, maybe like 75, were intended for families who were pregnant. So that shifted around the beginning of the second year of the podcast. So probably around episode 100-ish, it shifted to talking to doulas, which is what of course it is now.
Unknown speaker 02:30
But it just makes me feel like very special, right? So I wanna say, I love that you're here listening. Like I do not take for granted the fact that you are coming and listening and enjoying, and I get to like share this space with you.
Unknown speaker 02:43
It really does light up my heart a lot. So as I keep saying, I am chilling. Now, this is coming out in, July, I think, let me see, what day is it today? It should be, if all things go to plan, it should be July 30th, maybe.
Unknown speaker 03:09
So maybe end of July, maybe early August, this episode's coming out. And I am recording it in June because that's what I'm doing to give myself space to be able to have some time off. The summer tends to be a different speed in part, I think, because of seasons.
Unknown speaker 03:29
I think we just seasonally do have different speeds to life in the summer versus the fall and winter. But that kind of comes and goes. It depends on babies, depends on our demographic of our area. There's lots of different pieces there.
Unknown speaker 03:46
And so it's not true for everybody. But what I want you to think about is that your business is going to have an ebb and flow in terms of client numbers, for the most part. So for me, I don't necessarily have times where I have fewer clients, except July, where I intentionally have fewer clients.
Unknown speaker 04:11
It's that I have times where I have fewer inquiries. But because I get inquiries a lot, and because I get inquiries with people really early in their pregnancy, I don't actually have times unless I've chosen them that have fewer clients.
Unknown speaker 04:27
I don't have slow seasons in my business, if that makes sense, in terms of client numbers, because I have enough inquiries to fill to whatever capacity I want to fill to, which is a privilege. This is me being eight years into this.
Unknown speaker 04:45
Please keep that context in mind. I certainly had many years where I would go up and down, and I'd be like, okay, I'm full for August, but I'm not full for September. right? I have some space still in the fall.
Unknown speaker 04:59
I'm really hoping that people hire me, but they haven't yet. That is normal in most businesses. I think there's two pieces to this up and down that can actually be a huge benefit to us. You already heard the episode, or if you have not listened to that, there's a couple episodes back.
Unknown speaker 05:30
Rest kind of directly impacts the amount of productivity and creativity we can have in our business. So when there are times when all the babies come at once, and so you have a lot of work and then no work, or like me, you take a whole month off of due dates, and so you're really intentional about not being at birth during that time frame.
Unknown speaker 05:56
Then during the time when you're not in that kind of physical demand, one thing that you should focus on is your ability to be in that physical demand, right? So working out, sleeping, eating healthy, like hydrating yourself, like taking care of yourself is important, right?
Unknown speaker 06:17
Reflection, mindfulness, connecting with people you love, these are all things that help you be good at your business and also just have a good balanced life, right? But also when you have capacity, it's a good idea to have some things on a to-do list that are like, eventually I'd like to do this.
Unknown speaker 06:42
The kinds of things I think about is like double check all the links on your website, right? Like when does anyone want to do that? Never. Also, double check the information on your website. Now I've talked before about a podcast I love called Copy to Me and she talks about website audit some and she says like you need to write down, you need to have a little document that says once a year website updates that has things like these pages have numbers on them.
Unknown speaker 07:16
So I have a couple pages that say like 16 or 14 plus years of working with families. Well now it's 15 plus and so I need to update that, right? Those are the kinds of things that aren't super pressing but do need to happen and they can be like a when I have time kind of checklist.
Unknown speaker 07:35
I also just want to be really clear that having time off does not have to be filled with productivity, right? Like yes, it can be a time when you catch up on things that haven't happened, when you have a to-do list like we're talking about of things that need to be updated but it also can be a time where you're like I just have nothing to do today and so I'm going to do nothing.
Unknown speaker 07:56
That's also productive, like rest is necessary. It's not just like a nice thing to sometimes have, it is actually necessary. So yes, be strategic when you have less work or when your clients all group together and you have some weeks off, batch your content, prep for a fall, think about your pricing, your offers, like do a bit of an audit of your business, sure, but also rest, right?
Unknown speaker 08:24
It also take time to just enjoy the fact that your body doesn't have so much to do. Both of those things are really important. So when I think, when we think about business in general, I think part of the sustainability of being kind of a one person show is that we use the ebbs and flows of our energy and our seasons, right?
Unknown speaker 08:48
And one way that some people do this is with cycle syncing. as a person with PCOS, it does not work well for me because my cycles are real wonky. So I just don't have the capacity to do that with the ease that some people can do it.
Unknown speaker 09:03
And I think it's definitely true. I feel the difference in my different parts of my cycle. It's just that some of them overlap in a weird way and are longer than they should be and whatever. And so there's just some wonkiness in my own body that doesn't fit that very well.
Unknown speaker 09:20
The reality is that there are times in all of us when we have the energy to create, we have the energy to have new ideas, we have the energy and the brevity, the brevity that no, braveness. I don't know.
Unknown speaker 09:39
We are brave enough. The courage. I don't know. Why can I not speak English? We have the courage to raise our prices, for instance, or change our offers into something that we've always wanted them to be.
Unknown speaker 09:52
Those are some things that we can do when work is slower, when people are not delivering babies, when there aren't so many postpartum clients. There's time there to have that space. But please, please, please hear me when I say I do not want you to use all of your time being quote unquote productive.
Unknown speaker 10:15
It is actually unproductive to do that. It is necessary to have time off. It's necessary to not think about your business and it's necessary to not constantly be feeling like you're catching up with something.
Unknown speaker 10:29
Do some catch up, sure, but not always. Do give yourself actual rest and leave your work stuff at home. Actually, don't let yourself do it. I would love to hear what your summer intentions are. How are you planning to slow down?
Unknown speaker 10:47
How are you planning to rest intentionally? If we're not already connected on Instagram, please connect with me there. So H-A-R-R-O-D-D-O-U-L-A, and I would love to hear what your summer plans are and also what your kind of rest and relaxation plans are.
Unknown speaker 11:05
All right. I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Dula 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 hiradula.
Unknown speaker 11:21
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 a review on your favorite podcast app. That helps other doulas find us as we do this work together.
Unknown speaker 11:36
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 your health and your business.
Unknown speaker 11:48
We'll see you again soon.
ASK A QUESTION!!! My plan is to start Friday Q&A (we need a new name, I know!) but first I need your questions! Submit them using the form below:
https://www.harroddoulaservices.com/ask-me-a-question
Summer can feel weird when the birth calendar thins out. But slower seasons are part of sustainable doula work. In this episode, I’m offering ideas for how to rest, plan, and use your slower season to your advantage—without guilt or pressure.
Quote from the show:
“I think we just seasonally do have different speeds to life in the summer versus the fall and winter. But that kind of comes and goes. It depends on babies, depends on our demographic of our area. There's lots of different pieces there. And so it's not true for everybody. But what I want you to think about is that your business is going to have an ebb and flow in terms of client numbers, for the most part. So for me, I don't necessarily have times where I have fewer clients, except July, where I intentionally have fewer clients. Rest kind of directly impacts the amount of productivity and creativity we can have in our business. So when there are times when all the babies come at once, and so you have a lot of work and then no work, or like me, you take a whole month off of due dates, and so you're really intentional about not being at birth during that time frame.”
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach
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If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
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
